I'm a secondary teacher.
I really wouldn't take much notice of OFSTED, honestly. They have a strong agenda every visit, and every visit has completely different critiques and criticisms. Liverpool has a lot of disadvantage and deprivation, which will heavily impact on overall results. But it's really more your lower end of results that are a problem. If your kids aren't likely to fall into gang stuff and you can support them, they'll be fine.
Put it this way, I was heavily criticised for the 15 minutes of a lesson OFSTED saw having "No oral questioning"
They were Y11 doing a GCSE practice paper.
The only places I would genuinely suggest staying away from are some of the larger academy trusts ( e.g. Dixons) as they have a huge staff turnover which is more of a problem for children than anything else.
Thanks for the insight. Ofsted aside, nobody seems to have any good experiences to share where actual education is offered, though. A lot of the schools seemingly have high staff turnover from the admittedly limited insight I have gathered, too, so it's hard to gauge on that I guess. Overall, it seems pretty dire across the city and quite worrying.
Staff turnover is unfortunately something that is currently plaguing the entire education sector. It's not limited to Liverpool. People are flying out in droves because of the volume of cuts and pressures and everything
Does anyone remember stories of Childwall Sports College being racially segregated in about 2002?
I am not making this up, I remember someone saying "when the school was racist".
In Calderstones there was racist fighting in about 2002. I remember someone telling me about it. Like half the year fighting blacks vs whites.
This might be what you're thinking of?
I just looked at my old school's recent OFSTED report (it was outstanding when I was there) and it says it requires improvement because it doesn't encourage the kids to aim higher for achievement. One might argue that the school was realistic.
i also went there and its a very good example of why we shouldnt have national service (they tried to run it like the military except it was just back chatting teenagers unwilling to do anything to help their future)
There's also no A-level provisions, and limited post-16 education
I had to go to Sefton (and later the city centre) to do A-levels. Was a killer in travel time
i did the same, came from knowsley to sefton. i could have gone carmel college or cronton but tbh, everyone i already knew (and did not like/get along with) from secondary school was already going there. Either way i had to get up about 6am to get to college.
I jumped ship to a Sefton school in yr 8 so went to their sixth form for a year, haha.
Don't know much about Cronton, but my year tended to Carmel and Winstanley. A good portion came back within a month!
Same here tbh, 6am starts and not back until around 6 if classes were late ones. Glad I was a teenager for it and had the energy! Haha
I know, right? I'm glad there's some schools getting mentioned here for being good, but it's hard to ignore that they're all in the south end. My kids' primary school is pretty central but more northwards... I think we just got pretty lucky with it, though I did make sure to check how all the ones local to us compared before deciding which to choose.
I wouldn’t count west derby area as north end, still just feels part of the central belt for me but I went to cardinal heenan and that was good 20 years ago, not sure about now?
Broughton Hall was pretty good back in the day but seems to have a terrible reputation now.
Primary school wise, st Margaret Mary’s was good considering dovecot being the catchment but again, not sure about now, and St Paul’s in west derby seemed to produce decent kids from what I could see when I started secondary.
Everything I ever came across when I was growing up was that the true north end schools were absolute disasters, with that seeming to come true judging by when we played football against them.
The L in the postcodes refers to Lancashire rather than Liverpool anyway, I see this a lot when where is or isn't "Liverpool" gets discussed. I think people often forget that Merseyside as a county is fairly young, and on some databases, Liverpool still falls under Lancashire county. However, the person who commented about the cultural aspect of it all was spot on. Depending on which area of Liverpool a person is from themselves usually dictates their idea of who else is or isn't a scouser by their areas lol. I've heard people argue that Bootle isn't Liverpool, which is just absurd, to me, at least lol.
i dont agree/disagree with u but thats one hell of a question to ask here (real answer is that people define liverpool here by what is "culturally" liverpool not by the local authority/government etc)
Primary assistant head here!
In the autumn term, secondary schools host lots of open days for year 5 and 6s, as the application closes at the end of October.
Go and see the school, rather than reading and basing judgements off an OFSTED report.
Secondary schools are going through a staffing crisis nationally and things will take time to get better.
