Gravesend Grammar School

Gravesend Grammar School
Motto

Consule Cunctis

Latin for: Take thought
for everyone
Established 1893
Type Grammar school, academy
Headteacher Geoffrey Wybar
Location Milton
Gravesend
Kent
England
DfE URN 137099 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students 1213
Gender Boys (11+)
Co-educational (16+)
Ages 11–18
Houses 6
Colours          
Publication The Miltonian
Website www.gravesendgrammar.eu

Gravesend Grammar School is a selective grammar school with academy status located in Gravesend, Kent, England. The school accepts boys at age 11 by examination and boys and girls at 16, based on their GCSE results.

School

Gravesend Grammar School was opened on 19 July 1893 in a lavish ceremony by Princess Beatrice of Battenberg, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. The school was originally based in Darnley Road, Gravesend and later moved to the site of Milton Hall, the former home of G. M. Arnold, a former Mayor of Gravesend and one of the founders of the school. The original building is currently used as an adult education centre. The replacement building is still in use although many alterations and additions have been made to it since it was originally constructed, including being partly rebuilt after being bombed during World War II, having been mistaken for Eton College.

A second school building, known as the Centenary Building, was built in 1993 to commemorate the school's 100th year and currently houses facilities including multiple computer facilities and chemistry labs. There are a number of mobile classrooms around the school site, used for various subjects, although these are beginning to be replaced by more permanent buildings.[1]

In July 2009 a new sports centre was opened, adjacent to the sports hall, and named the Sanderson Sports Centre, after the former headmaster. Overall, there are 63 classrooms, including six computer rooms, all of which contain interactive whiteboards, as well as a library, a sports hall, several small music practice rooms and a canteen available to all staff and pupils. In 2013 the main school and the Centenary Building were linked by a new building containing eight new classrooms including a large art room and a lecture theatre.

In 2004 the school gained specialist status as a maths and computing specialist school. This guarantees the school extra government funding in order to continue the running and expansion of its facilities. The school also gained language specialist status, in 2008.[2]

On 1 August 2011 the school became an academy trust.

Names of the school

1893 - 1898 The Gravesend Municipal Technical School
1898 - 1904 The Gravesend Municipal Day School
1904 - 1914 The Gravesend County Day School
1914 - 1946 The County School for Boys, Gravesend
1946 - 1967 The Gravesend Grammar School for Boys
1967 - 1982 The Gravesend School for Boys
1982 - 1999 Gravesend Grammar School for Boys
1999 - present Gravesend Grammar School

House system

In 1926 the present house system was introduced replacing the former houses of Goths, Vikings and Saxons. Originally the pupils in each year group were divided into four houses reflecting where they lived. This distinction no longer applies with the choice of house now often linked to family connections:

     Cliff (Blue House tie) - Derived from the Overcliffe, for boys from the west of the Borough
     Downs (Yellow House tie) - Reflecting the North Downs, for boys from the south of the Borough
     Hill (Green House tie) - From Windmill Hill, for boys from the east of the Borough
     Town (Red House tie) - As the name implies, boys drawn from the town area

In 1993 to reflect the growing size of the school, a fifth house was introduced:

     School (Purple House tie)

In 2012 a sixth house was created:

     Fleet (White House tie)

The 2009 year group also has a Fleet house form. Originally called (rain)Bow the 30 students belonged to the older five houses. In 2012 the students received Fleet house ties in place of their original house ties.

Head boy team and prefects

Each year, a head boy and a team of five deputies are elected from the Lower Sixth (Year 12). Several weeks before the Easter holiday, any student wishing to stand for either position must submit a manifesto to the Head of Year. Hustings are then held, in which the candidates put forward their ideas and reasons for wishing to be elected. The Year 12 group and staff vote then for their choices for head boy and deputies. The candidates with the most votes then have an interview with the headteacher and the successful candidates are announced just before the term ends. As the school now has a mixed sixth form the team is also mixed.

There are a large number of prefects in the school, ranging from subject prefects to pastoral ones in charge of areas of the school such as the library or the canteen. There is a dedicated team of about 15 students to ensure appropriate use of ICT facilities at break and lunchtimes. All members of the prefect and head boy teams are issued a blue shield-shaped badge with their position engraved on it.

Sixth form

The Sixth Form currently contains approximately 300 students, studying A Levels in a variety of subjects. Each week there is a "General Education" session for the Lower Sixth, in which various speakers, such as the local MP or representatives from Israeli and Palestinian Support Charities, speak. The school also provides free "Driveability" sessions for the Year 12 students that outline the various risks and responsibilities of learning to drive. There are several extracurricular clubs specifically for the Sixth Form, including an A+ computing course, and a Film Club.

Careers

Pupils begin to prepare for career choices in Year 9, where they start to have one lesson a fortnight being taught various aspects of careers, including interview techniques and how to write CVs. These lessons continue until the end of Year 11. In addition, all Year 11 pupils have a week's work experience in a variety of locations, from local prep schools to companies in London. They also have group careers interviews with a Connexions advisor, with one on one sessions if requested. The school has a Careers Library that any student can use, containing prospectuses and information from various Universities, as well as information about possible careers paths.

