Oakwood Park Grammar School

Oakwood Park Grammar School is a boys grammar school with academy status located in Maidstone, United Kingdom. The school is co-educational in the sixth form (years 12 and 13). The school takes boys at the age of 11 and over by examination (11-plus) and boys and girls at 16+ on their GCSE results. The current headteacher is Kevin Moody. The school is popularly known by its initials OPGS or simply Oakwood.HistoryOPGS was founded in 1918 as the Co-educational Junior Technical School for Boys and the Junior Commercial School for Girls. The school was based at two sites in Maidstone town centre: Faith Street and Tonbridge Road. The school admitted pupils at the age of 11 and 13. The school was also known as the Maidstone Technical School.By the 1950s the school had outgrown these two sites and a new site was found at Oakwood Park, further along on the Tonbridge Road. The school moved into its new premises between September 1958 and September 1959. The new premises were officially opened in September 1959 with a service of dedication performed by the then Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Francis Fisher. It was then known as the Maidstone Technical School for Boys. In 1963 it became the Maidstone Technical High School for Boys.The introduction of comprehensive education in the 1970s lead to the Thameside Scheme being introduced in the Maidstone area. September 1971 saw the last admission at age of 11. There were no new admissions in the next two academic years. From September 1974 pupils were admitted at the age of 13. At the same time the school was renamed Maidstone School for Boys. Under the Thameside Scheme technical schools had in effect become grammar schools but were not allowed to call themselves as such. Now the school had to compete with Maidstone Grammar School for pupils.