The Harvey Grammar School
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| The Harvey Grammar School | |
| Motto | Temeraire redoutable et fougueux |
| Established | 1674 |
| Location | Cheriton Road Folkestone Kent CT19 5JY England |
| Website | www.harveygs.kent.sch.uk |
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The Harvey Grammar School is located in Folkestone, Kent, England. It is a selective school for boys and has around 940 pupils on its roll in 2007-8. The school has specialist Sports College status. It has been established in the town since 1674, having been started as a small one classroom, one master establishment after the death of William Harvey, who left money for the setting up of such a school. His nephew Sir Eliab Harvey founded a school of the same name, acting as executor of his uncle's will.
Although the School is officially known as The Harvey Grammar School, it is called The Harvey by many locals or abbreviated to HGS, as is its partner school the Folkestone School for Girls is known as 'The Girls School' or FSG.
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[edit] Leadership and structure
In December 2007 Keith Rivers resigned as Headmaster of the school to take up a position with the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust. Mr Bill Wright, former Deputy Headmaster, has taken over as Principal. Rivers had taken over from John Edwards who served the school from 1986-2002, during which time the Harvey's roll increased significantly. Mr Edwards' headship was also characterised by closure of the school annexe at Grace Hill and the consolidation of teaching on the main site. This was achieved by the construction of a purpose-built Science/Design & Technology block, soon followed by a Sports Hall and another new building (named the John Edwards centre) to accommodate Art, Geography, Biology, Business Studies and Computing.
Mr Scott Norman, who left the school last year, will return in September as the new Vice Principal.
The Headmaster is supported by the Executive Group who run the school on a daily basis. This comprises Mr Phil Harding, Mr Bill Wright and Mrs Pamela Garrard. These three members of staff have been at the Harvey since 1979, 1981 and 1986 respectively.
In addition, the Leadership Group includes the above members of the Executive Group but also Mr Martin Hydes (Assistant Head responsible for Teaching and Learning/Teacher Development), Mr Richard Swan (Assistant Head responsible for 10-14 Education) and Mr Simon Goodfellow (Assistant Head responsible for 14-19 Education).
There are Student Development Leaders responsible for each year group and a Director of Post 16 Education, currently Janet Thompson. Each year is split into forms of around 25 students or sometimes fewer which are headed by a Form Tutor.
Each academic department has a Head or Director and staff below who report directly to this manager and ultimately the Headmaster.
Sixth Formers are given responsibility as prefects, coordinated by the most Senior Prefects and an elected Head Boy. The current Head Boy is Chris Gamble. Minor changes have been made to the structure of the prefect body with around 25 prefects of which 4 are senior prefects and one is the Head Boy. They liaise with staff and the Parent Teachers' Association (PTA[1]) for school events and fundraisers such as Race Night, PTA Fashion Show, PTA Firework Display and school Discos held in conjunction with the Folkestone School for Girls.
[edit] The school
The main school site is situated in the Folkestone suburb of Cheriton. It has been there since 1912-3 when the main building was constructed. In 1989, school buildings in the town centre next to the Folkestone Library were closed on completion of a new Science & Technology Block on the main site. A Sports Hall was added in 1997 and in 2001 a further building was added with facilities for ICT, Art, Business Studies and Biology; this was named the John Edwards Centre in 2002 in honour of the school's headmaster from 1986 to 2002. The school also boasts an adjacent sports field with a cricket pavilion named after former pupil Les Ames (Kent and England wicketkeeper-batsman), and also benefits from the close proximity of council-owned sports facilities, including a floodlit astroturf pitch.
The Harvey's badge is worn by all boys ages 11-16 on their school uniform. The uniform consists of a black blazer, trousers and shoes, a white shirt and black and red tie (red stripes). The Sixth Form wear a different, less strict but still formal suit of their choice, with a different tie which is plain black with the school badge insignia emblem. Once they have reached the Sixth Form this can rise to have a single red strip across the diagonal to denote prefect status.
In 2005, the Harvey was awarded specialist status in Sport with Mathematics. Even before the Sports College status, the Harvey had an excellent record in sport across the county of Kent and wider. It has reached more county football and cricket finals than any other school in Kent, a proud tradition largely established by long-standing Head of PE Alan Philpott (1957-92) (alumnus). The school itself has a structure which encourages competition at all levels (not only sport), the House system, like that at any school is even more central at the Harvey. Forms in each year group are given the initial of their house; therefore each year has five forms to match the five houses.
