Chatham House Grammar School

Coordinates: 51°20′11.61″N 1°24′58.21″E / 51.3365583°N 1.4161694°E / 51.3365583; 1.4161694

Chatham House Grammar School was an all boys grammar school in Ramsgate, Kent, England, that was merged in September 2013 with its sister school Clarendon House Grammar School to become the Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School.

It had a coeducational sixth form and shared teaching facilities and various A Level courses with Clarendon House Grammar School. The two schools worked together to provide subjects, bands, and outings. Both schools were co-ed from the sixth form (Year 12 and 13).

History

Chatham House was founded in 1797 by Dr William Humble along Chatham Street, although there is evidence that the school had existed prior to its formal establishment. The school underwent major changes during the 1800s. The buildings were renovated and expanded and rugby and hockey were introduced into the sporting programme.

World War II

When Ramsgate was bombed during World War II, a bomb hit the school library (where a skylight now stands) but did not detonate. Prior to that, the library had been the school chapel, as evidenced by the amount of stained glass.

Chatham House

The Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is the originator of the Chatham House Rule and takes its name from the building where it is based, a Grade I listed 18th-century house in St. James's Square, designed in part by Henry Flitcroft and occupied by three British prime ministers, including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

In the University of Pennsylvania’s 2015 Global Go To Think Tanks Report, Chatham House is ranked the second most influential think tank in the world after the Brookings Institution, and the world's most influential non-U.S. think tank. In 2009, Chatham House was also named the top non-U.S. think tank by Foreign Policy magazine, which listed it as one of the top "scholars" for being among a handful of stars of the think-tank world who are regularly relied upon to set agendas and craft new initiatives.

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 classical languages but more recently an academically oriented secondary school.

The original purpose of medieval grammar schools was the teaching of Latin. Over time the curriculum was broadened, first to include Ancient Greek, and later English and other European languages, natural sciences, mathematics, history, geography, and other subjects. In the late Victorian era grammar schools were reorganised to provide secondary education throughout England and Wales; Scotland had developed a different system. Grammar schools of these types were also established in British territories overseas, where they have evolved in different ways.

Grammar schools became the selective tier of the Tripartite System of state-funded secondary education operating in England and Wales from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s and continuing in Northern Ireland. With the move to non-selective comprehensive schools in the 1960s and 1970s, some grammar schools became fully independent and charged fees, while most others were abolished or became comprehensive (or sometimes merged with a secondary modern to form a new comprehensive school). In both cases, many of these schools kept "grammar school" in their names. More recently, a number of state grammar schools still retaining their selective intake gained academy status, meaning that they are independent of the LEA. Some parts of England retain forms of the Tripartite System, and a few grammar schools survive in otherwise comprehensive areas. Some of the remaining grammar schools can trace their histories to before the 16th century.

Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School

Coordinates: 51°20′11.61″N 1°24′58.21″E / 51.3365583°N 1.4161694°E / 51.3365583; 1.4161694

Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in Ramsgate, Kent, England, formed as a result of the merger of the boys-only Chatham House Grammar School and girls-only Clarendon House Grammar School in September 2013.

History

Chatham House was officially founded in 1797 by Dr William Humble along Chatham Street, although there is some evidence of existence prior to its formal establishment. Clarendon House was founded in 1905 on the first floor of the old police station.

Pre-merger

Both schools were single-sex up to and including Year 11, while allowing boys and girls to enter in the 6th form.

Due to the close proximity of the two schools (within a few minutes' walk of each other), the two schools worked together to provide subjects, bands, and outings. Some AS and A level subjects were taught either jointly or by one school but available to students of the other.