Chatham Grammar School for Boys

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Chatham Grammar School for Boys is a grammar school in Chatham, Kent, England. It has approximately 1200 students and its premises are based around Holcombe Manor.

Chatham Grammar School for Boys

Turning potential into reality
Established	1920
School type	Selective grammar years 7-11, open mixed sixth form (see article)
Locale	Chatham
Headteacher	L. D Marshall
Location	Kent, England
Students	approximately 1200
Website	http://www.holcombecollege.co.uk

Students achieve highly throughout the school. Many of them stay on in the mixed sixth form. Throughout the school's history it has only had eight headteachers, including the incumbent L. D. Marshall. He is supported by three Assistant Headteachers, the Heads of Year and the Head of Sixth Form.

The School Captain's Team consists of four members of the sixth form who serve in the roles of School Captain, Vice School Captain and two Deputy School Captains from Easter of Year 12 until the following Easter of Year 13.

1 Ethos
2 Houses
3 Accelerated Curriculum
4 School trips
5 Sixth Form
6 Famous Puplis

[edit] Ethos

Competition is encouraged through participation in the national Maths Challenge, interhouse rugby, football, tennis and hockey tournaments. Following the example set by the Headteacher, students are expected to adhere to traditional values which encourage pupils to become citizens of the future. Uniform for students in years 7-11 is as follows:

Specific tie
Blazer with house badge - a coloured "C", which surrounds the Invicta Horse of Kent symbol.
White shirt
Black trousers
Dark coloured socks
Dark coloured shoes
Optional jumper

A number of Old Holcombians have achieved success in later life which the school often attributes to their education at Holcombe. One particularly successful ex-pupil is Len Hynds, now a senior policeman who helped set up and lead the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit and is currently an assistant director of its replacement, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Another ex-pupil is bestselling author and screenwriter Stel Pavlou.

[edit] Houses

There are six school houses, all named after ships constructed at the nearby Chatham Dockyard. They are, along with their house colour, Achilles (Red), Blake (Green), Challenger (Blue), Dryad (Yellow), Expedition (Purple) and Formiddable (Orange). The houses compete against each other at events like the school's annual summer Sports Day, the autumn Cross Country, and also at tasks like collecting the most merit marks, in order to obtain the House Shield trophy. Each year has six forms lettered A - F to reflect the houses, except the year that started in 2000, when there were only five houses but six forms, numbered 1 - 6.

[edit] Accelerated Curriculum

From September 2005 students take their SATs a year earlier than usual, in year 8, meaning GCSEs are also started a year early, in year 9. A variety of GCSE courses are available in years 9 and 10. The school achieved Language College status in 2001, and students starting between 2001 and 2003 had to study two languages from Year 7 to 11. As of 2006 this is no longer the case.

[edit] School trips

Students have the opportunity to take part in a range of off-site trips. The most popular are those abroad, to destinations including Thailand and Japan as well as closer to home including Italy, Germany and Disneyland Paris. Other popular trips include the annual year 7 residential trip and the GCSE Geography trip to the Lake District.

Flying the flag at Holcombe in honour of a student's achievements

[edit] Sixth Form

The school has the largest sixth form in Medway due to its open nature. A minimum of 5 C grades at GCSE or equivalent are required, and these must include English and Mathematics (there are exceptions to this rule, where if a C is not obtained in one of the two key subjects but is in the other, the student is given the opportunity to transfer into the sixth form but retake the failed subject). Though a large proportion of students at Key Stage 4 (year 11) progress to the sixth form, many students from neighbouring schools also join the sixth form, including girls. In 2006, the Sixth Form forms were changed , partially due to increasing entry numbers, to have three forms for each house, comprising of a mix of Year 12 and 13.