The Royal Hospital School A GSG School

Sports

Unusual sports

Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.

Rowing

Fencing

Shooting

Sailing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2016, Simon Lockyer BSc MEd, previously second master at Portsmouth Grammar and housemaster and head of department at Wellington College. Educated at Blundell’s School, Devon, then Newcastle University where he read microbiology. Married, his wife also teaches at RHS and with three children at the school, it’s ‘very much a family affair, at least at the moment; the eldest will be moving on next year’. His own background includes a father in the navy but he is clear that the naval traditions of the school ‘feed into a broader picture of dedication and service, a sense of belonging and discovering our true value. The qualities we want to nurture of courage, care for our companions and being prepared to go into the unknown are as telling in a civilian life as for sailors.’

His manner is friendly and low-key – nothing of the quarterdeck about him. Parents agree that he is approachable and say, ‘We like his plain-speaking; you get proper answers.’ The raising of academic aspirations (a word he prefers to ‘achievement’) has gone down well, as has his strong commitment to widen the socio-economic reach of the school. He speaks about the need for a head ‘to be constant. Pupils, and their parents need to know what you stand for, what you believe about right and wrong.’ Has a variety of interests – ornithology, planting trees, ‘pottering in my workshop’, going for a run: ‘In a nutshell, I like being out of doors.’

From September 2024, the new head will be Irfan Latif, currently principal at DLD College London. Born and raised in Clapham, he was educated at Emanuel School in south London, then studied chemistry and did his PGCE at King’s College London. Taught at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Elstree, followed by stints as senior housemaster at Whitgift School, deputy head (academic) at Bedford School, and five years as head of state boarding school Sexey’s in Somerset. He is currently completing a master’s in educational leadership at the University of Buckingham. Married to Jo, with two daughters, one of whom will be a pupil at the school.

Entrance

Majority enter at 11, another 30-40 at 13+ and a further influx of around 40 for the sixth form. At 11, entrance is via tests in maths, English (includes comprehension and creative writing) and verbal reasoning, at 13+ the same, or Common Entrance. For the sixth form an average 5.5 at GCSE across six subjects, with at least a 4 in English language and maths, a 6 for any potential A level subjects (7 for maths or sciences). A reference from current school is essential and all prospective pupils are interviewed by the head. They also discuss their A level and BTEC choices with the head of sixth form.

Exit

The joke about the Royal Navy being the school’s alumni organisation (over two centuries 20,000 former pupils have joined up) no longer gives the true picture, though around 10 per cent do still enter Sandhurst or Dartmouth – our guide had his sights set on the Marines. The great majority go in a variety of directions – universities like Durham, Lancaster, Newcastle, Nottingham Trent, Oxford Brookes, Bath, UEA, Exeter, Nottingham and York well represented in 2023. Gap year travel and courses abroad, which Covid knocked the stuffing out of, are very much back in vogue. Around a third leave after GCSE for local colleges to study a range of courses. One vet in 2023.

Latest results

In 2023, 35 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 37 per cent A*/A at A level (60 per cent A*-B). In 2019 (last exam year before pandemic) 41 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 26 per cent A*/A at A level (56 per cent A*-B).

Teaching and learning

The raising of academic aspirations and creating an atmosphere that encourages pupils to ‘forge their own path – you can be a geek about anything you like’ – is reflected in the consistent improvement in exam results. For a not very selective school, the range of subjects offered and standards reached is impressive. Pupils take nine or ten GCSEs with setting for maths from year 7 and sciences from year 9. Year 13s take three, occasionally four, A levels plus the EPQ and another elective subject. A few take a combination of A levels and BTECs. The RHS diploma was introduced across the whole school from September 2023, the aim being to help give pupils the skills and knowledge that will demonstrate, for example, an understanding of collaborative working practice or a grasp of how algorithms and data systems affect our lives: ‘We are preparing them for an unknown future.’ In year 12 the course will also include the usual practical budgeting and cooking skills for students.

