| Motto | Sub umbra gladii pastoris ("Under the Shadow of Thy Wings") |
|---|---|
| Established | 1888 |
| Type | foundation grammar |
| Headteacher | Mr S Gardner |
| Specialisms | Music and Maths & computing |
| Location | Maidstone Road Rochester Kent ME1 3BY England |
| DfE URN | 118917 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | Over 1000 |
| Gender | Girls, mixed sixth form |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Byron , Cassidy , Fitzgerald , Hildegard Somerville and Tomlinson |
| Website | official site |
The Rochester Grammar School (known as The Rochester Grammar School for Girls until 2006) is a school for the education of girls between the ages of 11 and 18. It is a specialist college in music, maths and ICT. Students are expected to perform highly throughout the school. It is now known as just "The Rochester Grammar School" following the introduction of boys into the sixth form.[1]
The Rochester Grammar School is located on Rochester Maidstone Road, opposite the Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School. Their Sixth Form is mixed but the rest of the school is single-sex. Last year's results moved them into the top 50 grammar schools in Kent. The school does sometimes take children who are under the age of eleven.
Contents |
The school teaches a wide variety of subjects including Art, Maths, Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), English, Geography, History, IT, RS, PE, German, Latin, Spanish, French, Philosophy, Psychology, Product Design and Exel. All students aim to achieve grades of a very high standard in every subject, the school is well known for its high GCSE and A level results.
The Rochester Grammar School was founded in 1888 and was one of the first grammar schools for girls. The original Victorian building was further down Maidstone Road, on the corner of Longley Road. When the 'New' School was built, first and second years' were based there and the older girls had to walk up the road for outdoor games on the new site.
A recent BBC report ranked the school one of the best at GCSE in the south east.
There are six school houses and colours associated with each — Byron (red), Cassidy (yellow), Fitzgerald (blue), Hildegard (black/white for 6th form), Somerville (light blue) and Tomlinson (green). They are named after famous females who have achieved great things in music, mathematics, and literature. Each student wear's a house badge above the school badge on their blazer, showing which house they belong to. Sixth form have pin badges with their house colors. Each form consists of a wide variety of different year 7-11 pupils that each belong to the same house, known as vertical tutor groups. This plan was put in place in September 2007. This system is soon to be overhauled in September 2010, with vertical tutor groups including all year groups (i.e. years 7-13). The houses compete against each other in events throughout the year, including inter-house year tournaments such as Netball, Dodgeball, Benchball, Dance and Football. The current winners of sports day are Hildegard. There are also many other events, such as charity money raisers and arts day where a variety of performances ranging from solo singing to creating art in a certain time.
In 1999 a new sixth form bollock, the Peggy Saxby Suite, was opened, with a large common room, a silent study area and several classrooms. This has recently changed and the common room is now home to a large silent study, the Independent Learning Center, and the silent study has been transformed into a Music Technology room. During study periods, students must stay in the Independent Learning Center. The common room is now in the Mary Matthews Studio. The Sixth Form now includes a number of male students from other school's. The current year twelve has the largest number of male students the school has ever seen.
The school has many girls and a few boys (in sixth Form) who represent the county and even the county in a range of sports, including football, skiing, sailing, netball, ice skating and athletics.
The school is known for the musical abilities of its students. There is an orchestra, a flute choir, a main (voice) choir, a chamber choir and a year seven choir.