A House Music and Technology competition are examples of two of the non-sport inter-house activities which the Harvey have introduced in recent years to benefit boys who are not wholly interested in Sport.
| House Name | Form Initial (Eg) |
|---|---|
| Cheriton House | C (7C, 8C...etc) |
| Folkestone House | F (7F, 8F...etc) |
| Hythe House | H (7H, 8H...etc) |
| Kent House | K (7K, 8K...etc) |
| School House | S (7S, 8S...etc) |
There have been examples whereby additional forms have been created to split larger year groups up between 6 forms, or if intake in a particular year has been higher than usual. This occurred in the 2002 intake when a V or Mixed form was created and allowed smaller class sizes, typically around 26 to 28.
[edit] Academic record
It educates boys from the age of 11-19. Academic standards are high, and many of the boys achieve good GCSE grades. The majority go onto the Sixth Form which was praised by OFSTED in an inspection in 2006. OFSTED also praised the school for the pastoral care of its students which includes continual revision of targets and parent information evenings for GCSE options, Sixth Form study and parent evenings. The flexibility offered by the school, especially at A Level where it works very closely with the Folkestone School for Girls to provide an extensive range of subjects, makes it a popular choice in the area. The Harvey achieved record A Level results in 2006, with a 100% pass rate. In 2007, A Level results were also very impressive, placing the Harvey above other local boys' grammar schools in the unofficial league table published by the Daily Mail.
Michael Howard, the local MP and former Leader of the Conservative Party, described the Harvey as "a jewel in Folkestone's crown" at a school prize-giving, whilst the Good State Schools Guide refers to the Harvey as "a potent mix of friendliness and formality, of tradition and innovation".[citation needed]
In the 2006 Ofsted inspection the school received an overall 3,or 'satisfactory' grade, on a scale of 1-4 where 1 is the best and 4 is the worst. The written report was generally favourable and indicated that the sixth form in particular has "many outstanding features".
Many school leavers choose go on to study a wide range of degree subjects at university. A handful of students apply to Oxford or Cambridge each year, with successful applications in the last few years in subjects including Natural Sciences, Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic and Philosophy, Politics & Economics.
[edit] Specialist status
"Work hard and play hard" and mens sana in corpore sano have always been an important part of the Harvey's ethos and it was announced in July 2005 that the school had achieved the status of a Specialist Sports College with Mathematics. In September 2005 it officially became a Sports College and within the next few years in connection with the Specialist school new status this will result in significant additional funding, together with some capital investment. A phased programme of installing interactive whiteboards in every classroom is well advanced and other opportunities resulting from specialist status have greatly enhanced the education available to students. The Harvey is also the "hub" school for the Shepway Sports Partnership, building upon its excellent reputation in sport, which has provided high-quality sporting programmes and events for hundreds of young people at other schools throughout the district.
As part of the bid, the school hopes to build above the Sports Hall changing rooms and create a Dance/Gym area as well as classrooms for Sport. The main building houses a dedicated classroom for Sport Studies (previously the Sixth Form Common Room). An artificial cricket wicket will be laid in the summer of 2007, following receipt of a grant from the Lords Taverners and further funding from the Old Harveians Association.
At the end of the Harvey's first full year as a Specialist Sports College the school achieved its best-ever A Level results with a 100% pass rate, followed by praise for the Sixth Form in the government inspection carried out by OFSTED. This was soon followed by excellent Key Stage 3 SAT results. A Level results in 2007 were as impressive as the previous year, placing the Harvey above local rivals Dover Grammar School for Boys and the Norton Knatchbull School in the unofficial league tables published by the Daily Mail. The Harvey was also placed ahead of several other prominent Kent boys' grammar schools, including Maidstone Grammar School, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, Borden Grammar School, Dartford Grammar School and Chatham House Grammar School.
[edit] Community involvement
The Harvey promotes charities very strongly and has to date (2006) raised around £110,000 for charity through an Annual Sponsored Walk around the surrounding coastline and/or countryside. Each year around 900 people set out along a marshalled route with sponsored cards to help raise money for charity. In 2006 the Harvey raised over £10,000 for the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent. The money raised varies from year to year but the highest to date was £15,000 with one pupil James Webb (year 10) raising over £300. The school was criticised about its decision to go ahead with the 2007 walk despite the adverse weather conditions.
Tag Days (non-uniform days) also raise money for charity such as Comic Relief and Marie Curie Cancer Care.
