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Maidstone Grammar School

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Established
  
1549

Chair of Governors
  
Mark Rolfe

Founded
  
1549

Number of students
  
1,273

Staff
  
120

Headteacher
  
Mr M Tomkins

DfE number
  
886/4522

Phone
  
+44 1622 752101

Local authority
  
Kent County Council

Type
  
Foundation Grammar School

Location
  
Barton Road Maidstone Kent ME15 7BT England

Address
  
Barton Rd, Maidstone ME15 7BT, UK

Motto
  
Olim Meminisse Juvabit; "One day it will be pleasing to remember." from the Aeneid 1.203

Maidstone grammar school film 1971 part 1 of 6


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.

Contents

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Admissions

The school takes boys at the age of 11 and over, by examination, and male and female pupils at 16+ on their GCSE results. The school currently has almost 1200 pupils and approximately 120 members of staff. The school holds both a Language College award and a Healthy School award. It is situated just off Loose Road (A229), west of Mote Park and the Mote Park Leisure Centre.

Buildings

The main school building surrounds a Tudor-style quadrangle with a cloister on one side. A new block was added in the 1960s. A sixth form and arts and crafts block was added in 1981. This newer building completes a second quadrangle. In 2005 a new refectory and teaching block of 15 classrooms was built, this building currently houses maths, history and art departments. There are over 100 classrooms, twelve science laboratories, a language laboratory, seven computer centres, music rooms, a lecture theatre, gym and sports hall and a canteen(refectory). A new 'Applied Learning Centre', with new editing suites, was completed in the 2010–11 school year, with a similarly styled 'Food Technology' and Sixth Form block having been opened in September 2011.

Houses

A house system was inaugurated in 1899 with three houses: School, East Borough and West Borough. By c.1900 these houses were revised based on local geography, with East House being for those boys east of the river, West House for those boys on the western riverside, and School House for townspeople and boarders. In September 2007 the school continued this tradition with the introduction of six school houses, these named after military vehicles: Challenger (purple), Churchill (yellow), Endeavour (red), Hurricane (green), Invincible, (blue), and Spitfire (white).

Sixth Form

The sixth form is one of the largest in the south-east of England. 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 A2 courses.

Sport

School sport participation includes rugby, football, field hockey, cricket, rowing, athletics, handball, and basketball.

Combined Cadet Force

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 Cadet Force, in particular the Army section, has roots in the Royal Engineers. The Navy section is affiliated with HMS Collingwood, a land establishment in Portsmouth, the Navy section is the senior service after the creation of the CCF in 1906.

School Song

In 1908 Rev C. G. Duffield (headmaster from 1898 to 1913), wrote words in Latin 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.

The Maidstonian

The Maidstonian is the school's annual publication of reports, articles, news and original contributions. Originally a simple record of every member of staff, as well as each pupil and his form, The Maidstonian has evolved into a publication that is written by pupils, for pupils. Editions include information about any member of staff who has left or who joined the school that academic year, reports from the CCF, Music Department, sports teams, and diaries from foreign trips. Original contributions are of mainly poetry, prose and artwork.

Future Developments

The school has recently created a development fund, funded by parents. The school plans to extend its pavilion and knock down and rebuild a Performing Arts Centre and create more science labs. The old CCF Scout Huts and Lab Hut 93 have also been demolished. It recently refurbished its main toilets and added automatic doors to the boys' entrance. The class rooms 92 and 93 were demolished in late 2016 to make way for the new Performing Arts Centre. Building officially started in January 2017.

Notable Maidstonians

Former pupils of the school are called "Old Maidstonians" and include:

Art, Music & Literature

  • William Alexander (painter)
  • Simon Beck, keyboardist and guitarist for metalcore band Near Ruin
  • Daniel Blythe, writer
  • James Butler (artist) MBE, sculptor
  • Philip Langridge CBE, tenor
  • Philip Moore, Organist of York Minster from 1983–2008, Organist of Guildford Cathedral from 1974–83
  • Christopher Smart, poet
  • Yeborobo, musical group (members thereof)

    • Media, television & film

  • James Burke, science 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
  • Shaun McKenna, screenwriter
  • Stuart Miles, Blue Peter presenter from 1994-9
  • 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
  • Lt-Gen Sir Frederick Dobson Middleton CB, Commandant from 1874-84 of RMC Sandhurst
  • Air Vice-Marshal Philip Hedgeland CB OBE, expert in airborne radar, Station Commander from 1966-7 of RAF Stanbridge, and helped develop the H2S radar in the war at the Telecommunications Research Establishment in Malvern
  • Air Marshal Sir Timothy Jenner CB, Station Commander of RAF Shawbury from 1987–88
  • Flight Lieutenant Lloyd Morgan D.F.M Second World War bomber pilot
  • Charles de Salis, wartime intelligence officer

    • Politics & government

  • Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, MP from 1812-8 for Maidstone
  • Nick Gibb (briefly), Conservative Schools Minister 2010-current, and MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton since 1997
  • Dallas Mithen Chairman of the Forestry Commission
  • John Pugh, Liberal Democrat MP since 2001 for Southport
  • Adam Sampson, Legal Services Ombudsman since 2009, and Chief Executive from 2003-89 of Shelter
  • Mark F. Watts, Labour MEP from 1994-9 for Kent East, then South East England from 1999–2004

    • Religion

  • Rt Rev David John Atkinson, Bishop of Thetford from 2001-9
  • Leo Avery
  • Rt Rev Bob Evens, Bishop of Crediton since 2004
  • Henry Gould vicar of St Paul's Cathedral 1908-1913
  • George Harris (Unitarian)
  • Very Rev Robert William Pope OBE
  • Martin Warner (bishop), Bishop of Whitby since 2010

    • Science & academia

  • Peter Day, Fullerian Professor of Chemistry from 1994–2008, and Director of the Royal Institution from 1991-8
  • Frank Finn, ornithologist
  • Peter Heather, historian
  • Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History from 1984-2007 at University College London
  • William Morfill, Professor of Russian from 1900-9 at the University of Oxford
  • John Orrell, theatre historian
  • John Pond Astronomer Royal 1811-1835
  • Bill Saunders, Professor of Endodontology, and Dean of Dentistry since 2000 at the University of Dundee, and President from 1997-8 of the British Endodontic Society

    • 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

  • Richard (Dick) Beeching, Baron Beeching, who oversaw the closure of many railways in the 1960s
  • Julius Brenchley, explorer
  • Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland
  • Sir Thomas Fane,
  • John Anthony Stroud , social worker and author

    • 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.
  • Steve Restarick, former professional footballer, taught P.E. at the school before his suspension in 2014 amid fraud allegations.

    • References

    Maidstone Grammar School Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA