The Judd School - School Structure

School Structure

The majority of the school's first pupils joined from Gordon House, which was a successful private school on Hadlow Road run by T. E. Grice; after it was decided that the two schools should not compete, Grice was appointed deputy headmaster of The Judd School. On the opening day, 40 boys were in attendance, rising to 50 by the end of the first term and to 115 in 1902. In 1917, the school had 244 pupils, which increased to 308 over the next 11 years, and reached 376 in 1935. In 1952, 380 boys were on the roll, which included 42 sixth form students. Under Denis Rendall, the school experienced a strong growth in numbers; in 1970, there were 463 pupils, increasing to 689 in 1978, and to 742 in 1986. At the last Ofsted inspection in 2007, The Judd School had 933 students. According to the school, as of 2010 the student body is made up of 935 students: 625 in the lower school and 310 in the sixth form, including about 60 girls. Many students come from affluent backgrounds and very few require free school meals; the number of students with disabilities, learning difficulties and special educational needs is well below the national average. The majority of students go on to higher education at the end of Year Thirteen.

The house system was first established in 1909, when there were three houses: Alpha, Beta and Gamma, each of which had a house master and captain. Boys remained in the same house for their entire school career, and would be joined by any siblings. Every year, the houses competed for the House Shield; points were awarded for all forms of competitions, from sword dancing to vaulting. In 1914, house colours were introduced; purple for Alpha, green for Beta, and scarlet for Gamma. As the student body increased, a fourth house – Delta – was formed in 1917, for which the colour was yellow. The house system was abolished in the 1980s, but re-introduced in September 2008, with houses named after notable alumni. The four houses are: Duke (after Neville Duke), Hodge (after Donald Hodge), Lewin (after Terence Lewin) and Powell (after Cecil Frank Powell).