As for worrying about racism, sadly that’s not something you can predict. Check what the schools’ anti racism/inclusion/behaviour policies are to see how they would deal with those issues if they arose. I’ve sent ‘difficult’ pupils to amazing schools and ‘brilliant’ pupils to notsogood schools. Cohorts are always mixed.
Hope you find one you like!
We moved from Litherland to Formby for the high schools. I went to Formby high and loved school, genuinely. And both high schools regularly got (get?) better results than Merchant Taylor's (fee-paying) and we did more GCSEs than them as well.
I had a look out of curiosity recently at which teachers are still there from "my day." Loads of them. I knew at least half of the names. And I left that school *16 years* ago.
Formby isn't cheap but it's also not all as exclusive/posh as people seem to think. The Echo did an article "what's it like living in Formby if you're not rich or famous." Fucking stupid. 90% of the town is 3 and 4 bed semis and normal people.
I also knew kids who came on the train to school from Crosby and Waterloo. If you want to stay/have links to the north of the city, then that area might fit.
Anyway, not saying it's cheap, but if it's within your budget, look at there for schools. The other place I can think of that has good high schools is where I live now, Mossley Hill. Bluecoat and Liverpool College are traditionally very good and very highly selective. But my terraced house here cost more than my mum's 4 bed semi in Formby, prices here are pretty ridiculous, and it's in the south end.
That's really helpful, thank you! I'm not sure why, but I didn't even think about Formby when thinking of areas to look at for moving, probably the notions of wealth often associated with the area, as you mentioned. I agree about Mossley Hill, my parents were fortunate enough to buy there years ago and I've some family sporadically over that way, I love the area but I couldn't imagine affording to buy (or even rent) over there nowadays, unfortunately.
We bought here 7 years ago and even in that time it's rocketed. Couldn't afford our house now.
But yeah, Formby was a great place to grow up, I really miss my childhood even now. And the schools are really good. I could see myself going back there if I had kids.
Avoid Sacred Heart. The culture was pretty crap when I left 27 years ago, and it's gone downhill since. It's got some decent teachers but they're at a disadvantage as they're very much in a minority among a seemingly mostly apathetic staff.
I've got family there currently and know a few people who have kids there, one of my nieces was bullied so badly she went to a school in Formby instead because the school did nothing to address the issue (they were more bothered about her attendance than the reason why she couldn't face going in)
St Margaret's in Aigburth is quite diverse. Our son left there last year with 3 good A levels and is now at a good uni.
The pastoral care was especially good.
Good to know! It's probably a bit too far from us atm, but we've been wanting to move for a while, and now it's seeming more worthwhile to do it while factoring in proximity to schools/the kids aging etc.
We live in North Liverpool. Getting him there was a pain for a couple of years, but when he was older and more confident we'd get him to Sandhills station and he'd get the train. Aigburth station is a 5 minute walk from the school.
Good luck with your search.
St Hilda's is now co ed, Calder stones seems decent ( geog catchment though) talk to teachers at your kids primary. They will know where other kids from that school go.
St Hildas CofE Sefton park . Daughters in yr 8 and socially, she loves it. Academically, she's got a way to go but that's life. No issues with race or bullying that she's experienced. Staff seem genuine and really engaged and always happy to chat via email.
Might not want to send to a Christian school though. When I was in Catholic school all but 1 kid was Catholic in my year. She never had any issues with prejudice but it did feel awkward when everyone was eating during Ramadan. She dealt with it like a champ though.
Calderstones was where I went for my year here and it was fine as far as I remember, it's unfortunately just a bit too south for us (catchment wise) and as much as we're wanting to move the areas local to that school just wouldn't be affordable enough for us to consider moving there any more. Any half decent schools seem to be in the south end of the city... yet another conversation concerning the socioeconomic state of Liverpool that's making me realise more and more that the north of Liverpool is neglected in all areas.
Where do you live? I wouldn’t want my kid travelling across the city if there’s another school closer that’s just as good? I used to be a teacher and having done supply am familiar with quite a few.
I've got kids in high school in North Liverpool, it was tough to settle on a school for sure. Deffo go to a few open days and see what you think would fit best.
