Design & Technology students enjoyed some of the world’s finest architecture and product design on a trip to Tuscany and the surrounding area.
The students from Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 visited many of Florence’s famous sights, including il Duomo de Santa Maria del Fiore, River Arno and Ponte Vecchio.
Later in their trip, they enjoyed a visit to nearby Pisa and also explored the more contemporary wonders of the Lamborghini and Ducati factories near Bologna.
Here is a photo gallery of their trip.
Our supremely talented Amabile choir is preparing to represent the UK at the European Choir Games in Sweden.
The event takes place from October 28 to November 5 in Norrkoping, home of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, located 160 km south of Sweden’s capital Stockholm.
It brings together choirs from across the world for choir competitions, concerts, workshops and international exchange – in a nation that is famous for internationally acclaimed choirs and singing groups.
Amabile qualified for the the competition by winning the GSA Choir of the Year in Warwick in March.
The group has been rehearsing hard for months, including over half term, and we wish them the very best of luck ahead of their trip.
Our Head Girl & Boy team for this year are Sian and Hugh, who will be assisted by Deputy Head Girls Eleanor and Olivia and Deputy Head Boys Arjun and Ruben.
The team began their tenure at the end of the last academic year and recently spoke at our annual Speech Day which was held in the Philharmonic Hall.
Over the coming year, they will perform a number of key roles, leading the student voice, working with senior staff to influence school policy, mentoring younger pupils and representing Merchant Taylors’ at a number of formal events across the UK.
Last Thursday, Year 13 History & Politics students had a great trip to London and enjoyed the chance to visit several notable locations. Students had the opportunity to visit the Cabinet War Rooms, the Churchill Museum, the UK Supreme Court, and a walking tour up Whitehall which included the Cenotaph.
After lunch in Trafalgar Square, they went on a tour of the Houses of Commons, Lords, and voting lobbies, learning lots to help with their A Level course. The tour concluded in Westminster Hall, built around the time of William the Conqueror and recently used for the lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth II. During their visit, the group took part in a workshop on debating and law-making in Parliament, in which Sofia acted as Prime Minister, Amaya as Leader of the Opposition, and Rohan as Speaker of the Commons.
The students were also fortunate to hear from Robert Evans, son of our very own Mr Evans, who works at Portcullis House as a researcher for Justin Madden MP. Robert spoke about the role of an MP, as well as his own position and the experience of working in Parliament.
Scottish Rugby has chosen Merchant Taylors’ School as the North West hub for its Scotland Qualified Pathway Programme.
The UK-wide programme aims to identify and develop young players who live outside Scotland but are eligible to play for its national teams because they, their parents or grandparents were born north of the border.
From Sunday 24 September, boys and girls aged between 14 and 17 can take part in training and assessment sessions led by SRU coaches, with a selected group of players going on to take part in further training camps and play in a regional game series in January. Each session will be at Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School on Liverpool Road in Crosby.
Coaches from grassroots rugby clubs and other schools are invited to nominate eligible young players from their teams to take part in the programme, while players can also apply directly with support from their parents or guardians.
Rob Brierley, SQ Pathway Manager at Scottish Rugby, said: “We are delighted to be forming a link with Merchant Taylors’, a school with an excellent rugby union pedigree. The support received from staff and the use of facilities will enable us to provide high-quality coaching and opportunities for Scottish qualified players from across the North West of England.
Jonny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors and Scotland)
“Scotland has benefited at age group level and beyond from the region’s talent, with players such as Jonny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors and Scotland – pictured left), who was originally from Liverpool, and we look forward to unearthing many more new talents through the programme.
“We are also looking forward to working the Merchant Taylors’ rugby department, sharing best practice and coaching ideas with staff so that all students will benefit from our new partnership.”
Sam Cooke, head of sport at Merchant Taylors’, said: “Rugby has always been a key feature of life at Merchant Taylors’ and it remains so to this day. Our new relationship with Scottish Rugby will not only offer new opportunities for eligible players to pursue a potential international pathway with Scotland, but it will also bring fresh perspectives and experience to our own rugby coaching.
“We have a number of pupils who have already signed up to the sessions and I would encourage boys and girls from all local clubs and schools to engage with the programme if they think they qualify and would relish an exciting new challenge.”
