Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
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| Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby | |
| Motto | Concordia parvae res crescunt (Latin:"Small things grow in harmony" - Sallust) |
| Established | 1620 |
| Type | Public, Day school |
| Head Master | Mr D Cook |
| Founder | Merchant Taylors Company |
| Location | Liverpool Road Great Crosby Merseyside L23 0QP England  |
| LEA | Sefton |
| Staff | ~80 (full-time)[1] |
| Students | ~800[1] |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11 to 19 |
| School colours | Black and Gold
|
| Former pupils | Old Crosbeians |
| School Song | Concordia parvae res crescunt |
| Website | http://www.merchanttaylors.com/ |
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby (also known as Merchant Taylors' School for Boys, Crosby) is a British Independent school, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside.
The school's motto is that of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors: Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt. (Small things grow in harmony.)
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[edit] History
The school was founded in 1620 under the instruction of the estate of John Harrison, a citizen and Merchant Taylor of London, who was born in Great Crosby, and was run under the auspices of the Merchant Taylors' Company until 1910. In 1878, the school moved to its present site, some 1000 yards from the previous, which now forms part of the Merchant Taylors' Girls' School, with whom the school shares a Governing Board and Bursar.
[edit] Present day
Until the late 20th century, Merchants was a boarding school. It currently caters for 800 day pupils between the ages of 11 and 19 (with an additional 120 in the Junior School). Lessons run Monday-Friday, 08:40-16:00 (A Saturday working day was abolished in the 1980s). As a result of these longer school days, holidays are frequently several weeks longer than local education authority dates.
The school is independently run, and, as such, charges tuition fees. Fees were partially subsidised by the Government under the Assisted Places Scheme until the closure of that scheme in 2001.
Until 2007, the school was regularly ranked in the top 100 for examination results at A-Level, and the top 250 at GCSE, with an almost 100% pass rate in both [2]. However, in that year, the government's official league tables ranked the school as fourth from bottom in the borough of Sefton, with the number of pupils obtaining 5 A*-C grades (including English and Mathematics) at 22%.[3] This discrepancy is accounted for by the fact that most of the school's pupils sat International GCSE exams in Mathematics, which are currently not counted in the official statistics. When these are taken into account, the pass rate for Mathematics remains at 100%.[4] The school was one of several independents to be affected by this issue, including Eton College and Harrow School.[5]
[edit] Sports and extracurricular activities
The primary sports played by the school are rugby union, field hockey and cricket, however association football has recently been introduced as an 'official' school sport and looks set to challenge the more established sports over the coming years.
The school also has a boat house in the nearby town of Southport for its rowing team. The rowing team is rapidly gaining a reputation for one of the best in the region and country.
The rugby coaching staff includes Mike Slemen, former England and British and Irish Lions international and England team selector, and former Scottish international Ian McKie.
In July 2007, members of the rugby team were involved in an accident whilst on tour in Australia. Rugby coach Ian Robinson was killed after a white-water raft capsized on the Tully River [6] [7].
The school also has a Combined Cadet Force, run in conjunction with Merchant Taylors' School for Girls, headed by Contingent Commander, Lieutenant Colonel (CCF), Paul Irvine. The Army section of MTS CCF is badged as Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Regiment until July 2006).
[edit] Headmaster
The current headmaster is David Cook, who replaced the retired Simon Dawkins in 2005.
[edit] Notable alumni
Alumni of MTS Crosby are known as "Old Crosbeians"
- James Allen
- Ian Bayley
- Alan Blackshaw, mountaineer
- George Downing, largest Commercial Landlord in Liverpool, owner of the Port of Liverpool building.
- Charles James Mathews
- Ben Kay of the England Rugby World Cup winning side of 2003.
- Robert Runcie
- Nigel Rees
- Ian Kirby - political editor News of the World
- The Witty brothers; Arthur Witty, played for FC Barcelona in the first Copa del Rey final and later served as club president between 1903 and 1905. Ernest Witty, younger brother of above, also played for FC Barcelona, and was also a founding member of the Real Club de Tenis de Barcelona and a Spanish national tennis champion. Legend has it that the Witty brothers also modelled the legendary Barcelona colours, the blaugrana, after the original colours used by Merchant Taylors' rugby team. However, FC Basel - and other Swiss clubs that the club founder Joan Gamper played for - and his home canton of Zürich have also been credited with and/or claimed to be the inspiration.
[edit] Notable teachers and ex-teachers
Mike Slemen, former England and British and Irish Lions international and England team selector
John Pugh Liberal Democrat MP for Southport
[edit] references
- ^ a b Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby. School Search. isbi Schools (2007). Retrieved on 2008-01-29.
- ^ BBC News - League Tables - Merchant Taylors' Boys' School. BBC News (2004-01-15). Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ SEFTON: Schools slightly behind national picture. Liverpool Daily Post (2008-01-10). Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ^ Merchant Taylors' Boys School backs the iGCSE. Merchant Taylors School, Crosby (2008-01-09). Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ^ Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (2008-01-09). "HMC gives the Government six of the best for its school performance tables". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ^ "British PE teacher killed on trip", BBC News, 2007-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby (2007-07-31). "Press release on the death of Ian Robinson". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
[edit] External links
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