About The School
THAMESVIEW SCHOOL opened in September 1968 as a purpose-built Thames-side High School with a small group of first and second year students and 7 staff. It was then a county day school maintained by Kent County Council Education Department for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 17. The first Headteacher was Mr R H Dent, who retired in April 1980. By contrast with 1968, this year there are just over 800 students on roll and over 160 teaching, support and admin staff.
The school is situated on the eastern outskirts of Gravesend with a fine view over the Thames to the north and open country to the east. The school badge in maroon and gold depicts a Thames barge.
In the 1930s the site of Riverview Park and Thamesview School became well known as an airport where many record-breaking flights began. Light aircraft were built there. In the Second World War it was used as a base by the RAF for squadrons of fighter aircraft but was not long enough for the runways needed by the larger planes of the time. It was then sold for housing development to provide homes for Gravesend's rapidly expanding population.
The second stage of the building was completed in 1975 with the addition of the upper school hall, careers room, tutor's rooms and sports hall. In 1974 the first physically handicapped students of secondary school age living in the area were admitted to Thamesview. In 1976 the Medical Suite was adapted to provide a treatment room, and two lifts were installed. The former was improved significantly in 1989.
1990 and 1991 saw further significant improvements with the conversion of a large classroom to a further modern Science laboratory and the development of the 6th form (Year 12). In 1993 the school celebrated its 'Silver Jubilee' - 25 years of commitment to the education of children in the local community.
To come up-to-date, the school had more major developments in 2000, with the construction of a new Maths and Music block and more recently the newly constructed Vocational Centre which was completed in 2006.
Over all these years Thamesview has remained a happy and welcoming school, with our mission to develop Thamesview as a popular school of excellence.
The Thamesview Vocational Centre is now up and running following seven months to build. The centre was funded by KCC and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Gateway Knowledge Alliance and cost 1.2 million to build and equip. Vocational centres offer training programmes that are designed for 13-19 year olds with skills to help them progress into employment or further education or training.
Thamesview students and other local Gravesham school students are all benefiting from the use of our Centre to develop their construction and motor vehicle skills.
We are aiming to extend this offer to ensure 100% capacity over the next year and develop an adult education and Level 3 courses through delivering on the Diplomas provision.
We place vocational education high on the agenda with every Key Stage 4 student selecting a vocational course in a variety of areas and examination levels. At present we offer Construction, Motor Vehicle, Health and Social Care, Performing Arts, Sport and Leisure, Business and ICT at BTEC and OCR National, (both Diploma and Certificate level), Vocational GCSEs, CACHE qualifications, NVQ level 1 & 2, Entry Level awards plus trade qualifications and many more recognised courses.
The extent of interest from the students is already proving a success in terms of their level of motivation and engagement when on-site undertaking their vocational course in the Centre. Students are dressed in the appropriate PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) attire including overalls, hard hats and steel toe boots, as students embark on learning the skills required for the Construction and Motor Industries. The equipment is supplied by Thamesview. Upstairs hosts an air conditioned computer suite with an open-plan environment for the teaching of Health and Social Care. This is a wonderful environment for experiencing ‘first hand’ the relevance of education linking to skilled work related fields.
Facilities include:
- Bricklaying workshop
- Carpentry workshop
- Painting and decorating workshop
- Motor Vehicle workshop
- Health and Social Care specialist rooms
- ICT Suite
Thamesview Vocational Centre has been designed as a 'Centre of Excellence'.
Not only is there a wide vocational offer, but personalised learning is high on our agenda with Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) featuring as a key component of the Year 7 & 8 curriculum offer. A select cohort of Year 8 students will be fast tracked into Year 10, starting in September 2009, and there are 6 Curriculum Option Pathways from which Key Stage 4 students can choose; including Young Apprenticeships and Diploma Courses.
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) plays an important part in our educational thinking and future planning, as we have designed a school to be built on our existing back field, which will be completed by March 2010, and which will facilitate our agenda for transformational learning. The design includes four themed Learning Communities (Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise) each led by an Assistant Headteacher. These four Learning Communities house a team of cross subject staff, and the Community will be equipped with the latest 21st Century ICT capabilities.
School Aims:
To value each individual and reward them as they are encouraged to prepare to live and work with others in adult life.
School Day:
| 8:00am | Breakfast Club |
| 8.35 – 8.55 | Assembly/ Tutor time |
| 8.55 – 9.45 | Lesson 1 |
| 9.45 – 10.35 | Lesson 2 |
| 10.35 – 10.55 | Break |
| 10.55 – 11.45 | Lesson 3 |
| 11.45 – 12.35 | Lesson 4 |
| 12.35 – 1.15 | Lunch |
| 1.15 – 2.05 | Lesson 5 |
| 2.05 – 2.55 | Lesson 6 |
| 2.55 | Start of enrichment activities/Homework Club/Finish |
Term Dates:
1 1 September 2008 to 24 October 2008
2 3 November 2008 to 19 December 2008
3 5 January 2009 to 13 February 2009
4 23 February 2009 to 3 April 2009
5 20 April 2009 to 22 May 2009
6 1 June 2009 to 20 July 2009
Student Destinations:
| DESTINATION | PERCENTAGE |
| Continued in Education | 62 |
| Entered employment, including modern apprenticeships | 18 |
| Entered employment without training | 2 |
| Unknown | 18 |
Results and Statistics 2007
| 2007 GCSE Examination Results | Key Stage 3 Results |
| 5 A*- C - 48% | English - 65% |
| 5 A*- C - 90% | Mathematics - 58% |
| 1 A* - C - 98% | Science - 50.29% |
| Average Points - 304 | ICT - 60% |
