CHATHAM AND THE MEDWAY TOWNS
Historical Chatham is a town closely associated with the Navy and the former Dockyard. It is now a rapidly growing town with new industries re-siting on the old dockyard site. A considerable amount of new housing has been built in the last 10 years; and Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Gillingham have grown into each other to form a large centre of population situated on the River Medway. There is ready access to the channel ports and London and a large proportion of the local population commute to the City on a daily basis.
Education
There are Grammar Schools and High Schools in the Medway Towns arising from the selection procedure that takes place at 11. There are also wide ability and Church schools in the locality. A considerable number of secondary schools have Foundation Status. The Governors at Chatham Grammar School for Boys are fully supportive of the LEA and the School remains a Community School with Medway Council.
Shopping
Medway offers a wide range of shopping facilities, from the medieval back streets of Rochester, through to modern high streets, to superstores and out of town shopping centres.
Leisure
Medway also offers an extensive range of facilities for leisure and sport. There are a number of sports centres and key facilities include the Ice Bowl at Gillingham Business Park, an Alpine Ski Centre in Capstone Country Park and an internationally recognised indoor bowls club at Prince Arthur Road in Gillingham. The River Medway is a popular setting for water sports and there are numerous parks, commons and woodlands for informal and family recreation. Medway is also the home of First Division Gillingham F.C.
Medway is of major regional and national significance being:
- Situated on the North coast of Kent between London and the Channel Ports.
- The largest urban area of Kent and the second largest in the South East, outside London.
- Easily reached by an advanced network of roads, rail and sea.
- A t the heart of the Thames Gateway.
- Having a number of industrial and leisure parks.
CHATHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR BOYS
Chatham Grammar School for Boys is situated on the southern side of Chatham by the A230 Maidstone Road. It occupies an attractive half-timbered black and white building, formerly a manor house owned by George Winch, a one time Mayor of Chatham, and part of his estate known as Holcombe. Seven modern teaching blocks house the Main Hall and Gym, Library, Music Suite and Performing Arts Block, Science Laboratories, Technology Suite, Modern Language Block, Humanities Block and a Mathematics Suite as well as other classrooms. A number of other buildings, including the old coach house, complete the classroom accommodation. The LEA has invested significantly in the new building provision at Holcombe and is looking favourably at future development. The School is well provided with computing facilities and is likely to receive additional investment in the near future. The School is on the Internet and has Broadband, a radio network and video-conferencing facilities. Sixth form accommodation has been refurbished and the Sixth Form has access to its own facilities.
The school's history is believed to date from 1817, but its formal history began in 1913 with the establishment of Chatham Junior Technical School to train young men aged 13 - 16 for careers as artificers in the Roya1 Navy and in the Royal Dockyard School (later College) as engineers. The School evolved to become a centre of academic excellence as Chatham Grammar School for Boys, offering GCSE and A Levels as well as an Advanced Level Vocational Courses. Many of our former students are senior academics and managers in industry and commerce.
The school is reputed to have the oldest exchange of students between any state educational establishments in the UK and Germany, with our link with Solingen. We also have links with a number of other schools in Japan, France, Spain, Thailand, South Africa and elsewhere. We are a Language College, have Sportsmark and Community Mark Status as well as having Training School Status, building on our strengths and the high profile we have within our local community.
There are grass pitches for rugby, soccer, and cricket on site. These sports, together with hockey, are also played at the school's off-site facilities on grounds that have now been redeveloped in conjunction with the Old Boys Club providing two floodlit Astroturf surfaces, new Clubhouse, changing rooms and many other facilities. The School achieved Sports Mark Gold six years ago.
In recent years the school has officially increased its role to 146 children each year. It is a boy's l 1 - 18 selective school with a co-educational sixth form. The current roll is over 1050 having increased from 459 in 1990. Selection is an established LEA procedure which currently tests in Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and English during the last year at Primary School. The School is substantially oversubscribed and has been for a number of years.
