King David bids farewell to old school

"I've seen tolerance, knowledge and respect come from having a mixed faith school, but it has been challenging," Mr Gillis said. "The Jewish kids are more Jewish because they are now a minority. But the key test is if they identify with the Jewish community 30 or 40 years after they leave."

Governors are in the process of appointing a campus director of Jewish studies responsible for the Jewish ethos in all KD sections.

Year 10 pupil Jordan Brookes said the final day on the premises had been a "riot" of a time. "Everyone has been taking the fire exit signs," he reported.

Year seven student Tegan Grugel - whose mother was a KD pupil and now teaches at its kindergarten - was "happy to see the buildings go because they are wrecked". The budding painter looked forward to using the art studios at the new campus.

She has sold artworks to raise £250 for Wirral's Clatterbridge Hospital, where her late cousin and former King David pupil Tilly Rosenblatt was a cancer patient. Ruby Morris, 15, was "looking forward to much better and cleaner facilities in the new school - and less smelly toilets".

English teacher Helen Lingwood, another former pupil, found it emotional to see "everything torn off the walls.

"You can't help that sentimental feeling," she said, "because for many of us, our childhood is here".