Birkenhead School set to admit girls after 147 years

Oct 19 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

WIRRAL’S prestigious boys-only Birkenhead School is to make a break with almost 150 years of history by admitting girls throughout all age groups from next year.

Letters have been sent to parents of pupils saying that for the first time since it was founded in 1860 it will become co-educational in September 2008.

The school has already made tentative steps towards this with a mixed sixth form and nursery and had been in negotiation to merge the boys and girls schools.

But that idea was abandoned after the shock announcement last month that the neighbouring all-girls Birkenhead High school would abandon its fee-paying status to become an academy.

Yesterday that plan was criticised by one of the country’s leading education experts, former chief inspector of schools Professor Chris Woodhead.

He said unless the all-girls school was facing “imminent financial collapse” he could see no good reason for such a change by a respected independent establishment.

“The existing children of the school – which has an entrance examination – are bright children, going to a school geared to high academic standards,” said Prof Woodhead.

“If it becomes an academy it will no longer be able to select brighter children and be able to concentrate on their needs.”

Prof Woodhead predicted the school would also see staff leave despite the reassurances made by the school, and added: “You cannot change a school so fundamentally and assume it will continue to provide the same high standard of excellence.”

He added: “I wish the school well and hope it succeeds but it seems a very risky business. It’s incontrovertible that the school we have at the moment will cease to exist and a different school will be created in its place.”

Architects yesterday visited Birkenhead School to prepare the necessary expansion and facilities to accommodate girls.

Last night, headmaster John Clark said the radical move to go co-ed was accelerated by the girls school’s decision to drop its independent status.

He said the possibility of becoming co-educational had always been a “strong option”.

But more recently the boys school has been inundated with calls from parents at the girls school since the academy plan was announced, asking if they could enrol their daughters.

“It’s a huge moment for the school, a break with our history, but I hope opening up our ethos and history to girls and boys,” said Mr Clark.

He added that the school would have been “quite happy” to remain a single sex school and its financial position remained strong, but this was an opportunity to strengthen the school academically and in terms of pupils numbers.

He said most parents were supportive of the change and the views of many families had changed as a result of the plans for Birkenhead High.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Girls Day School Trust which oversees the running of Birkenhead High, declined to “debate in print with Mr Woodhead” and said their prime concern was the best interests of the students.

She said staff at the school were “overwhelmingly in favour” of the academy bid and were excited by the opportunities it would present.

liammurphy