Beths Grammar School

Beths Grammar School
Established 1945
Type Grammar School; Academy
Headteacher James Skinner MA (Oxon)
Location Hartford Road
Bexley
London
DA5 1NE
England
DfE number 303/5403
DfE URN 136334 Tables
Ofsted Reports Pre-academy reports
Students 1,300 pupils
Gender Boys
Co-educational (16+)
Ages 11–18
Houses      Abbey
     Brampton
     Cray
     Eardley
     Hurst
     Wickham
Colours Royal Blue
Website www.beths.bexley.sch.uk

Beths Grammar School, commonly known as Beths, is an all-boys grammar school with academy status in Bexley, south east London, England. Pupils are admitted from the age of 11, with girls joining the sixth form in Year 12. Since becoming a grammar school in 1976, it has consistently performed well within the borough, typically attaining more than 95% A*-C grades at GCSE.[1]

History

The school was founded in 1945 as Erith Technical School, Holly Hill Road: Principal E. Alec Wolf. Specialising in technical subjects such as Mechanical Engineering, Building Construction and Academic. The buildings (Opposite the Seamans Home) were shared with the then Erith Grammar School. To facilitate the school's expansion in 1960-61, it was moved to its current site near Bexley village, and its name was changed to Bexley/Erith Technical School to reflect its new location. A few years later, this was expanded to Bexley/Erith Technical High School for Boys; the name it maintained for several decades and giving rise to the school's common name, BETHS or B.E.T.H.S. The school was later granted grammar school status,[2] and became known as BETHS Grammar School for Boys until the most recent change to Beths Grammar School, in which all pupils were notified through an assembly.

In 1995, the school was awarded DfES Technology College specialist status,[2] which provided extra funding for Design and Technology, ICT, Science and Mathematics. In 1998 the school won the School Sports Award, recognising the achievement of the school in Rugby and Football, the two main school sports, and others.

The current headmaster, James Skinner joined the school in 2002 and has overseen the school's most rapid period of expansion and development. In 2006, the school gained an additional specialism as a Modern Foreign Languages College.[3] Chinese Mandarin and Spanish are now taught at different levels throughout the school, in addition to French and German.

Uniform

For pupils in years 7-11:

Sixth Form pupils are advised to wear "business dress"; a suit and school tie for boys, and formal work attire for girls. Make up and jewellery are tolerated only for girls and must be subtle.

School colours

Colours are awarded to pupils who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to extra-curricular activities. Traditionally, this was boys who competed in several school teams (such as Football, Rugby or Hockey) and show continued commitment. This was extended to include music and other areas of commitment by previous headteacher John Tobin who considered restricting colours to sporting achievement only was unfair.

The reward is realised as the school crest emblazoned with a gold 'COLOURS' banner, presented as either a badge, to replace the plain crest on the school blazer, or embroidered on a plain royal blue tie for sixth-formers.

Notable former pupils

See also

References

  1. ↑ "League Tables - Beths Grammar School". BBC News. 2006-01-19.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 OFSTED (2002). "OFSTED Inspection Report" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  3. ↑ "Beths Celebrates Triple Success". Bexley Council. 2006-01-31. Archived from the original on 2006-10-17. Retrieved 2006-09-09.

External links

Coordinates: 51°26′49″N 0°09′04″E / 51.447°N 0.151°E