Maidstone Grammar School
| Maidstone Grammar School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
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Barton Road , , ME15 7BT England | |
| Coordinates | 51°15′55″N 0°31′52″E / 51.26538°N 0.53108°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Foundation Grammar School |
| Motto | Olim Meminisse Juvabit "One day it will be pleasing to remember." from the Aeneid 1.203 |
| Established | 1549 |
| Local authority | Kent |
| Department for Education URN | 118835 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Chair of Governors | Mark Rolfe |
| Head teacher | Mark Tomkins |
| Staff | 112 |
| Gender | Boys (11-16) Mixed (16-18) |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 1,292 |
| Capacity | 1,314 |
| Houses | Barton College Corpus Christi Tonbridge |
| Colour(s) | Blue Yellow |
| Former Pupils | Old Maidstonians |
| School Song | "Gaudeamus" |
| Website | http://www.mgs.kent.sch.uk/ |
Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) is a grammar school in Maidstone, England. The school was founded in 1549 after Protector Somerset sold Corpus Christi Hall on behalf of King Edward VI to the people of Maidstone for £200. The Royal Charter for establishment of a grammar school was also granted at this time.[1]
Admissions
Maidstone Grammar School is a selective school, taking boys at the age of 11 and over based on their 11+ results, and also admits male and female pupils at 16+ based on their GCSE results. Current admissions into Sixth Form are at a 5.5 average GCSE grade.
The school currently has 1292 pupils and 112 members of staff, with 69 teachers as of the academic year 2018–2019.[2][3]
Buildings
The main school building surrounds a Tudor-style quadrangle with a cloister on one side. Two new blocks were added in the 1960s and 80s to complete a second quadrangle, nicknamed the 'Court'. In 2005, a new refectory and teaching block (renamed the 'Walker Building') opened, followed by Sixth Form buildings in 2011.
Additional funding from Kent County Council allowed the school to open a designated Performing Arts building, new sports pavilion, and computing and science block between 2017 and 2019. The pavilion was constructed to replace the traditional pavilion which had fallen into disrepair, with an extension currently being built. More recently, the school opened a refurbishment of the War Memorial Library and a new all-weather sports pitch.
Houses
A house system was inaugurated in 1899 with three houses of 'School', 'East Borough' and 'West Borough';[4] allocation was based on local geography.[5] In September 2007, the school reformed the tradition with the introduction of six new school houses named after military vehicles: Challenger (purple), Churchill (yellow), Endeavour (red), Hurricane (green), Invincible, (blue) and Spitfire (white).
For the 2017–18 academic year, a new house system was introduced to accommodate the expansion of the school. The four new house names are based on the four sites the school has used since its foundation in 1549, being Barton (blue), College (green), Corpus Christi (red) and Tonbridge (yellow).
Sixth form
The sixth form is one of the largest in the south-east of England[citation needed]. Each year the school takes up to 200 students into Year 12, including about thirty external pupils of mixed gender from any school according to their GCSE results. The sixth form teaches AS and A-Level courses.
Sport
The main sports at the school are rugby, football and cricket, but participation also includes rowing, athletics, handball, and basketball.
In the 1999/2000 season, the 1st XI football team reached the final of the ESFA U18 Cup Final, narrowly losing to The Kingsway School
In the 2004/05 season, the U15A rugby XV managed to win the Schools Vase, having won the Kent Schools Cup earlier in the season, beating Oakham School 33-7
Combined Cadet Force (CCF)
 | This section contains academic boosterism which primarily serves to praise or promote the subject and may be a sign of a conflict of interest. (July 2020) |
The school has a Combined Cadet Force, with Navy, Army and RAF sections accepting students on a voluntary basis when they reach year nine. The Combined Cadet Force, in particular the Army section, has roots in the Royal Engineers. The Navy section is affiliated with HMS Collingwood and, a land establishment in Portsmouth, and also has an affiliated ship (HMS Kent (F78)).[6] The RAF section regularly enters teams into both regional and national competitions and have won a total of nine Air Squadron Trophies[7][8]
School song
In 1908, Rev C. G. Duffield (the headmaster from 1898 to 1913), wrote Latin lyrics to the music of music-master Dr H. F. Henniker for Gaudeamus, the school song. The words, based on verses in Virgil’s Aeneid, are still sung on special occasions such as upper and lower school speech days.[9][10]
Notable events
In May 2016, former Maidstone Grammar School teacher Steve Restarick was found guilty of fraud charges, involving embezzling £6,258 of the schools resources over several years.[11]
In December 2020, Maidstone Grammar School was widely reported in the news for choosing to delay the reopening of the school over concerns of the impact of Brexit on its students and staff being able to access the school.[12]
Notable alumni (Old Maidstonians)
Former pupils of the school are called "Old Maidstonians" and include:
Art, Music & Literature
- Dan Abnett, comic book writer
- William Alexander (painter)†
- Richard Beeching, Chairman of British Railways
- Edmund Blunden†, writer & poet
- Daniel Blythe, writer
- James Butler (artist) MBE, sculptor
- Philip Langridge† CBE, tenor
- Philip Moore, Organist of York Minster from 1983 to 2008, Organist of Guildford Cathedral from 1974 to 1983
- Christopher Smart†, poet
- Yeborobo, musical group (members thereof)
Business & Commerce
- Richard (Dick) Beeching, Baron Beeching†, physicist, British Railways Chairman, cause of the Beeching cuts
- Sir Jack Hughes, property mogul & philanthropist[13]
- Jason Tarry, CEO (UK & ROI), Tesco PLC
- Mark F. Watts, lobbyist & former Labour MEP
Media, television & film
- James Burke, science historian and TV presenter
- David Chater, television foreign correspondent and former Chairman of the Old Maidstonian Society
