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On October 9th 2009, Andrew Hall was suspended from the school until further notice by the board of governors.
On October 9th 2009, Andrew Hall was suspended from the school until further notice by the board of governors.
Reasons are currently unknown however a letter was issued on October 12th 2009 which eliminates several reasons of suspension.
Reasons are currently unknown however a letter was issued on October 12th 2009 which eliminates several reasons of suspension.

Several members of staff have commented that funds were being diverted for a total of six years to a small British pie company called The Crusty Pie Company, found at www.crustypie.co.uk, these are a favourite of Mr Hall.

[[Image:Calday_grange_letter.jpg|thumb|right|The afore mentioned letter detailing the suspension of Andrew Hall.]]
[[Image:Calday_grange_letter.jpg|thumb|right|The afore mentioned letter detailing the suspension of Andrew Hall.]]


Revision as of 15:09, 12 October 2009

Calday Grange Grammar School
Address
Map
Grammar School Lane

West Kirby
,
Wirral, Merseyside
,
CH48 8GG

England England
Information
TypeTrust School, Grammar
MottoNisi Dominus Frustra (Latin)
Unless the Lord is with us, our labor is vain (Psalms 127)
Established1636
FounderWilliam Glegg
Local authorityWirral Borough Council
SpecialistTechnology, Language
OfstedReports
ChairmanMrs M Twemlow JP
Head teacherAndrew Hall
GenderBoys, Mixed Sixth Form
Age11 to 18
Enrollment1500
HousesBennett  
Glegg  
Hollowell  
Colour(s)Navy Blue, White, Maroon
Websitehttp://www.calday.wirral.sch.uk/
A view of the front of Calday Grange Grammar School, prior to extensive refurbishment.

Calday Grange Grammar School (abbreviated to CGGS; also known as Calday, Calday Grange) is a non-denominational selective grammar school, founded in 1636, situated on Caldy Hill above the town of West Kirby on the Wirral (England). The school admits boys from the ages of 11 through to 18, and (since 1985) girls for the sixth form only. Calday Grammar School is a Trust School, Technology College and Language College, hosts the Wirral Able Children Centre,[1] and has been awarded Sportsmark Gold and Investors in People status.[2]

Geography

The school stands in a residential area of Wirral close to the Dee Estuary. Pupils come primarily from the Wirral, Deeside and Cheshire areas.[3] The main site at the top of Caldy Hill is occupied by the school buildings, sports cages and field, with a larger field located over Grammar School Lane. A mile southeast of the main school buildings, along Column Road, Calday has playing fields including 3 functional rugby pitches, a cricket square, and a sand-based artificial hockey field. The school is surrounded by suburban housing development and the woods of Thurstaston and Caldy.

Academic Performance

In the most recent Ofsted inspection report in 2006, the school scored an overall effectiveness of Grade 1 - "Outstanding", and a Grade 2 - "Good" for its Sixth Form.[2] In 2002 ten students were offered University places at Oxford or Cambridge, breaking all previous school records.[4]

2008 A-level and GCSE results were the best in the school's history. 62% of A-level grades were at grades A or B and 54% of GCSE grades were at A* or A grade.[citation needed]

Calday Grange Grammar School has been a trust school since 1 January 2009, transferring ownership of the school land and buildings to a Charitable Trust called "The Calday Grange Trust". The Calday Grange Trust is a partnership between Calday Grange Grammar School, The University of Liverpool, Unilever Research and Development and Maestro Ltd. Calday Grange Grammar School was the first Wirral School to convert to Trust Status.[5]

The school was also the first in Wirral to be accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer the Diploma Programme, offering it to sixth form students from September 2009 as an alternative to A-levels. It is also especially noted for not allowing Upper Sixth students to take January AS resits, amid spurious claims of them getting in the way of their present A2 studies. As such, the full academic potential of the school's many A-level students is somewhat marred, as pupils are forced to take all of their AS and A2 levels at the same time, which proves unnecessarily stressful.[citation needed]

Extracurricular

The school is active in sports with pupils competing in local, regional,[6] national [7] and international [8] There is also a variety of societies and clubs. Drama groups put on school plays, pupils participate in quiz teams, and the school maintains a Combined Cadet Force, the Royal Air Force section of which won the SCOTNINE area Ground Training Competition in both 2007 and 2008.[9]

Pupils have also been involved with various independent entrepreneurial pursuits.[10] The sixth-form-led Amnesty International group is very active and sent a number of represetatives to the organisation's AGM in 2009.[11]

According to the school's website, Calday Grammar School maintains exchange links with schools in Germany, Russia[12] and China, as well as Italy.[13]

