Welcome To Wirral

There are several different types of primary school.

Community Schools

Community schools are ‘non’-denominational’ – in other words, they are not linked to a particular religion. The school’s governors are responsible for running the school but we deal with the school’s admissions.

Voluntary-controlled schools and voluntary-aided schools

Voluntary schools are funded by us but are linked to a particular religion (for example, Church of England or Catholic).

In Wirral there are 2 different types of voluntary school.

• Voluntary-controlled schools have passed control of the school to us (the local authority) but they have kept a connection with the Church of England. The admission arrangements are our responsibility.
• Voluntary-aided schools are run under the auspices of the Catholic Church or Church of England; the governors are responsible for the admission arrangements.

You can get more information about voluntary schools from:
The Diocesan Director of Education
Church House
Lower Lane
Aldford
Chester
CH3 6HP
View a map of this location
Phone: 01244 620 444 (for Church of England schools)

Or

The Director
The Shrewsbury Diocesan Schools Commission
2 Park Road South
Prenton
Birkenhead
CH43 4UX
View a map of this location
Phone: 0151 652 9855 (for Catholic schools).

Primary schools provide a breadth of learning experiences and a range of interesting and stimulating environments. Literacy, Numeracy, Science and ICT are given prime importance whilst schools seek to provide a wealth of experiences through the foundation subjects. (See curriculum)

The quality of support provided by the Authority to Wirral schools is highly valued and recognised for its excellence by teachers and headteachers. In particular the literacy and numeracy support has had a significant impact on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.

The Authority is also developing other areas of the curriculum through Arts and Sports initiatives, Creative Partnerships, an extensive peripatetic music service, and a strong partnership with Excellence in Wirral including an Education Action Zone.

Standards of attainment are very good by the end of Key Stage 1 and pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 perform better than the national average and better than schools in Wirral’s statistical neighbours.

The Authority is concerned with the professional development of all staff. Consequently there is a well-established and very effective continuing professional development programme. This begins with good quality support for newly qualified teachers and their mentors which continues into middle management, deputy and headteacher support. The training is both school based and at Professional Excellence Centre, which is a superb facility for in-service training.

Primary Places Review

Wirral is committed to supporting and developing a highly skilled and motivated staff which will provide an excellent education for all children.

The Council has to review its primary school places to make sure that across Wirral, empty or surplus places stay below 10%. It also has to consider taking action when a school has 25% or more surplus places. For more information about the ongoing Primary Places Review see the Primary Places Review webpage.