Tonbridge Grammar School is a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

school in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

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 ...

, United Kingdom. The school was established in 1905 at the Technical Institute in Avebury Avenue Tonbridge, having only 19 enrolled students. The school is situated in the south of Tonbridge and has approximately 1,050 students, ranging from 11 to 18 years. Previously known as Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls, with the introduction of boys in the

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

in 2002, the school changed its name. Tonbridge Grammar School has served years as an

International Baccalaureate World School 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 IB ...

, and in 2014 was announced as the best International Baccalaureate state school in the United Kingdom for the sixth consecutive year.

History

Early years: 1905-1913

Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls opened on 24 January 1905 in the Technical Institute in Avebury Avenue Tonbridge with just 19 girls as pupils on the top floor of Tonbridge Library. The headmistress and only teacher was Miss Taylor who introduced the school motto, ''Courage and Honour''. The school moved to its current site in Deakin Leas in 1913, after Tonbridge Library became too small to accommodate the growing numbers.

Middle years: 1919-1974

The

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the Butler Act after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Histori ...

made the County School into the County Grammar School for Girls for pupils who passed the new Eleven Plus exam. Later, in 1957, the school hall, science block, gymnasium, Head teacher's office and school office were added. In 1963, the school swimming pool was opened and later in 1967, the library wing and music blocks were built. In 1974, the Hillview annexe was built, and was later named after former head mistress Miss Mitchener; The Mitchener Hall.

2000-2010

In the year 2000, the Matthews Centre, more commonly known as the "Tech block" was dedicated to the memory of Gary Matthews, Vice Chair of Governors 1993 to 1999. In 2007 and 2008 an ambitious fundraising campaign financed a brand new school building that replaced many temporary buildings on the campus and that financed the redevelopment of the original School on the Hilltop. The Hands Building opened in late 2009.

2010-present

2015 saw the addition of a new Sixth Form block in the place of the swimming pool and changing facilities, with the increased intake of pupils in the

Sixth Form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

. It brought additional facilities and a modern design which earned it its name, the IBarn.

Academic performance

The school has achieved high results in both

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 ...

and

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, ranking usually within the top state schools in the county. The local boys equivalent school,

The Judd School The Judd School (often known simply as Judd) is an 11–18 voluntary aided, grammar school and sixth form in Tonbridge, Kent, England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years bef ...

similarly achieves good A-Level and GCSE results, making the pair the most high-achieving schools in south-west Kent. TGS has the Maths & Computing Specialist Status and Languages Specialist Status, as well as being a Leading Edge School. As of 2012, the school has been running exclusively

International Baccalaureate Diploma The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

curriculum for Sixth Form students. Tonbridge Grammar School has been the top International Baccalaureate state school in the UK 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2014 the Sunday Times named Tonbridge Grammar School, State Secondary School of the Year and International Baccalaureate (IB) School of the Year.

Notable former pupils

Victoria Hislop Victoria Hislop (''née'' Hamson; born 1959) is an English author. Early life Born in Bromley, Kent, she was raised in Tonbridge and attended Tonbridge Grammar School. She studied English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and worked in publishing ...

, author *

Angie Sage Angie Sage (born 20 June 1952) is an English author of children's literature, including the ''Septimus Heap'' series, the ''TodHunter Moon'' trilogy, and the ''Araminta Spook'' series (''Araminta Spookie'', in the United States). Life According ...

, author,

Septimus Heap ''Septimus Heap'' is a series of children's fantasy novels featuring a Septimus Heap (character), protagonist of the same name; the series is written by English author Angie Sage. It features seven novels, entitled ''Magyk'', ''Flyte'', ''Physi ...

series *

Margaret Sharp, Baroness Sharp of Guildford Margaret Lucy Sharp, Baroness Sharp of Guildford (born 21 November 1938) is a former member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. She sat as a Liberal Democrat. Early life She is the daughter of Osmund and Sydney Hailstone. She was educ ...

(née Hailstone), former SDP politician * Rebecca Stephens, MBE, first British woman to climb Everest and the Seven Summits. *

Lynn Wallis Diana Lynn Wallis OBE FISTD FRAD (born 11 December 1946) has been the artistic director of the Royal Academy of Dance for 22 years, from 1994 and will be retiring at the end of 2016. Wallis was born on 11 December 1946 in Windsor, the daughter of ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Artistic Director of the

Royal Academy of Dance The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...

since 1994. *

Andrea Leadsom Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (; ; born 13 May 1963) is a British politician who served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak between 2014 and 2024. A member of the Co ...

, Member of Parliament for

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was a local government district in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority ...

2010-2024,

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of t ...

2019-2020, Leader of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

2017–2019,

Economic Secretary to the Treasury The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General a ...

2014-2015. * Cathy Gilliat-Smith, England hockey player *

Felicity Aston Felicity Ann Dawn Aston is a British explorer, author and climate scientist. Early life and career Originally from Kent, Aston went to Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls and was educated at University College London (BSc) and Reading Unive ...

, explorer and climate scientist *

Jess Search Jess Search was a British documentary film producer who co-founded Doc Society, a non-profit organisation for the production of independent documentary films, and Shooting People, an international social network for independent filmmakers. Ear ...

, documentary producer

References

External links

Tonbridge Grammar School Official Website

Tonbridge Grammar School on IBO

EduBase
{{Authority control Grammar schools in Kent Schools in Tonbridge International Baccalaureate schools in England Educational institutions established in 1905 Academies in Kent * 1905 establishments in England