Greenacre Academy, Chatham, Became a Converter Academy, April 2012. Lead school of the expanding Skills for Life Trust,  including two primary schools, taken from Special Measures to Good and now including  Walderslade Girls School. Sixth Form is a partnership with Walderslade Girls. Is situated to the south of Medway and loses some children to Kent schools, in exchange for others coming out of Kent. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Holcombe Grammar School Became a Converter Academy April 2011. Subsequently taken over by the aggressive Thinking Schools Academy Trust after it failed Ofsted June 2013. Changed its name in January 2017 from Chatham Grammar School for Boys. Mixed sixth form.  Lost second attempt to controversially convert to co-education from September 2019, and expand to a PAN of at least 180. A Chequered history,  with a changingcast of leaders, four in two years, most recently overseen by non-selective Victory Academy. Appears not to have clear strategies, and comes up with apparently impromptu decisions, but appears now to be chasing London boys who have passed the Medway Test. .GCSE performance was strong but is now the lowest GCSE and A Level grammar school performer in Medway.. 30% of Sixth Formers left halfway through A Level course in 2018 The school attempted to put restrictive admission criteria in place which have been partly withdrawn since I wrote an article pointing out these were unlawful, but I then successfully challenged further elements through the Schools Adjudicator. 

Disgraceful actions at 2018 appeals. I have written a number of articles exposing lies, and massive maladministration, most recently here. 

A previous head, Mr Ben Lillicrap, left in July 2019 to join Invicta Grammar as Head of Sixth Form, after being promoted just a year previously, succeeded by David Day from Rochester Grammar and now by Lee Preston in January 2020. He is described as an 'Exceptional School Leader and Experienced Principal' on the school website, but was previously at two non-selective schools, as Deputy Head at local Thomas Aveling, and Assistant Head at Hayes School. His work is to be overseen by  Mandy Gage, based at Victory Academy, and Director of Education, Chatham Hub, just to be on the safe side; working to Gwnn Bassan, Director of Education, Medway  (having recently changed from Director of Secondary Education)Trust Secondary who works to Stuart Gardner CEO of TSAT. 

Not that any of this whirligig is directly relevant to what is happening on the ground.

Examination performance has been poor recently, hence the attempts to raise the quality of the quality of the intake by reducing its reliance on Chatham boys. I have had a number of very unhappy parents of boys with Special Needs contact me, who have found the school positively unhelpful, presumably as part of the same drive, sadly for a school that once had an excellent reputation for SEN. 

The bottom line is that there is an intense shortage of places for boys in Medway, and with the one grammar alternative Sir Joseph Williamson's massively oversubscribed (the Mixed Rainham Mark is oversubscribed with local children), the school will always have a ready market. Some families choose the non-selective Howard School (below) as an alternative. 

 According to the October 2017 census, the school  admitted 161 boys that year, a further four being offered places after a complaint to the Regional Schools Commissioner. There was considerable churning, with lower preferences who had been offered places turning them down in favour of other preferred schools through appeals or waiting lists, countered by a high number of appeals being upheld and the school finding additional places for late entrants.  

For 2018 entry, the lower preferences offered places running down to two boys who placed the school in sixth place, three in 2019, and two in 2020. 

Changed its Appeal Panel organiser for 2018 to a KCC Panel which did not understand and were misinformed by the school about the way the Medway Test operates. According to an FOI request, for 2019, there were 58 appeals lodged. Seven of these were from non-Medway residents. For 2020, in paper-based appeals, 8 of the 18 Grammar assessed appeals were upheld.    

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Howard School, Gillingham.  Became a Converter Academy Oct 2014. A unique school, technically bilateral, formed out of a previous grammar school and a non selective boys school, producing two streams which are taught separately so it is not a comprehensive school. There is no separate grammar option on the admission form. Admission is not dependent on the Medway Test. Those who have passed the Medway test are automatically placed in the grammar stream (several choose it as an alternative to Holcombe, above) and others who are assessed as being of grammar school ability by an internal test are promoted alongside them.  Mixed sixth form.  Lead school of the Howard Academy Trust working with two Primary schools, and the Waterfront UTC, previously the failed Medway UTC, and taking on the new and controversial Park Crescent Academy in Thanet. OFSTED GoodOctober 2016. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hundred of Hoo Academy.  Became a Sponsored Academy Sep 2011 as a member of the Williamson Trust, headed by Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School with three other Hoo Peninsula primary schools. All through Academy admitting at 4 and 11. All Williamson Trust schools re-brokered to Leigh Academies Trust for January 2019. 

Ofsted July 2018 - Good.  In April 2018 the school abandoned an attempt to put restrictive admission criteria in place. Had a poor reputation with numbers of children being removed for Home Education and places in other schools. Continues to have by some way the highest loss of pupils Year 7-11 for any Medway school at 21% in up to January 2019 (second largest in Kent and Medway combined, to a 22%).  Then loses the largest proportion of students going into the Sixth Form, with just 49 out of 221 students staying into the Sixth Form for September 201 9.