Buildings

The buildings/blocks are named after past headmasters or the subject taught there. The current buildings and their uses are as follows:

  • The building (A) [Including Michael Cross Drama Studio] - Art and Drama
  • The Business Centre(B) - Business Studies, Economics, Law and Philosophy
  • The Canteen Extension(C) - Music, canteen seating and exhibition space
  • The Dodd building (D) - Design and Technology and Information Technology
  • The E Block(E) - English, careers, counselling and base for the Wirral Able Children Centre
  • The Glasspool building (G) - English and Mathematics
    • The GS block (GS) - Psychology
  • The Hawkins building (H) - Modern Foreign Languages and Latin
  • The Walker building (W) - Sciences, Geography, History and Religious Education
  • The Nigel Briers Building (W) - English, History, Government and Politics and study area

General Studies can be taught in any block in the school, depending on the rooms of the teachers teaching the subject that year. Each building has a letter code consisting of the first letter of its name, with the exception of the Briers building, which, for this purpose, is considered an extension of the Walker building. These letters are used to designate room names, for example, the second room (2) on the first floor (1) of the Hawkins building (H) is known as H12. Ground floor rooms have no floor number, so the third room (3) on the ground floor of the Walker building (W) is W3. Floor numbering does not extend to the Business Centre, where first floor rooms have single digit numbers.

The school's swimming pool is operated by an independent charity, Calday Grange Swimming Pool Trust.[14]

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, or in the case of the 6th form, the colour of their lapel pin or 6th form tie.

  • Bennett - Named after Thomas Bennett, House colour blue
  • Glegg - Named after William Glegg, House colour red
  • Hollowell - Named after Rev. William Hollowell, House colour green

Up until 1994 there was a fourth house, named after Sir Alfred Paton, with gold as its colour. Although Paton House is no more, Sir Alfred's memory is preserved in the naming of Paton Fields, bequeathed by him to the school in 1928.

Famous alumni

  • Dr. David Wynn-Williams (1946-2002) - leading British astro-biologist, head of the Antarctic astrobiology project at the British Antarctic Survey.[16]

Headmasters

Years Calday Grange Grammar School
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 Peter Dodd (acting)
1979-1986 Peter Dodd [17]
1986-2002 Nigel Briers
2002-present Andrew John Hall
October 2009 Michael Skelly (Acting)

Suspension of Andrew Hall

On October 9th 2009, Andrew Hall was suspended from the school until further notice by the board of governors. Reasons are currently unknown however a letter was issued on October 12th 2009 which eliminates several reasons of suspension.

Several members of staff have commented that funds were being diverted for a total of six years to a small British pie company called The Crusty Pie Company, found at www.crustypie.co.uk, these are a favourite of Mr Hall.

File:Calday grange letter.jpg
The afore mentioned letter detailing the suspension of Andrew Hall.

Further reading

  • Protheroe, M. J. (1976) A History of Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby, 1636-1976, West Kirby: The Parents' Association.

References

  1. ^ "Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council: Promoting Potential: The Wider Education Community: Wirral Able Children Centre" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  2. ^ a b "Inspection Report: Calday Grange Grammar School, 6-7 November 2006". Retrieved 2009-05-21. Cite error: The named reference "OfstedInsepctionReport2006" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Calday Grange Grammar School: Information: About the school". Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  4. ^ "New Record". Wirral Globe. Birkenhead. 16 January 2002.
  5. ^ McCann, Sue (28 January 2009). "Calday Grange Grammar becomes Wirral's first Trust school". Wirral News. Liverpool: Trinity Mirror.
  6. ^ Johnson, Tim (27 November 2007). "Schools cross-country: Battle royale as St Anselm's take on Calday Grammar". Liverpool Echo.
  7. ^ "England Hockey: National Schools Championship for Boys, 2003-2004". Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  8. ^ "Los Reyes 2009 Teams". Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  9. ^ "RAF section win SCOTNINE Area Ground Training Competition". Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  10. ^ Murphy, Liam (3 December 2007). "Calday Grange: students to open own art gallery". Liverpool Daily Post.
  11. ^ "The group page on the school website, giving details of the group's activities". Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  12. ^ "Calday Grange Grammar School, registered charity no. 1056069". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  13. ^ Pearce, James (17 July 2008). "Golden greats are Baddeley's inspiration". Liverpool Echo.
  14. ^ Ellis-Evans, Cynan (15 April 2002). "David Wynn-Williams: Applying the lessons of Antarctica to the study of the stars". The Guardian. London.
  15. ^ 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)
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