Did you miss our Open Day? If you would like to visit the School, please contact Mrs Debbie Roberts the Headmaster's PA on 0151 651 3009 or by email at dr@birkenheadschool.co.uk to arrange a personal visit and to meet the Headmaster.
Below is an extract from the
Headmaster's presentation on Open Day in September 2008
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Choosing a school is one of the most important choices you have to make. As parents, in choosing an independent school you are making an enormous commitment to your child’s education but in uncertain times what better long-term investment could you make than in your children’s future? I am very conscious that many of our parents make deliberate and sometimes difficult decisions about their priorities in life but it’s a commitment they never regret (talk to them!). And in the face of that commitment we as a school arte very conscious that we must offer their children the very best – not just academically and in terms of facilities, but also by the quality of care and support they receive, and the opportunity to enrich their education outside the classroom in a whole host of ways. I think this is the best school you could possibly choose – but then I would, wouldn’t I.
However, when talking to parents I often say that there is no such thing as the best school, only the best school for you, for your son, for your daughter. That’s what today is about. Talk to pupils, talk to parents, talk to teachers and non-teaching staff, talk to the School Nurse to try and decide whether Birkenhead School is right for you. But please don’t stop at today. Open days are inevitably artificial in some ways. Come and see us on a normal school day, meet me and let one of the pupils show you round.
Well, what should you be looking for as you visit a school, facilities, yes, results yes, but it is people and the ethos they create which are what make a school – what are the pupils like, how do they relate to each other, how do staff and pupils relate to each other, and crucially how do staff, pupils and parents relate to each other – that’s a crucial triangle and if the communication and relationships in that triangle are right, you have the foundations for a happy and successful education.
I hope you will take away many varied impressions today – of the Headmaster (maybe!), of the staff (both teaching and non-teaching), of our parents, of the facilities, of our wonderful campus (bathed in sunlight today!) … but above all of the pupils. They are one of the school’s greatest assets & sometimes I think we could set things up for open day and leave them to get on with it. Our only instruction to pupils today is to be themselves and tell it as it is, so ask them whatever you like.
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So what kind of school do I think you are looking at today?
Well, importantly we are a school for children from 3-18. And that creates a
very special sense of the School family. One day last week I looked out of my
study window in the morning to see on the School Field our 4 & 5 year olds out
collecting Autumn leaves, then at lunchtime it was some of the junior rugby
players practising their skills for the next Saturday fixture and at the end of
the day girls’ lacrosse team out for a practice. We recently said goodbye to our
first U6th leavers who had entered the School at the age of 3, when our
Kindergarten (now Pre-Prep) first opened. They had been here longer than any
pupils ever before – 15 years – and it was a very special moment.
We are of course also a genuinely independent school – both educationally and
financially, so free to focus on what our pupils need and make our own
decisions, uncluttered by central directives. And of course we are now a
co-educational School - as of September this year we have 117 girls in the
School and the transition couldn’t have been smoother.
Importantly too we are also selective and from September next year will be the
only academically selective independent school on Wirral. So unique!
I’d just like to highlight four features which I consider to be central to what
we are about.
Firstly I believe we have high expectations of all our boys and girls – whatever
their academic ability might be, wherever their talents might lie – be that in
music or sport, drama or outdoor pursuits – wherever. We also expect them to
work hard – not just academically but in and of their pursuits or commitments.
Discipline is high on the agenda – without discipline learning doesn’t take
place as it should do. But I believe Birkenhead discipline is discipline with a
light touch. I am proud to say that in general discipline and self-discipline
are a natural and expected part of everyday life. I believe we owe it to our
pupils to make it clear what is expected of them … and consistency of
expectation and response are vital if pupils are to feel comfortable and happy
in school.
Respect – In recent years it’s become a government target in schools but it has
been thriving in good schools of all kinds for years. Respect for staff,
teaching and non-teaching, mutual respect amongst peers and for the wider
community, respect for our environment, and then all importantly the respect we
want pupils to have for themselves by doing their best and making the most of
their potential…
And fourthly, making the most of the opportunities available to them. This
school is all about opportunity and it is great pleasure for me as head to watch
so many of our pupils seize the many opportunities available to them to develop
their talents and enthusiasms and discover completely new areas of interest and
endeavour. And to realise what I missed out on! As students in August came to
collect their excellent A Level and GCSE results, they were also telling
enthusiastically about their cricket tour to Barbados, their four-week
expedition to the Himalyas, their week singing in Wells Cathedral with the
Chapel Choir – just three of the activities which went on after the end of the
summer term
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But don’t rely on my views, or the views of staff, pupils and parents.
