Academic Enrichment

We offer a rich and varied academic enrichment programme that goes above and beyond the narrow curriculum content prescribed by exam board specifications and inspires a life-long love of learning.

Reading with fluency is the foundation upon which Maidstonians build their learning habits and a life-long passion for learning. Our War Memorial Library collection is always growing and is tailored to encourage Maidstonians to read for pleasure, read to learn, read for advancement and read to expand horizons. Our ‘Fourteen by 14’ Reading Challenge requires all boys from Year 7 to 9 to read at least fourteen books from our Fourteen by 14 Reading List by the time they are 14 years old or, in other words, by the end of Year 9.

Maidstonians in the Upper School (Years 11-13) regularly read challenging academic journals, books, and primary sources from the JSTOR digital library. On occasion this also happens in the Lower School. Our teachers use Flipped Learning to share JSTOR materials as this approach to learning encourages students to read and engage with introductory information through self-study prior to their lesson, allowing our teachers, who are experts in their fields, to spend less time covering the basics and more time exploring topics in far greater depth.

Academic Societies are a fundamental and stimulating area of our Sixth Form at MGS. Academic Societies have become fully embedded as part of the Sixth Form identity and every student in Years 12 and 13 are a part of an academic society or they run one. There is a vibrant range of societies such as Medical Society, Philosophical Debating, Spanish Society, Film Society, Economics Society, Equality Society and Creator Society. These are just a flavour of the societies we have run in the last academic year. One of the most popular and successful society is the Oxbridge Debating Society which has seen our debating team comprised of mostly Sixth Form students compete in national competitions and has also lead to a number of students attending Harvard University to compete in the annual HMUN conference as a part of a school trip for years 12 and 13. Many of the students who run an academic society go onto attending Russell Group Universities including the University of Oxford and Cambridge University. Academic societies are an excellent opportunity for like-minded individuals to discuss, debate, analyse and evaluate different topic areas within their subject that they feel passionately about.

Click here to find out more about our societies offer.

We encourage all Maidstonians to develop their academic interests more widely. Students who read up on and extend their knowledge of a favourite topic, who watch a related documentary, who visit a relevant exhibition or who explore good quality academic websites are all engaging in the Super Curriculum. These types of activities help to shape our students into interested and interesting young people and often spark a long term interest in or love of a particular subject.

Click here to read our Super Curriculum Booklet for KS3 and KS4.

Click here to read our Super Curriculum Booklet for KS5.

Regular talks and presentations from inspirational and distinguished speakers are an important feature of our curriculum. These talks are given once a week after school in our War Memorial Library and are also often given as a part of Extended Learning Week and our assembly programme. Lectures are also given during one-off visits and at the invitation of our Houses, Departments or societies. We encourage all Maidstonians that attend to ask thoughtful questions, thus cultivating the MGS Learning Habits. Guests that have spoken at MGS in recent years include Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Colonel Oliver Nurton Senior Military Adviser to the UK Mission to the United Nations and Jon Sopel British journalist, television presenter and a former correspondent for BBC News.

At MGS, what happens outside the classroom is just as important as what happens in it. Our trips and excursions are seamlessly incorporated into our curriculum and are designed to extend students’ cultural and social experiences and enrich their learning. Across the academic year, each year group benefits from a whole range of field trips and educational visits. In addition, during Extended Learning Week, Maidstonians in Years 7 – 9 participate in a many trips at home and abroad. Historically, these have included visits to Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and South Africa.

Our curriculum is designed to stretch and challenge all Maidstonians and we encourage them to regularly participate in activities that will help them develop into well-rounded students. The Old Maidstonian Society provides access to a network of Old Maidstonians who are connected with or studying at top universities and who are able to prepare and support our students in their applications to some of the World’s most competitive universities.