Established 1975 Local authority Phone +44 1634 388765 Number of students 1,505 | CEO Paul Morris DfE number 887/5457 Head of School Mr T Millar | |
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Type Bi-lateral with Sixth Form
Academy Location Derwent Way
Rainham
Kent
ME8 0BX
England Address Derwent Way, Rainham, Gillingham ME8 0BX, UK Motto "To Strive and Achieve is to Succeed" Profiles | ||
The Howard School is a boys' secondary school in Rainham, Kent, England with approximately 1,500 pupils. It offers a partially selective system and is one of only five bi-lateral schools in the United Kingdom. The partially selective system permits admission to the grammar school section by the 11-Plus selection, however a passing mark is not required if the pupil is seen to have the ability to work in the 'grammar stream', and non-selective admission to the high school. The school is a Sports College.
Contents
Principals
Since opening there has been five principals.
History
The school was named after Dorothy Howard, who played a major part in the local community, and was established in 1975 by amalgamating Rainham Boys' Secondary School and Gillingham Boys' Grammar School to form a bi-lateral school.
The Howard School became a grant maintained school in 1994 when it left the control of Kent County Council. Following a change of central government it became a foundation school in 1998. Although a foundation school, the school works very closely with Medway Council who, since being set up in 1998 a unitary authority, control education in the Medway Towns.
The school became a Specialist Sports College in 2007. In 2008, and again in 2013 and 2016 it received a "good" rating from Ofsted inspectors. This is a change since 2002, when Ofsted inspectors gave a "Serious weaknesses" rating.
The Howard School Trust
The school converted to academy status in October 2014 and further converted to Multi-Academy Trust status in December 2015. Temple Mill Primary School, located in Strood, joined the Trust at the same time as the conversion to MAT and Deanwood Primary School, located in Parkwood, Rainham, joined the Trust in September 2016.
Houses
The school has five houses named after local castles: Rochester, Bodiam, Upnor, Leeds and Hever. The houses compete against each other in a Festival of Sports (Winter & Summer) for years 7-9.
Buildings
The school buildings are located on a 36-acre (15 ha) campus and include a food technologies department. The L Block, the main and largest building contains the receptions, a senior staff office, and the principal's office, as well as three floors containing languages, business and sociology classrooms on the ground floor, whilst the first floor is dedicated to Mathematics and the second floor English literature and language. M Block is a student services building as well as containing art and music classrooms as well as a small gym and PE classroom.
Sports College
The school is a Sports College. Since becoming a Sports College, the school has developed its sporting facilities, including:
Controversy
In 2008 a video surfaced showing horrific violence between pupils at the school. The previous year over 100 pupils were suspended for violent assault.