- Andrew Dilnot CBE (briefly), Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford since 2002, and former presenter of BBC Radio 4's More or Less
- James Hillier (actor)
- Paul Lewis, financial journalist and presenter of Money Box & Money Box Live on BBC Radio 4[14]
- Kevin Loader, film and television producer
- Shaun McKenna, screenwriter
- Stuart Miles, Blue Peter presenter from 1994 to 1999[15]
- Tom Riley, film and television actor
Military
- Captain Ben Babington-Browne†, of 22 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers, killed on 6 July 2009 after a Canadian Bell CH-146 Griffon crashed in Zabul Province, Afghanistan[16]
- Lt-Gen Sir Frederick Dobson Middleton CB, Commandant from 1874 to 1884 of RMC Sandhurst
- Air Vice-Marshal Philip Hedgeland† CB OBE, expert in airborne radar, Station Commander from 1966 to 1967 of RAF Stanbridge, and helped develop the H2S radar in the war at the Telecommunications Research Establishment in Malvern[17]
- Air Marshal Sir Timothy Jenner CB, Station Commander of RAF Shawbury from 1987 to 1988
Politics & government
- Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges†, MP from 1812 to 1818 for Maidstone
- Nick Gibb (briefly), Conservative Schools Minister 2010-current, and MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton since 1997
- Stuart Gilbert† Director of National Saving in the 1980s[18]
- John Pugh, Liberal Democrat MP 2001-2017 for Southport
- Adam Sampson, Legal Services Ombudsman since 2009, and Chief Executive from 2003 to 2089 of Shelter[19]
- Mark F. Watts, Labour MEP from 1994 to 1999 for Kent East, then South East England from 1999 to 2004
Religion
- Rt Rev David John Atkinson, Bishop of Thetford from 2001 to 2009
- Leo Avery†
- Rt Rev Bob Evens, Bishop of Crediton 2004-2012 [20]
- Henry Gould† vicar of St Paul's Cathedral 1908-1913
- George Harris (Unitarian)†
- Very Rev Robert William Pope OBE†
- Martin Warner (bishop) SSC, Bishop of Whitby 2010–12, Bishop of Chichester 2012-present
Science & academia
- Peter Day†, Fullerian Professor of Chemistry from 1994 to 2008, and Director of the Royal Institution from 1991 to 1998
- Frank Finn†, ornithologist
- Peter Heather, historian
- Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History from 1984 to 2007 at University College London
- William Morfill†, Professor of Russian from 1900 to 1909 at the University of Oxford
- John Orrell†, theatre historian
- John Pond† Astronomer Royal 1811-1835
- Ivan Roots† Historian, Biographer of Oliver Cromwell
- Bill Saunders, Professor of Endodontology, and Dean of Dentistry since 2000 at the University of Dundee, and President from 1997 to 1998 of the British Endodontic Society[21]
Sport
- David Flatman, Bath Rugby Union player
- Tom Parsons, Kent and Hampshire county cricketer
- Frank Sando, Olympic athlete, two-time winner at the International Cross Country Championships (1955, 1957), represented Great Britain in two consecutive Summer Olympic Games
- Steven Haworth, wrestler also known as Nigel McGuinness and Desmond Wolfe
Other
- Julius Brenchley†, explorer
- Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland†
- Sir Thomas Fane†
Notable staff
- William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, taught English and Music at the school between 1938 and 1940, when he met his wife Ann Brookfield.[22]
- Steve Restarick, former professional footballer, taught P.E. at the school before his suspension in 2014 amid fraud allegations.[11]
References
- ^ "School Sites » Maidstone Grammar School". Maidstone Grammar School. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "Maidstone Grammar School - GOV.UK". Find and compare schools in England. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Maidstone Grammar School - GOV.UK". Find and compare schools in England. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Phillips, G. Brownfield (1965). Maidstone Grammar School 1579-1965.
- ^ Streatfield F, an account of the Grammar School in the Kings town and parish of Maidstone in Kent, Rogus and B,1915
- ^ "CCF". Maidstone Grammar School. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Newsletter Winter 2009" (PDF). Old Maidstonian Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Maidstonian 2010" (PDF). Maidstone Grammar School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "MGS School Song". Old Maidstonian Society. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "School Song". Maidstone Grammar School. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ a b Gazet, David (19 August 2016). "Former Maidstone Grammar School PE teacher Steve Restarick sentenced for fraud". Kent Online. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Brexit traffic fears prompt Maidstone school to teach online". BBC News. 9 December 2020. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Hickson, Ron (11 April 2006). "Obituary: Sir Jack Hughes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021.
- ^ "Paul Lewis – Biography". Debretts. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- ^ "Old Maidstonians Society Newsletter Autumn 1996" (PDF). Old Maidstonian Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "School's tribute to crash soldier". BBC News. 9 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 July 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "Air Vice-Marshal Mike Hedgeland obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 8 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Old Maidstonian Society Newsletter - Autumn 1996" (PDF). Old Maidstonians Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2020.
- ^ Horton, Clare (2 March 2009). "Head of Shelter, Adam Sampson, quits to helm new consumer watchdog | Society". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Bishop of Crediton announces retirement date". Diocese of Exeter. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012.
- ^ "Biography of William Saunders". University of Glasgow. Universitystory.gla.ac.uk. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ Roberts, Stephen (10 September 2018). "William Golding: inspired in Kent". Kent Life. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
External links
- Official website
- Ofsted Report
- Get information about schools (formerly Edu Base)
- Schools Financial Benchmarking Service
- Compare School Performance
News items
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