Interested players should contact Scottish rugby by email at: [email protected]
The development of our new pavilion at Hall Road is now well advanced and we are excited to be entering the final phases of the project.
As you can see from the latest photographs, the structure is now complete and internal works are underway.
All doors and windows have now been glazed and it is possible to get a glimpse of the view that visitors will enjoy from our cafe area.
Further work to decorate and furnish internal spaces is progressing at pace, while contractors will also be working to finalise external spaces such as the car park and entrance pathways.
Pupils at Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School have achieved a remarkable set of GCSE results this year.
54% of all grades were awarded at grade 9 to 7, the equivalent of a former A or A*, a third of all examinations were awarded grades 9 to 8 and 82% of all pupils recorded at least one of those highest grades.
Among the incredible individual performances across a range of subject areas were three girls who achieved a remarkable ten grade 9s – Varshaa P, Manhita D and Mayukhi M, who also achieved an additional grade 8 in her scores.
Lily A achieved nine grades 9s and one grade 8, while Amelia H attained a highly impressive eight grade 9s, one grade 8 and one grade 7.
A fifth of all girls recorded 100% of their grades at 9 to 7, including Kei H, Lucy R, Lara W, Jasleen D, Courtney D-G, Katie L and Anna S.
Bridget Ward, Head of Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, said:
“Our girls can be incredibly proud of their achievements at GCSE this year and we are thrilled to see their hard work reflected in the grades they have been able to attain today.
“In the national context, where there has been a return to pre-pandemic grading and an expected reduction in the numbers of higher grades, it is especially pleasing to see that our results have not followed the national trend and that many of our girls have continued to achieve the highest grades, above the levels we saw in 2019.
“I also offer enormous thanks to our staff, whose passion, support and hard work with the girls on a daily basis has helped them to reach their full potential.”
Merchant Taylors’ Boys School is celebrating another year of achievement by its pupils in GCSE examinations.
54% of all GCSE grades were awarded at grade 9 to 7, the equivalent of a former A or A*, while 34% were awarded grades 9 to 8 and more than four fifths of all pupils recorded at least one of those highest grades.
There were strong performances across the school in a variety of subject areas. Among the incredible individual success stories was Sajay J, who achieved a remarkable ten grade 9s, and Adam B, who recorded nine grades 9s and two grade 8s.
Kevin Z also achieved nine grades 9s and one grade 8, while William C attained a highly impressive eight grade 9s, two grade 8s and one grade 7 and Drew H scored seven grade 9s and three 8s.
Douglas F, Charles L, Alexander G, James G and Max H-K were among the boys who impressively recorded 100% of their grades at 9 to 7.
Deiniol Williams, Head of Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, said:
“The boys have once again done incredibly well in their GCSEs this year, the culmination of their passion for learning over the past two years and beyond.
“Their success across a wide range of subjects reflects the collective commitment to academic excellence that our pupils and staff hold dear at Merchant Taylors’. Our team staff also deserve enormous credit and thanks for helping each pupil to maximise their individual potential.”
Pupils at Merchant Taylors’ are celebrating after achieving an outstanding set of GCSE results.
Of all GCSE grades awarded to boys and girls, 54% were at grade 9 to 7, the equivalent of a former A or A*, while more than a third of all examinations were awarded grades 9 to 8 and 82% of all pupils recorded at least one of those highest grades.
There were strong performances across the school in a variety of subject areas. Among the incredible individual success stories were Varshaa P and Manhita D, who both achieved a remarkable ten grade 9s, alongside Sajay J and Mayukhi M, who also achieved an additional grade 8.
Kevin Z and Lily A achieved nine grades 9s and one grade 8, as did Adam B, who also recorded an additional grade 8 within his 11 examination subjects. William C attained a spectacular eight grade 9s, two grade 8s and one grade 7, whilst Amelia H achieved an impressive eight grade 9s, one grade 8 and one grade 7.
In total, 17% of all pupils recorded 100% of grades at 7 to 9, including Drew H (seven grade 9s and three grades 8s), Douglas F (six 9s and four 8s), Kei H (seven 9s, two 8s), Lucy R (six 9s, four 8s) and Charles L (four 9s, six 8s).
Bridget Ward, Head of Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, said:
“Our girls can be incredibly proud of their achievements at GCSE this year and we are thrilled to see their hard work reflected in the grades they have been able to attain today.
