Gravesend Grammar School

Gravesend Grammar School
Gravesend GS Badge
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Church Walk Gravesend , Kent , DA12 2PR United Kingdom
Information
Type	Grammar School, Academy
Motto	Consule Cunctis (Latin); Take thought for everyone
Established	1893
Specialist	Languages, Maths, IT
Department for Education URN	137099 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair of Decus Educational Trust	Graham Ralph
Headteacher	Malcolm Moaby[1]
Gender	Boys (11+) Co-educational (16+)
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1213
Houses	6
Colour(s)
Song	Consule Cunctis
Publication	The Miltonian
Former pupils	Old Gravesendians
Website	https://gravesendgrammar.com/

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 accepting a cohort of the top 15-20% and boys and girls at 16, based on their GCSE results. The school continues to strive achieving around 100%(5 A*-C including English and Maths) at GCSE level with many students obtaining >9 GCSEs at the end of Year 11.

School[]

Gravesend Grammar School was opened by Princess Beatrice of Battenberg, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, on 19 July 1893 with due pomp and ceremony. The school was originally based in Darnley Road, Gravesend and later moved to the site of Milton Hall, the former home of Mayor G. M. Arnold JP, one of the school's founders. The original building is currently used as an adult education centre. The replacement building, erected between 1931 and 1938 and officially opened on 12 October 1938, 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.^[2]

In July 2009 a new sports centre was opened, adjacent to the sports hall, and named the Sanderson Sports Centre, after a 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 2016, a new music block was opened opposite a computer facility. This new music block has many new features and is a vast improvement on its predecessor. There are 3 practice rooms, a recording studio and a main room for clubs and other musical activities.

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.^[3]

• Chair of the Local Governing Body: Anne Robinson
• Headteacher: Malcolm Moaby
• Deputy Headteacher: Sarah Tremain. Head of Lower School: Gareth Rapley. Head of Middle School: James Deamer. Head of Senior School: Duncan Pallant.
• Director of Support Services: Michael Fall

On 1 August 2011 the school became an Academy Trust.

Names and styles 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:

  Cliffe (Blue House tie) – deriving from the Overcliffe, for boys from the west of the Borough

  Downs (Yellow House tie) – representing the North Downs, for boys from the south of the Borough

  Hill (Green House Tie (Headie One)) – from Windmill Hill, for boys from the east of the Borough

  Town (Red House tie) – as the name indicates, boys drawn from the town centre

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

  School (Purple House tie)

In 2012 a sixth house was formed:

  Fleet (White House tie)

The 2009-year group also included a Fleet House form. Originally called (Rain)Bow the 30 pupils belonged to the older five houses; in 2012 these pupils received Fleet House ties replacing their original House tie.

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 is a number of school prefects, 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 engraved with their position.

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, attracting various speakers, such as local MP Adam Holloway or, for example, representatives from Israeli and Palestinian Support Charities. 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 organisations, ranging from local schools to companies in Kent and 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 prospectae and information from various universities, as well as information about possible career 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, football, badminton, rugby and hockey, as well as facilities for basketball, table tennis and athletics; handball was introduced in 2010.

The school arranges overseas rugby tours to South Africa, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The school also produced 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 witnessed educational visits to France, Italy and Germany, including various exchanges, as well as other 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 visited Bolivia, Peru, Mongolia, Zambia, Botswana, and China as part of the World Challenge Expeditions. Senior school members were stranded in Iceland with staff due to the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull for a period of six days during a Geography trip. Ski trips take place to the Alps, 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 understood to mean "Do thou take thought for the good of all men", it is now translated as "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-1940s. 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 hearken the song as we chant it,

Some twelve hundred fellows 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 twelve hundred fellows 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 twelve hundred fellows 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!

Head Boy: Ou aye!

School: Ou aye aye!

Head Boy: Zen Zen Zen!

School: Gravesend!

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

While Consule Cunctis remains the official song of the school, in modern times, many students regard "Gyally on my mind" by homegrown talent Yung Drizzy and KAMO to be an alternative school anthem. A lyrical masterpiece, and an instrumental delight, 'Gyally' as it is colloqially known remains a student favourite.

Head masters[]

Deputy head masters[]

Notable former pupils[]

• Sir Derek Barton FRS (1918-1998), organic chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
• George Box FRS (1919-2013), statistician, President of the American Statistical Association, 1978, President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 1979
• Sqn Ldr Robert Palmer VC DFC* (1920–1944)
• David Brown DMus (1929–2014), Professor of Musicology, Southampton University, 1983-1989, leading Tchaikovsky specialist
• Sir Richard Southwood DL FRS (1931–2005), Professor of Zoology and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, 1989-1993
• Johnny Hills (born 1934), professional footballer, Tottenham Hotspur FC
• Brian Newbould (born 1936), Professor of Music, Hull University, 1979-2001
• Janis Antonovics FRS (born 1942), Professor of Biology, University of Virginia, 1998–present, winner of the 1999 Sewall Wright Award
• David Nicholls (1943–2008), professional cricketer, Kent CCC
• David A. Cooke (born 1949), rugby player, Harlequins and England
• Geoff Whitehorn (born 1951), guitarist and singer-songwriter, member of Procol Harum
• Rt Revd Tony Porter (born 1952), Bishop of Sherwood, 2006–present
• Richard T. Russell (born 1952), author of BBC BASIC for Windows programming language
• Paul Greengrass (born 1955), BAFTA-winning and Academy Award-nominated film director
• Alan Riach (born 1957), Professor of Scottish Literature, Glasgow University, 2001–present
• Stephen Webster MBE (born 1960), jewellery designer
• Cllr Mike Woodin (1965–2004), former principal spokesman for the Green Party of England and Wales and Oxford City Councillor
• Simon Adams (Paul Ritter) (1966-2021), actor, Friday Night Dinner, Chernobyl, Quantum of Solace, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince^[5][6]
• Adrian Owen OBE (born 1966), Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging, University of Western Ontario, Canada, 2010–present
• Nicholas White (born 1966), Grammy nominated composer, conductor, organist, pianist, singer^[7][8]
• Alex Beard (born 1967), Chief Executive Glencore UK 2007–present
• Neil McDonald (born 1967), chess grandmaster
• Tan Dhesi (born 1978), Mayor of Gravesham, 2011-2012,^[9] Member of Parliament for Slough, 2017–present^[10]
• Andrew Cave-Brown (born 1988), professional footballer, Leyton Orient FC
• Sam Walker (born 1991), professional footballer, Reading FC
• Fikayo Tomori (born 1997), professional footballer, AC Milan and England

Other[]

• At the end of each academic year a school magazine, The Miltonian, is published. Generally it includes valedictories to leaving staff members, reviews of sporting seasons and drama productions, accounts of school trips and other events which took place during the previous year.

References[]

External links[]

• Gravesend Grammar School website
• Ofsted Report

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