Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
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Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby (also known as Merchant Taylors' School for Boys, Crosby or, locally, Merchants) is a British public school, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside. The school was founded in 1620 under the instruction of the estate of John Harrison, and was run under the auspices of the Merchant Taylors' Company until 1910. In 1878, the school moved to its present site, some 500 yards from the previous, which now forms part of the Merchant Taylors' School for Girls, with whom the school shares a Governing Board and Bursar.
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 150 in the Junior School). Lessons run Monday-Friday, 08:35-16:00 (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.
The school is 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 [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/03/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/343_6129.stm).
The primary sports played by the school are rugby, hockey and cricket. The rugby training staff includes Ian McKie, former Scottish international, and Mike Slemen, former England international and team selector. The school also has a Combined Cadet Force, run in conjunction with Merchant Taylors' School for Girls.
Noted alumni include Charles Mathews, Robert Runcie, James Allen, and Ben Kay. John and William Parsons, two of the founding players of FC Barcelona, were former pupils, and gave the club its team colours, basing them on the Merchants sporting colours of the time (claret and navy; the school now plays in gold and navy)
External links
- School website (http://www.merchanttaylors.sefton.sch.uk/)
- HMC inspection report, 1998 (http://www.merchanttaylors.sefton.sch.uk/inspection/98/index98.html)