“In the national context, where there has been a return to pre-pandemic grading and an expected reduction in the numbers of higher grades, it is especially pleasing to see that our results have not followed the national trend and that many of our girls have continued to achieve the highest grades, above the levels we saw in 2019.”
Deiniol Williams, Head of Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, said:
“The boys have once again done incredibly well in their GCSEs this year, the culmination of their passion for learning over the past two years and beyond.
“Their success across a wide range of subjects reflects the collective commitment to academic excellence that our pupils and staff hold dear at Merchant Taylors’ and we are pleased to see each of them maximise their individual potential.”
Claire Tao, Executive Head at Merchant Taylors’, said: “GCSEs represent the first taste of external examinations for the majority of pupils and our boys and girls have displayed tremendous resilience and character to focus on their studies and demonstrate their abilities.
“I must give special thanks to our talented teams of staff across both schools, who have offered educational and emotional support to pupils throughout, and they can be proud of their impact on pupils’ lives both now and in the future.”
Sixth Form students at Merchant Taylors’ are celebrating a year of excellent A Level results.
An impressive 32% of grades were recorded at A*-A, while nearly two-thirds of all grades attained fell within the A*-B range.
Six students demonstrated excellent academic prowess by securing three or more A* grades. Hemanth Bheemireddy, who achieved an outstanding four A* and an A, has secured his place at Cambridge to pursue Natural Sciences. Ali Saeed, with an excellent four A* grades, will take a gap year before furthering his studies. Maya Ravindran and Harini Sethurama both achieved three A* grades and an A* in their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). They will be moving forward to study Medicine and Surgery at Newcastle University and Medicine at Sheffield University, respectively.
Head Girl Jessica Furlong also achieved three A* grades and will be joining her peer, Maya, at Newcastle University to study Medicine and Surgery. Alice McKee, after securing three A* grades as well, will be heading to Birmingham University to study Law.
Impressively, an additional 18 Sixth Form boys and girls achieved grades exclusively at A* or A. This stellar group includes two students who have earned spots at Cambridge – Lydia Baldwin, who will be studying Music, and Sophie Ennis, who will be pursuing English. Both Lydia and Sophie secured an A* and two A grades.
Yash Hanchanale, who earned two A* and two A grades, and George Johnston, with his achievement of two A* and one A grade, have both performed remarkably well. George has successfully secured a place at the University of Manchester to study Physics whilst Alexander Raw, with one A* and two A grades, has clinched a spot at the University of Liverpool to pursue a degree in Medicine.
The majority of students are set to advance to their first-choice universities, which include prestigious institutions like Oxbridge and numerous Russell Group universities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Queen Mary University of London. Students from Merchant Taylors’ will be pursuing a diverse array of courses including Computer Science, Dentistry, Geography, and Concept Art for Games and Film.
In light of OfQual’s forecast that results would revert to pre-pandemic standards; we are overjoyed to announce that our results have diverged from this trend. Our students have not just met the pre-pandemic standards, but in some cases far exceeded them, showcasing their resilience and dedication despite the challenges posed in recent times.
Claire Tao, the Executive Head at Merchant Taylors’, said:
“Academic achievement plays a vital role in a Merchant Taylors’ education, so we are delighted to witness our boys and girls securing excellent grades once again this year.
“The outstanding results at A*-B showcase the remarkable performance of our students, underlining that both boys and girls can thrive in an environment that champions academic excellence and fosters a passion for learning. Such achievements also reflect the support they have received from our dedicated staff and their parents and our wider education provision they have had the opportunity to access, which has undoubtedly equipped them to reach the pinnacle of success at Merchant Taylors’ Sixth Form.”
Deiniol Williams, Head of Boys’ School at Merchant Taylors’, said: “Our boys have performed exceptionally well, and they should take great pride in their accomplishments.
“Our students have demonstrated resilience, diligence, and an unwavering commitment to their studies. Their achievements are a testament to their hard work. We wholeheartedly wish them the very best as they set forth on their chosen paths.”
Head of Girls’ School at Merchant Taylors’, Bridget Ward, said: “I am immensely proud of our girls, who have all worked incredibly hard for their exam success and are now reaping the rewards of their efforts. Their individual drive and tenacity have truly stood out, paving the way for them to achieve their aspirations.
“This momentous day doesn’t signify an end, but rather, it heralds the start of bright futures.”
