St. Margaret's C of E High School, Liverpool
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| St. Margaret's Church of England High School | |
| Motto | Fide et Labore [by] Faith and Work |
| Established | 1879 |
| Type | Voluntary-aided |
| Religious affiliation | Church of England |
| Headteacher | Dr David Dennison |
| Location | Aigburth Road Aigburth, Liverpool, L17 6AB United Kingdom |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Website | http://www.stmargaretshigh.com |
- For other schools of a similar name, see St Margaret's School (disambiguation).
St. Margaret's Church of England High School is a secondary school in Aigburth, Liverpool.
St. Margaret's is Voluntary-aided and has Technology College and Specialist Language College status.
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[edit] History and Information
St. Margaret's Church of England High School is popularly known as St. Margaret's, Aigburth, frequently shortened to "SMA" or "Essemmay". Essemmay is also the name of the former students' association.[1] The "SMA" tag applied equally well for the school's original home in Anfield. The school was founded by Alderman William Preston, one time Mayor of Liverpool, and the Vicar of St. Margaret's, Anfield, Reverend John Sheepshanks. The school opened in 1879 by the parish dignitary and MP for West Toxteth, Mr TB Royden. The school's first Headmaster was Mr E Crossley and an early teacher and benefactor was Mrs Gertrude Langton.
Preston, Sheepshanks, Royden, Crossley and Langton are commemorated in the names of the current School Houses.
The school began as a Higher Grade School and after the 1918 Education Act, St. Margaret's was recognised as a Central School with a selective intake based on a competitive examination. After the 1944 Education Act, the school was restyled 'St. Margaret's Church of England Secondary Technical Commercial School' and during the 1950s courses leading to the GCE 'O' Level and 'A' Level examinations were established. In 1963 the school moved from Anfield to Aigburth and in 1980 enlarged to a four-form entry comprehensive school for students from 11 to 18 years of age. This was the year that the school had their first intake of girl students.
St. Margaret's is a Voluntary-Aided, Church of England High School and was awarded Technology College status in 1997, and Specialist Language College status in 2008. The school increased its intake to five-form entry in September 1998.
In recent years, three major building developments, the Technology Suite, Sixth Form Centre and the Humanities and Administration Suite have considerably improved the school's teaching and administration facilities. The new Cricket and Sports Centre opened in 2006.
The school accepts 150 boys per year, and girls are accepted in years 12 and 13. St. Margaret's Sixth Form is part of the Faiths Partnership with fellow member schools St Hilda's Church of England High School, Archbishop Blanch Church of England High School, Shorefields Technology College and Bellerive FCJ Catholic College. Together, the schools offer Sixth Form students an extensive range of courses.
St. Margaret's has consistently high placings in the local League Tables. The 2007 SAT results placed the school in the top 25% of schools, nationally. Following the recent Ofsted inspection and record breaking examination results, the school has been identified by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as a High Performing Specialist School. Entrance points awarded to prospective students are according to sibling attendance in the school, religion, and are given to children with special educational needs (SEN) as well as those with academic ability.
The effort of Head of Physical Education Robbie Lawton (who, incidentally, plays for Altrincham FC) has led to several pupils being on trial with football clubs such as Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, and who also attend the Liverpool FC Academy. Last year the football team beat 40,000 other schools and came second only to Impington Village College in the English FA Schools Cup.
[edit] Streets of Culture
SMA has its own gaming company, St. Margaret's Games. In 2006, students collaborated with Jaguar, Liverpool Hope University and Lateral Visions to create a state-of-the-art car racing computer game, entitled Streets of Culture. The game shows different Liverpool landmarks situated around a racetrack, in 2008. All profits from the game go to BBC's Children in Need. The creation of this is to be highlighted in the Teachers TV programme, Inspirations, and premiered on January 8, 2008. You can watch the programme here. Teachers TV..
Watch An interview with the boys involved. YouTube. here.
SMA are currently part of the gaming company Inter-School Visions, along with fellow Liverpool secondary schools St. Hilda's Church of England High School, Shorefields Technology College, St. Benedict's Catholic School and Parklands High School. They are in the design process of Streets of Culture 08: Live Mysteries, a computer game that will be released to tie-in with Capital of Culture year. All proceeds will go to charity.
[edit] Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (it was powerful!)
In December 2007, St. Margaret's put on a powerful production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was organised by Mrs Nuala Dunne and Miss Hazel Kinloch. It introduced a new school band which are now on the play list for other events such as leaver's balls and PTA evenings they also plan to play in Ireland in Early 2009, and also featured appearances from members of staff. Minor parts were played by Miss B McCann, Miss E Graham and Mrs K Williams. Potiphar was played my Mr G Laird and Mr G Richards was Pharaoh. Joseph was played by Year 9 student John Brellisford and the narrator was Robert Fairclough, also in Year 9. The tickets (which sold out a month before the performances) and the raffle and refreshment sales over three performances helped raise over £1000 for Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
[edit] The School Council
St. Margaret's C of E high school has a Student Council consisting of two representatives from each house group. Each year group council has ten representatives, two of which are elected to represent their year group.
Meetings are held weekly by each year group council; the majority of suggestions come to council from the students. The council has several departments such as Health and Safety and the Senior Committee, which is made up of all the year representatives. From the Senior Committee, choices such as Own Clothes Days and school Discos are discussed in detail and if a majority of the committee agrees, they are passed on to Senior Management staff for final review and decision. If the idea is declined, it is returned to the Senior Committee for further discussion together with the comments given by Senior Management.
The Student Council is highly reliant on ideas coming from the students themselves, not individuals on the council. The Council works with the pupils to help promote the voice of the Council and to inform the headmaster as to what the students want to help and improve their academic life.
The Council have also been involved in out of school activities, such as supporting the elderly and providing equipment for those ex- students who are undertaking expeditions to raise money for charities. Mrs Andrea Lucas supports the Council and provides the connection between the Senior Committee of the Council and the Senior Management (including governors) of the school.
