St Mary's College, Crosby

Founding and affiliation

The college was established as a boys' school in 1919 by the Irish Christian Brothers, a clerical order founded by Blessed Edmund Rice in the early nineteenth century.

The college became a direct grant grammar school in 1946 as a result of the 1944 Education Act. Post-war alumni describe "a heavy emphasis on rote learning and testing, underpinned by the brutal punishment that the Christian Brothers favoured", "the carrot-and-stick method—without the carrot", "a hard, disciplined education ...generous with the strap". "But it wasn't a bad school; they took working-class Catholic boys, gave them an education and got them to university," "the school was good, and still is", and "the sixth form at St Mary's was an altogether different experience". An article was published in The Guardian in 1998 surrounding alleged sexual abuse at the college. 10 years on the school have yet to make a statement on these allegations.

When direct grants were abolished by the 1974–79 Labour government St Mary's became an independent school and is a member of the HMC. It began teaching girls in the sixth form in 1983 and became fully co-educational in 1989. The college is now administered by laypersons, ceasing to be a Christian Brothers' school in January 2006 on becoming an independent charity (St Mary's College Crosby Trust Limited) that "exists to educate children and welcomes families from all faiths".

Location and buildings

St Mary's College is based in Crosby, a suburb of Liverpool, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton. The college originally comprised a mansion, Claremont House, on Liverpool Road, Crosby and the neighbouring property, Everest House, until the purpose-built school was built on Everest Road in 1924. Science blocks were added over the years and an assembly hall in 1978. Claremont House is now occupied by the early years department. The Mount preparatory school is located a short distance away in Blundellsands.

The college has its own multi-gym and sports hall, formerly the Mecca Bingo Hall on Liverpool Road, which is open for public use as well as to the students. There are seven laboratories, two workshops and a library. In 2005 a new Sixth Form Centre was built, consisting of a new common room (including a cafe and vending machines) and two computer rooms. Until 1987, the college had a smoking room for the use of Sixth Form pupils who were smokers.

20 acres (81,000 m²) of playing fields are sited nearby on Little Crosby Road.

Academics

Exam results consistently exceed national averages achieved by state funded schools, The school aims to develop the person as a whole, not just academically but in many areas: spiritual, moral, intellectual, physical and cultural.

The school song

The former School Song, composed in the 1920s by music master Frederick R. Boraston (1878–1954) was sung by former pupils, most notably at the annual Speech Day, which were once held at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall.

The song is written as a march, with repeated crotchet notes in the opening melody. The unusual seven-bar phrases, and alternating major and minor keys, produce a feeling that is at once rousing and wistful. The words anticipate the day we leave school, and the "broad highway of Life" lies before us. We look forward to reaping "a golden harvest not yet sown", but shall "sometimes pause a moment" to think of yesterday, and the old school and its associations will find a place in our hearts "most wondrous kind". Thoughts of games, songs, and the friends we made give way to thanks that the school has taught us wisdom in both thought and deed. In the soaring finale, pupils past and present raise their voices to cheer St Mary's, and wish her long life, with the repeated Latin exclamation Vivat!

In the 1980s the song was replaced with a completely new song, with words more in tune with the School's co-educational, lay-teacher status.

Notable former teachers

Politics and industry

Diplomats and the law

Clergy

Authors, journalists and broadcasters

Educationists

Entertainers

Artists

Sportsmen and women

Others

Alumni association

The college had an alumni association, St Mary's Old Boys' Club, from 1948 until links were severed due to a scandal and resulting court case, Stringer v. Usher, Smith, Flanagan and Fleming.

The club carried on under the name of St Mary's Old Boys' Club. A further court case, Stringer v. Smith and Shaw followed in 2000 when the committee attempted to change the club's constitution to allow illegal functions at the club premises. Again the committee capitulated, incurring £3000 in costs. In 2000 and 2004 Merseyside Police raised objections to the continuance of the club on the grounds that it was 'improperly run' and for 'blatant disregard' of the licensing laws. Additionally, the Police did not believe the club was operating as a 'bona fide' members club. In March 2010 St Mary's Old Boys' Club closed when the police revoked its licence on the grounds that it was not a bona fide club operated in good faith. Simultaneously, the former club trustees found themselves being sued by their landlords for £72,000 of unpaid rent dating back to 2005.

In fiction

While not explicitly mentioned by name, Anthony Burgess's posthumous novel, Byrne, makes reference to the Christian Brothers, and Crosby; the author had relatives who attended the school, although Burgess himself was educated by the Jesuits.