WHAT? WHERE?

Located on the outskirts of Canterbury, Kent College is a Tardis if you take the time to explore what is going on beyond its classic exterior yet with extensive modern facilities, including the Great Hall, a recently launched state-of-the-art 600-seat auditorium which hosts many local events such as The Canterbury Festival as well as playing a central role within school-life.

With a rich history in Canterbury, having taught pupils for the past 140 years, KC (as it is affectionately known) is a school that is constantly evolving with a forward-looking approach to education that can be tailored to each of its 610 pupils.

Mingle this with a strong reputation for Music and Sport, and a desire to instill kindness and generosity in their pupils as part of its Christian Methodist principles, and you can be confident that this is the school for you if you are looking for a well-rounded education where your child’s strengths will be quickly identified and nurtured to help them succeed in whatever path they choose.

Various marketing pictures taken for Kent College, 25-11-2023

You also need to know that there is a new Head at the helm, as Mark Turnbull joined KC in January 2022 from Giggleswick School in North Yorkshire and before that Sevenoaks and Eastbourne College. He has brought a positive shake-up to proceedings which has been embraced by parents and teachers alike and there is a fresh new ambitious mindset for the school. But more on that later…

Kent College in Canterbury is by no means just a local player as it welcomes students from 40 different nationalities from around the world thanks to its extensive boarding facilities and has sister schools in Dubai and Cairo. This international element is celebrated throughout the school with flags of different countries waiting in the wings to be hoisted up the flag mast on a daily basis in honour of different country’s national days and the whole school participates in International Week with students sharing information about their culture and preparing their own regional cuisine to share with students and staff.

FACILITIES

Boasting 80 acres in total, with 26 acres of playing fields, and a real working farm as well as a RSPB nature reserve, Kent College is still not complacent about sitting on its laurels, with much more planned including the launch of a new co-educational Sixth Form boarding house, which will open in September 2025. It will be a five minute walk away from campus and help to prepare pupils for the ‘real world’ as they move towards more independent living after school.

It’s hard to see what the school is lacking since you will find a large Sports Hall and astroturf, 3 tennis courts, 2 netball courts, 2 cricket pitches, extensive science labs and DT department, drama studio, and even a riding arena. Although there is no swimming pool on site, boarders use the pool at the Junior School during the weekends and older students can use the gym facilities at nearby University of Kent.

Plans are afoot for refurbishing the Sport Centre including a new gym, and further down the line the school is looking to create a new wellbeing hub, Sixth Form Common Room, staff area and Year Common Rooms so watch this space as Mark Turnbull has an ambitious vision for the school and is looking to create a ‘centre of excellence in all aspects of school-life.’

One of Mark Turnbull’s first jobs in hand was to lead a brand makeover including a new uniform, with gender neutral options, which was conducted with School Council and parents to ensure they were on board – a wise move since they are the ones wearing and paying for them!

The rebrand has created a smart new focus for the school and is reflected in the new shiny bright red school buses spotted around Canterbury and was done in conjunction with an interior design makeover of the Sixth Form Common Room, staff area and House Rooms which are now welcoming chill-out spaces, with board games and comfy seating, for pupils away from their classrooms. It’s evident from our last visit that these tactical refreshes give a sleeker and more polished edge to the school so it is all steps in the right direction for a brighter future.

Regardless of the future, there is still a lot to like for pupils today. Budding vet in your family or horse enthusiast? They will be hard-pressed not to like Moat Farm which is a short walk from the main Senior School campus, where they can spend time with a wide array of farm animals or learn to ride and look after horses at its own riding school which can be incorporated into the sports’ programme.

Farm club is an option and students even get to train and show calves, lambs, goats and rabbits at the Kent Show. The school also sends its own eggs and meat from the Farm to a local charity as part of their ongoing work within the local community. Riding is also readily available and this has led to Kent College having its own highly successful NSEA show jumping and eventing team.

There is a new catering team in residency who are putting healthy food at the top of the agenda so you will find cake (KC has a reputation for their very good cake!) but more often that not, it will now be carrot or courgette cake with a reduction of sugar and other vegetables like beetroots are woven into the menu too – sssh don’t tell the students but it is grated into their very popular chocolate brownies.

Special diets such as gluten-free, or lactose-intolerant as well as vegan and vegetarian to ensure everyone is looked after here.

