(Application Pack)

**APPLICATION**

**INFORMATION**
**PACK
**Welcome to Dartford Grammar School**

Dartford Grammar School was founded in 1576 and is one of the oldest schools in England. For nearly 450 years,

Dartford Grammar School has enabled young people from Dartford and its surrounding area to achieve great things.

It is proud of the confident, thoughtful, energetic global citizens that leave the school, fully prepared to contribute

to the community, and to rise to the challenges of an increasingly complex future in the wider world.

Dartford Grammar School’s students are extremely successful. They enjoy doing remarkably well - both at their

academic work and in the team work associated with the widest range of co-curricular activities. They value the

talents, ideas and successes of others.

Judged outstanding in every OFSTED inspection, Dartford Grammar School provides a broad, balanced international

education, following the principles of The International Baccalaureate both in the Middle Years and the Sixth

Form. Every student studies either Mandarin Chinese or Japanese from Year 7 and an additional European language

from Year 8.

It is rare to be a school within the British education system that offers the IB curriculum exclusively, and we are

proud to say that we now offer the opportunity to study the IB Diploma in the Sixth Form to more students than

ever. The School received The Sunday Times IB School of the Year award in both 2017 and 2020, and then became

the Sunday Times IB School of the Decade in 2020 too, paying testimony to the ongoing excellent results arising

through the focus and energy of students and staff in maximising the opportunities the Diploma supports. We

believe that the learning benefits and the prospects for university admission are palpable and justify this

unrelenting drive to secure a modern international curriculum. Parents do appreciate the opportunities offered to

in the Sixth Form.

As one leading and reputable educational commentator concluded recently: ‘**_This is no bastion of educational _**

**_privilege, but one that has achieved its notable success through hard work, inspired teaching and free-thinking. _**

**_It is one of the country’s truly exceptional schools - and one to be treasured.”_**

The school’s mission statement,** ‘A learning community developing international citizens’** reflects the purpose of

an IB World School;** ‘to develop young people who help to create a more peaceful world through intercultural**

**understanding and respect’** and **‘to encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and**

**lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right’.**

**Julian Metcalf**

**Head**

**ABOUT US**

**_A learning community developing international citizens _**

Dartford Grammar School is a selective secondary academy for boys, which admits girls to its sixth form. There
are six forms of entry to Year 7, and all of the students joining the school are from the top 25% of the ability
range. The students come from Dartford, neighbouring towns and villages, and nearby London boroughs. The
current roll is 1,516, including 598 in the sixth form.

**Curriculum**
Dartford Grammar School offers a unique seven year innovative curriculum based on the educational philosophy
of the International Baccalaureate (IB). This begins with the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in the lower school
and then concludes with the Diploma Programme (DP) in the Sixth Form. The International Baccalaureate (IB) is
offered around the world in 146 countries and we are proud that we are a leading IB World School, offering a truly
international education. The IB courses are crucial to our ethos encouraging students to be independent, creative
and highly successful lifelong learners. We were the first British state school authorised to offer the IB Middle Years
Programme to pupils in Year 7 to 9. However, no prior experience of the International Baccalaureate is needed, and
the successful applicant will have the opportunity to undertake appropriate CPD as required.

Years Programme which is underpinned by the philosophy of the Learner Profile. In Years 10 and 11, students follow
double or triple Science, two Humanities from History, Geography and Religious Studies and a further option from
Art, Drama, Music, Design Technology, Computer Science and Physical Education. We are the only school nationally
where all students sit GCSE examinations in two Modern Foreign Languages, one from Mandarin Chinese or
Japanese then either French, German, Latin or Spanish. Our innovative Creativity Week programme allows all
students to enjoy a cross-discipline approach to their learning and develops independence and autonomy.

In the Sixth Form we offer the IB Diploma to approximately 600 students each year, a programme that equips them
Diploma is recognised around the world and so allows students to access universities both