Have look at our inspection report, the result of a week-long scrutiny by a team of 9 inspectors – many of them headteachers - last November.
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One of our unique features is our campus. And how glorious it looks today
I believe it is a vital element in moulding those relationships I spoke of earlier – it helps to create a unique sense of community and that very special ethos which the school has. It has, in my view, an immensely civilising influence. It usually also means that boys and girls can see the Headmaster coming and make sure their shirts are tucked in before he reaches them .., well usually…
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For those of you looking at entry at 11.
Overdale - the white building at the south corner of the campus – is very important. It is a school within a school. Allows boys and girls to find their feet when they move into secondary school in their own protected and special environment, yet having access to all the fantastic facilities of the wider school
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I mentioned earlier facilities - yes they are important and we are constantly investing, but they are not the be-all and end-all. It is what you do with those facilities that matters and in the end there is no substitute for good teaching and motivated pupils. Nevertheless I hope you are impressed by our facilities.
Importantly we are financially strong – unlike many independent schools we have no borrowings and finance a development programme which yearly invests about half a million pounds in our facilities, with plans to exceed that in the coming years as the school grows and we seek to add to what we offer. Here’s just a sample of where we have invested in senior school alone in the past few years.
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Success comes in many forms and many areas of course. And yes, of course, examination results matter.
They open the doors to the rest of a child’s future. But they are not all that matters … by a long way. There are many other qualities – personal qualities of integrity and compassion, social qualities such as self-confidence, concern for the world around us, leadership and teamwork – which we work hard to develop and which so often are just as important in later life as results … if not more so. These are all qualities which it is impossible to measure in league tables … and yet people do judge schools by league tables and I was thrilled this summer to see our pupils maintain the consistent level of high academic success which this school is known for.
Again at A level we again topped 70% for A + B grades. The gap between us and other selective schools on Wirral remains significant. And this is not because we are more selective in our intake. We are not! We select pupils of similar ability to local grammar schools and in some cases some who do not manage the 11+ but whose academic potential and other qualities we are able to take into account because we are not limited to the snap shot Verbal Reasoning test.
One of my best moment this summer was seeing a pupil in the Upper Sixth emerge with 4 A grades at A level. That should not have surprised me since he had achieved 7 A* grades and 3 A’s at GCSE … and yet he actually failed the 11+! I was taken aback on Leavers evening to talk to another student hoping to go to medical school who told me he too had failed the 11+. I had forgotten or rather it had ceased to be relevant as he progressed successfully through the School
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And the comparison with the wider field of NW independent schools shows us in a similarly positive light. There is much criticism of league tables because of how they can influence the way schools teach, although I have to say I believe we remain pretty immune to that at Birkenhead School. Anyway, if you want a table I think the Financial Times table, published a month or so after the others, is the best since it takes account of quantity and quality at the same time.
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And at GCSE this year our pupils soared ahead.
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However, there is another gap between us and the maintained sector selective schools.
1. Our size means that we are small enough for no-one to get lost, but big enough to provide a range of academic and co-curricular opportunities which much bigger schools can only envy.
2. Our size is vital to our pastoral system. Many parents will tell you that for them it is our pastoral care which makes us special; in a typical year group of 60 or so boys and girls we have 4 Form Tutors plus a Head of Year who will not have a Form – that’s a pastoral care ratio of 1 teacher to 12 pupils. Pupils arriving new this year were introduced on Thursday to their peer mentor – a senior pupil who will have lunch with them once a week and always be available via school email if they have any questions or concerns which they might not want go to a teacher with. We were overwhelmed that two thirds of our L6 volunteered for the role – which left me feeling very moved..
3. Small is beautiful extends to teaching groups as well, where we never exceed 24 but most classes are much smaller than that.
4. Our size also means that we can be flexible in adapting timetable and curriculum to individual needs and talents.
5. Our size means that everyone has an opportunity to try everything; in sport we have not only A teams, but B teams and sometimes C teams, and now, of course, girls’ hockey, netball and lacrosse This means that anyone who wants to has an opportunity to compete and represent the School; and because of the time and care which our sports coaches give to every pupil we regularly beat teams from schools twice or three times our size.
6. Our size also means that we are a tight knit community where everyone can know everyone else, with a strong sense of belonging and the shared values which go with that.
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And what do students do after Birkenhead? Well they go in vastly different directions – from acting to accountancy, physics to forensics. He are typical figures for some of the most popular courses over the last few years.
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And here are their top destinations.
But it’s not just about universities. One of our star musicians took up a place last year at the Royal Northern College of Music.
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I would like to leave the last word to one of our parents,
whose son left Birkenhead School in 2006 and who wrote me a letter which I feel
encapsulates all that we are about.
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