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St George's C of E Foundation School, often abbreviated to St George's, is an all-through school in Broadstairs, Kent, catering for students for 4 to 19 years (primary and through secondary). The official school as it currently stands was formed in the mid-1970s by joining the two old schools of St George's Boys School and St George's Girls C of E School (founded 1841) together into one building and formed the current St George's community.

History

Moving to Broadstairs

The original St George's School opened in Ramsgate in 1841. In September 1967, St George's Girls C of E School moved from Ramsgate to a new building in Broadstairs near Dane Court Grammar School, with St George's Boys School moving to the site in 1973, after the construction of more facilities. By 1975 it was officially a unisex School called St George's C of E School, and later became a Business and an Enterprise school. The 1960s and 1970s buildings stood until early 2010, when it was knocked down and a new school building was built next to the site. On 25 July 2004, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held a concert for their Turnaround Tour supporting their album Turnaround. On 31 July 2004, Busted (band) and McFly played on the school field. Other artists who have played at the school include Atomic Kitten and Status Quo (band).

The new building

The project

The new school building plan was formed by the previous principal Keith Rumblo, with his Deputy Head and future Principal Kim Stoner, and members of the school governing body. The plan was to build the first 21st-century facilities in Thanet, as part of the Government's 'Building Schools for the Future' scheme. It cost about £23M, with state-of-the-art facilities and modern equipment in all areas. The old buildings were almost entirely demolished.

Moving into the building

Although the school wasn't officially opened until September 2010, staff moved in on 20 April 2010, Year 11 and Sixth Form on 21 April, Years 9 and 10 on the 22nd and Years 7 and 8 came in on the 22nd.

Primary school

Due to the demand for a new primary school in the Thanet area, St George's received funding to build a new primary phase to open in September 2016. This was the first time that the school had a Primary Section since 1925. The Head of School is Mrs Wreford, working with Primary Deputy Head Mrs Curry, along with Mr Mirams, and the rest of the SLT. From September, all year groups will be filled, making St George's truly an all-through school.

Head Teachers

Norman Morland 1973–1988 who joined the school from The Charles Dickens School to oversee the merger of the boys' and girls' schools. He left at Easter 1988 and the school was overseen by Alistair Hogarth for the Summer Term

John Fletcher 1988–1996. Mr Fletcher joined the school from King Ethelbert School and was also a J.P.

Keith Rumblo 1996–2009 served the school as its Head for 13 out of his 19 years there, having also joined from King Ethelbert School. He started the new school plan.

Kim Stoner 2009–2017 created a 'mantra' for students that "Nothing but our best will do". Since Easter 2009, she oversaw :

• A large improvement in GCSE results. On 17 January, the school site published a letter from Nick Gibb, M.P. saying that St. George's Church of England Foundation School was among the 100 top performing schools, based on sustained improvement in each year from 2007 to 2010
• New school buildings being built and the old 1960s structures knocked down, something that had been put in motion by Mr. Rumblo
• Restructuring the House System with the 8 Heads of Houses replaced with 5 Heads of Year assisted by Year Support staff, along with a 6th Form team. The 8 Houses were also reduced to 4.
• Plans were then made for a primary school to be added in the school grounds, and the age-range of St George's Church of England Foundation School to change from 11–19 to 4–19 and enlarge the school by adding a 2 Form Entry primary provision.

In October 2015, at the request of the Local Authority, Mrs Stoner became interim executive headteacher of The Charles Dickens School for the 2015/2016 school year. This followed on from her successful interim lead of St Edmund's Catholic School, Dover in 2013.

Adam Mirams 2017– present- After Mrs Stoner retired in 2017. Mr Mirams became Head Teacher, having been Deputy Head for Mrs Stoner's tenure.

Former Pupils

• Sid Gueran, Footballer
• Sir William Jordan, Former High Commissioner for New Zealand
• Hannen Swaffer, Journalist
• Tina Louise Germaine, Actress
• David Lee Stone, Author

References

1. "A History of St George's – St George's Church of England Foundation School".
2. "A History of St George's – St George's Church of England Foundation School".
3. "A History of St George's – St George's Church of England Foundation School".
4. ^ "St. George's Secondary School". DDS Demolition. April 2010. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
5. "St. George's Schools" (PDF). Ramsgate History. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 29 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
6. "Westlife Concert Setlist at St. George's, Broadstairs on July 25, 2004 | setlist.fm". setlist.fm.
7. "Top pop group to play at school". 25 July 2004.
8. "Busted Concert Setlist at St. George's, Broadstairs on July 31, 2004 | setlist.fm". setlist.fm.
9. "Case Studies".
10. Group, The Invicta. "Installation Of Partitions And Suspended Ceilings At St Georges New Build School In Kent | Case Studies | Invicta Ceilings & Partitioning". www.theinvictagroup.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2015. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
11. "A History of St George's". www.stgeorges-school.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
12. "St George's Church of England Foundation School".
13. "Notes from the 1990s and 2000s". www.stgeorges-school.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
14. "A History of St George's – St George's Church of England Foundation School". www.stgeorges-school.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
15. "Head's 'momentous' decision to retire". 4 December 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
16. "Meet St George's new head teacher". Retrieved 30 September 2015.
17. "Top GCSE honours for Thanet schools St George's and Hartsdown". Retrieved 30 September 2015.
18. "Kent BSF schemes signs off | Builder & Engineer". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
19. "School Fulfils Dream Inspire Future Generations". www.courier.co.uk.
20. "Propoals to Make a Prescribed Alteration to St. George's Church of England Foundation School". consultations.kent.gov.uk. 2013. Archived from the original (DOCX) on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
21. "New primary school would provide places for more than 400 children | Thanet Gazette". Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
22. "Interim Leadership Arrangements for the Charles Dickens School". Charles Dickens School.
23. "Positive changes made at Dover school, but "much more to be done"". 24 May 2013.
24. "St George's Alumni". www.stgeorges-school.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
25. "Sir William (Bill) Jordan". www.stgeorges-school.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

• Secondary schools in Kent
• Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Canterbury
• Foundation schools in Kent
• Broadstairs
• Primary schools in Kent
• Educational institutions established in 1841
• 1841 establishments in England