Pupils all have a school Microsoft Surface for their own use – ‘iPads were not fully satisfactory.’ Sixth formers bring their own. School is well on the way to being one of Microsoft’s 50 showcase schools and staff and pupils seem very comfortable with a ‘mixed economy’ of teacher and screen instruction. We saw a physics revision class using a ‘Blooket’ quiz, a geometry class plotting an isosceles triangle on their screens and the geographers drawing a rainfall graph in time-honoured fashion on paper and having to sharpen their pencils to do so. In all lessons the teacher was central to the learning process, but ‘Screens prevent pupils having to wait for the teacher’s attention for help, it puts an end to lost books and “forgetting” homework and gives them a permanent record of all their work.’ Class sizes of 24, fewer in many subjects. All pupils are encouraged to take a foreign language at GCSE with most choosing French or Spanish; around 20 take Latin. In addition, international pupils are able to take exams in Chinese, Russian and German if they are native speakers. At A level, business studies, geography, economics and product design all popular choices. There is keen take-up for BTEC courses in enterprise and entrepreneurship and media and sport, both of which marry well with various A levels.

Learning support and SEN

Roughly 10 per cent of pupils need some measure of help, mostly through in-class support or regular sessions in the learning support department, which is on one of the teaching corridors, not tucked away. Main support is for mild dyslexia, dyscalculia, plus a few pupils on the neurodiverse spectrum. Around one in eight of the international pupils require moderate help with language.

The arts and extracurricular

The extraordinary range of experiences and learning on offer is one of the main reasons cited for choosing the school. ‘I know parents always say this but ours are all so different. We were looking for a school where they could all develop their own things.’ Our guide said simply, ‘I came for the extracurricular.’

Provision for art, DT, music and drama is outstanding and most pupils take one of them at GCSE. The art and design block, a series of workshops and studios leading off a sun-filled atrium – the perfect exhibition space – is where pupils are introduced to fine art, textiles, ceramics, dress design and food tech, and we saw the year 9s working with concentration, in silence, on their exam projects. Pupils are encouraged to give everything a try and not feel limited by past experience of discouragement.

Music is housed in the even more eye-catching music school, opened by John Rutter, a patron of the annual concert programme – light and airy, lots of glass and galleried landings. The Burns Recital Hall has excellent acoustics, raked seating and, the pièce de résistance, a Fazioli grand (nothing but the best, the other pianos for class and practice are Bechsteins); there are four organs for aspiring organists. The lobby is filled with racks for the various instruments of the many pupils who study one (sometimes as many as three or four) and the sounds of music issue forth from every class and practice room. Noticeboards crammed with rehearsal schedules, advertisements for lunchtime concerts or recitals (Notes and Nibbles) give an idea of the colossal range on offer. A ‘rogues gallery’ of music scholars is displayed; they have regular opportunities to perform at recitals and concerts. Most popular of all is ‘gig’ night when anyone can get up and perform. Musicals are staged in alternate years, Me and My Girl (‘We all had the Lambeth Walk on the brain that term,’ said a housemaster) and Pirates of Penzance (playing to the school’s strengths) the most recent performances.

Music is compulsory for years 7 and 8 and a popular choice at GCSE and A level. There is a recording and Mac suite for music tech A level and also a club. Over half the school study one or more instruments and have private tuition at the school. Busy choir – regular chapel services, concerts and tours, including international ones – string groups practising before school, big band and orchestras at lunchtime and after school. The 60-strong marching band holds a special place in school life as it accompanies the pupils’ regular parades known as ‘divisions’ (‘divis’ in school parlance). You have to be at least grade 3 to be accepted, though drummers are taught from scratch. All band members take rehearsal seriously and receive free tuition for band marching skills. Trips and overseas tours happen regularly – Washington DC last autumn.

After-school clubs run from 4.15 to 6pm daily so with a busy lunchtime it’s a long day filled with activity. Everything on offer from Model UN to scuba diving, yoga and robotics club. DofE compulsory in year 9 and CCF (marines, navy, army, RAF) in years 9 and 10. We discerned no resentment about this. ‘It’s fun,’ said our guide, and one former pupil had tears in her eyes as she recalled happy times on the parade ground. Pupils all have the correct uniform for CCF and a naval uniform, including a ‘gidge’ (the colloquial term for a cap), usually inherited from an older pupil, for divisions, which remain a cornerstone of RHS tradition. Divis are a bonding exercise and take place on occasions such as Remembrance Day, speech day and harvest festival; the spectacle draws crowds of families and friends. The marching and drill is done by the pupils themselves – no staff involved. ‘It’s quirky – that’s why we like it,’ said a pupil.

