Dartford Grammar School is a secondary foundation school for boys (ages 11–18) in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, which admits girls to its sixth form (ages 16–18). All of the students joining the school are considered to be from the top 25% of the ability range, as determined by the 11-Plus examinations. The students come from Dartford, neighbouring towns and villages, and nearby

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

boroughs, as well as an increasing number of students from

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. The current roll is 1,203, including 461 in the sixth form. It is the brother school of Dartford Grammar School for Girls.

History

The school was founded in 1576 by Edward Gwyn, a merchant; William Vaughan, a philanthropist and landowner; and William D'Aeth. A 1660 document outlined the original terms for the founding of the school:

"William Vaughan, Edward Gwyn and William D'Aeth donated land and property near the Market House in Dartford High Street, the profits from which were to be used for maintaining a school and for and towards the supporting of one honest sufficient and learned man in grammar, as to them should seem fit and convenient, to be elected, chosen, and approved of, for the teaching, instructing and eruditing of children in the town of Dartford, in the knowledge of grammar, as heretofore has been used according to the charitable and pious interests and meaning of the said William Vaughan, Edward Gwyn and William D'Aeth re: 24th March 18 Elizabeth I."

Lessons were initially given in the High Street above the Corn Market house, which was demolished in 1769. The school moved to its present location in 1864. Following the school's 'Outstanding' Ofsted inspection in 2008, the school was able to choose a third specialism, following Language College Status and the IB Programme; the school chose Science, resulting in an increased budget available next financial year. In 2011, the school chose to adopt the status of an academy, which would provide extra funding to the school, although no name change was required.

Academic performance

In 2014, 64% of Year 11 students gained 7 or more grades A/A* in

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

exams. The school came second in the School Rankings for the new English Bacc in 2010. Most of Year 13 students proceed to university, with a majority gaining their first or second choice of university. In 2007, the school was awarded the right to teach the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

Middle Years Programme, becoming the first school in Britain and the first state school in the world to teach the course. In 2019, the school achieved the top IB results in the country for the second time. The school was rated "Outstanding" in its last Ofsted inspection in 2022 and will not be inspected again unless concerns are raised about its performance in an interim assessment.

Locations and buildings

The school currently is located on Shepherds Lane, Dartford at the top of West Hill. The original 1864 school house (facing Dartford Road) is now known as the Hardy Building, named after the novelist

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

who was an assistant architect to Arthur Blomfield, the architect who designed the building. The original field has since been built on with additional blocks, starting with the science block in 1928, since renamed the Stephenson building after the former head of Science, Brian Stephenson, followed by most of the remaining buildings in 1940. A three-floored classroom building is named after Major Harold Pochin, Headmaster from 1920 to 1946. Other buildings include the Gwyn building, named after Edward Gwyn, one of the school founders, containing technology and business teaching rooms, as well as the Kaika (Sixth Form) centre, where five new teaching rooms were opened in 2008, mainly for sixth form use, named the John Field Suite after the late chair of the governors. The Beckets Sports Centre is shared with the public in agreement with the school, in the same way as The Mick Jagger Centre, a £2.2 million development financed with National Lottery funding by the Arts Council of England. The Mick Jagger Centre was opened in March 2000 by

The Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...

, and hosts a number of performing arts events. From Summer 2009 to Spring 2010, the Mick Jagger Centre and part of the Pochin and Stephenson blocks underwent a major redevelopment, which provided a new drama studio, new science laboratories, a food technology lab, a new staff room, new art rooms and classrooms. In 2014 to 2015, the Mick Jagger Centre was redeveloped to include several new classrooms and new music practice rooms. From 2017 to 2018, the school expanded their sixth-form centre with two new computer rooms and a quiet study area.

Notable alumni

Former pupils of the school are known as Old Dartfordians. * Henry Havelock (1795–1857), general * William James Erasmus Wilson (1809–84), surgeon * Henry Ambrose Hunt (1866–1946), meteorologist * Thomas Pullinger (1867–1945), automotive engineerIan Nickols and Kent Karslake (1956), ''Motoring Entente'', Cassell, London. *

Alec Stock Alec William Alfred Stock (30 March 1917 – 16 April 2001) was an English footballer and manager. He briefly managed AS Roma, between long spells at Leyton Orient and Queens Park Rangers. At QPR, he won successive promotions, leading the club ...

(1917–2001), footballer * Sidney Keyes (1922–43), poet * Derek Ufton (1928–2021), Charlton Athletic, England footballer, Kent CCC * Denis Haydon (1930–88), membrane biophysicist * Terence Frisby (born 1932), playwright and novelist * Dave Godin (1936–2004), music journalist * Michael Pearson (1936–2017), clock historian and author * Graham Smith (born 1938), milliner *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

(born 1943), rock musician (vocalist of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

) * Dick Taylor (born 1943), guitarist and founder member, The Pretty Things * Brian Pendleton (1944–2001), rhythm guitarist, The Pretty Things * John Rushby, computer scientist * Bill Mitchell (1951–2017), founder of site-specific theatre company Wildworks * Charlie Whiting (1952–2019), Formula One race director * Frank Baker (born 1961), British ambassador *

Gareth Johnson Gareth Alan Johnson (born 12 October 1969) is a British politician and former lawyer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Conservative party, he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary o ...

(born 1969), Conservative MP for Dartford * Min Patel (born 1970), international cricketer * Matt Morgan (born 1977), comedian * Topsy Ojo (born 1985), rugby player,

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

fullback * Vinay Patel (born 1986), screenwriter * Thomas Frake (born 1988), winner of the ''MasterChef'' 2020 UK TV show competition * Adam Gemili (born 1993), athlete * Semi Ajayi (born 1993), professional footballer * Daniel Kanu (born 2004), professional footballer for Charlton Athletic and the Sierra Leone National team

References

External links

Official websiteOfsted report
{{authority control Boys' schools in Kent Educational institutions established in the 1570s Grammar schools in Kent Dartford 1576 establishments in England Academies in Kent International Baccalaureate schools in England Arthur Blomfield buildings