Mayfield Grammar School (formerly ''Gravesend Grammar School for Girls'') is a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

with academy status, located off Old Road West (B261) in

Gravesend, Kent Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is t ...

, England. The school accepts girls at age 11 by examination and both girls and boys at age 16, based on their

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

results.

History

The school was founded in 1914 as the County School for Girls, and moved to its present site in 1926. Currently the school has the main site, and an additional site known as the "Isaac Newton Building" (referred to by pupils as the IN) which consists mainly of sports and technology facilities. Both sites are situated on Pelham Road and are approximately a 5-10 minute walk from each other. Throughout its history the school has remained selective and was known as Gravesend School for Girls, prior to becoming Gravesend Grammar School for Girls. The school was renamed "Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend" in September 2011 due to the number of boys in the sixth form which deemed the part of the name 'for Girls' as unsuitable. This action sparked much controversy within the school itself, former pupils, parents, and the local community. The school achieved dual specialisms in

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

Languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

Sixth form

The sixth form currently contains approximately 250 students, of both boys and girls, studying

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

in a variety of subjects.

Notable former pupils

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is an English actress and producer. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature film debut in the comedy ''St Trinian's'' ...

, actress *

Hannah Arterton Hannah Jane Arterton (born 26 January 1989) is an English actress. She attended Gravesend Grammar School for Girls and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2011. She has most notably appeared in the television series '' The Five' ...

, actress * Prof Janet Bainbridge (née Munn) OBE, microbiologist and Chief Executive of the European Process Industries Competitiveness Centre from 2001 to 2004 *

Hilda Braid Hilda Braid (3 March 1929 – 6 November 2007) was an English actress who had a long career on British television. She became well known in her later years for playing Victoria "Nana" Moon on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. Early life ...

, actress,

Nana Moon Victoria "Nana" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Hilda Braid. In a special episode, Kate Colgrave Pope played her as a 24-year-old in a flashback episode from 1944. She was introduced alongside her ...

in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' *

Catherine Green Catherine Elizabeth Green (1 August 1881 – 25 January 1965) was an Australian politician. Born in Curban, New South Wales, Curban in New South Wales to farmer Daniel Diggs and Catherine Kain, she was educated at the Curban public school ...

, biologist who worked on the production of the

Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. Developed in the United Kingdom by Oxford University and British-Swedish comp ...

* Inga Grimsey, Director-General of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

2006-, and Chief Executive of the

Ski Club of Great Britain The Ski Club of Great Britain is a recreational snow sports club, which operates on a not-for-profit basis. It was founded on 6 May 1903 during a meeting at the Café Royal in London. Until the 1960s, the Ski Club of Great Britain was responsible f ...

from 1991 to 1996 *

Lindsay Stringer Lindsay C. Stringer is a Professor in Environment and Development at the University of York. Stringer's research is interdisciplinary and uses theories and methods from both the natural and social sciences to understand human-environment relat ...

, Professor in Environment and Development and Director of the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds. *

Karen Vousden Karen Heather Vousden, CBE, FRS, FRSE, FMedSci (born 19 July 1957) is a British medical researcher. She is known for her work on the tumour suppressor protein, p53, and in particular her discovery of the important regulatory role of Mdm2, a ...

, cancer research scientist * Sara Hardaker, olympian

References

External links

Mayfield Grammar School website

EduBase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfield Grammar School Educational institutions established in 1914 Girls' schools in Kent Grammar schools in Kent Gravesend, Kent 1914 establishments in England Academies in Kent