A CRUCIAL meeting is due to be held today to decide the future of one of Wirral's oldest schools.

Governors of Calday Grange Grammar are set to meet with trustees, and LEA and Department for Education officials, following a letter from the Government demanding the school sort out its problems.

Calday has been mired in public difficulties following the suspension of its headteacher, Andrew Hall, almost a year ago.

Last month, Education Secretary Michael Gove told the school he was “deeply concerned about the lack of resolution” over the continued absence of Mr Hall, whose mystery suspension dates back to last October.

He gave chair of governors Margaret Twemlow four weeks to address what he termed “a breach of its statutory duty” over the school’s failure to appoint governors correctly – otherwise it faces the prospect of enforcement and ultimately legal action.

Today's meeting comes as a group of parents came out in support of Mrs Twemlow, and in a letter to the Daily Post insisted "the Full Governing Body is doing everything possible to unravel a complicated legal issue over the status of the Trust and resolve the matter with Mr Hall".

In January, 2009, the 1,450-pupil school became the first in Wirral to become a trust, meaning it withdrew from the local council network.

After forming the Calday Grange Trust, the school enlisted outside partners the University of Liverpool, Unilever and Maestro Services Ltd to share expertise and contribute to the governance of the school.