Sport

Sport plays a very big part of life at the school with all GCSE students taking physical education short courses. There are a number of specialist PE teachers who coach a variety of teams, including cricket, badminton, rugby and hockey, as well as facilities for basketball, table tennis and athletics. Handball was introduced in 2010.

The school has undertaken overseas rugby tours to South Africa, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The school currently had a British Pentathlon Champion in 2011.

Drama and music

The school GCSE and A Level groups have staged productions such as Grease, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, West Side Story, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Animal Farm, The Madness of King George, Grimm Tales, The Crucible, The Little Shop of Horrors and The Threepenny Opera. New productions have been staged, including some written by student and teachers such as The Letter of Marque (pronounced "Mark"), directed by Carrie Lee-Grey (SMOOSH) and written by Ashley Tomlin (Old Gravesendian and former Head of Middle School). There are a number of musical organisations at the school, including guitar and recorder clubs, a chamber orchestra and a choir.

Trips

Recent years have seen educational visits to France, Italy, and Germany, including various exchanges, as well as slightly less adventurous trips to places such as The Globe Theatre, Chessington World of Adventures, the Phoenix Theatre, port lymph animal park and The British Museum. Senior students have been to Bolivia, Peru, Mongolia, Zambia and Botswana as part of the World Challenge Expeditions. Ski trips have taken place in the Alps to Italy and Canada. The school has also taken pupils to canoe down the Ardèche and to scuba dive in Gozo.

Motto and school song

The school motto, Consule Cunctis, was adopted in 1925, and whilst originally translated as "Do thou take thought for the good of all men", is now taken to mean "take thought for everyone". Originally, the school song was "Forty Years On", the school song for Harrow School, but in 1926 two friends of the Headmaster wrote a new song, also called "Consule Cunctis". "Forty Years On" continued to be sung along with the new song at important dates in the school calendar, such as Speech Day, until the late Forties. To reflect the ever increasing numbers and diversity of the school, and particularly the inclusion of female students within the sixth form, the words have changed, in theory at least, from "four hundred fellows" to "one thousand students".

School song

Consule cunctis we readily grant it,
Who will not hearten the song as we chant it,
Some one thousand students assembled in Hall?
Though the splendour of life shall illumine our faces,
Whilst boyhood's a game that delights us, and graces,
Our 'Play for the side with your face to the ball'.
Consule cunctis in fair or rough weather,
We'll play 'til the whistle, stand fast all together,
We one thousand students assembled in Hall.
Though the ground to our feet may ring flintily, dustily,
Forget not the chorus but sing it right lustily,
And 'Play for the side with your face to the ball'.
Consule cunctis when schooldays are ending,
There's none shall escape from the duties attending,
All one thousand students assembled in Hall.
Consule cunctis the world stands before us,
And we'll yet make it join in our full-throated chorus,
Of 'Play for the side with your face to the ball'
Head Boy: School, selah, c'est a dire!
School: Alors, oui, bon! Ou aye, ou aye, aye, zen, zen, zen, Gravesend!

Many boys, erroneously, still sing the original School Song, which refers to "Fellows" as opposed to "Students".

Head Masters

1893 - 1898 James T. Dalladay (qv. Arthur James Dalladay)
1898 - 1924 H.F.A. Wigley FCS
1924 - 1946 The Rev Samuel Lister[3]
1946 - 1963 William H.E. Stevens FRSA
1963 - 1968 H. Peter Arnold-Craft JP
1968 - 1974 Roy Cooke
1974 - 1977 James Brogden
1978 - 1985 Peter T. Sanderson
1985 - 2000 Peter J. Read
2000 - present Geofferey S. Wybar

Deputy Head Masters

1893 - 1898 S.A. Sworn
1898 - 1907 James T. Dalladay AMC
1907 - 1931 D. Foster
1931 - 1936 H. Law
1936 - 1958 A. Richards
1958 - 1964 Les C. Furley
1964 - 1973 Edwin W. Walker
1973 - 1977 Peter T. Sanderson DLC
1979 - 1986 John E. Edwards
1986 - 1990 Robin H. Curtis
1990 - 2013 Brian Simpson
2004 - 2008 Joanne L. Seymour

Notable former pupils

Other

References

  1. ↑ http://www.gravesendgrammar.eu/wp-content/.../Final-Newsletter-July-2014.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.gravesendgrammar.eu/languages-specialism/
  3. ↑ www.burkespeerage.com
  4. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2001/jun/09/6
  5. ↑ Debrett's People of Today
  6. ↑ http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9134341.Bradford_University_honour_for_plastic_surgeon/
  7. ↑ http://www.defra.gov.uk/forestrypanel/about/members/
  8. ↑ http://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend_messenger/news/2009/may/1/bafta_award.aspx

External links

Coordinates: 51°26′13″N 0°23′1″E / 51.43694°N 0.38361°E