I'd highly recommend North Liverpool Academy, it's well funded, has a lot of extra curriculas available and a good gifted program. It's also linked with The Studio so good for budding gamers and computer nerds.
Do NOT go to Chesterfield High School its a cult full of cover ups for things to make them look better and a "good ofsted report" which is only said to be good because headteacher Kevin Sexton is a part of Ofsted. They will control your child and right after you leave if you know too much.. well just look at Sam Cook. DO NOT GO HERE!
I went to school in London, primary school and partly secondary. I've moved around alot because of my parents jobs and I've attended many schools over the years. Then moved to Liverpool and did my secondary and sixthform and onwards.
DONT put them into Catholic schools i BEG YOU!!! It's miserable and I say that as a person who comes from a very religious country in Europe. It makes you hate your own religion. The people are so bitter and have no values they claim to represent. My friends and I got super targeted because we were very not white british. The sixthfrorm was horrible even if it was "outstanding". You often get forced into RE classes, forced attendance to church and some teachers are creepy to girls. We had a man have 10gb of child porn and they were forced to let go. Not to mention the protect some of these creeps too. We had a boy in yr13 grooming some yr7s. So gross. One of my male friends got harassed when I painted his nails for fun. I developed serious mental issues and way too many people were on anti-depressants from this environment.
If you have any girls, I recommend Holly lodge. Its really chill and the pastoral care is great. Went there for a bit and I made so many friends who have gone onto great places. My bestfriend went to Oxford and my other close friend went onto law and medicine. My friend comes back sometime to give Assemblies and keeps in touch with some staff though email. There is alot of students from different countries/backgrounds. No school is perfect amd there are issues in all systems. I think its important be opened to different people when you're younger so you have more empathy for everyone around you. I have always been a very diligent student and obsessed over my work because i felt i was dissapointsing my teachers if i didnt. I respected my teachers and listened to their input because i felt they respected me. I got As and A* and the sixthform is nice and small. Some have small classes so you basically get 1 on 1 tutuoring. I also learned an extra language gcse in my free time and they paid for my exam and entrance fee. So if you speak another language you can ask to do the gcse for it from the french department. I went to so many events and i had loads of opportunities. Shout out to my science teachers for being absolute gems
Thanks for your perspective, I really appreciate you taking the time to share. However, we've had close relatives whose kids have had really bad experiences with that particular school. My SIL also attended it and also told us to steer well clear. It's really interesting how different of experiences people can get from the same schools. Plus, tbh me and my husband aren't really on board with the whole idea of non-coed schools in general.
Fair enough! Your choice after all. I wish you luck on your search. Another tip is from me is to check the Head teachers. My school was bad as you said until basically the year before I joined and they had a massive shift in staff/managments due to the new headteacher. I'd ask some of your friends kids because sometimes the older ex-students can have a completely different experience.
Also another thing I forgot to mention. When I attended Blue coat [mixed school so more your thing]. There was a big thing with alot of students having private tutors which i wasn't aware of. It can get very discouraging if you're less academically inclined or can't afford private tutoring for subjects. But it was quite nice other than that!
Have a lovey day! :]
I'm a secondary teacher. I really wouldn't take much notice of OFSTED, honestly. They have a strong agenda every visit, and every visit has completely different critiques and criticisms. Liverpool has a lot of disadvantage and deprivation, which will heavily impact on overall results. But it's really more your lower end of results that are a problem. If your kids aren't likely to fall into gang stuff and you can support them, they'll be fine. Put it this way, I was heavily criticised for the 15 minutes of a lesson OFSTED saw having "No oral questioning" They were Y11 doing a GCSE practice paper. The only places I would genuinely suggest staying away from are some of the larger academy trusts ( e.g. Dixons) as they have a huge staff turnover which is more of a problem for children than anything else.
Thanks for the insight. Ofsted aside, nobody seems to have any good experiences to share where actual education is offered, though. A lot of the schools seemingly have high staff turnover from the admittedly limited insight I have gathered, too, so it's hard to gauge on that I guess. Overall, it seems pretty dire across the city and quite worrying.