OUR AIMS
We aim to create a stimulating environment in which the individual is the central focus for all teaching and learning. This central purpose is to help all students to reach their potential academically, culturally, aesthetically and physically. To that end an enormous amount of time is invested by staff, governors and parents: All are valued for the contribution that they make and the school is a pleasant and positive place in which to learn and work. The school places great emphasis on the crucial link between the home, student and staff and much time is invested in liaison and the passage of information.
STAFF SUPPORT
The Governing Body ensures that more funds are available for staff support than are provided by Government funding. Following a successful Ofsted in 1996 when the School was deemed to be a "Good School", we gained Investor in People Status in May 1997 renewed in 2000, 2003 and 2006. December 2006 saw a further successful Ofsted inspection. The Senior Management of the School may be approached about any matters of concern or interest and there is a Staff Room Committee. New entrants to the profession in September are invited to attend a two-week induction programme in the Summer Term preceding the commencement of their contract at the School, for which remuneration is provided. Our Training School status reflects the excellence of provision in support of our colleagues and others in the local community. A professional development group meet each term to review and evaluate training programmes for teaching and non-teaching colleagues. All teaching staff have a portfolio of professional developments. Staff engage in a number of external professional development activities, eg, MA's, Leading from the Middle, research programmes for DCSF and TDA to name but a few.
ORGANISATION
The pastoral structure of the school is based on three sections: Lower School (Years 7 and 8), Middle School (Years 9 and 10), and the Sixth Form (Years 11, 12 and 13). An Assistant Headteacher leads a team of Senior Academic Leaders, Academic Leaders and Form Tutors supported by the three Deputy Heads. Form Tutors have a crucial role in the academic and pastoral welfare of their forms. The organisation of the School is under regular review in order to meet the demands of the curriculum and our children in the future. Hence the current positions on offer. A system of non-teaching Pastoral Support Managers, along with the SENCO and Careers and Vocational Support Manager, provide support and guidance across the school.
The academic organisation of faculty areas is based on subject departments and Heads of Department have substantial autonomy. All students are expected to follow 9 or 10 GCSE subjects in Years 9 and 10. Entry to our Sixth Form is conditional on gaining a specified number of GCSEs. A large number of students transfer into the school from our local feeder High and Grammar Schools.
A regular programme of Staff Meetings, Pastoral Management Meetings and Teaching and Learning Meetings exist. Each member of staff receives an academic year calendar on which all-important dates are placed at the beginning of the school year.
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
The school has moved forward with an increased sense of purpose in the last eight years and the school improvement plan has identified priorities, which have involved all staff. Many of these short-term objectives have been achieved.
The accelerated curriculum is now into Year 11 with the first cohort completing their GCSEs last June. SATs performance was commendable and progress is good at GCSE. The challenge presented by accelerating the curriculum is not to compress the curriculum but to accelerate the pupils' learning. At post-16 the curriculum is being expanded to incorporate A Levels in Film Studies and Environmental Science.
GOVERNORS, PARENTS AND THE COMMUNITY
The Governors take an active interest in the school and are extremely supportive. There is a flourishing Parent Teacher Association, (The Holcombe Association) which has raised substantial funds and also promotes social activities for parents and students. A regular newsletter is issued and many students are involved with community activities.
EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Considerable time is devoted by staff in maintaining and delivering a comprehensive programme of extra curricular activities. A full sporting, musical and drama programme exists both after school hours and at weekends. Many school journeys are undertaken. High levels of attendance, punctuality and regular homework are features of the day-to-day life of the school. The school expects and achieves the highest standards of work, behaviour and appearance.
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
| May 2000 | Sportsmark Gold (one of only 63 in the Country) |
| Since September 2000 | Language College status |
| April 2001, 2002, 2003 | DfEE Achievement Award |
| September 2004 | Training School Status |
| September 2006 | Extended School Status |