Wirral Hilbre Secondary School?

[Mallon1]

Hello. I currently live in Luxembourg but will be moving to the Wirral in the next year. I was wondering if anyone had experience of Hilbre secondary school? We have bought a place near to Caldy Grammar but I'm not sure my son will pass the test, which means Hilbre is maybe the other option? The results don't look great but looking at the Ofsted report it's a better school than the results suggest?

There is also Pensby High School for boys nearby. I have no recent experience of either school but may also be worth considering?

If you have a place near to Caldy, then the alternatives down the west side of the Wirral and near to the main road are Hilbre, then Pensby Boys and then Neston High School which is actually a Cheshire West School but might still be an option. The other alternatives are to consider other Wirral schools nearer to Birkenhead or Bromborough. The other "go to" school for most parents outside the grammar schools is Woodchurch.
If you have concerns that son will not pass the test then can I suggest that you do need to look at some of the alternatives as there is nothing worse than a pupil struggling in a grammar school for knocking their confidence completely.

Thanks vjg14 & admission. That is my main worry and I would prefer him not to go to Grammar school if it's not right for him. We're certainly not pushing for that. We bought the house because it was a real bargain not because it was near Caldy G, in-fact i'm from Yorkshire and I've only ever been to the Wirral three times! The school he is in now is very high achieving, particularly in languages, and academically it's a real struggle for him. At the moment it doesn't seem to phase him and he's very happy in the school, but i appreciate it's very different in secondary. I'll look up location and Ofsted for the other schools. He loves music and goes dancing (hates football, rugby etc), which is not a problem here, but i was worried about how he'd get on in the UK?? I read (maybe in an Ofsted report?) that Hilbre had very little bullying and good pastoral care? Thanks again for the advice.

I am probably a bit out of date, but Caldy wasn't a super-selective back in my day - you may find that the 11+ entry test and the ability range in the school isn't as high as you think IYSWIM. If he passes the test without a lot of preparation, then he will probably be fine there.

My friend's DS's have all gone to Woodchurch - all very bright, very high-achieving boys.

Mallon, it is a lovely area. Countryside but not too far to Liverpool and Manchester. The beaches and some good sailing clubs too. Great place to live and especially for kids.

Thanks everyone. Puts my mind at ease a little. We've lived over here since he was three so it will be a big change for him but it seems like a great place to live.

I can second the lovely area bit. We have lived in Wirral for 12 years (my husband since he was 10 though) and love it. We moved away briefly two years ago and were back within 10 months!
My dd is in year 5 now and so we are beginning to think about and look at secondary schools but don't know too much about them yet but I would also look at the others mentioned of this thread as well as Hilbre. My neighbours son goes to Neston and they seem happy with it.

Thanks vjg13 & jellyandjam. I've had a quick look and we seem to be a fair way out of the catchment area for Neston so i guess it depends on numbers. There was a time we looked at houses within walking distance of the pub, now my life seems to revolve around school catchment areas!!

WElcome to the Wirral Mallon1 ! It's a great place to live, we are quite near you and I went to West Kirby, the girls' grammar school (sort of sister school to Caldy). I'm sure you will all love it here. I don't know much about Hilbre, I don't know anybody who went there (I bus'ed to West Kirby from out of the area so I didn't go to primary with anyone who went to Hilbre) but I believe it has improved a lot since I was at school. As a PP has said, Wirral is well served with grammar schools so you may find that there is a wider range of ability at Caldy than you might expect.

Hello again. We are planning on staying in West Kirby for the Easter holiday, ht and all of the summer holiday to get the kids used to the area. My son is not all that academic but is starting to enjoy music and dancing. I wondered if there were any local holiday clubs/ dance clubs we could try?

I actually went to this Hilbre. It's had a pretty big refurb since I left and approx 50% of the staff that were there when I was have left now. I will say it's not the best school in the world, disorganised in terms of there never seeming to be teachers to cover lessons when one was off etc. but they do have a very good pastoral a and learning support system. Of course this is my own view and I would definitely recommend going to their open day if you are considering Hilbre. I came out with 13 GCSEs and 4 Alevels so it didn't do me any harm!

Excuse the typos!!

I would just second the Wirral being lovely. I'm from down south and stayed because I met DH. My older2 go to Wirral boys and Wirral girls, both great schools. Our non-grammar choice was Neston but we live a bit more that way. DH thinks Hilbre is probably better than Pensby. Have friends of Dd at Woodchurch and that seems great

Thanks Filthypout and Susiesue61. Hopefully we'll get more of a feel for the area over the holidays. I'm pretty excited about moving back to the UK and particularly to the Wirral.