Dane Court Grammar School

History

The school was officially founded in 1957 and was, until 1980, designated as a selective Technical High School rather than a Grammar School. It celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2007 and in July 2010 expressed an interest in converting to an academy. The school officially became an academy on 1 April 2011.

Description

The current Executive Headteacher (of both Dane Court and King Ethelbert School, Birchington, which in 2010 joined to form a 'federation' under the 2003 Federation of Schools Regulations) is Paul Luxmoore, while the Headteacher (at Dane Court only) is Andrew Fowler.

In October 2003 Dane Court applied to become a Specialist Language College, as part of which it had to demonstrate support (both verbal and financial) from local businesses, and a commitment to promote languages within its community. The bid was successful, meaning that the school received a government grant enabling it to improve its facilities for teaching modern foreign languages (primarily German, French and Spanish). It has also attempted some outreach programmes with local primary school teachers, and adult evening classes in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, although take-up has been limited. The school was given the Grade 1 "Outstanding’ reputation. (Ofsted 2007).

In 2010 much of the school was rebuilt into a single building, through a £20 million building programme as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative. A new building replaced the former "central block", and was opened January 2010. The next stage was complete refurbishment of the East Wing, completed and joined to the central area in October 2010. The final stage was to be the demolition of the West Wing to make way for improved parking and bus access, which was completed in June 2011 where the school held an official School Opening Ceremony where local officials and former students could attend and tour the school.

Awards

Dane Court was awarded the Intermediate International Schools Award in 2006.

House system

The school is formed of six houses named after European cities to reflect their Language College status. The houses are as follows, with their respective colours in brackets:

Barcelona (Blue) - Spain

Delphi (Green) - Greece

Helsinki (Black) - Finland

Neuchatel (Yellow) - Switzerland

Sorrento (Red) - Italy

Tallinn (Orange) - Estonia

The house year is different to the school year. The house year starts in January with the elections of two House Captains and one Games Captain for each house from Year 12 candidates. From January various house events are held for each year group. These include quizzes, Tugs-Of-War, Inter-House Drama and Music Competitions and Talent Competitions in December while at the end of the school year in July, the annual Sports Day takes place where each house battles out in sporting events, including team games such as Rounders, Cricket and Softball alongside athletic and track events such as 100m sprint, long jump etc. The House Cup is awarded in December after the Talent Competitions in the final assembly of the calendar year.

Sixth form

The mixed Sixth Form community has over 300 students, offering a range of A level courses along with the International Baccalaureate which was originally set to become the school's sole further educational course in 2012, as well as a programme of extra-curricular activities and opportunities for leadership within the school. Many students also join the Sixth Form from other local schools.

The Dane Court Sixth Form experience includes visiting speakers through the General Studies programme and events throughout the year such as visits to New York City, Iceland, Slapton, Devon and Stratford upon Avon. There is also the possibility of students visiting Jordan instead of Iceland. There are field trips and cultural excursions to support the curriculum as well as a work experience week for all Year 12 students.