all fees were abolished and the preparatory department – already undersubscribed – closed. Entrants were selected by the eleven-plus exam. With the school roll now over 500, and increasing to over 800 by the 1990s, further expansion was required, with a number of new blocks built on the site from the mid 1950s. More girls remained into the 6th form, with over 130 in 1970 and 280 in 2007, compared with under 40 during the 1930s. The first male teacher was appointed in 1958. He was Don Summerley who taught Biology, followed in 1959 by James Nicholson, who taught Religious Education. By the end of the 1960s a quarter of the staff were male. The school's centenary was celebrated in 2006–2007 with the release of 1,000 balloons and a school fete, with many other smaller events through the year. A mosaic was designed by artist Jo Letchford incorporating the school's ship emblem and the dates 1907-2007 to commemorate the centenary. All pupils and staff had the opportunity to place a tessera into the mosaic before it was mounted on the wall outside reception. A record exists linking each tessera with the person who placed it into the design. Recent years The number of students has fluctuated in recent years, with nearly 1,000 in 2007, dropping to under 800 in 2012 and 620 in 2016, but increasing to over 700 by 2018 and 800 in 2021. This compares with a capacity of 976. As a consequence of the fall in popularity of the school and the resulting lower numbers, there were several rounds of staff redundancies. In 2020 a new teaching block was built, enabling the sixth form intake to increase to 200. From 1919 to late 1950s, the school had a company of Girl Guides, Chief Guide Lady Baden Powell visiting the school in 1949. In 2018 a Combined Cadet Force contingent was set up at the school. Academic performance Ofsted, in their four full inspections between 2003 and 2018, consistently rated the school as 'Good'. In 2008, the school's Spanish Department won 'Spanish School of the Year' from the UK Spanish Embassy. The school also has an excellent GCSE and A-Level results record; in particular within its English Department, which has consistently achieved some of the best results in the country. In 2011, Year 10 pupils from the school presented their research in chemistry at the UK Society for