Our Vision, Ethos & Values

Maidstone Grammar School is a community sharing a common purpose: to prepare young people for the future.

MGS is not just a school, it is a way of life. We have an excellent reputation for academic success and for providing a broad and varied co-curricular programme in which every Maidstonian has the opportunity to develop leadership skills and give service to the School. The School’s ethos, values and belief in academic rigour all combine to produce the all-round student.

Our vision, ethos and values can be categorised into two main areas, or two pillars: Inspire to Learn and Inspire to Belong.

We believe that inspiring teaching inspires learning. We aim to inspire our students to love learning, to be curious and to ask challenging questions. We want them to be independent, know how to respond to feedback and see the connections across different subjects. Alongside this, we also inspire our students to belong to their school – ensuring they feel safe and supported, having respect for one another, and having a sense of identity. We want them to give service and leadership to their community, to get involved in the wider life of the school and to go on being a better version of themselves each day.

But above all, acting as the foundation of these pillars, we at MGS value our history and our traditions. When we walk around the school each day we know that we are walking in the footprints of the generations that have gone before us. And that is why our school motto, ‘Olim Meminisse Juvabit’ meaning ‘A joy it will be one day, perhaps, to remember even this’ and taken from Virgil’s Aeneid, means something to each and every Maidstonian that walks through the school gates.

Our motto sits between our two pillars, is at the heart of our school and has come to encapsulate the values, beliefs and ideals characteristic of Maidstonians since our founding in 1549. Maidstonians are proud of the special part they play in the history of this great school and this is perfectly demonstrated in their rendition of our school song: Gaudeamus.