The Howard School, Kent

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.

Buildings at the Howard School

The Howard School
Address
Derwent Way

Rainham
,
Kent
,
ME8 0BX

England
Coordinates51.363°N 0.593°E / 51.363; 0.593
Information
TypeBi-lateral with Sixth Form
Academy
Motto"To Strive and Achieve is to Succeed"[1]
Established1975
Local authorityMedway
TrustThe Howard Academies Trust UID: 16042
Department for Education URN141466 Tables
OfstedReports
CEOPaul Morris[2]
Head of SchoolCathy Reid Executive Headteacher
GenderMale (Mixed sixth form)
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,505 pupils
HousesRochester, Bodium, Leeds, Upnor, Hever
Websitehttp://www.thehowardschool.co.uk

Principals

Since opening there have been seven principals.

  • John Hicks: 1975 – 1987
  • Alan Jarrett: 1987 – 1997
  • Maurice Barry: 1997 – 2001
  • David Smith: 2002 – 2007
  • Paul Morris: 2007 – 2015
  • T Millar: 2015 – July 2019
  • K Moore: Sept - November 2019
  • C Reid November 2019 - Present

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.[3][4]

The Howard Academy 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, Strood, joined the Trust at the same time as the conversion to MAT and Deanwood Primary School, Parkwood, Rainham, joined the Trust in September 2016.

Waterfront UTC, formerly Medway UTC, a University technical college in Chatham, joined the Trust in 2018.[5]

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 on a 36-acre (15 ha) campus and include a food technologies department. The L Block, the main and largest building contains reception, a senior staff office, the principal's office, as well as 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 also 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:

  • Building a "5 a-side" football complex in partnership with playfootball.com
  • Building a Library and improving its ICT facilities
  • Renovating the sports blocks, changing facilities and sports halls.
  • Developing one of the best table tennis centres in the UK, used during the prelude to the London 2012 Olympic Games by various national teams, located at the top of the school grounds.[6]
  • Developing a centre for "Kids with Wheels" to maintain sporting activity

Notable former pupils

Howard School

Gillingham Boys' Grammar School

See also

References
  1. "Medway Admissions form" (PDF). Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  2. The Howard broshure
  3. "2005 Ofsted Inspection Report" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  4. enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk, Ofsted Communications Team. (5 November 2010). "Find an inspection report".
  5. "Parental Bulletin" (PDF). Medway UTC. October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  6. "Howard Table Tennis Centre". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
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