Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys
Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, also known as "Tunbridge Wells Boys' Grammar School", "TWGSB" or informally "Tech", is a community grammar school located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Founded as a technical school in 1956, TWGSB became a grammar school in 1982. It is a state school, and one of the largest of the remaining grammar schools in England. The school has over 1,200 pupils ranging from 11 to 18 years of age, and more than 100 staff members. Entrance is selective, with pupils falling within the top thirty per cent band  of ability upon entrance. Prospective students are required to take the 11-plus to gain a place. Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys has a mixed sixth form. A minimum of 48 points across all GCSEs and a 5 in English Language and Maths is required and priority for places is given to TWGSB students, although the school accepts applications from both boys and girls from other schools. For GCSEs the students have to complete 3 sciences, 2 English, 1 Mathematics, a language of either French or Spanish and 3 more GCSEs of their choice. Headteacher John Harrison retired in  December 2017 after 10 years at the helm. Simon Marsh became acting headteacher and was followed as headteacher by the appointment of Amanda Simpson. Academic standards. The school offers a broad range of subjects right through to A2-level. Seventy five to eighty five per cent of pupils remain at the school and study A-levels after taking GCSEs. TWGSB became a Humanities College in September 2007. This meant that the school received additional funding from central government for three different areas: Following their inspection on 30 April – 1 May 2008, Ofsted rated the school's overall effectiveness as "Good , Grade 2 on a four-point scale. The effectiveness of the sixth form was also rated as Good". In their report Ofsted said "This is a good and improving school; it is well led and provides students with good standards of education, guidance and care... Students make good progress from their starting points to achieve high standards. ... Teaching is good overall and sometimes outstanding... but there is more work to do in developing a common approach so that best practice is shared in a systematic way... an effective and hard-working senior leadership team... There is variation in the quality  of leadership at some levels; this is evident in the unevenness of students' performance across subjects, particularly at Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form." School identity. The school's Latin motto, "Faber est quisque suæ fortunæ", means "Every man is the maker of his own fortune". The school has a strict uniform policy, which involves the use of a points system used on the website SatchelOne which is where the students receive information about their homework, tests and other important school information. A house system was established from September 2020: These houses compete throughout the year in sport  and academic competitions, especially on Sports Day. House points are usually awarded to the winning House in these events and are also given out for good work within classes. The Houses compete for the House Cup (awarded to the House with the highest number of House Points) and the Sports Cup (awarded to the House who wins Sports Day). The school makes use of a prefect system, whereby responsibilities are given to the upper school to keep the school's rules of conduct in effect. Facilities. During the Covid Lockdown Tech has worked on building and replacing existing facilities, up  to and including a Sixth form centre due for completion in early 2022 : The school also has cricket, rugby, football and softball pitches, and use of the adjacent Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, Extracurricular activities. The school has a range of clubs and societies (including sporting, acting and music related activities). In addition there is a school orchestra (and Jazz Band). They publish the Eclectics Magazine annually. The school runs teams in several sports. The school has two student councils: the School Council and the Sixth Form Council.