Sport

Three games afternoons a week, including the Saturday afternoon fixtures list, mean all the seasonal sports get a good go, ‘though we are very keen to provide plenty of experience of more individually challenging activities such as rock climbing,’ says head. Parents praise the variety on offer (basketball currently highly popular with a fixtures list that includes Eton and Harrow), but warn, ‘It is not into elite training, except for sailing.’ The enormous gym has a climbing wall, a kick-boxing suite, squash courts and a shooting gallery. Massive 38-metre swimming pool was built in the 1930s, according to legend, at a length judged to be not quite right for an Olympic training pool which at the time the government was believed to be on the lookout for. Years 7, 8 and 9 all have swimming lessons and many qualify as life guards by supervising the local community swimming group.

Sailing is in the school’s DNA and all year 7s receive a week’s free tuition in the basics: ‘We are keen to make sure all pupils, not just those from families that sail, have the chance to learn,’ says the director of sailing. Young sailors from all over the world come to RHS to train in preparation for international competitions; the 2021 Youth World Sailing Champion and the RYA Youth National Champions of 2022 are currently at the school. The school’s position on the banks of the River Stour (jury is out on pronunciation), nearby Alton Water and a flotilla of dinghies (from beginners’ to Olympic classes), four Cornish shrimpers and four powerboats mean many achieve RHA qualifications, enter national and international sailing competitions and have a seriously enjoyable pastime for the rest of their lives. Scholars receive individual tuition from RHA advanced instructors and there are trips to the Med and further afield each year.

Boarders

Houses provide the underpinning of pastoral care and the shape of the school day for all pupils, whether day or boarders. All year 7s join Blake House for introductory nurture, then move up to senior houses named after maritime heroes – Drake, Raleigh, Collingwood and so on, Nelson being reserved for the year 13 house. In Blake, pupils sleep in six-bedded rooms, in the senior houses, two or four-bedded and in Nelson all have their own rooms. House staff and matrons live in. After Blake, senior houses are single sex and day pupils have their own houses, before all join up again in Nelson as a ‘last hurrah together and to give more of a university experience’. (Evidently, the common room has a bar, though locked rather tantalisingly behind a glass screen. Jokes about a navy rum ration dismissed by housemaster: ‘Only beer and wine with supper on Saturday nights.’) Houses all being spruced up on a rolling programme but basic layouts are similar with a large open common area downstairs for relaxation, squashy sofas, table tennis, games and a television and large kitchens for making toast and snacks; tuck kept in lockers and banned from bedrooms.

The day begins in the houses with ‘roll call’, ‘stand easy’ (break) for fruit and toast and ‘mess’ in the enormous, portrait-lined school dining room. Food is thought very good, with an international range of choices, a ‘theatre bar’, and plenty of interesting vegetarian and other dishes. (We can vouch for the spiced cauliflower and salad range.) Pupils need the excellent cooked breakfasts and constant refuelling for their extremely active day. Prep for youngest in supervised after-school sessions in the main school but houses all have work and study areas too. Day pupils often stay at school for prep and after-school clubs until 6pm: ‘You can pick them up with everything done and dusted.’ Free time for boarders begins once ‘stations’ (house duties) have been completed. In Nelson house (year 13), ‘We try to foster greater independence and responsibility in preparation for university,’ say house staff. Laundry areas clearly well used, ditto the kitchen. Key celebrations for year 13, one per term, centre on Trafalgar day, Burns night and the leavers’ ball .

Ethos and heritage

The long and distinguished association with seafaring and the Royal Navy remain at the heart of RHS. Certain rituals and navy-speak have been retained, along with the 24-hour clock. Originally founded at Greenwich in the 18th century to educate boys in mathematics and navigation, it moved to its present site at Holbrook on the banks of the River Stour in the 1930s. The school was built in a style that echoes the Christopher Wren maritime buildings at Greenwich and is laid out very systematically, like a model town. A large proportion of staff live on the 200-acre site. The fine buildings, all slightly larger than life, are positioned along avenues and wide promenades that also act as parade grounds for divis and great occasions such as Remembrance Day. The River Stour winks alongside the grounds and provides a satisfying vista for the eye to rest on. Buildings have been adapted to cater for a less spartan generation – open cloisters and walkways have been enclosed, courtyards glassed over and clearly very efficient boilers installed.

