Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby

This article is about the Independent school in Crosby, Merseyside. For the independent school in Northwood, see Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood.

Coordinates: 53°29′02″N 3°01′30″W / 53.484°N 3.025°W / 53.484; -3.025

Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby

Motto	Latin: Concordia parvae res crescunt ("Small things grow in harmony" - Sallust)
Established	1620
Type	Public school; Day school
Head Master	Mr D Cook
Founder	Merchant Taylors' Company
Location	Liverpool Road Great Crosby Merseyside L23 0QP England
Local authority	Sefton
Staff	~80 (full-time)[1]
Students	~800[1]
Gender	Boys
Ages	11–19
Houses	Armours, Harrisons, Stevens, Warings
Colours	Black and Gold
Former pupils	Old Crosbeians
School Song	Crescat Crosbeia
Website	merchanttaylors.com

Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby (also known as Merchant Taylors' School for Boys, Crosby) is a British independent school for day pupils, 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.)

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.The first Headmaster was the Revd John Kidde who was also at the time the ‘Minister of Crosby’ and a farmer of 3 acres (12,000 m²) to support his family of eight children. Kidde was apparently sacked from the post in 1651 on the grounds of mismanagement although it is thought he was forced out by Roman Catholic Sympathizers on account of his Puritan/Presbyterian ways.

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 1981). 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 Schools now run their own means tested Assisted Places Scheme under which about 20% of pupils benefit from free, or reduced-fee places.

Nearly all leavers gain first choice places at Russell Group universities, with a regular percentage of leavers securing places at Oxbridge.

Until 2007, the school was regularly ranked in the top 100 for examination results at A-Level, and the top 250 at GCSE nationally, 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 23%^[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]

Sports and extracurricular activities

The primary sports played by the school are rugby union, field hockey and cricket, however association football as well as samoan cricket have both 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 which is currently on loan to Southport Dragon Boat Club, in the nearby town of Southport for its rowing team. The rowing team compete in national races with a number of boys competing at national level every year.

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.^[5][6]

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).

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:Old Crosbeians

Alumni of MTS Crosby are known as "Old Crosbeians"

• James Allen, (Formula One commentator)
• Matthew Baylis, author and critic
• Alan Blackshaw, mountaineer
• James Burnie, Liberal MP, Bootle
• Sir Richard Rylandes Costain (1902–1966), building contractor and industrialist
• John Culshaw, record producer and television executive
• Sir (William) Allen Daley (1887–1969), medical officer of health
• George Downing, landlord; owner of the Port of Liverpool building
• George Kruger Gray, designer
• Simon Jack, BBC finance reporter
• Ben Kay, of the England Rugby World Cup winning side of 2003
• Bruce Kenrick, founder, Shelter housing charity
• Ian Kirby, journalist
• Sir Hardman Lever, accountant
• Charles James Mathews, actor
• William Henry Overall (1829–1888), librarian
• Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991
• Nigel Rees, broadcaster and author
• Mark Stephens, technology journalist
• Sir John Walton, barrister and politician
• Sir Charles Kingsley Webster, historian
• Barrie Wells, insurance entrepreneur and sports philanthropist
• Bertie Wilson, Second Engineer on RMS Titanic^[7]
• The Witty brothers – Arthur Witty and Ernest Witty footballers

Headmasters

• 2005- David H. Cook
• 1986-2005 Simon J. R. Dawkins
• 1979-1986 D.R. Johnston-Jones
• 1964-1979 Hyam Mark Luft
• 1942-1964 Thomas John Pinches York
• 1929-1942 Charles F. Russell
• 1921-1924 James Ralph Darling
• 1903- Henry Cradock-Watson
• 1863-1903 Samuel Crawford Armour
• 1861-1863 Robert Oliver Carter
• 1850- John Burnard
• 1829- Joseph Clark
• 1783-1817 Nicholas Rigbye Baldwin
• 1758-1783 Wilfrid Troutbeck
• 1755-1758 Edward Owen
• 1730-1755 Anthony Hassall
• 1729-1730 Robert Bellas
• 1711-1729 Gerard Waring
• 1680-1711 John Waring
• 1661-1676 John Ashworth
• 1651-1660 John Heywood
• 1620-1651 John Kidde

Notable teachers and ex-teachers

• John Pugh, Liberal Democrat MP for Southport
• Terence Rattigan, taught Classics at the Boys school before writing the famous The Winslow Boy.
• Mike Slemen, former England and British and Irish Lions international and England team selector

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby". School Search. isbi Schools. 2007. http://www.isbi.com/isbi-viewschool/1742-Merchant_Taylors_Senior_Boys_Schools-1.html. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
2. ^ "BBC News - League Tables - Merchant Taylors' Boys' School". BBC News. 2004-01-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/03/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/343_6129.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
3. ^ "SEFTON: Schools slightly behind national picture". Liverpool Daily Post. 2008-01-10. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/01/10/sefton-schools-slightly-behind-national-picture-64375-20332639/. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
4. ^ "Merchant Taylors' Boys School backs the iGCSE". Merchant Taylors School, Crosby. 2008-01-09. http://merchanttaylors.com/senior-boys/merchant-taylors-boys-school-backs-the-igcse.html. Retrieved 2008-01-18. 
5. ^ "British PE teacher killed on trip". BBC News. 2007-07-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6925257.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
6. ^ "Press release on the death of Ian Robinson" (PDF) (Press release). Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby. 2007-07-31. http://www.mtbs.org.uk/images2/IanRobinson.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
7. ^ Titanic Town

External links

• School website
• HMC inspection report, 1998
• Independent Schools' Inspectorate report, 2004