The trustees of The Oldershaw School, have made the decision to go to consultation regarding the proposed closure of the school’s sixth form. The proposal is made in recognition of a changing educational landscape on the Wirral, which sees a number of small in-school sixth forms with very low numbers, increasingly unable to compete with the excellent facilities and offer of Birkenhead Sixth Form College, and the vocational offer from Wirral Met College. Nationally, schools with small sixth forms are finding it ever more difficult to compete with dedicated sixth forms and still deliver a wide curriculum offer, this has resulted in a large number closing over recent years. Of those that still exist, many run with non-viable class sizes and that requires a large subsidy that impacts heavily on budgets, this has increasingly been the case at Oldershaw.

After careful consideration the Trust Board and Leadership Teams feel that the monies subsidising the current sixth form can be better invested in developing teaching and learning and facilities for mainstream 11 to 16 learners. This will enable the school to have a clear focus on compulsory education to ensure that those pupils moving onto the next phase of their education have all the skills and academic support that they need to achieve the best outcomes and be best prepared for the next stages in their development.

Oldershaw School (Ofsted ‘Good’ March 2022) continues to be a heavily oversubscribed school, and in September 2023 only 85% of Year 7 parents who made the school their first choice were able to secure a place. Freeing up the space currently used by the school’s sixth form, would allow the school to admit an additional number of students into Year 7 over coming years and help to meet the demand that exists.

We have provided all our families and school partners with detailed information about the reasons for the consultation and welcome their views which can be given by written response or attending a public consultation on Wednesday 8 November 5.30pm to 7pm. Further information can be found in the letter below along with the designated contact email address.

Steve Fisher – Executive Headteacher

To clarify and confirm, our induction day with be held on Thursday 6^th July due to NEU strike action.

Certificates from the Summer 2022 series are now ready for collection by appointment only – please contact the school office to make an appointment. 0151 638 2800.

The Executive Principal Mr Jon Bush after 23 years of service to the school and its community is leaving The Oldershaw School to seek out new opportunities.  Mr Bush first joined the school in 1999 and has successfully served the school in a number of roles.

As Assistant Head he oversaw the computers for schools with more than seven hundred devices in the community, as Director of the Business & Enterprise specialism which resulted in the building of the new Sixth Form, as Curriculum Deputy Head and then, finally becoming Co-Principal in 2016 before becoming the school’s sole Executive Principal in September 2020. During his tenure as co and sole Executive Principal, the school came through a challenging period before deservedly becoming and sustaining its Ofsted Good in all areas.  This final year seeing the new all-weather pitch being opened along with the new Centenary Building to meet the needs of this popular oversubscribed school at the heart of the community.

Mr Bush shares with students, parents, and staff; “I would like to thank all the staff for all the hard work and support over these challenging times.  We all should continue to share our core values; the Kindness that is shown to all in our inclusive school, the resilience demonstrated through the meeting the challenges and celebrate with Pride being part of the Oldershaw community and remembering all our successes.  Most importantly all our students past and present which we know will always remember Oldershaw and what it has meant to them.”

Mr Steve Fisher will continue as Executive Headteacher and will lead the school while the Board of Trustees initiate a recruitment process to appoint a new Principal.

We all thank Mr Bush for his many years of service to The Oldershaw School and wish him good fortune in his new ventures.

We are excited to announce the first of our centenary celebrations on 4th November 2022 from 7pm – 11pm. We have planned a wonderful reception with hot & cold buffet and bar for leavers during the 1940s to the 1970s. There is an opportunity for short school tours from 6pm.

The night is an opportunity to meet old school friends and teachers, reminisce about your school days and view our archive displays of Oldershaw through the years.

For more information and tickets please click HERE

Our Sixth Form open evening will be on 13th October 2022 starting at 6pm. There is no requirement to book.

We look forward to meeting you.

Our open evening will be held on 20th September 2022 with Principal introductions at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm. We look forward to welcoming you into our school to showcase what we offer to every child. Refreshments will be available.

We will also be hosting open mornings on 19th & 26th September 2022 for those who cannot attend the evening. These will start at 10.30am and therefore no pupils are permitted to attend. Booking is essential for the open mornings through our main reception on 0151 638 2800.

We look forward to meeting you.