An annual Prize Day is held at the Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone to recognise those boys who have achieved a high standard in academic and/or sporting activities. The Headmaster, Chair of Governors, Head Boy and Guest Speaker are invited onto the stage to make speeches and then prizes are presented to the recipients.
[edit] Extra-curricular activities
There is an extensive range of trips: to the United States for football, to Barbados for cricket, and Barcelona for hockey and basketball. In the past twenty years, over 1200 students have taken part in the school's annual ski trip. Curriculum-related trips to France, Germany and Italy form an integral part of the school's Languages programme, whilst History trips to the Somme and Politics visits to Parliament and 10 Downing Street are annual events. There is also a highly-popular Activities Week and opportunities for Work Experience. The school has a Duke of Edinburgh's Award programme, highly-successful[citation needed] Young Enterprise groups in the sixth form, and an award-winning Debating Group. Music is achieving a much higher profile under the guidance of a new and dynamic Curriculum Leader, Steve Barker, and a jazz band, The Red Herrings, the brainchild of four Harvey students (Chris Pilgrim, Danny Brookwell, Ed Watkinson and Fred Smith) as well as a member of the Folkestone School for Girls (Primrose Briggs) recently staged a charity evening in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Care Organisation in the school hall, raising £1800 for the charity. They are in popular demand for concerts locally.[citation needed]
An annual "Leavers' Ball" is traditionally held in conjunction with the Folkestone School for Girls each year at a large venue within the Folkestone area. This provides the opportunity for the school leavers' to come together, to celebrate their passing from school to further education or employment. Year 11 also occasionally hold a Leavers' Ball but as many boys return to the Harvey to study A Levels, this has tended to be less of a tradition.
The government's programme Building Schools for the Future (BSF) should allow the Harvey to further improve its facilities. However, the new Harvey's Diner (opened in 2005) is a great improvement on the old facility, and offers a wide range of healthy-food options under the leadership of a new Catering Manager. The old canteen has been converted into a Common Room for the Sixth Form, an additional Art Room (with a kiln for pottery), and a CDT workshop.
However, some students perceive the school to be, in some respects, old fashioned, particularly concerning the rules on hair style, which states that the hair of pupils should not be so short that the scalp can be seen, or so long that the collar is covered. It has also been criticised[citation needed] for its largely white, middle class intake and a score in the last Ofsted inspection which many were disappointed with.
[edit] The school's secret war contribution at Station X
Three former staff and a pupil at the Harvey worked at the once secret code breaking centre at Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes, which was recently made public and has become a tourist attraction. Their unique roles are honoured on a plaque in the school hall. The school's Headmaster Oliver Berthoud (1952-7) was there, as was the school's long-serving secretary Miss Audrey Wind. Although they worked closely in the school it was not until a discussion one day in Mr Berthoud's office that he managed to get Miss Wind to admit to her involvement and they spoke at length about their time there.
On a visit to the school in late 2006 Miss Wind commented that no one was allowed to talk about their involvement. They were sworn to secrecy and it was amazing that four Harveians had worked for Ultra during the war. She is the sole survivor of the four but now in her eighties still gives talks on the topic at functions and at the school to boys studying the period. Following her half-century of service to the school, Miss Wind became the first and only female member of the school's old boys' association.
[edit] Former pupils
- Les Ames, Kent and England wicket-keeper-batsman (described by Australian legend Sir Don Bradman as the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman of all time).
- Andrew Brownsword, former greeting card magnate and currently owner of Bath Rugby Club, worth £195m (163 Times Rich List 2003). Recently purchased a cricket painting from Kent County Cricket Club for £625,000. Owns the aBode chain of hotels.
- Sir George Gardiner, MP for Reigate 1974-1997.
- Ross Godfrey of the band Morcheeba attended the school.
- Steven Heard, British Olympic 800m runner, attended the school from 1973-1980.[1]
- Lord Imbert of New Romney, formerly Peter Imbert, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who played a role in bringing the Balcombe Street siege to a conclusion.
- Peter Kircher, former drummer with rock group Status Quo, was a pupil at the school in the 1950s and early 1960s.
- Prof Michael Mingos, Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry in the University of Oxford.
- Noel Redding, who played his bass guitar in the Jimi Hendrix Experience (there is a mural painting celebrating him near the school office, painted on site in sections by the pupils).
- Gerald Sinstadt, television sports commentator.
- Luke Thomas, England volleyball player, attended the school from 1997-2002.
- Timothy (Tim) Wren, English first-class cricket player, attended the school from 1981-1988.[2]
