Calday Grange Grammar School | ||||||||||
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![]() School badge ![]() Exterior of the Walker and Hawkins buildings, prior to extensive refurbishment. | ||||||||||
Address | ||||||||||
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Grammar School Lane , , CH48 8GG England | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 53°22′03″N3°09′47″W / 53.3675°N 3.163°W | |||||||||
Information | ||||||||||
Type | Grammar School | |||||||||
Motto | Nisi Dominus Frustra | |||||||||
Established | 1636 | |||||||||
Department for Education URN | 139144 Tables | |||||||||
Ofsted | Reports | |||||||||
Chair of Governors | Caroline Ashcroft | |||||||||
Headteacher | Stephen Gray | |||||||||
Gender | Boys (mixed sixth form) | |||||||||
Age | 11to 18 | |||||||||
Enrolment | 1,509 (Jan 2024) [1] | |||||||||
Houses | Glegg Bennett Hollowell | |||||||||
Colour(s) | ||||||||||
Alumni | "Old Caldeians" | |||||||||
Website | Calday Grange Grammar School |
Calday Grange Grammar School, initialised as CGGS and commonly known as Calday, is a non-denominational, selective boys' grammar school situated on Caldy Hill in 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 and modern foreign languages (MFL) college under the former high performing specialist schools (HPSS) 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 last inspection in which a rating was conferred by government agency Ofsted occurred in September 2019 and rated the school as "good". [3] The most recent inspection in December 2024 did not rate the school but reiterated the previous rating. [4]
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 in Grange (historically known as Calday Grange, giving its name to the school) 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. [5]
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. [6]
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". [7]
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. [8]
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. [9]
The main school campus is located within a residential area at the top of Caldy Hill, close to the Dee Estuary on the Wirral peninsula . Students travel primarily from the Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales areas. [10] The site is occupied by sports cages, fields and ten school buildings:
Formerly: E Block (E) – geography, history and English. Replaced by Twist Centre due to presence of asbestos.
Each building has a letter code consisting of the first letter of its name (except the Briers Building, which is considered part of the Walker Building). These letters are used to designate room names, for example: the second room (2) on the ground floor (1) of the Hawkins Building (H) would be H12.
Glasspool Field, the school's main sports facility, is located a mile southeast of the main school, on Telegraph Road. It comprises three rugby union pitches, cricket field, athletics facilities and artificial turf used for hockey and tennis. Glasspool Field was formerly known as Paton Field, renamed in line with the removal of Paton House from the house system.
In 2019 the school was inspected and judged 'Good' repeating the judgement of Ofsted from inspections in 2016 [11] and 2010. [12] [13]
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. [14]
In 2015 Calday School received its best A level results since 2010 with a pass rate of 99.2% at A*-E grades. [15] [ better source needed ]
The school is ranked 7th for state school 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, [16] 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. [17]
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.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2025) |
Years | Calday Grange Grammar School |
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1886–1891 | Charles T. Blanshard |
1891–1920 | Rev W. Hollowell |
1920–1945 | Reginald Thomas Booth Glasspool |
1945–1953 | R. Eldred. Witt |
1953–1964 | Prof Eric Hawkins |
1965–1978 | Rev Kenneth Saxon Watkinson Walker |
1978–1979 | Peter Dodd (Acting) |
1979–1986 | Peter Dodd [21] |
1986–April 2001 | Nigel Briers |
April–July 2001 | Brian Magor (Acting) |
September 2001–September 2002 | Nigel Briers |
2002–Suspended Oct 2009 | Andrew John Hall - Suspended for a period of time during his role as headteacher |
October 2009–May 2010 | Mike Skelly (Acting) [22] |
October 2010–May 2011 | Andrew John Hall reinstated as headmaster. |
April 2010–April 2012 | Gareth Williams, executive director during suspension [23] |
April 2012–December 2019 | Mark Rodaway |
January 2020–April 2020 | Mike Twist (Acting) |
April 2020– | Stephen Gray |