Rochester Grammar School

Rochester Grammar School
Address
Maidstone Road Rochester , Kent , ME1 3BY England
Information
Type	foundation grammar
Motto	Sub umbra alarum tuarum ("Under the Shadow of Thy Wings")
Established	1888
Specialist	Music and Maths & computing
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Ms D Shepherd
Gender	Girls, mixed sixth form
Age	11 to 18
Enrollment	Over 1000
Houses	Byron  , Cassidy  , Fitzgerald  , Hildegard    and Somerville
Website	http://www.school-portal.co.uk/Grouphomepage.asp?GroupId=44931

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.

History

The Rochester Grammar School was founded in 1888 and was one of the first grammar schools for girls. Although a progressive advance for the time, the founders still regarded the education of young women with some reservations. It was hoped that the school would turn out girls: "fit to adorn the homes of England." Since this time the school has grown beyond these expectations with its pupils achieving outstanding results in both curricular and extra-curricular subjects.

Notable pupils

One pupil of note is the famous actress Dame Sybil Thorndyke who was associated with the school throughout her life.

Subjects available

All Years: English Literature, English Language, French, German, Geography, History, Music, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Art, Technology (covers textiles, woodshop, graphics etc.), Religious Studies, ICT, PE, Pastoral.

(Latin is taken from year eight).

GCSE: All of the above and: Drama, Statistics, Triple or double award science.

A Level: All of the above and: Psychology, Philosphy, Theatre Studies, Business Studies, Citizenship, Media Studies, Economics, Spanish.

Teachers

Headteacher: Ms Shepherd. Assistant Head Teacher: Mr Bassan. Deputy Heads: Mrs Miller, Mr Hartley, Mr Gardener. Director of Sixth Form: Mr Ridgeway. Head of Sixth Form: Mrs Nichols.

League Tables

A recent BBC report ranked the school one of the best at GCSE in the south east.

Houses

There are five school houses and colours associated with each — Byron (red), Cassidy (yellow), Fitzgerald (blue), Hildegard (black/white for 6th form) and Somerville (light blue). They are named after famous females who have achieved great things in music, mathematics, and literature. Each student wears a house badge above the school badge on their blazer, showing which house they belong to. Sixth form have pin badges with their house colours. Each form consists of a wide variety of different year 7-11 pupils that each belong to the same house, knowing as vertical tutor groups. This plan was put in place in September 2007. The houses compete against each other in events throughout the year, including inter-house year tournaments and sports day of which the current winners are Cassidy. But Byron are blatantly best.

Sixth form

In 1999 a new sixth form block, the Peggy Saxby Suite, was opened, with a large common room, a silent study area and several classroms. This has recently changed and the common room is now home to a large silent study, the Independent Learning Centre, and the silent study has been transformed into a Music Technology room. The common room is now in the Mary Matthews Studio. The Sixth Form now includes and number of male students from other schools. The current year twelve has the largest number of male students the school has ever seen. Ryan Williamson is the first boy in the history of the school to receive a high position in the school being named deputy head boy (There is no head boy, only a head girl).

Sport

The school has many girls and a few boys (in sixth form) who represent the county and even the country in a range of sports, including football, skiing, sailing and athletics. The school ski team came 8th in the regional championships, and one of their best skiers is Emily Evans who is in the Great Britain team for skiing, and competes world wide.

Music

The school is renowned 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. Many of the students have achieved high standards in either singing or studying a musical instrument. Lessons are available in school and the students are encouraged to enter competitions and to join bands and orchestras to gain experience of playing with a group. The school holds numerous concerts throughout the year to showcase the students' talents.

School Productions

Head of Drama, Mr Coe, directs a school production every year which sells out every night. The last production was Howard Goodall's 'A Winter's Tale'. RGS has performed other Goodall musicals such as 'Girlfriends' and as a result Howard Goodall came to watch the show and meet the cast. The high standard of the performances given impressed him greatly and has given the school a special mention on the radio. The school productions get better and better each year with the cast sometimes being asked to enter competitions to show their work elsewhere.