Chatham Grammar School for Girls

The school, then called the Chatham County School for Girls, was founded in January 1907. There was no school building and rooms were rented at the Chatham Technical Institute. In addition to headmistress Miss Constance Wakeman, the school had ten teachers, four of whom were part-time.[5]

The new school building, on the current site, was formally opened in February 1913.[6] The school taught girls aged 8 to 18 years, those under 11 in a separate preparatory department. There was an entrance examination and, although maintained by the local authority, fees were payable. Scholarships were available for poorer families,[5] with the number of fee payers diminishing in the inter-war years.[7] The curriculum was mainly academic, but included more practical subjects including needlework and domestic science.[8]

The school roll expanded from under 130 in 1912 to over 400 by 1920,[5] and more accommodation was required. An extension was completed in 1931, nearly doubling the size of the building. The newly expanded school could accommodate 480 girls,[9] a figure that would have been reached in September 1939. However, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the school evacuated, first to Faversham in East Kent and then, in May 1940, to Pontypridd in South Wales. Most girls returned to the Medway towns by late 1941, and the school reopened.[5]

The Education Act 1944 led to a major restructure of secondary education. The school became the Chatham Grammar School for Girls, all fees were abolished and the preparatory department – already undersubscribed – closed. Entrants were selected by the eleven-plus exam.[5]

With the school roll now over 500,[5] and increasing to over 800 by the 1990s, further expansion was required, with a number of new blocks built on the site from the mid 1950s.[9] More girls remained into the 6th form, with over 130 in 1970 and 280 in 2007, compared with under 40 during the 1930s.[10]

The first male teacher was appointed in 1958. He was Don Summerley who taught Biology, followed in 1959 by James Nicholson, who taught Religious Education. By the end of the 1960s a quarter of the staff were male.[11]

The school's centenary was celebrated in 2006–2007 with the release of 1,000 balloons and a school fete, with many other smaller events through the year. A mosaic was designed by artist Jo Letchford incorporating the school's ship emblem and the dates 1907-2007 to commemorate the centenary. All pupils and staff had the opportunity to place a tessera into the mosaic before it was mounted on the wall outside reception. A record exists linking each tessera with the person who placed it into the design.

The number of students has fluctuated in recent years, with nearly 1,000 in 2007, dropping to under 800 in 2012 and 620 in 2016, but increasing to over 700 by 2018[12] and 800 in 2021.[4] This compares with a capacity of 976.[3] As a consequence of the fall in popularity of the school and the resulting lower numbers, there were several rounds of staff redundancies. In 2020 a new teaching block was built, enabling the sixth form intake to increase to 200.[4]

From 1919 to late 1950s, the school had a company of Girl Guides, Chief Guide Lady Baden Powell visiting the school in 1949.[13] In 2018 a Combined Cadet Force contingent was set up at the school.[14]

• Chatham Girls' Musical(bbc.co.uk)
• Eurovision Song Contest in 2004(bbc.co.uk)