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Ridgeway High School
Ridgeway High School
	Ridgeway following the 2017 rebuild
Address
	Noctorum Avenue; Birkenhead; Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, CH43 9EB; England
Coordinates	53°22′48″N 3°04′31″W / 53.38°N 3.0753°W
Information
Type	Foundation school
Established	1974
Local authority	Wirral
Department for Education URN	105097 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Gavin Sterry
Staff	99 (2021)
Gender	Co-educational
Age	11 to 16
Enrolment	826 (2021)
Houses	Kolbe, Teresa, King
Colour(s)	Navy blue and red
Website	www.ridgeway.wirral.sch.uk

Ridgeway High School is a co-educational, comprehensive school in Noctorum, Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula in England.^[2] The school caters for pupils between the ages of 11 and 16, from within the Local Authority area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, primarily Noctorum, Prenton, and Oxton.^[3]^[2]

History and rebuild

Ridgeway was built in the 1970s as a two-storey building with a single-storey gymnasium.^[3]^[4] In the 1990s, an extension was added to the existing building to accommodate the school's language programs.^[3]^[4] At that point, Ridgeway could hold 825 pupils.^[5] In 2013, the school was selected by the Education and Skills Funding Agency to be 1 of 12 northwest schools to be rebuilt over the next several years.^[3] The £12m rebuild was finished in late 2017.^[4]

In 2009, Ridgeway was slated to be absorbed into Birkenhead Park School along with Park and Rock Ferry High Schools.^[6] Wirral Council eventually scratched Ridgeway off the list of schools to combine after pushback from parents.^[7] This decision was stopped by parents.^[6]

Demographics

The majority of Ridgeway students are White British;^[8] about 58% of pupils are boys and 42% are girls.^[9] 46% are eligible for free school meals.^[2]

In 2021, with 99 school staff, the teacher to pupil ratio was 1 teacher for every 13 students.^[10]

GCSE

In 2016, Ridgeway achieved a 70% A* to C score; 100% scored A* to C in performing arts; and 70% of students achieved at least one GCSE.^[11] In 2018, 55% achieved 9-4 grades in maths; 68% in English; 69% achieved 9-4 grades in computer science, 67% in religion, 93% in drama, 62% in English literature.^[12]

Awards and rankings

In 2021, the Guardian Schools Guide scored Ridgeway's pupil attendance at a 10 out of 100 points.^[10] Poor attendance has been an issue for several years.^[8] The two most recent inspections were in 2017 and 2021 and Ofsted rated them as "requires improvement."^[13]^[14] Their 2007 and 2010 inspections were "Outstanding" but their 2013 inspection dropped to "Good."^[8] Pauline Roberts, who was headteacher for four years, resigned in 2013 for "personal reasons."^[15] She was lauded by parents as the one responsible for drastically improving Ridgeway and were worried that the school, which achieved "Outstanding" during her time there, would regress.^[15]^[16]

In 2018, the PE department won the School Communication Award from the ECHO School Awards^[17] and in 2021, Ridgeway was shortlisted alongside St. James', Wade Deacon, and Hope Academy in the category "Outstanding commitment to sport & physical activity in secondary schools" for the annual Educate Awards.^[18]