Holcombe Grammar School

The school's history is believed to be from 1817, but its formal history began in 1913 with the establishment of Chatham Junior Technical School to train young men aged 13 – 16 for careers as artificers in the Royal Navy and in the Royal Dockyard School (later College) as engineers. The School evolved to become a centre of academic excellence as Chatham Grammar School for Boys, offering GCSE and A Levels as well as an Advanced Level Vocational Courses. The school moved to its current site in the 1920s, with its premises based around Holcombe Manor. After 1945 it became a specialist technical school (Chatham Technical School for Boys) and in 1982 it became a grammar school, Chatham Grammar School for Boys.{{cite web|title=School History|url=http://website.holcombecollege.co.uk/?page_id=23|publisher=Holcombe Grammar School website|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210032500/http://website.holcombecollege.co.uk/?page_id=23|archive-date=10 December 2011}} In 2016 the school name was changed in preparation for the planned admission of girls throughout the school. After a consultation with pupils, staff and parents the name "Holcombe Grammar School" was selected. The local authority is now using this name.

In September 2013 Ofsted delivered a report on their inspection carried out the previous June. The leadership and management were judged to be "inadequate" and as a result the school was placed in special measures.{{cite news | title= Chatham Grammar School for Boys placed in special measures |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-24029830| author=|date= 10 September 2013| publisher= BBC News | access-date= 18 October 2015}} The previous report (2012) stated that the school was satisfactory, specifically because "students' achievement and the quality of teaching are not consistently good or better in all areas".{{citation | last1=Gaff | first1=Robin | title = Chatham Grammar School for Boys | publisher=Ofsted | display-authors=1 | last2=Garrett | first2=Roger|year=2012}} English, in particular, was criticised as "although satisfactory, is slower than in other subjects". The 2013 report felt that the issues "have not been tackled effectively" and emphasised that the quality of teaching had not "improved quickly enough"{{citation | last1=Wellham | first1=Anne | title = Chatham Grammar School for Boys | publisher=Ofsted | display-authors=1 | last2=Khassal | first2=Noureddin|year=2013}} Following a 2014 report the school has now been judged as being "Good" in all categories.{{cite web|url=http://www.cgsb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/CGSB-Ofsted-report-Sept-2014.pdf|access-date=29 December 2015|title=Aspire & Achieve Together }}

The pastoral structure of the school is based on three sections: Lower School (Years 7 and 8), Middle School (Years 9, 10 and 11), and the Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13).

The School Captains Team currently consists of eleven members of the sixth form. The Team consists of a Head Boy, a Head Girl, three Deputy School Captains and six School Captains, who serve from Christmas of Year 12 until the following Christmas of Year 13, or in effect, a calendar year. There are also approximately 50 prefects led by the Head Prefect, who is one of the eleven members of the School Captains Team, along with several senior prefects. Another one of the School Captains is the House Captain and is responsible for overseeing house events within the School as well as organising the events the students take part in outside of school

There are currently five school houses, which are named after ships constructed at the historic Chatham Dockyard located nearby.

• {{colour box|blue}} Guardian
• {{colour box|yellow}} Shannon
• {{colour box|red}} Conquest
• {{colour box|purple}} Barfleur
• {{colour box|green}} Ardent

Prior to the change of the school name, there were six school houses, also named after ships constructed at the nearby Chatham Dockyard:

• {{colour box|red}} Achilles
• {{colour box|green}} Blake
• {{colour box|blue}} Challenger
• {{colour box|yellow}} Dryad
• {{colour box|purple}} Expedition
• {{colour box|orange}} Formidable

The houses compete against each other at events like the school's annual summer Sports Day, the autumn Cross Country, sports events such as rugby and hockey, and also at tasks like collecting the most 'rewards'. Ardent was called Hawkins before 2020, when Admiral John Hawkins's connection to the slave trade was highlighted; the school researched other more suitable Chatham-built ships and the students chose the name Ardent.{{cite web |title=Our-Trust:Introducing Ardent House |url=https://www.tsatrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Our-Trust-December-2020-Edition-14.pdf |website=tsatrust.org.uk |publisher=tsat |access-date=30 December 2020}}

The school comprises several buildings, most notably the former Holcombe Manor. This was extended, replacing the conservatories, then expanded further with the construction of the atrium block, which currently houses the English faculty, opened in February 1997.

During the academic year 2001/2002 the school was extended out and up from the old Manor to facilitate English, Drama, Psychology and Music, as old mobile classrooms were removed from the site for refurbishment and a lease renewal.

In 2002 construction on a new Maths block ("M") began. The work was completed in August to be unveiled in the new academic year 2002/2003. This building houses one large first floor room used as an exam room and Sixth Form study area.

In December 2006 new accommodation for art students was finally ready and opened by local artist Billy Childish. Consisting of a Skylab-style structure, it was built on stilts above the existing design technology ("D") block, and includes a disabled lift, the first in the school.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

File:Art block of Chatham Grammar Boys.jpg|The new art block, and below, the DT block

File:M block of Chatham Grammar Boys.jpg|M block

• Omar Ahmed, Kenyan boxer
• Stel Pavlou, author, screenwriter
• Chris Smalling, footballer{{cite news|title=Chris Smalling: 'Next thing I knew I was meeting Sir Alex. It was a bit surreal.'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/chris-smalling-next-thing-i-knew-i-was-meeting-sir-alex-it-was-a-bit-surreal-2158734.html|work=The Independent|date=13 December 2010}}
• River Medway, Drag Queen{{citation needed| date= March 2025|reason= Not mentioned on linked page}}

• Gymnasium Schwertstraße Solingen that did pupil exchange visits in 1930

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{{Commons category|Chatham Grammar School for Boys}}

• [http://www.holcombegrammar.org.uk Official school website]

{{Schools in Kent}}

{{Thinking Schools Academy Trust}}

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Category:Grammar schools in Medway

Category:Chatham, Kent

Category:Educational institutions established in 1817

Category:1817 establishments in England

Category:Academies in Medway