Calday Grange Grammar School
| Calday Grange Grammar School | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 School crest bearing the school’s motto - Nisi Dominus Frustra (“Without God, [it is] in vain")  Exterior of the Walker and Hawkins buildings, prior to extensive refurbishment | ||||||||||
| Location | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
Grammar School Lane , , CH48 8GG England 53°22′03″N 3°09′47″W / 53.3675°N 3.163°W | ||||||||||
| Information | ||||||||||
| Type | Grammar school | |||||||||
| Motto | Nisi Dominus Frustra | |||||||||
| Established | 1636 | |||||||||
| 139144 Tables | ||||||||||
| Ofsted | Reports | |||||||||
Chair of Governors | Martin Underwood | |||||||||
| Stephen Gray | ||||||||||
| Gender | Boys (co-educational sixth form) | |||||||||
| Age | 11 to 18 | |||||||||
| Enrolment | 1,509 (Jan 2024)[1] | |||||||||
| Houses | Glegg Bennett Hollowell | |||||||||
| Colour | ||||||||||
| Alumni | "Old Caldeians" | |||||||||
| Website | calday | |||||||||
Calday Grange Grammar School, commonly shortened to Calday, is a non-denominational, selective boys' grammar school in West Kirby on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Founded in 1636, the school admits boys aged 11 to 18 and, since 1985, girls for the sixth form only. The school hosts the Wirral Able Children Centre,[2] and has been awarded Sportsmark Gold and Investors in People status. It was previously a specialist technology and modern foreign languages (MFL) college under the former high performing specialist schools (HPSS) programme.
By September 2019, a total of 1,492 students were in attendance at the school, of which, 399 belonged to the co–educational sixth form.
School history
[edit]Founded in 1636, Calday Grange Grammar School is one of the oldest schools in England and Wirral's oldest surviving school. Originally established by local landowner William Glegg, the school has remained at its present site on Grammar School Lane since opening in the 17th Century. It is located in Grange, an exurb of West Kirby (historically known as Calday Grange, giving its name to the school).
On 1 January 2009, the ownership of the school's land and buildings was transferred to the Calday Grange Trust, a charitable partnership between Calday Grange Grammar School, the University of Liverpool, Unilever Research and Development and Maestro Services. Calday Grange Grammar School was the first Wirral school to convert to Trust Status.[3]
In September 2011, the school informed parents, "The School has received notification from Companies House that the Calday Grange Trust Company has been dissolved. This has been notified by the Governing Body who contacted Wirral Local Authority and indicated their wish to revert to the Foundation Schools Instrument of Government".[4]
In July 2011, the process for converting to an academy school was begun, and the school converted to academy status with effect from 1 January 2013.[5]
Location and overview
[edit]The main school is on Grammar School Lane, West Kirby, close to the Dee Estuary coastline of the Wirral Peninsula. Students travel primarily from the Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales areas.[6] The main site is occupied by ten school buildings, all-weather courts and fields.
In addition to an on-site swimming pool, sports hall, fitness suite and outdoor recreation areas within the school grounds, Calday's Glasspool Field, on nearby Telegraph Road, offers three rugby union pitches, a cricket field, athletics facilities, artificial turf hockey pitches and tennis courts for the students' physical education.
House system
[edit]Calday uses a house system, an integral part of the school community. House Captains and School Council members work together to create a stronger student voice and further the community spirit of the school.
The three Houses are named after former Headmasters; Bennett, Glegg, and Hollowell, with each house having its own colour (seen below). Student uniforms differ depending on which house they belong to: stripes on school ties, and the school's crest worn on blazers and pullovers each incorporating the student's applicable house colour.
Bennett
Hollowell
Glegg
Academic performance
[edit]In 2015 96% of Year 11 students achieved 5 GCSE grades A* to C with 96.2% gaining 5 A* to C grades including English and Maths. Four students achieved A* in 10 or more subjects.[7]
In 2019 the school was inspected and judged 'Good', repeating the outcome of Ofsted inspections in 2016 and 2010.[8][9][10] There was a further inspection in December 2024 reiterating the previous rating.[11]
Extracurricular
[edit]Volunteering opportunities for students include trips to the Refilwe Community Project in South Africa which the school has been involved in for over 10 years. Students have also been involved with various independent entrepreneurial pursuits.[12]
Students may take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award,[13] as well as a variety of enrichment activities and clubs including Fencing, Cooking, Robotics, Classics, Gardening, and 3D Design.[14]
Private music tuition is also available to students, with instrumental, composition and vocal lessons currently taken by approximately 200 students at Calday.[15]
The school is ranked 7th for sporting achievement, with the November 2019 edition of School Sport magazine placing Calday in the top 1% of schools in the country for sporting outcomes.
The school has maintained a Combined Cadet Force since 1916,[16] when a unit of the Officers' Training Corps was first formed.
Notable former students
[edit] | This list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (July 2026) |
- John Francis Ashby,[17] English rugby player and member of the 1910 British Lions tour to Argentina
- Andrew Baddeley, athlete in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics[18]
- Daniel Craig, English actor known for his role as James Bond in the 007 films [19]
- James Hype, English DJ and record producer
- Philip May, banker and husband of former Prime Minister Theresa May[20]
- Andy McCluskey, singer/songwriter best known as the lead vocalist for OMD[21]
- Sam Quek, British field hockey player, winning Olympic gold in 2016
- Dick Uren, England international rugby union player[22]
- Peter Venables, psychologist[23]
References
[edit]- ↑ "DoE School census: Calday Grange Grammar School". DoE. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ "Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council: Promoting Potential: The Wider Education Community: Wirral Able Children Centre" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
- ↑ McCann, Sue (28 January 2009). "Calday Grange Grammar becomes Wirral's first Trust school". Wirral News. Liverpool: Trinity Mirror.
- ↑ "Newsletter 9th September 2011" (PDF). Parents' newsletter. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ↑ "Newsletter 2nd November 2012" (PDF). Parents' newsletter. 2 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ "Calday Grange Grammar School: Information: About the school". Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ↑ "GCSEs". Archived from the original on 28 September 2015.
- ↑ "Calday Grange Grammar School". Ofsted. 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ↑ "Inspection Report: Calday Grange Grammar School, 17–18 November 2010". Retrieved 8 December 2010.
- ↑ "West Kirby Calday Grange school loses outstanding Ofsted status". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool. 7 December 2010.
- ↑ "Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Calday Grange Grammar School". Ofsted. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
- ↑ Murphy, Liam (3 December 2007). "Calday Grange: students to open own art gallery". Liverpool Daily Post.
- ↑ "DofE - Calday Grange Grammar School". calday.co.uk/. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- ↑ "Enrichment Timetable - Calday Grange Grammar School". calday.co.uk/. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- ↑ "Private Music Lessons - Calday Grange Grammar School". calday.co.uk/. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- ↑ "CCF".
- ↑ "John Ashby". British & Irish Lions. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
- ↑ Pearce, James (17 July 2008). "Golden greats are Baddeley's inspiration". Liverpool Echo.
- ↑ Dowle, Jayne. "West Kirby: the forgotten seaside town of Daniel Craig's schooldays". Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Philip May: the Prime Minister's closest political adviser". New Statesman. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ↑ "Andy McCluskey – Electronic Sound". Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Dick Uren". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 30 June 2010.
- ↑ Venables, Peter (4 August 2017). "Peter Venables obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
Further reading
[edit]- Protheroe, M. J. (1976). A History of Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby, 1636–1976. West Kirby: The Parents' Association.