As Canterbury’s internet connectivity is notoriously weak, the school has also made a significant investment in its underlying infrastructure, from the core to the edge, including servers, firewall and switching. The wireless solution will be completely replaced over the summer with the aim of delivering a product fit for an ambitious organisation. They really have thought of everything…

SPORT

International expertise comes in the form of Alastair Brogdon, the new director of hockey, a double Olympian with an outstanding coaching resume. Darren Stevens is in place as the cricket professional, offering 26 years of experience, from a glittering career, to the students.

Hockey and cricket are the key winning sports currently associated with KC – the U14 & U15 boys are county champions, the U13’s runners up and the Girls 1st XI hockey team won the Mel Clewlow plate and there are 10 county cricketers across all age groups at the school. Football has had success too with 1st XI & U13 boys football teams reaching the national quarter finals, and Mr. Turnbull has put Rugby back on the sporting agenda too.

Special training is available for those exceptional players with one to one coaching and support, and practise sessions at the impressive indoor facilities at Polo Farm Hockey Club. Sports scholars are also very well looked after with dedicated body strengthening and conditioning programmes put in place to help them flourish in the school’s gym and at the University of Kent.

Since his appointment, fresh new talent has been injected in the leadership team across the board which includes Linden Lockhart as Director of Sport who has an international cricket profile, good links with the University and Kent County Cricket Club plus a strong hockey and rugby background.

His desire is to develop a ‘lifelong love of sport’ in all of KC’s pupils so whatever the ability, the school wants to each pupil to find a sport that they enjoy and instill a passion for the game.

There’s plenty of fun along the way too with an annual overseas hockey tour to Holland for Years 8, 9 & 10 – the boys team currently going unbeaten – as well as a Barbados cricket tour and Dubai for the girls’ netball team.

We also spotted a dance studio (with a new one incoming) and know that the school has facilities for trampolining, badminton, volleyball and basketball, and offers yoga, strength and conditioning sessions, plus rowing off-campus so something for everyone to let off steam.

ICT/DT/ART & H&E

This is a rich territory for those students who wish to explore their more creative and technical brains. Art, Craft and Design not only covers drawing and painting but also offers printmaking, 3D work, mixed media and digital imaging and photography, plus within DT, students can develop their practical skills in a variety of specialisms including architecture, product design, graphic communication, CAD/CAM and traditional craft skills.

Students will also become well versed in cooking up dishes using a range of ingredients (and often from the Farm), from sweet to savoury, and learn invaluable different cooking techniques to gain confidence with this vital life skill. There is also plenty of scope to learn the latest technology in IT when it comes to exploring new software and extending capabilities.

MUSIC & DRAMA

You have already heard from us about the fancy new Great Hall, which resembles a professional theatre which can seat up to 600 guests, at full capacity, but also neatly works for smaller intimate performances and social events when it is reduced to a 350 seater space.

There is also a musical which is performed every summer in the Head’s garden (normally a Gilbert and Sullivan one) and 10 drama productions a year so lots of ways to shine here! High School Musical was the last show which had the most oversubscribed uptake from pupils so everyone is keen to take part it seems.

But let us also tell you more about the Music department, which has always been a strong part of Kent College’s fabric and continues to be at the heart of the school. The Department is housed in its own purpose-built Music School and has outstanding facilities, including teaching and practice rooms, two large rehearsal rooms, and a recording studio, so something for everyone – from the classical to the more modern taste.

Carol singing takes place every year at Canterbury Cathedral and there are seven different orchestral ensembles and five different choirs to take part in, as well as popular visits to Winchester Cathedral every year plus choir tours to Europe with Venice, Vienna and Krakow being recent hits.

Individual lessons are also widely offered through 33 peripatetic teachers with a comprehensive stock of instruments available to pupils including two grand pianos, drum kits and orchestral percussion, a pedal harp and a two-manual pipe organ in the school Chapel.

ACADEMIA

Lots of good news on this front. Firstly, it is non-selective when it comes to admission and on top of that, has impressive statistics when it comes to achieving results, with a 100% pass rate of the IB, and 40% of the cohort achieving over 40 points, whilst 5 also gained bilingual diplomas and 2 students scored 45 points joining the top 1% of candidates in the world. The school has also been ranked in to the top 10 IB small cohort schools in the UK for the last ten years. Not bad, eh?!

Taking an average over the last 7 years, 73% of A Level students achieved A*-B grades, 48% of students gained access to Russell Group universities and in GCSE’s 41% of students achieved A grades and the overall pass rate was 97%. 99% of students achieved 5 GCSEs at A*-C.

