Kenton School

Kenton Academy
Motto All Different, All Equal
Type Academy, Sixth form
Principal Sarah Homes-Carne
Location Kenton Lane and Drayton Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
England
DfE URN 108528 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students 2,106 (Jan. 2009)[1]
Ages 11–19 (Sixth form)
Website www.kenton.newcastle.sch.uk

Kenton School is an Academy situated in Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England.

It is situated near Kenton Lane in Kenton and is one of the largest academies in the United Kingdom, educating around 2,000 pupils across Key Stage 3 to 5.

Kenton School is a specialist Arts and Technology School and has been granted several marks of achievement including a Gold Artsmark from the Arts Council of England and a 2008 Sportsmark.

The sixth form building is used by both sixth formers and pupils attending the main academy as well as working as a local community college (Kenton College). A 2012 Ofsted report graded the school as Good, a drop from the Outstanding status they obtained in 2009.

History

Construction on the original Kenton School started in 1958 and was opened by the Right Honourable Lord Morrison of Lambeth to pupils and staff on Friday 17 March 1961.

The development of the school continued through the addition of new buildings. East Block was the first to be built - closely followed by West Block in 1961, the plans for these buildings were submitted in 1957 and approved in 1958.

South Block was added to the site in 1971 which was linked to the main school by the addition of a corrugated green fibreglass clad bridge connecting South Block to West Block. Eventually, the Green Bridge lost its colour, having been reclad in grey painted corrugated metal and remained in place all the way until demolition of the buildings between 2008 and 2009.

In 1978 North Block was added to the rear of East Block,following the closure of the adjacent Roman Catholic school, and finally, most notably in 1999, a new College Building was added to the campus. The College Building was officially opened by the then Schools Minister, Estelle Morris.

Following 47 years in the original school buildings, the school moved into a new state-of-the-art building in Autumn 2008 and had its official opening on Friday, 2 July 2010.

The new school was officially opened by the acclaimed film director and former Kenton School pupil, Mike Figgis.

Former headteachers

Kenton School as seen from the main entrance on Kenton Lane

Mrs Barbara Payne O.B.E. now works for the Department for International Development, supporting education in developing countries.

Mr David Pearmain was the longest-serving Headteacher and, after stepping down in August 2015, is now the Chief Executive of Kenton Schools Academy Trust, under which Kenton School and Studio West operate.

Kenton School's current Principal is Mrs Sarah Holmes-Carne.

Buildings

Original site (1958–2008)

It should be noted the official names were Kenton East, Kenton West, Kenton South and Kenton North. The College building housed: Science, Psychology, Sociology, ICT and Geography across the Ground Floor corridor, upstairs was ICT, Health & Social Care, ICT, and Business Studies. The top floor included, Leisure & Tourism.

New Building (2008–present)

The College building now includes disused Science rooms on the ground floor, The Business, Travel & Tourism Department upstairs along with several Computer Rooms and the Twilight Unit (formerly the Inclusion Unit, based in South Block until 2008). It is also used for Citizenship, Careers and Work Skills.

The Computing Department was known as ICT from 2008-2014. RE and Social Sciences were separate until 2014. The Business, Travel & Tourism Department operated as 2 separate departments: Business Studies and Leisure & Tourism 2008-2011, before merging. There was a Music department from 2008-2014 on the Crescent, Music is now covered by The Performing Arts Department. Personal, Social, Home Education (P.S.H.E.)/ Information, Advice and Guidance (I.A.G.) is taught to peoples by staff from all different departments.

Academy conversion

In 2011, the school undertook consultation to investigate conversion to Academy status. This was met with criticism by the NAS/UWT, the NUT, and the ATL, representatives of whom took strike action in September of that year.[2] On 1 May 2012 Kenton School officially converted to an Academy. Throughout the process it was decided that the school's name would not change although for legal reasons Kenton School (Newcastle) is its registered name.

Studio school

In September 2014, Kenton Academy opened a new studio school, Studio West, in the West Denton area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Studio West is based on the All Saints College site,[3] after All Saints College closed in the summer of 2014.[4]

The Kentonian

Kenton School has a newspaper, The Kentonian. Written by staff and pupils at Kenton School, It comes out four times a year and typically contains staff interviews and news items about life in Kenton School.

References

  1. ↑ "Kenton School". Ofsted Inspection Reports. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  2. ↑ "Kenton School staff strike over academy plans". BBC. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  3. ↑ "New 'studio school' promises to change the face of education in Newcastle". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  4. ↑ "All Saints College in West Denton will close in September 2014". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-09-10.

External links

Coordinates: 55°00′10″N 1°39′27″W / 55.00291°N 1.657424°W / 55.00291; -1.657424

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