Calday Grange Grammar School is a non-denominational, academically selective boys' grammar school situated on Caldy Hill, near West Kirby on the Wirral peninsula, England. Founded in 1636, the school admits boys aged 11 to 18 and, since 1985, girls for the sixth form only. The school hosts the Wirral Able Children Centre,[2] and has been awarded Sportsmark Gold and Investors in People status. It was previously a specialist technology college and specialist modern foreign languages college under the former high performing specialist schools programme.
By September 2019, a total of 1,492 boys were enrolled at the school, with 398 enrolled at the co–educational sixth form. The most recent inspection by government agency Ofsted, occurred in September 2019, and rated the school as "good".[3]
School history and status
Early history
Founded in 1636, Calday Grange Grammar School is Wirral's oldest surviving grammar school. It was established as a free grammar school on the present site by local landowner William Glegg. From when it started with 12 pupils, the school has grown into an establishment of over 1500 students – which includes over 400 male and female students in the Sixth Form.[4]
Trust status
Calday Grange Grammar School became a trust school on 1 January 2009, transferring ownership of the school land and buildings to a Charitable Trust called "The Calday Grange Trust". The Calday Grange Trust was a partnership between Calday Grange Grammar School, the University of Liverpool, Unilever Research and Development and Maestro Services Ltd. Calday Grange Grammar School was the first Wirral School to convert to Trust Status.[5]
In September 2011, the school informed parents that "The School has received notification from Companies House that the Calday Grange Trust Company has been dissolved. This has been notified to the Governing Body who contacted Wirral Local Authority and indicated their wish to revert to the Foundation Schools Instrument of Government".[6]
Academy status
In July 2011, the process for converting to an academy school was begun, and the school converted to academy status with effect from 1 January 2013.[7]
On the morning of 29 September 2023, a school bus, carrying students of both Calday and West Kirby Grammar School, overturned on the M53 between junctions 4 and 5, near Hooton. The bus driver, Stephen Shrimpton, and 15 year-old Jessica Baker were killed.[8]
Overview
Location
The school stands in a residential area of the Wirral peninsula close to the Dee Estuary. Students come primarily from the Wirral, Deeside and Cheshire areas.[9] The main site at the top of Caldy Hill is occupied by the school buildings, sports cages and field, with a larger field and swimming pool building located on the other side of Grammar School Lane.
A mile southeast of the main school buildings, along Telegraph Road, is the school's Glasspool Fields Sports Facility including 3 rugby pitches, a cricket square and a sand-based artificial hockey field. The school is surrounded by suburban housing and the protected heathlands and woods of Grange, Caldy and Thurstaston.
Academic attainment
In 2019 the school was inspected and judged 'Good' repeating the judgement of Ofsted from inspections in 2016[10] and 2010.[11][12]
In 2015 96% of the year group achieved 5 GCSE passes at grades A* to C with 96.2% gaining at 5 A* to C grades including English and Maths. Four students achieved 10 or more A* grades.[13]
In 2015 Calday School received its best A level results since 2010 with a pass rate of 99.2% at A*-E grades.[14][bettersourceneeded]
Extracurricular
The school is ranked the 7th state school for sporting achievement. The top state schools were revealed in the November 2019 edition of School Sport magazine and it places the school in the top 1% of schools in the country for sporting outcomes. The school maintains a Combined Cadet Force. The combined Cadet force has been at Calday since 1916,[15] when a unit of the Officers' Training Corps was first formed.
Volunteering opportunities include supporting the Refilwe Community Project in South Africa which the school has been involved in for over 9 years. Students have also been involved with various independent entrepreneurial pursuits.[16]
School houses
The school has three houses named after past benefactors and headmasters. Members of each house are identified by different coloured stripes on the school tie from years 7 to 11.
– Bennett; named after Thomas Bennett, benefactor of the school in 1676.
– Glegg; named after William Glegg, founder of the school in 1636.
– Hollowell; named after Rev. William Hollowell, former headmaster 1891–1920.
There was a fourth house, Paton, named after Sir Alfred Paton. It was taken out of the house system in the 1990s for simplicity in form-group allocation.
↑ Peter Dodd had been deputy headmaster since 1971, he became acting headmaster when Rev Walker retired and was not appointed permanent headmaster until 1979 (The Caldeian, December 1979)
↑ Mr Skelly took over after Mr. Hall′s suspension in October 2009 before returning to his former school (Westcliffe High School), as Deputy Headmaster, at the end of May 2010 "Parents Newsletter". 26 February 2010.
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