What we particularly like about Kent College however is that this is not the be all and end all as this is not a school for driving results out of your child as they will work with you, and them, to assess the best academic route forward for them. This is one of Kent College’s hugest selling points (and you will see this start from the Junior School experience) that the school is unique of its kind by offering A Levels alongside International Baccularate as well as Cambridge Technicals to ensure that everyone’s hidden talent is spotted and nurtured.

From the start, the school will work with you to personalise your child’s academic qualification to ensure that they are on the right academic path. There is even a person whose job is to organize each pupil’s timetable which demonstrates the bespoke level of detail, with pupils given the option to study the widest range of subjects from Astronomy through to Music Technology.

Its modern approach to education is also evident by the fact that every pupil receives a laptop, with a foldable cover and write-on screen, from the age of 11 (neat way of reducing paper usage too) and work is shared via the internet which helps the students to engage, via Google Classroom, and chat to their teachers, plus there is a new parent portal so they can become more involved too. And the extra brilliant part, these lap tops have a pre-assigned bedtime, according to age group, to actively encourage students to switch off each night.

An average class size is 16 but as you move to the Sixth Form, many pupils can expect one to one tuition as they start to specialize with an average of 8 – 10 for each class so you can also expect quality teacher care and attention.

THE HEAD

Dr. David Lamper retired in December 2021 providing a smooth handover to Mr. Mark Turnbull who started in his role in January 2022. Mark Turnbull spent nearly 9 years as Headmaster at Giggleswick school – a day and boarding school in North Yorkshire – so was well equipped for the job in hand.

Turnbull made some radical moves in his first few weeks including the abolishment of mobiles from years 7-11 with restricted use for the Sixth Form. While it may have taken pupils longer to embrace these changes, it has been greatly welcomed by parents and teachers alike and our spies tell us how greatly he is admired and liked by his staff who appreciate the firmer approach.

This may make him sound somewhat draconian but far from it as he has been described by a parent as a ‘whirlwind of positive energy’ and is humorous and self-deprecating when you meet him and keen on immersing himself in all school activity. Evidence being his Saturday running club with pupils which happens each week come rain and shine.

Mr. Turnbull has strong ambitions for the school in all areas with a strong desire to put ‘the joy back in learning’ which he feels was lost during the Covid years and he wants to provide an environment where there are ‘multiple pathways to build pupils’ confidence and to prepare the students for life beyond school.’

With mobiles banished, students are given games to play during break time so they can build on their social interaction with each other and Mr. Turnbull is looking to encourage that eye-contact which is vital in real-life and to help students find the passions that motivate them for a successful and happy career.

It has also helped that Mr. Turnbull’s love of sport has helped the school go beyond its traditional reputation for Music and he is keen to develop Rugby within the sporting programme for both the girls and the boys. There has also been a big recruitment drive with a new Bursar with a brief to build a more sustainable school and a new Chaplain as well as new Heads of Department so a big revamp has taken place from an academic and pastoral point of view. It’s good times for Kent College!

BOARDING

This is a very happy place for those who wish to board with a current quota of 200 students boarding. 15% currently board from within the UK, and the remaining amount from around the world and there is a real ‘home away from home’ culture. Most pupils are full boarding, but you can also choose to do weekly or occasional boarding which is very helpful for parents too who may need some impromptu childcare!

There has been an ongoing refurbishment of the five Boarding Houses with new bathrooms and stylishly renovated social areas which in some houses includes table tennis and table football. 2025 will see the opening of a new high specification co-educational transition boarding house to help prepare Sixth Form students for more independent living at university. Boarders are kept busy in the evening and weekends with a wide choice of activities from baking to basketball and archery to walking the KC House dogs.

SIXTH FORM

There are 180 Sixth Form students at KC and the journey into the outer world begins here starting with an open-minded approach to uniform. Students can choose any plain coloured or striped shirt (with sleeves and collar) with a V neck jumper on top alongside a suit or skirt and jacket in navy.

The students we spoke to seemed to really relish the fact that they could personalize their outfits as it made them feel more like young adults, rather than kids stuck in regulation uniform.

There is a new Sixth Form Centre in the pipeline and a new Head of Sixth Form (Mrs. Ellie Budd who previously taught at Benenden) who has just joined and has that magical ability to transcend her teacher role and engage with pupils at their level without being overly matey.

Over 90% of students regularly go to their first choice University – 50% pupils go to Russell Group Universities and students have the pick of A Levels, IB or Cambridge Technicals so whatever way they are motivated, there is an option. Last year, two students went to Oxbridge with another pupil gaining the top prize in the world for the Geography IB which was awarded by the Royal Institute. The world can be their oyster – if they want it!

