Pupils, staff and parents from our two senior schools gathered at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for our annual Speech Day celebrations.

They were joined at two separate events by the school’s board of governors and invited guests including former members of staff, the Mayor of Sefton and the Vice Lord Lieutenant for Merseyside.

We spent the time celebrating the achievements of pupils at our Girls’ School and Boys’ School and reflecting on everything that has happened over the past 12 months.

Our guest speaker at the Girls’ Speech Day was Old Girl Emma Watkinson, CEO and co-founder of SilkFred. Emma spoke about what she has discovered on her journey, the importance of resilience and making sure you look back on just how far you have come when measuring your success.

This year’s guest speaker at the Boys’ School event was Old Crosbeian Chris Hildrey, director of Hildrey Studio and the founder of ProxyAddress. Chris spoke about finding a solution to help those without an address remain a part of society, about change and how pupils’ have the ability to shape their own future.

Development of a new pavilion at our Hall Road sports ground continues to progress, with the foundations of the structure now in place.

The new purpose-built facility will include four changing rooms for pupils, two changing rooms for staff, a medical treatment room and a social space with modern catering facilities for pupils, parents and visitors.

It will be complemented by a redesigned pitch configuration to accommodate a wide variety of sports.

Development of our site at Hall Road is part of our wider five-year strategy for Merchant Taylors’. Maximising the potential of our physical spaces will create an inspiring learning environment that shapes minds and develops the whole individual.

Our estates strategy seeks to preserve our historic assets while creating a platform for the future success of the school through the development of high-quality, integrated buildings and facilities which derive benefit for the entire school community.

For a full timeline of development progress and more information about our five-year strategy, please visit Strategy 2022-2027.

Pupils at Stanfield Preparatory School enjoyed celebrating National Poetry Day.

Children took part in a number of different activities, such as reading their favourite poems and sharing them with friends. Our Year 1 pupils also enjoyed reciting poems in our outdoor stage area.

Also, a special well done to Vivan in Year 4, who recently had his own poem published in the BAMNE annual magazine and was chosen to read it aloud at the organisation’s annual general meeting.

Classics students visited Manchester Art Gallery to view its display of mythological paintings.

Girls and boys were able to see the Greek poet Sappho, one of the rivers of the Underworld and many famous figures from Greek mythology, including Medusa and the goddess Venus.

Two students also presented their own talks about some of the artwork on display.

Our U12/U13 girls’ football team made history by playing in – and winning – their first-ever competitive fixture.

The team claimed a 5-4 victory against St Mary’s College, with goals from Amelia (2) Faith (2) and Molly wrapping up the win in a tight and competitive match.

In doing so, they became not only the first girls’ team to ever represent Merchant Taylors’ in a competitive fixture, but also the first to claim a victory and also the first to receive the inaugural Merchant Taylors’ Team of the Week prize.

Director of Sport, Patrick Roberts said:

“I am absolutely delighted with the Year 7/8 girls’ footballers who represented Merchant Taylors’ with such passion, energy and enthusiasm. For some of the girls, this was their first ever game of football; I am incredibly proud of every single one of them who demonstrated such a positive attitude and a willingness to ‘give it a go’.

“A special thank you to Mr Sheen for motivating and inspiring the girls and leading the fixture.

“We hope that more and more girls will be inspired by their peers and will continue to attend not only the football club, but also the many other sports clubs we offer here, and represent our school teams. We want to further develop an ethos where all students can take advantage of the range of opportunities that are available.”

We have begun rolling out our new 1:1 device strategy for senior school pupils.

Girls and boys in Year 7 have each now received a Microsoft Surface Go 3 as part of our wider digital strategy to improve the digital literacy and skills of our pupils. By September 2023, all senior school pupils will have access to their own individual device.

We are committed to developing our curriculum model and how we deliver our lessons and we believe this strategy has the potential to transform the education we provide to our pupils. This has already been recognised with our recent admission to the Microsoft Incubator School Programme and the news that we have been shortlisted for an innovation award by Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

It also reflects a key strand of our five-year strategic plan for Merchant Taylors’, namely to be a school that is forward-thinking and adaptable. Further details of our five-year strategic plan can be found here.

We are deeply saddened at the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and we extend our deepest condolences to the Royal Family on behalf of the entire Merchant Taylors’ community.

As the longest-reigning monarch in our history, Queen Elizabeth devoted her life to the service of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The legacy of her work through her sense of service and duty and the way she sought to seek consensus and reconciliation amongst others will endure in the lives and memories of families across the world.

Over the coming days and weeks, we will all mourn her loss in different ways and reflect on the impact that her death may have on those who have also lost loved ones in recent times.

As a community, we will also come together to mark her incredible life and say ‘thank you’ for everything she has done.

Claire Tao
Executive Head, Merchant Taylors’ School

Pupils at Merchant Taylors’ School are celebrating after achieving excellent GCSE results.

Of all GCSE grades awarded to boys and girls, more than 50% were at grade 7 to 9, the equivalent of a former A or A*, with 90% of all pupils achieving those higher grades.

The number of higher GCSE grades awarded this year surpassed those achieved in 2019, when the last set of formal public examinations were taken prior to the pandemic.

There were strong performances across the school in a variety of subject areas. Among the individual success stories were Darren T and Hugh L, who achieved straight 9s, Eeva D and James W, who each achieved eight grade 9s and one grade 8, and Jess B who attained eight grade 9s and three grade 8s.

Bridget Ward, Head of Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, said:

“Our girls can be incredibly proud of their achievements at GCSE this year and it is especially pleasing to see so many achieving the highest possible grades.

“This year group had its two years of GCSE study disrupted by the pandemic and this is the first time that public examinations have taken place since 2019, so their achievements this summer are even more remarkable.

“They have displayed tremendous resilience and character to retain their focus and realise their individual goals.

“Special thanks must go our excellent team of staff, who have offered unwavering academic and pastoral support to girls throughout this period and they should also be very proud of the positive impact they have had.”

Deiniol Williams, Head of Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, said:

“Our boys have performed tremendously well this year and their achievements are even more impressive when viewed through the prism of the past two years.

“It has been a challenging time for pupils and staff, but they can all be proud of how they have pulled together through periods of remote learning and hybrid working to deliver an incredible set of results in the boys’ first taste of external examinations.

“The breadth of success across a wide range of subjects reflects the deep commitment to academic excellence that we hold at Merchant Taylors’. Boys know that no matter what their areas of passion, they will be guided by subject specialists at every step to achieve their own individual potential.