Fort Pitt Grammar School
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Fort Pitt Grammar School is a selective girls' grammar school with academy status in
Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...
. Built on Fort Pitt Hill on the site of a
Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative ...
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, it is situated next to the Rochester campus of the
University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Inst ...
.


History

:''See
Fort Pitt, Kent Fort Pitt is a Napoleonic era fort on the high ground of the boundary between Chatham and Rochester, Kent. A fort on the site was proposed as early as 1779 by Hugh Debbieg, then Chief Engineer at Chatham. In 1783 the land was purchased by the ...
for the history of the Fort.'' The present Fort Pitt site has served as a school since 1929, when the ''Chatham Technical Day School for Girls'' moved there. In 1984 it became a girls’ grammar school, a status it holds to this day. Fort Pitt's history stretches back to the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, when a fort was built on the site as part of the defences overlooking the
River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
. Not finally used as a fort, it became a military hospital from 1832.
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
came to Fort Pitt on three separate occasions in 1855 to visit soldiers wounded in the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, and in 1860 it was selected by
Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...
as the initial site for the new Army Medical School, before this moved to
Netley Netley, officially referred to as Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the Ro ...
near Southampton in 1863.A E W Miles, ''The Accidental Birth of Military Medicine'', page 14. Civic Books, London, 2009 . Continuing as a garrison hospital, King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...
and Queen Mary visited servicemen wounded in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
there in October 1914. The hospital finally closed in 1919. The school began as the ''Chatham Institute'' in 1916, to train girls for
office work A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional, desk, managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an office or other administrative setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to government, ...
, being based at Elm House, New Road, Chatham from 1918. It became the ''Junior Commercial School'' in 1919 and the ''Commercial and Trades School for Girls'' in 1923 to reflect a widening curriculum. In 1926 it became the ''Technical Day School for Girls'', the first girls' technical school in the UK. By 1927 the school, with 270 pupils, had doubled in size since 1919 and accommodation was becoming a problem. In 1929 the Education Board therefore bought Fort Pitt, then empty, from the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
and the school moved there from Elm House. Here it taught a range of technical and vocational subjects open to girls, including typing and office duties, cooking, needlework and, from 1941, pre-nursing courses. Entrance was by examination, and the courses more advanced than offered by non-selective
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
s, (and
secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...
s from 1944). During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the school remained at Fort Pitt, although numbers were reduced as many children were evacuated. In 1944 it became the ''Medway Technical School for Girls''. The
School Certificate The School Certificate was a qualification issued by the Board of Studies, New South Wales, typically at the end of Year 10. The successful completion of the School Certificate was a requirement for completion of the Higher School Certificate. T ...
(later the
General Certificate of Education The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries. For some time, the Scottish ed ...
) was introduced, until then the preserve of the more academic
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 ...
s. In 1973 a fire destroyed part of the school, mobile classrooms being installed until new accommodation was built. In 1984 the school was renamed ''Fort Pitt Grammar School''. The site and school continue to be of national historical significance. The Music House in the school grounds and the 'Crimea Wing' are
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
s, with some of the old hospital ward numbers still visible on the Crimea Wing's walls. It houses a small display of period artefacts, which is open to students and members of the public. Many of the original outer fort walls remain, although part of the old hospital building was destroyed in the 1973 fire.


Selective education

Today Fort Pitt is one of six selective schools located in the
Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...
towns. Accredited by the Prince's Trust Teaching Institute, it is a Leading Edge school, a National Support School, and an Initial Teacher Training institution. In its May 2009 report before Fort Pitt left the control of the
Medway Council Medway Council is the local authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The council was created on 1 April 1998 and replaced Rochester-upon-Med ...
,
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
classed Fort Pitt as ‘outstanding’.Ofsted Report: Fort Pitt Grammar School, 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
/ref> It and its trusts have not been inspected since. It took up academy status in November 2010 and subsequently sponsored two schools as the Fort Pitt Grammar School Academy Trust. In September 2015 the Trust merged with
The Thomas Aveling School The Thomas Aveling School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Rochester, Kent, England. History The school is named after Thomas Aveling, inventor of the traction engine and a partner in the world's largest ...
to form FPTA Academies (Fort Pitt Thomas Aveling Academies). In 2016 the School was nominated as a Champion School for the
National Citizen Service The National Citizen Service (NCS) is a voluntary personal and social development programmer for 15–17 year olds in England and Northern Ireland, funded largely by money from the UK Government. It was formally announced in 2010 by Prime Minister ...
programme.


School community

The school community is divided into learning groups within each year. All students are also a member of one of the six 'houses')comprising students from Years 7-13. The school is five form entry in Years 7-11, with a
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
sixth form with a capacity of 240 students. The school offers an accelerated curriculum in a 3-year
Key Stage 3 Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland the ...
(Years 7,8 & 9) and an extended curriculum in 2 year
Key Stage 4 Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31. ...
(Years 10-11).School Year 7 Prospectus, 2019. Published : Fort Pitt Retrieved: 20 October 2019
/ref> This complies with the requirements of the
National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with Federated stat ...
. In Key Stage 4, students complete
English Baccalaureate The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. ...
subjects.


Houses

For pastoral, motivational and competitive purposes, Fort Pitt divides its students into six houses. They are named after famous and inspirational people: *Aderin (house colour yellow; named after
Maggie Aderin-Pocock Margaret Ebunoluwa Aderin-Pocock (; born 9 March 1968) is a British space scientist and science educator. She is an honorary research associate of University College London's Department of Physics and Astronomy. Since February 2014, she has co- ...
, a Nigerian-British space scientist) *Angelou (house colour orange; named after
Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...
, American poet, author, and civil rights activist) *Attenborough (house colour green; named after
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
, British broadcaster and naturalist) *Kahlo (house colour blue; named after
Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...
, Mexican painter) *Mandela (house colour red; named after
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
, President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999)


Medway Technical School for Girls

* Julie Keeble, competitive
ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...
.


References


Howard, Joan ''Fort Pitt: Chatham's unique site: designed to protect; adapted to save; modified to educate.
(2015). Retrieved: 20 October 2019


External links


Fort Pitt Grammar School for Girls

Information on Fort Pitt School on GOV.UK
{{authority control Girls' schools in Kent Grammar schools in Medway Academies in Medway