It’s all about the real world too and the students follow specific pathways during Year 12 and 13 where they develop their study skills, participate in volunteering programmes and goal setting workshops as well as a global citizenship programme.

There is plenty of support with applying for work experience opportunities as part of developing their careers and employability skills plus they can apply and take on leadership roles within the College. The Insights and Futures programme at KC is designed to provide careers insights with one to one support in preparing their UCAS or apprentice applications with specialist pathways existing for Medicine, Law and Veterinary Science.

Studies aside, there are still more than 100 weekly activities and societies to choose from and everyone is encouraged to participate in at least two per week so you can be guaranteed that is not all work and no play.

QUIRKS

Even though the school prides itself on its refreshed thinking, tradition still plays a part in Kent College life. The “Pillow Prize”, given to students who make the most all-round contribution to school life, still remains (in honour of when the school was founded in 1885 and land was made available by Edward Pillow, a local gentleman-farmer) plus prefects still wear gowns.

A very charming and community spirited event is Kent College’s annual Carol singing at Moat Farm where pupils from Junior and Senior School, plus parents and teachers, congregate to sing carols and hear nativity readings set amidst a real-life stable with goats, lambs, horses and piglets watching on with fairy lights and tinsel to really set the scene.

ANYTHING ELSE?

As we know, mental health plays a hugely important part in education programmes and Kent College integrates this within its approach and as part of its Methodist ethos, shares the principles of not comparing your lives with others which is an important life lesson.

The school also works with Mindapples which help individuals look after their health and improve their productivity and teaches organisations to work smarter and more sustainably and this is shared throughout the school. External lectures are also provided for both parents and students with a recent talk on ‘how teenage brains work’ plus Health & Wellbeing weeks are regularly hosted to ensure that everybody takes valuable time away from work, and the Chaplain lives on site if you need a good ear.

I was also a fan of the tuck shop, know as 1885, which was recently refurbished and looks out over the astro-hockey pitch so is a hub of much activity and socialising during break-out times. It opens from 7.30am through to 4.30pm so a great place to start the day if getting breakfast at home was too much to fit in as you try to get them out of the door.

FEES

Day pupils (per term) – Year 7: £6,902, Year 8; £7,378, Year 9: £7,556, Years 10: £7,637, Years 11-13: £7,936

Boarding full time – Years 7-8: £10,676; Years 9-13: £14,692

Boarding weekly – Years 7-8: £8,904; Years 9-13: £13,074

WORD ON THE GROUND

I met a good cross-section of students with many of the day pupils coming from local schools such as Lorenden, local primary schools as well as Kent College Junior School around the corner. Mr. Turnbull will be pleased to hear that there was plenty of good eye-contact so mission accomplished on that front.

A common thread that was repeated is that KC is a friendly school with lots of friendships forming over different age groups thanks to the clubs on offer with one pupil telling us that “no one is a stranger here.” Another positive factor was the fact that they felt the teachers really knew you due to the small class sizes.

Many of these pupils had already done Experience days at the Senior School to help them feel acquainted with the school and this would typically involve a visit to the farm, a lesson such as Chemistry followed by a bit of DT or Art and then some sport.

The diverse culture of pupils was also brought up as a big plus as it broadens their mind and awareness of the outside world, as well as the welcoming attitude to ‘change’ which was shown nicely by one plucky Sixth Form student’s creation of Environmental Club in a bid to make the school eco-friendlier.

This Club is run by the students and attended by staff at the school, including marketing and catering departments, to ensure that their points are heard and delivered throughout all aspects of the school – from food waste to constructing new buildings.

The Great Hall is a good example of this as the building itself has a low-energy passive labyrinth heating and ventilation system, photovoltaic cells and is built to comply with the highest level of sustainability standards. If you have a voice, you can put it to good use here.

What could they do better we ask? Provide better WiFi said one pupil with a cackle (already on the case as we know!) and there you have it…

THE MUDDY VERDICT

GOOD FOR: All-rounder pupils as well as those who may not have found their hidden talent yet – Kent College will invest time in your child to enhance what they can do best.

NOT FOR: Kent College may not have the historical edge or prestigious reputation that local competitors such as King’s Canterbury has but this is not a school that is lingering in the past, it is far more interested in the future.

Kent College, Canterbury CT2 9DT, +44 (0)1227 763231, kentcollege.com

Kent College, Canterbury

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