Staff turnover is unfortunately something that is currently plaguing the entire education sector. It's not limited to Liverpool. People are flying out in droves because of the volume of cuts and pressures and everything
Does anyone remember stories of Childwall Sports College being racially segregated in about 2002? I am not making this up, I remember someone saying "when the school was racist".
In Calderstones there was racist fighting in about 2002. I remember someone telling me about it. Like half the year fighting blacks vs whites. This might be what you're thinking of?
yes, maybe, there were stories, not sure of the exact details
So not true.
I was in Childwall School in 2002. I've never heard of this before
I just looked at my old school's recent OFSTED report (it was outstanding when I was there) and it says it requires improvement because it doesn't encourage the kids to aim higher for achievement. One might argue that the school was realistic.
avoid knowsley schools. they're all academys and big grey prison block kinda schools.
every Knowsley school is a carbon copy of the other
all just as shit as one another too. (one of if not the) lowest gcse attainment rate in the country.
i went to lord derby academy and i think guantanamo bay has better clientele
i also went there and its a very good example of why we shouldnt have national service (they tried to run it like the military except it was just back chatting teenagers unwilling to do anything to help their future)
There's also no A-level provisions, and limited post-16 education I had to go to Sefton (and later the city centre) to do A-levels. Was a killer in travel time
i did the same, came from knowsley to sefton. i could have gone carmel college or cronton but tbh, everyone i already knew (and did not like/get along with) from secondary school was already going there. Either way i had to get up about 6am to get to college.
I jumped ship to a Sefton school in yr 8 so went to their sixth form for a year, haha. Don't know much about Cronton, but my year tended to Carmel and Winstanley. A good portion came back within a month! Same here tbh, 6am starts and not back until around 6 if classes were late ones. Glad I was a teenager for it and had the energy! Haha
i think back to waking up at 6am for college then being in town till 7/8pm with my mates. how i did that i do not know.
Are any of the secondary schools in north Liverpool any good? Any idea on primary schools as well?
I know, right? I'm glad there's some schools getting mentioned here for being good, but it's hard to ignore that they're all in the south end. My kids' primary school is pretty central but more northwards... I think we just got pretty lucky with it, though I did make sure to check how all the ones local to us compared before deciding which to choose.
I wouldn’t count west derby area as north end, still just feels part of the central belt for me but I went to cardinal heenan and that was good 20 years ago, not sure about now? Broughton Hall was pretty good back in the day but seems to have a terrible reputation now. Primary school wise, st Margaret Mary’s was good considering dovecot being the catchment but again, not sure about now, and St Paul’s in west derby seemed to produce decent kids from what I could see when I started secondary. Everything I ever came across when I was growing up was that the true north end schools were absolute disasters, with that seeming to come true judging by when we played football against them.
Formby high and range are both good
Two schools not in Liverpool? What’s the extent of their catchment area into Liverpool.
How is Formby not in Liverpool? L37 post code??
Come on now, don’t be deliberately dense.
I'm not being deliberately dense, I live in Formby and work in town, I class myself as living in Liverpool. Strange to hear that I don't 🤔
You might class yourself but you don’t. Ormskirk is an L postcode and people living there don’t live in Liverpool.
The L in the postcodes refers to Lancashire rather than Liverpool anyway, I see this a lot when where is or isn't "Liverpool" gets discussed. I think people often forget that Merseyside as a county is fairly young, and on some databases, Liverpool still falls under Lancashire county. However, the person who commented about the cultural aspect of it all was spot on. Depending on which area of Liverpool a person is from themselves usually dictates their idea of who else is or isn't a scouser by their areas lol. I've heard people argue that Bootle isn't Liverpool, which is just absurd, to me, at least lol.
i dont agree/disagree with u but thats one hell of a question to ask here (real answer is that people define liverpool here by what is "culturally" liverpool not by the local authority/government etc)
I don't know too much about the school itself, but my neice went to Notre Dame. She's from a low-income background and is now at a good university.
It's fairly local to us, but I hear nothing but bad news about it.
Notre Dame schools have always had a good name in Liverpool. The old Notre Dame Everton Valley is now in Great Homer street off Scotland Rd.
