On Tuesday 26th March sixteen boys, Joseph Bigley, Charlie Johnson, Alex Meadows, James Randall, Zac Richardson, Sulaimaan Ahmed, Raiden Swindells, Matthew Hannon, Junior Connor, Hugh Lawrence, Rajan Naidoo, Harry Wynne, Buckley Loftus, Raveen Mallawa, Hemanth Bheemireddy, and Methul Gamage, went to Crosby Library for the Sefton Super Reads award afternoon.

Pupils from several local schools gathered to hear two of the shortlisted writers, Ele Fountain, author of Boy 87, and Sylvia Bishop, author of The Secret of the Night Train, talk about the inspiration for their writing, and the background to the books. Boy 87 was written in Addis Ababa, where Ele and her family had moved. Some of the characters were based on the Ethiopian women she had met there. As she had been a publisher’s editor before she wrote her own novel, Ele decided to use a pseudonym so she was unknown to publishers, who accepted her book on its own merits. Ele’s favourite authors include Philip Reeve and Patrick Ness, while Sylvia loves John Steinbeck. As Sylvia loves to do research, she made the train journey from Paris to Istanbul, before using it in her book. She is now working on a novel about smugglers in the eighteenth century, researching in the National Maritime Museum and its library.

Pupils asked some very perceptive and searching questions, before the winners of the book review competition were announced. Rajan Naidoo won a prize for his review of Charlie and Me by Mark Lowery. The winner of Sefton Super Reads 2019 was Boy 87, the first award Ele has ever won. She said she was especially delighted, as this award is decided by the votes of children.

Mrs Rea and Mrs Coleman, and all the boys, enjoyed spending the afternoon hearing about books

Twelve year old Darren Toh, who was born deaf, has been awarded the highest possible IQ score by MENSA, months after passing his GCSE Maths exam with a Grade 9. 

Darren did not speak until the age of five after being diagnosed with bilateral genetic congenital deafness and first learned to communicate by using sign language. However, it has now been confirmed he is among the 1% of MENSA applicants to record a maximum IQ score of 162, surpassing the figure reportedly held by both Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Any MENSA score above 140 is considered ‘genius’ level.

Darren received a special needs statement and enrolled in a specialist school at a young age, but his progress by the age of seven encouraged his parents to place him to MTS. Since then, he has won the academic prize every year and developed a passion for maths. Last summer, he sat a GCSE Maths exam – four years earlier than usual – and passed with a score of 92%. He has also been at the forefront of our enrichment programme and was part of the school team that reached last year’s final of the international Maths in Motion challenge.

Darren lives in Aughton with his parents, younger sister Corinne, aged eight, and 14-year-old brother Brendan, who has autism. He also plays piano at grade six, has studied saxophone to grade five and is at grade four in LAMDA drama and performing arts.

Headmaster David Wickes said: “Darren is a remarkable young man who has overcome great personal challenges and everybody at Merchant Taylors’ is extremely proud of his achievements.

“To make such incredible progress at this young age is testament to his determination and intelligence, as well as the support of his family, friends and teachers. There is no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him and we will continue to do all we can through our academic and extra-curricular programmes to help him realise his enormous potential.”

Darren’s mother, paediatrician Dr May Ng, said: “Darren was born deaf but has never let his disability stop him from doing anything. After scoring 92% in his GCSE Maths exam, he is taking GCSE Further Maths later this year.

“We have not looked back since he joined Merchant Taylors’ as the school has nurtured him through the years with fantastic teachers along the way. He surprised us by saying he wants to be a paediatrician like me when he’s older, which is great to hear, and I’m sure he can achieve whatever he sets his mind to.”

Darren appeared on BBC North West Tonight talking to David Guest about his achievements:

Credit: BBC North West Tonight

The School was shortlisted in recognition of the amazing work it does in our local community through the Merchants in the Community Project and School-wide fundraisers led by the School Council.

Five of our Upper Sixth boys were asked to give a presentation on the programme in front of a panel of five judges, before answering questions on the impact of the programme in the local area. The judges praised our team for their presentation and for their commitment to supporting the local community. The judges commented that our pupils had clearly benefitted from the learning and development opportunities provided during the programme.

The successful regional finalists will be invited to the magnificent Goldsmiths’ Hall in London for a ceremony and a chance to showcase their community engagement activities. Winning schools will also receive financial rewards to enable the continuation and expansion of existing programmes.
The Goldsmiths’ Company has launched its first award for Community Engagement. The awards, which are student-led, celebrate the positive impact schools have through charitable and voluntary initiatives within their local communities.

Well done Boys!