RHS turned co-educational in 1991 and now almost half the school are girls. Day pupils were first admitted in 2006 and the school has roughly 50 per cent weekly/full boarders, ’though the boarding flavour permeates everyone whether they board or not,’ say pupils. The governance of the school remains within the auspices of the Greenwich Hospital who have made substantial investment in the school buildings and in scholarships and bursaries. Houses have been spruced up, the library has been remodelled to incorporate a glass balcony for private study and flexible learning spaces; all corridors and walkways are well decorated. The Heritage Centre has been transformed into a café – a sort of posh tuck-shop – and is heavily patronised. Built with the idea of self-sufficiency (RHS has its own water supply), the pandemic ‘played to our strengths in certain respects, but we don’t operate in isolation,’ said the headmaster. School has established links beyond the campus with industry and local businesses, as well as those with the navy and other forces and, as a parent commented, ‘The pupils see the world as their oyster.’

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

The school has 750 pupils and that number breaks down into the houses, which are the bedrock of pastoral care, worlds-within-worlds. ’Our job is to support pupils as they make decisions about their lives, learning and future and help with troubles when they arise,’ said a housemaster. A parent summed up the school’s approach as teaching ‘tolerance and respect for each other and doing your bit’.

The school received the Optimus Wellbeing Award in 2022 and parents praise the support for pupils offered, particularly as they settle into year 7: ‘They could not have done more when my son had difficulties with organisation, remembering stuff for lessons.’ Care is taken to see that day pupils are included as much as possible. Lots of contact with parents via email and particular attention paid to Forces children who may be adjusting after several school moves.

Older pupils are encouraged to shoulder responsibilities; two head pupils, four deputies and 28 prefects perform duties in the mess, at divis and ‘generally around school’: ‘We are expected to behave well as younger pupils may look up to us,’ we were told by sixth formers without the slightest embarrassment. Year 13s have permission to leave the grounds at weekends. The year 13 house, Nelson, has a ‘wellness room’ – a relaxing sanctuary painted in Farrow and Ball ‘Drainpipe’ with dark grey sofas and dark blue carpet (chosen by pupils). There is a forum for LGBTQ pupils and staff comment, ‘Our job is to support, not judge or push in any direction.’ There is a 26-bedded health centre, a full-time nurse, doctor and dentist appointments and a counsellor all available. Thirty-eight members of staff are trained as mental health first aiders.

All pupils wear a trousers/skirt/blazer and tie ensemble and sixth formers wear jacket and trousers (prefects can choose their own design of shirt, for everyone else it’s blue) plus a well-cut blue wool overcoat – we thought it was a ‘home’ coat and apparently they really are worn out of school – could there be a greater accolade? Full naval uniform and ‘gidges’ donned for parades and divis are provided by the school and passed down. ‘Gidges all have the names of everyone who has ever worn them. They are quite historic,’ a pupil said.

Pupils and parents

Day pupils largely from Suffolk and Essex, boarders from across UK and the world (currently representing 27 countries); roughly 10 per cent Forces families. School helps with rail/air link-ups and there’s a bus service for day pupils. Predominantly dual-career families, ‘hard-working, down-to-earth people’. The diversity of the school is praised on all sides: ‘We wanted a broad cross-section of pupils and the values the school upholds.’

Money matters

Complex range of awards and bursaries include a limited number of scholarships for academic, music, sport, drama, art and sailing each year. The value of the award is at the discretion of the headmaster and can be topped up with a means-tested bursary. Sibling discounts from five to 25 per cent, discounted fees for those in receipt of the CEA allowance (continuity of education) and means-tested discounts for children of seafarers all available, in addition to Greenwich Hospital bursaries. Around 100 pupils benefit.

The last word

With raised academic aspirations for pupils, RHS continues to prize the naval inheritance that encourages dedication, courage and a strong esprit de corps. Outstanding pastoral care and extracurricular provision, notably in sailing and music. One of a kind.

Special Education Needs

The Curriculum Support department aims to support and develop individuals learning skills so that they can achieve their full potential. One-to-one lessons are provided for pupils with dyslexia or similar learning difficulties and these are tailored to the specific needs of the individual. This could include support with study skills, revision techniques and improving literacy.

Who came from where