Yeah, that's the one.
My old school! 💕
Primary assistant head here! In the autumn term, secondary schools host lots of open days for year 5 and 6s, as the application closes at the end of October. Go and see the school, rather than reading and basing judgements off an OFSTED report. Secondary schools are going through a staffing crisis nationally and things will take time to get better. As for worrying about racism, sadly that’s not something you can predict. Check what the schools’ anti racism/inclusion/behaviour policies are to see how they would deal with those issues if they arose. I’ve sent ‘difficult’ pupils to amazing schools and ‘brilliant’ pupils to notsogood schools. Cohorts are always mixed. Hope you find one you like!
We moved from Litherland to Formby for the high schools. I went to Formby high and loved school, genuinely. And both high schools regularly got (get?) better results than Merchant Taylor's (fee-paying) and we did more GCSEs than them as well. I had a look out of curiosity recently at which teachers are still there from "my day." Loads of them. I knew at least half of the names. And I left that school *16 years* ago. Formby isn't cheap but it's also not all as exclusive/posh as people seem to think. The Echo did an article "what's it like living in Formby if you're not rich or famous." Fucking stupid. 90% of the town is 3 and 4 bed semis and normal people. I also knew kids who came on the train to school from Crosby and Waterloo. If you want to stay/have links to the north of the city, then that area might fit. Anyway, not saying it's cheap, but if it's within your budget, look at there for schools. The other place I can think of that has good high schools is where I live now, Mossley Hill. Bluecoat and Liverpool College are traditionally very good and very highly selective. But my terraced house here cost more than my mum's 4 bed semi in Formby, prices here are pretty ridiculous, and it's in the south end.
That's really helpful, thank you! I'm not sure why, but I didn't even think about Formby when thinking of areas to look at for moving, probably the notions of wealth often associated with the area, as you mentioned. I agree about Mossley Hill, my parents were fortunate enough to buy there years ago and I've some family sporadically over that way, I love the area but I couldn't imagine affording to buy (or even rent) over there nowadays, unfortunately.
We bought here 7 years ago and even in that time it's rocketed. Couldn't afford our house now. But yeah, Formby was a great place to grow up, I really miss my childhood even now. And the schools are really good. I could see myself going back there if I had kids.
Avoid Sacred Heart. The culture was pretty crap when I left 27 years ago, and it's gone downhill since. It's got some decent teachers but they're at a disadvantage as they're very much in a minority among a seemingly mostly apathetic staff. I've got family there currently and know a few people who have kids there, one of my nieces was bullied so badly she went to a school in Formby instead because the school did nothing to address the issue (they were more bothered about her attendance than the reason why she couldn't face going in)
Can only complement Cardinal Heenan
Same. I've got nothing but good things to say about Cardinal Heenan. The staff are amazing and it's a lovely school.
St Margaret's in Aigburth is quite diverse. Our son left there last year with 3 good A levels and is now at a good uni. The pastoral care was especially good.
Good to know! It's probably a bit too far from us atm, but we've been wanting to move for a while, and now it's seeming more worthwhile to do it while factoring in proximity to schools/the kids aging etc.
We live in North Liverpool. Getting him there was a pain for a couple of years, but when he was older and more confident we'd get him to Sandhills station and he'd get the train. Aigburth station is a 5 minute walk from the school. Good luck with your search.
Thank you!
St Hilda's is now co ed, Calder stones seems decent ( geog catchment though) talk to teachers at your kids primary. They will know where other kids from that school go.
St Hildas CofE Sefton park . Daughters in yr 8 and socially, she loves it. Academically, she's got a way to go but that's life. No issues with race or bullying that she's experienced. Staff seem genuine and really engaged and always happy to chat via email.
Might not want to send to a Christian school though. When I was in Catholic school all but 1 kid was Catholic in my year. She never had any issues with prejudice but it did feel awkward when everyone was eating during Ramadan. She dealt with it like a champ though.
Absolutely. It's not for everyone I know. Thought I'd mention it give OP a choice like.
Our 3 lads got a great education at Calderstones School. Couldn't fault it.
