The Alsop High School is the largest secondary school in Liverpool, now merged with St. Mary's High…read moreSchool. The amount of pupils currently studying there is huge. This shows how popular this state school is and so it should be. The school is constanly undergoing improvements and is in a much better since state the last time I could recall. With the school being a technology and applied learning specialist college, they have plenty of useful facilities to benefit pupils all set in the perfect learning environment. Whilst the school is not a private institution and pupil behaviour is not the best, it is certainly a winner in terms of ambitious teachers and facilities. The Alsop High School deserves full praise for its developments and their strive to catch up and be the best.

This was my high school so I'll try not be biased!…read more Sacred Heart recently gained specialist status in maths and IT which promoted the good reputation of the school and allowed for evolution of the site and the departments of the college. A new IT suite was built within the grounds of the upper site which is a very modern, technologically equipped building and a very comfortable teaching environment. The main building has three floors which vary in departments and aesthetic. There are plenty of IT facilities throughout, a well equipped music room, tennis courts and football field, home economics building and good laboratory facilities. I think the library is a little impoverished and there is some reliance on local libraries. Sacred Heart has good connections with the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth, and encourage able students well. The sixth form is well reputed and a great proportion of the students go on to university with their results.

Sacred Heart is a great school! The best bit about it is there is a real sense of 'community' -…read moredespite the fact the school has well over a thousand pupils everyone seems to know each other, which is really comforting, especially for the younger pupils who might feel a bit lost and confused with what is going on! The school also enjoys being - literally - the 'Heart of Crosby', taking every opportunity it can find to pun on the school's fortunate name. Even the school newspaper is called 'Heartbeat'. There is plenty of references to the Heart dotted around the school for those with attentive eyes - a heart-shaped greenery display in front of the school's main entrance, a statue of the Sacred Heart of Mary in the staff car park and, most recently, a stained glass mural of an abstract heart done by professional glass artist Julie Langam. The staff are all lovely (in my experience) and there are no real 'weirdos' - most of the teachers are really down to earth and you can tell that all of them want the very best for the children they take care of. Of course they have to punish naughty kids but that happens in every school, not their fault really. I've been to some staff only areas in my time and what really touches me is that on the walls there are some pictures of former pupils and teachers - they remember every kid that they've ever taught. In terms of facilities, I have to agree with the previous commenter. the school does have better than average I.T, Music, Art and Technology facilities and even has separate buildings dedicated to Maths, Food Tech and Sixth Form facilities. Because Upper Site is so big, it really has a campus/boarding school feel. I helped out recently at an arts day for primary school children and heard one child say about the school 'It looks like Hogwarts!'. However, may I just say about the previous commenter's concerns about the library, the library since that comment was posted has been refurbished. It looks a bit neater now and there are computers in there too. In contrast, Lower Site is a bit small and is a bit more 'blockish' compared to upper site - the building is very square and is painted shades of white and grey. It has it's own Sports Building, but lacks the facilities that Upper Site offers. Fortunately, the distance between the schools is a short walking distance so children can easily access the facilities. To conclude, Sacred Heart is a very good school and I recommend strongly to any prospective parents that you send your child there if you have the means to. The school has exceptional facilities, kind and welcoming staff, many notable former pupils (comedian Kenny Everett, Team GB gymnast Daniel Purvis, X - Factor 2011 hopeful Marcus Collins, Everton and West Brom player Victor Anichebe, dancer Jane Caulfield and opera singer Danielle Louise Thomas), great academic records, a good religious and ethical education and MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL - You really feel part of a community and feel loved. What more can you want for your child?

Both my brothers attended this school. Teaching was reported as excellent by both but at the time…read more(15 years ago) and they both enjoyed the academic teaching. Unfortunately teachers didn't act on their concerns about frequent episodes of bruising all over my brother's body at the time, including his back and other atypical areas for accidental bruising. My mother concealed it by saying it must be from rough play with other boys. My brother has longstanding health issues relating to years of physical and emotional abuse from our father, in fact all the children in our family do. I'm sure their safeguarding processes have improved but I wish they'd been vigilant to ongoing abuse markers, which were perfectly obvious at the time. Unfortunately this experience is not uncommon as middle-class parents are more likely to believed when concealing abuse.

