Welcome to Dartford Grammar School

Dartford Grammar School exists for learning, and the exceptionally clear vision guiding its development recognises this central purpose.

To fulfil it, the school continually improves the environment and resources for learning, and looks outward, sharing its facilities and expertise. It is gratifying that the school has been recognised nationally for being exceptional in its achievements, and in the forefront of educational developments. In 2006, it was one of only eleven secondary schools in England identified by the HM Chief Inspector as outstandingly successful in three successive Ofsted inspections.

It is, however, by the quality of our students that we wish to be judged. When they leave, they take with them impressive academic qualifications, an understanding of the world in which they live, and the confidence to succeed in whatever they choose to do.

Dartford Grammar School was founded in 1576, and is one of the oldest schools in England. In its early years, it met in a room which stood on pillars over Dartford’s market place. It later moved into Holy Trinity Church, and then to houses in High Street and Overy Street, before coming to its present site in 1866.

A leading Victorian architect, Sir Arthur Blomfield, designed the earliest of its current buildings. The plans are said to have been adapted by Thomas Hardy, a young employee of Blomfield’s company, who would become a great novelist. A sketch in Hardy’s architectural notebook appears to show the angel carved over the school’s main doorway.

The school has many famous former students, who have excelled in every area of human achievement. A statue of Sir Henry Havelock, a distinguished general, stands in Trafalgar Square. Sir Erasmus Wilson, a celebrated surgeon, was responsible for the erection of Cleopatra’s needle on the Thames Embankment. Sidney Keyes, killed in 1943, aged 20, was already famous as the most brilliant poet of his generation. More recently, Sir Mick Jagger has revolutionised popular music.

Dartford Grammar School continues to provide a unique education to boys and (in the Sixth Form) girls, enabling them to fulfil their potential. A centre of excellence, it emphasises individuality, creativity, hard work and concern for others.

Aware of its traditions, confident in its values, and clear in its vision, the school remains innovative and enterprising, always improving.

Dartford Grammar School is a leading state provider of the International Baccalaureate.

The International Baccalaureate Organisation offers an innovative curriculum for students of all ages. The Middle Years Programme allows Dartford Grammar School to provide students with a creative curriculum which incorporate the National Curriculum subjects within a framework of Areas of Interaction to broaden and develop the curriculum.

Sixth Form students at Dartford Grammar School are offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This exciting curriculum allows students to study 6 subjects: 3 at Higher Level and 3 at Standard Level. In addition, they follow a core curriculum which incorporates Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) and a Theory of Knowledge course. Students complete an Extended Essay.

Dartford Grammar School has also worked with primary schools on the development of the IB Primary Years Programme.

MYP

Diploma Programme

Dartford Grammar School offers a broad and balanced curriculum to all of its students, seeking to develop lively and enquiring minds. Careful monitoring and effective systems of support lead to high standards of academic success. A special feature of the school is its commitment to nternational Baccalaureate approaches.

A sustained programme of construction and renovation has resulted in accommodation and resources of exceptional quality. The computer network extends throughout the school, which benefits from language laboratories, interactive whiteboards and videoconferencing.

As a dynamic and vibrant learning community, the school enriches its curriculum with an enormous range of exciting activities and visits.

While the school achieves excellence across the curriculum, a special feature of its ethos is the strength of its international dimension. It has a worldwide network of partners and contacts, and attracts many international visitors.

Ten modern foreign languages are taught (including Arabic, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese), and the school is recognised as a national leader in language-learning, for example by pioneering the experimental use of bilingual teaching.

The school provides a remarkable variety of opportunities for overseas visits and exchanges. Many of these support language-learning, but there are others that are cultural. Regular features of the programme are language exchanges with Belgium, France, Germany, Japan and Spain; geography fieldwork in France; work-shadowing in Switzerland and study visits to the Czech Republic.