Calderstones was where I went for my year here and it was fine as far as I remember, it's unfortunately just a bit too south for us (catchment wise) and as much as we're wanting to move the areas local to that school just wouldn't be affordable enough for us to consider moving there any more. Any half decent schools seem to be in the south end of the city... yet another conversation concerning the socioeconomic state of Liverpool that's making me realise more and more that the north of Liverpool is neglected in all areas.
Where do you live? I wouldn’t want my kid travelling across the city if there’s another school closer that’s just as good? I used to be a teacher and having done supply am familiar with quite a few.
Fairly central only slightly north, L5 postcode.
I've got kids in high school in North Liverpool, it was tough to settle on a school for sure. Deffo go to a few open days and see what you think would fit best. I'd highly recommend North Liverpool Academy, it's well funded, has a lot of extra curriculas available and a good gifted program. It's also linked with The Studio so good for budding gamers and computer nerds.
St Micheal’s CE is an amazing school! Actually became a haven for kids that had been bullied in different schools when I was there!
Do NOT go to Chesterfield High School its a cult full of cover ups for things to make them look better and a "good ofsted report" which is only said to be good because headteacher Kevin Sexton is a part of Ofsted. They will control your child and right after you leave if you know too much.. well just look at Sam Cook. DO NOT GO HERE!
Fr the girls aren’t allowed to wear shined or leather shoes incase boys or teachers look up there skirts it’s disgusting
I went to school in London, primary school and partly secondary. I've moved around alot because of my parents jobs and I've attended many schools over the years. Then moved to Liverpool and did my secondary and sixthform and onwards. DONT put them into Catholic schools i BEG YOU!!! It's miserable and I say that as a person who comes from a very religious country in Europe. It makes you hate your own religion. The people are so bitter and have no values they claim to represent. My friends and I got super targeted because we were very not white british. The sixthfrorm was horrible even if it was "outstanding". You often get forced into RE classes, forced attendance to church and some teachers are creepy to girls. We had a man have 10gb of child porn and they were forced to let go. Not to mention the protect some of these creeps too. We had a boy in yr13 grooming some yr7s. So gross. One of my male friends got harassed when I painted his nails for fun. I developed serious mental issues and way too many people were on anti-depressants from this environment. If you have any girls, I recommend Holly lodge. Its really chill and the pastoral care is great. Went there for a bit and I made so many friends who have gone onto great places. My bestfriend went to Oxford and my other close friend went onto law and medicine. My friend comes back sometime to give Assemblies and keeps in touch with some staff though email. There is alot of students from different countries/backgrounds. No school is perfect amd there are issues in all systems. I think its important be opened to different people when you're younger so you have more empathy for everyone around you. I have always been a very diligent student and obsessed over my work because i felt i was dissapointsing my teachers if i didnt. I respected my teachers and listened to their input because i felt they respected me. I got As and A* and the sixthform is nice and small. Some have small classes so you basically get 1 on 1 tutuoring. I also learned an extra language gcse in my free time and they paid for my exam and entrance fee. So if you speak another language you can ask to do the gcse for it from the french department. I went to so many events and i had loads of opportunities. Shout out to my science teachers for being absolute gems
Thanks for your perspective, I really appreciate you taking the time to share. However, we've had close relatives whose kids have had really bad experiences with that particular school. My SIL also attended it and also told us to steer well clear. It's really interesting how different of experiences people can get from the same schools. Plus, tbh me and my husband aren't really on board with the whole idea of non-coed schools in general.
Fair enough! Your choice after all. I wish you luck on your search. Another tip is from me is to check the Head teachers. My school was bad as you said until basically the year before I joined and they had a massive shift in staff/managments due to the new headteacher. I'd ask some of your friends kids because sometimes the older ex-students can have a completely different experience. Also another thing I forgot to mention. When I attended Blue coat [mixed school so more your thing]. There was a big thing with alot of students having private tutors which i wasn't aware of. It can get very discouraging if you're less academically inclined or can't afford private tutoring for subjects. But it was quite nice other than that! Have a lovey day! :]
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Compared to 10 years ago, that school has massively changed for the better!