An Insider's View of Merchant Taylors' Boys' School

Anyone acquainted with Crosby is acquainted with Merchants. If not by knowing someone who attends or is an Old Boy, then by the domineering clock tower which you are faced with as you approach the Village along Liverpool Road. Merchant Taylors' has a history which places it firmly at the heart of the Crosbean community. Founded in 1620 by John Harrison, the school was originally in a building which is now the Library at the Girls' School. In 1888 the School moved to its present location at the end of Liverpool Road, with the playing field backing onto College Road. Starting with the original main building, the school has since expended to include more than fifty classrooms in around ten buildings, including specialised science, language, music and PE blocks. On top of these classrooms the school has a hall equipped with an excellent stage, an extensive library, two computer rooms, a gymnasium, a multi-gym, a swimming pool, tennis courts, astro-turf, a Sixth Form Common Room, athletics facilities, and the pavilion. During the winter the field is used for rugby, and in summer for cricket. At the school's playing fields at Hall Road, there is a lot more space, which is all put to good use.

It is clear, then, that when you pay the £4000 a year school fees to come to Merchants, you are getting a lot more than an average comprehensive - and that is just in facilities, not to mention academic standards.

As a member of the Lower Sixth in the school, I am just about to complete my sixth year at the school. That means that I have endured... ermmm enjoyed (slip of the pen, as it were) thousands of Mr Dawkins' assemblies. A recurring theme in his end-of-term speeches is the importance of a good number of extra-curricular activities to accompany academic work. I never really appreciated the importance of this until this year. Outside the classroom, the school offers a plethora of activities. For the sporty, there is ruby, hockey, cricket, swimming, cross-country running, tennis, windsurfing, golf, football, rowing, and probably lots more I'm forgetting. The school is very proud of its CCF (Combined Cadet Force). This is an organisation which meets on a Thursday evening after school. It is divided into Army, Navy and RAF sections. I used to be in the RAF section. There I had the opportunity to fly a plane on several occasions at Woodvale. Drama is one of Merchants' strongest points. Under the leadership of Doc Gill, the school's productions over the past few years have been outstanding. Most recently, 'Grease' was an absolute sell-out, which I felt privileged to be a part of!

I'm sorry if I've disappointed some of you who maybe wanted to hear some bad things said about the school, but if I did I would be lying. Passing the entrance exam when I was 10 was the best thing that ever happened to me. It got me the best education available in the area, helped me to meet some of the most wonderful people I have ever met (both staff and pupils), and it has set me up for life academically. In my GCSEs last summer, I got straight A*s - one of about eight in my year to do so, and I am hoping that I will be able to secure three As in my A-levels next summer, and get into Cambridge.

Merchants is the wonderful school that it always has been, and, if I am still living in the area / country if and when I have children, it is the school I shall choose for them. The school is an asset to Crosby, and Crosby an asset to the school.

Written by Phil McComish, a member of the Lower Sixth at Merchant Taylors' School.

To visit Merchant's home page and online prospectus, click here

To visit Phil McComish's home page, click here