Townley Grammar School for Girls

Infobox UK school
name = Townley Grammar School for Girls


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latitude = 51.4502
longitude = 0.1398
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established = 1937
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type = Foundation Grammar School
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president =
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head = Mrs Linda Hutchinson, B.A., M.Ed
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street = Townley Road,
city = Bexley
county = Greater London
country = England
postcode = DA6 7AB
LEA = London Borough of Bexley
ofsted = 101463
staff =
enrollment = c. 1,400
gender = Girls, some boys in sixth form
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
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website = http://www.townleygrammar.org.uk/
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Townley Grammar School For Girls, normally referred to locally as Townley is a secondary grammar school for girls. It was previously known as Bexley Technical High School for Girls. It is located on Townley Road, Bexleyheath, in the London Borough of Bexley in England. The school consists of year 7-11 and a predominantly female sixth form.

Academics

It is well-known in the area for its consistent academic performance in the London Borough of Bexley. The Sixth Form performs well with a tradition of excellent exam results; in excess of 90% of students enter higher education at 18, and the school regularly appears in the Sunday Times Good Schools Guide.

In order to be admitted to the school, students must pass the Eleven-plus test in order to gain entry to year 7. It admits roughly 210 new students a year. Townley Grammar School for Girls, in partnership with the all-boys Beths Grammar School allows for the attendance of different subjects by sixth form students at either institution.

Organisation

Girls are mainly taught in their tutor groups for the first two years (Years 7 and 8), although these groups are further divided for practical subjects, such as Music and Art.

In Years 8, 9, 10 and 11, pupils are grouped into streams according to their learning rate in certain subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Modern Language

Curriculum

The school offers a broad and balanced curriculum, which is designed to match the educational needs of the girls with the requirements of the National Curriculum.

The languages studied at Townley are French, German and Italian at Key Stage 3 and 4 and Spanish at Key Stage 4. All four subjects are offered in the Sixth Form as well as Russian.

The school was awarded Specialist Status for the performing and visual arts in September 2004. This specialist status enriched the arts education offered by the school whilst attempting to maintain the academic rigour of a grammar school.

All girls take ten GCSEs, providing a balanced programme of study and a firm foundation for Advanced Level courses. However, certain exceptional students are can be entered early for subjects such as Art or Modern Foreign Languages if they have a special aptitude for the subject.
Mandarin is also part of the extracurricular programme.

Townley has a large sixth form and students choose from some thirty five Advanced Level (AS and A2) courses. The opportunity exists both to deepen the study of subjects taken at GCSE and to select new courses such as Government and Politics, Fine Art, Economics and Classical Civilisation. Joint courses with Beths enable pupils in both schools to have a wide range of subjects to choose from in the sixth form.

Homework is set every evening during term time and is considered an integral part of the learning process, encouraging independent study.

Accommodation

Constructed on a 17 acre site, the School's extensive grounds provide a pleasant environment as well as excellent sporting facilities. A new building was completed in 2006 which provides a theatre, recording studio, a large Sports Hall as well as five additional science laboratories, and a further ICT suite.

Uniform

Pupils are encouraged to take a pride in their appearance and uniform is compulsory throughout the school with the Sixth Form wearing suits.

Extra-curricular activities

Ofsted observed that the School's extra curricular activities covered “an impressively wide range” and demonstrated "high standards of achievement". The huge variety of clubs and societies include a Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme group, CDT Clubs, Drama Clubs, Dance Clubs, Environment group, Christian Union, Science Societies, a Computer Club, a Young Enterprise Group, a Debating Society, a Food Club, a Textiles Club, a Homework Club, and many more. Award winning success is achieved in a wide variety of activities within the Physical Education Department and there are school teams for netball, hockey, swimming, athletics, tennis, rounders, volleyball and football. The UK's under 17 weightlifting champion and the possible Olympic diver both attend Townley, although their success cannot be owed to the school as there is neither a weightlifting or diving club.

The School has a long tradition for excellence in the Arts and was recently awarded the Gold Arts Mark. Outstanding performances are achieved by the school's three choirs, two orchestras, concert band, string and woodwind ensembles. Termly concerts, musical productions and formal school assemblies are only some of the many performance opportunities which exist throughout the year.

Full scale music, drama and dance productions have included Scarlatti's Stabat Mater, Benjamin Britten's Missa Brevis, Holst's Ave Maria, Dido and Aeneas, Vivaldi's Gloria, "Oklahoma!", "Sweet Charity", "The Visit", "Cabaret", "42nd Street", "Oliver!", "Rainbows Ending", "The Boyfriend", "Cats", Bugsy Malone, Tales Untold and Variations as well as more informal performance evenings.

The annual Art Exhibitions gives the community an ideal opportunity to see the impressive word done by examination candidates in Years 11, 12 and 13.

The excellent work done in the classroom is enhanced by field trips, visits to industrial organisations, to the theatre, to conferences, museums, art galleries and universities. Townley's work with Rose Bruford College, Trinity College of Music, Laban, The Royal Ballet and Tate Modern have strengthened the provision of the Arts for students.

Holidays organised by the school have recently included visits to Normandy, Paris, Florence, Venice, Verona, Germany, Spain and India. Regular exchanges take place with the Shri Ram School in Delhi, India and the Franz Stock Gymnasium in Arnsberg, Germany. A new exchange is planned for 2008 with a school in Shandong Province, China. Adventure holidays for the lower school take place in the UK.

External links

[http://www.townleygrammar.org.uk/ Official website]