Maidstone Grammar School is a selective school, taking boys at the age of 11 and over based on their 11+ results, and also admits male and female pupils at 16+ based on their GCSE results.
The school currently has 1292 pupils and 112 members of staff, with 69 teachers as of the academic year 2018–2019.[2][3]
Buildings
The main school building surrounds a Tudor-style quadrangle with a cloister on one side. Two new blocks were added in the 1960s and 80s to complete a second quadrangle, nicknamed the 'Court'. In 2005, a new refectory and teaching block (renamed the 'Walker Building') opened, followed by Sixth Form buildings in 2011.
Additional funding from Kent County Council allowed the school to open a designated Performing Arts building, new sports pavilion, and computing and science block between 2017 and 2019. The pavilion was constructed to replace the traditional pavilion which had fallen into disrepair, with a second floor having recently been added to house the Modern Foreign Languages department. As well as that, the school opened a refurbishment of the War Memorial Library and a new all-weather sports pitch.
Houses
A house system was inaugurated in 1899 with three houses of 'School', 'East Borough' and 'West Borough';[4] allocation was based on local geography.[5] In September 2007, the school reformed the tradition with the introduction of six new school houses, named after military vehicles: Challenger (purple), Churchill (yellow), Endeavour (red), Hurricane (green), Invincible (blue), and Spitfire (white). It was again reformed in September 2017, splitting the school into four houses, named after locations of the school: Barton (blue), College (green), Corpus Christi (red), and Tonbridge (yellow). This was due to the transition into vertical forms, where each form consists of a few members from every year.[6]
Sixth form
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.[citation needed] The sixth form teaches AS and A-Level courses.
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 Combined Cadet Force, in particular the Army section, has roots in the Royal Engineers. The Navy section is affiliated with HMS Collingwood and, a land establishment in Portsmouth, and also has an affiliated ship (HMS Kent (F78)).[7] The RAF section regularly enters teams into both regional and national competitions and have won a total of nine Air Squadron Trophies[8][9]
In 2001 two senior students plead guilty to a series of violent and racially aggravated charges relating to abuse of junior CCF cadets. Staff were accused of turning a blind eye or, according to the prosecutor, involved in some of the incidents.[10]
School song
In 1908, Rev C. G. Duffield (the headmaster from 1898 to 1913), wrote Latin lyrics 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 such as upper and lower school speech days.[11][12]
Notable events
In May 2016, former Maidstone Grammar School teacher Steve Restarick was found guilty of fraud charges, involving embezzling £6,258 of the school's resources over several years.[13]
In December 2020, Maidstone Grammar School was widely reported in the news for choosing to delay the reopening of the school over concerns of the impact of Brexit on its students and staff being able to access the school.[14]
Nick Gibb (briefly), Conservative Minister of State for School Standards from 2010 to 2012 and from 2015 to 2021, and MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton since 1997
Ivan Roots† Historian, Biographer of Oliver Cromwell
Bill Saunders, Professor of Endodontology, and Dean of Dentistry since 2000 at the University of Dundee, and President from 1997 to 1998 of the British Endodontic Society[23]
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
Michael Malone, four-in-hand carriage driver, Scots Greys Regiment.[24]