In his excellent article, "Oh come, come, headmaster private schools are pretend charities?"…read more(Sunday Times, 20.01.08), Simon Jenkins argues against private schools registering themselves as charities. He has a point. In recent years our family has suffered illness, job loss, disability and even homelessness. We are now in social housing. Last year - choosing our daughters high school, we attended open day at Birkenhead School. A wonderful school & Best of all, they were a charity. If a gifted child could benefit from attending Birkenhead, their bursary scheme would do it. A big ask yes, but we saw a lifeline & held on tight, finding the £50 entrance test fee. The school has its own primary to feed the senior school & rumour had just 6 external places. Our clever girl was offered one of them. What joy! Even hearing our situation, they wanted our girl. We submitted bursary application and waited... How we waited. We sent off e-mails, but no reply until... Welcome evening arrived. We emailed should we come? Now a response "best not" Funding was still not secured, anyway, we could easily be "brought up to speed." I think then I saw the lie, though we still hoped. We had not requested the 100% bursary they claim is available. We did not expect a freebie & we wanted to show the school we would increase our contribution as & when we could. We also clung to knowledge that the schools own head had benefited from the grants available in his day. In July, when our girl was due to start in September, we learnt the fund could not acquiesce to our request for support. Apparently, most fee requests are low & the school will happily secure the saving that the average haggler wants? Personally, I found it all so distasteful that it still leaves a bitterness no medicine, regardless how sweet, can relieve. Beati Mundo Corde? Oh come, come,headmaster...

Merchant Taylor's is a fee paying school, which is probably my first and only criticism; it's…read moreawfully expensive each year and, while I agree education is extremely important and every parent surely wants the best for their child, said child will perform just as well over the road at the non-fee paying school. I didn't do too badly and nor did my friends, nearly all of whom went on to university, several at Cambridge. Merchants has had a bit of bad press lately with a few scandals seeping out of their well hedged boundaries. Unfortunately this is destroying the reputation it once had; there are always going to be scandals, there'll be successes and failures, what matters is the indivdual student and their attitude and response to the amenities offered. Merchant Taylors offers a good deal. The extra-curricular activities, for example, include Combined Cadet Force, Boat Club, Music and Drama skills, Swimming Club and the Gifted and Talented enrichment programme is well reputed. The school building itself, and the grounds are beautiful and have a great history, and in the main, the boys act as very good ambassadors for the school.

"St Nick's" could almost be described as a village school; with under 200 pupils, it's rather small…read morewhich creates a very intimate group with a welcoming, genial atmosphere. While this is appealing for the young children, it could, conversely be described as insular and seen to hinder the children's transition to secondary school as they lose that familiar security. The school has a strong Christian ethos and excellent links with the local parish of St Nicholas'. It has achieved "Outstanding" reviews from OFSTED and is one of the top performing schools in the area.

As a parent of a child with special needs, I would not send my dog to this school. They state…read moreinclusion like it's a trophy what a load of rubbish. The school have no idea how to support a child with special needs, mental health issues etc. I found the head of the senco team arrogant, rude and disrespectful. My daughter was treated like a second class citizen and very rarely was issues of bullying addressed. It was never the bullies fault and always my daughters. They twitter on about reward trips and then allow the bullies to go too. One of the PE teachers screamed at my daughter in the middle of Chester Zoo on a trip and she was on her knees begging him to let her stay. I wish he had phoned me. This particular memory of many makes me feel sick. I could write a book how this school broke my daughter and our family. If your child does not have mental health issues going into the school, they will by the time they finish. I failed my daughter by allowing her to continue her education in such a dreadful place. If you want your child to excel please do not send them here!

If there was a 0 star button, I'd use it. I was a pupil from 2016-2019 and I can say it was the…read moreworst experience of my life. I don't know where to start, from the lack of support due to mental health issues at the time or the incompetent teachers. The lack of support lead to my mental breakdown in early 2019. My mental health issues were constantly belittled by the teachers who told me "it's not that bad" and were insincere and didn't follow through when they said they were going to help me. Excuse after excuse. Long story short I spent most of 2020 recovering from mental health issues after being denied support and I'm glad I left when I did. The SLT team and the head are not fit to be running the place. And to any person considering Woodchurch as an option, please avoid this school like the plague. All ex-pupil reviews will be the same.