Oakwood Park Grammar School is a boysgrammar school with academy status located in Maidstone, United Kingdom, the school is co-educational in the sixth form (years 12 and 13). The school takes boys at the age of 11 and over by examination (11-plus) and boys and girls at 16+ on their GCSE results. The current headteacher is Sarah Craig. The school is popularly known by its initials OPGS, Oakwood or Oakwood Park
OPGS was founded in 1918 as the Co-educational Junior Technical School for Boys and the Junior Commercial School for Girls.[2] The school was based at two sites in Maidstone town centre: Faith Street and Tonbridge Road. The school admitted pupils at the age of 11 and 13. The school was also known as the Maidstone Technical School.
By the 1950s the school had outgrown these two sites and a new site was found at Oakwood Park, further along on the Tonbridge Road. The school moved into its new premises between September 1958 and September 1959.[1][2] The new premises were officially opened in September 1959 with a service of dedication performed by the then Archbishop of CanterburyGeoffrey Francis Fisher. It was then known as the Maidstone Technical School for Boys. In 1963 it became the Maidstone Technical High School for Boys.
The introduction of comprehensive education in the 1970s lead to the Thameside Scheme being introduced in the Maidstone area.[2] September 1971 saw the last admission aged 11. There were no new admissions in the next two academic years. From September 1974 pupils were admitted at the age of 13. At the same time the school was renamed Maidstone School for Boys.[2] Under the Thameside Scheme technical schools had in effect become grammar schools but were not allowed to call themselves as such. Now the school had to compete with Maidstone Grammar School for pupils.
In 1983 the use of the "grammar school" title was relaxed and on 10 October 1983 Maidstone School for Boys became Oakwood Park Grammar School (OPGS).[2][3] In the 1980s the school started admitting girls into the sixth form.
Enrolment declined in the late 1980s and Kent County Council, the local education authority, considered merging OPGS with Invicta Grammar School, a girls grammar school located in east Maidstone. A vigorous campaign by parents, staff and governors prevented the merger. On 1 April 1992 OPGS became one of the first schools in the area to achieve grant maintained status, giving it independence from KCC. Enrolment increased thereafter and in September 1993 grammar schools across the area started admitting pupils at the age of 11 (year 7).[citation needed]
After the scrapping of grant maintained status in the late 1990s,[citation needed] OPGS became a community school, reverting to Kent County Council control. The school became a mathematics and computing specialist college in 2003.[1] The school then became a foundation school, giving it some independence from Kent County Council. On 1 May 2011 the school officially became an academy, meaning that Kent County Council no longer have any responsibility for the school apart from co-ordinating admissions.
Extracurricular activities
The school has sports teams in football, rugby, cricket, basketball, rowing and athletics which compete at local, county and national levels.[4] There are regular inter-form competitions and an annual sports day. The school has music groups including an orchestra and the Coconut Grove steel band.[4] The school has a purpose-built drama studio which is home to the drama club.[4] Other school clubs include debating, chess and robotics.[4] The school is a participant in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and has numerous overseas trips.[4] Oakwood focus on these aspects greatly and it is very unusual for a grammar school to emphasise the importance of extracurricular work. This is also done though volunteering day which is held each year and in which all students volunteer for one school day to gain experience and to give back to the community.
Houses
OPGS used to have houses named after local villages – Allington, Brenchley, Chillington, Detling, Egerton and Farleigh. This house system was abandoned in the 1980s.
The house system was re-introduced in 2009 due to the school's growing size and to accompany the school's 50-year anniversary. The school's five houses are:[5]
Hazlitt (named after William Hazlitt, a famous English essayist, playwright and social commentator who was from Maidstone)
Sadler (named after David Sadler, a former OPGS student who went on to play 272 games for Manchester United football club following the devastating Munich air disaster, and 4 games for England)
Wilberforce (named after William Wilberforce, the famous British politician who successfully stood against slavery, who has family in East Farleigh)
Headteachers
2024–: S. Craig
2006–2024: Kevin W. Moody
1992–2006: Mike J. Newbould
1985–1992: A. G. Sandford
1966–1985: John A. Skinner
1956–1966: R. H. Voice
1933–1955: H. Collins
1918–1933: James Quick
Alumni
OPGS has helped nurture students through various career paths.
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, which is known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age. The town, part of the borough of Maidstone, had an approximate population of 100,000 in 2019. Since World War II, the town's economy has shifted from heavy industry towards light industry and services.
Tonbridge is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, 4 miles (6 km) north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles (19 km) south west of Maidstone and 29 miles (47 km) south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population of 41,293 in 2019.
The Borough of Maidstone is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Its administrative centre is Maidstone, the county town of Kent.
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