Birkenhead School What The Good Schools Guide says
Headmaster Since 2016, Paul Vicars MA PGCE (40s). A schoolmaster (15-year stint at Shrewsbury School including deputy head) and an accountant (four years at Ernst & Young). Studied geography at St Andrews. Parents approve: ‘A nice guy.’ ‘Very supportive when you need it.’ ‘Good team around him.’ Appreciated for having three children at the school – means he gets immediate, daily insight into how the school is performing from the pupil and parent side too. Attends as many sporting events as he can, and not averse to flipping burgers at school BBQs – ‘gives me an opportunity to chat to the parents as much as anything.' Enthusiastic and fast talking, he is even faster at noticing – as he did when we ate lunch with him in the dining room – untucked shirts from quite a distance. Presumably quite an enviable headmasterly skill in a trad school. Woe betide you if you’re playing ball in the wrong area too, said a pupil. ‘You wouldn’t exactly call him laid-back,’ said one, ‘but he’s very fair and nice.’ Teaches Beyond the Curriculum, the school’s all-singing-all-dancing enrichment programme, to year 7s and 8s – ‘means I get to meet all incoming pupils.’ Pupils say they see him about most days, and we noticed how many he addressed by name; ditto for the staff – and that goes for caterers and cleaners too, not just teachers. ‘If I’m having a bad day, I always take myself off to converse with kids and staff – they always pick you up,’ he told us. Married to Vikki, who teaches history at the school, as well as being part of the Futures team. An easy-peasy walking commute of just four minutes from their home. Has recently dusted off his golf clubs – ‘I’m intent on playing more in the years ahead, I used to play a huge amount pre-kids.’ The school is always reminding students about the importance of balance, he points out – ‘We need to practise what we preach,’ he said with just a hint of wryness in his smile.
Entrance School has grown by over 20 per cent in recent years, moving from three to four form entry at year 7. With over 90 per cent of pupils moving up from the prep (assessed internally at the end of year 5), that leaves around 30 places up for grabs for newcomers. Academically selective, but not as much as the local grammars. CAT4 papers in VR, NVR, quantitative reasoning and spatial ability, plus school references, reports and an interview. ‘I want to see some fizz and personality, and if there’s a bit of a quirky academic profile or dip I do quite like to take a punt,’ says head, ‘although we say no if we think they’ll struggle.’ Pupils come from a mixture of local primaries and preps – more state than private. Some join at sixth form (usually eight or nine, fewer since Covid) when candidates need 6s across the board, and 7s in subjects to be studied. Some leeway for existing students to stay on if they don’t hit these grades but whose attitude is good and they contribute to the school in other ways, eg sport, music, drama.
Exit Around a quarter depart post-GCSEs, usually to local grammars or the very good local sixth form college. Vast majority of sixth formers to university (right across the country), 60 per cent to Russell Group. Three to Oxbridge in 2021, and six medics. Massive breadth of courses – one mother whose son went into film production told us, ‘It wasn’t something the school had dealt with before but they went out of their way to support him including finding people in the industry.’ Degree apprenticeships on the rise, recently to eg BBC, Microsoft and local companies - ‘We make sure we get them back to be flagbearers,’ says head.