| Motto | Labora Cum Amore "Work with love" |
|---|---|
| Established | 1967 |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headteacher | Mr Brendan Wall (2010- )[1] |
| Specialism | Technology College |
| Location | St. Simon Stock Catholic School, Oakwood Park, Maidstone Kent ME16 0JP |
| Local authority | Kent County Council |
| Students | 1000+ |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | St. Simon Stock School website |
St. Simon Stock Catholic School is a mixed secondary school in Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1967 and is the only Roman Catholic secondary school in the area. It was named after the Carmelite St. Simon Stock, who was believed to be born in Aylesford and is linked to the nearby Aylesford Priory and St Francis' Church, Maidstone.
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St Simon Stock is a mixed Roman Catholic school with a strong academic and pastoral tradition. The school's official name with the DfES was officially changed in 2001 upon the appointment of then new headteacher, Mr John McParland, from Saint Simon Stock School to St. Simon Stock Catholic School. Mr McParland states that this is to emphasise the school's Catholic ethos.
There are currently, over 1000 students on roll, including almost 200 in the Sixth Form.
The students of the school range from 11–18 years. It is a Roman Catholic comprehensive co-educational school and the primary function is to serve the educational needs of Roman Catholic students in the Mid Kent area. Students are also admitted from other Christian denominations and other faiths whenever places are available, and if the parents clearly value the school ethos, however, the school has been over-subscribed every year for some time, and it proves almost impossible to get into the school after the age of eleven.
The school is linked to the ME16+ consortium, which deals with 'post 16'(after Year 11). This integrates the school with other local schools such as Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, Astor of Hever, Maplesden Noakes, Oakwood Park Grammar School and Oakwood Park MidKent College. ME16+ gives students in sixth form a wider choice of subjects to study.
The school was designated as a Specialist Technology College by the DfES in 2003 and since then, a new Sports Hall and Sixth Form building/teaching rooms have been built, including a conference room. One other new block has been built, which contains three specialist ICT rooms, which are equipped with a full class set of 30 desktop computers, and interactive whiteboards. The block also includes two business rooms.
In the 2000s, a drama studio was built in memory of Kath Topping, along with two science classrooms. On 30th November 2009, it was announced to the school that Mr McParland would be departing as headmaster, for a job as principal at a new academy to be formed from Christ Church C of E School in Ashford.
On Wednesday 22nd June 2011 an arson attack was committed at the school on the science, art and food technology rooms, police and forensics were called to investigate. Early on the morning of wednesday somebody came to the school with a bag of six petrol bombs and threw them at the school one hit the window inside the science department and exploded soot all around science and the other one thrown hit art but did go inside then the person ran away without the rest of the petrol bombs.
a sixteen teenage boy has been questioned and arrested he has been put on bail until the twenty seventh of july due to lack of information over the crime.