Independent girls’ school gets academy go-ahead

Oct 3 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

AGREEMENT has been reached to turn Wirral’s last independent all-girls school into one of the Government’s flagship academies.

Birkenhead High School had sent letters to parents last Friday saying talks with government education officials over the switch were in the early stages.

But yesterday the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) which oversees the running of the school, said they had reached agreement with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on the change to the school status.

It means the school will abandon more than a century of academic selection, possibly by September 2009.

Last night, one anxious mother whose daughters attend the school said parents were angry the announcement was made after fees were paid for this year and families had bought new uniforms.

“Everyone I have spoken to is angry at the way it’s been dealt with,” she said.

“We have been paying fees for years and then it is announced it will become a state school and we might as well not have been paying those fees. It’s not great if you have been investing in that school for years.”

But the school’s headmistress, Carole Evans, said the move would protect the school’s future.

“We are a successful, high performing school with a high profile on the Wirral,” she said.

“In looking to secure the school’s long term future as a centre of academic excellence locally, the GDST has sought to protect our commitment to girls’ only education alongside the breadth of access for which the GDST and its schools are renowned.

“These two together with our reputation for high quality teaching and learning are the critical factors necessary to ensure the character, ethos and achievement of Birkenhead High School and the optimum size for delivery of a curriculum fit for 21st century.”

Barbara Harrison, chief executive of the GDST said: “We have reached an agreement with the DCSF to commence the process of our Birkenhead high school becoming an academy.

“The GDST’s ethos, aspirations and values are key components of any ongoing development, and will remain firmly imprinted in the design of the new school, as will be its distinctive academic and stimulating curriculum, and the fact that this will be the first all-through girls academy, including the crucial years of 11-16.

“The well-being of the current cohort of children at the school will be paramount in our minds through the negotiations.

“The new academy will provide first class educational continuity for these students.

“It will also offer an exciting vision for the provision of first-class education for future generations of children living in the Wirral, including those who wouldn’t normally be able to benefit from GDST’s expertise.

“We have begun discussions with teachers, parents of children at the school, and other key local stakeholders, about the benefits and wider implications of the academy proposal and will keep them informed of key developments going forward.”

The announcement comes a month after the former Belvedere School for Girls became an academy in Liverpool, transforming it from a fee-paying institution.

Birkenhead High provides education for girls from ages three to 18. It has around 900 pupils paying up to £2,300 a term and was founded in 1901.

This year it celebrated five consecutive years of 100% pass rates at A-level with 40% of pupils achieving three or more grade As.

liammurphy@dailypost.co.uk