Kenton School is an

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

situated in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is situated near Kenton Lane in Kenton, educating Key Stage 3 - 5, Years 7 - 11. 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 The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

and a 2008

Sportsmark Sportsmark is Sport England's accreditation scheme for secondary schools. The scheme recognises a school's out of hours sports provision.

. 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 the school was opened by the Right Honourable Lord Morrison of Lambeth, better known as

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minis ...

, 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. The school also had its own adjoining swimming pool. In 1978, North Block was added to the rear of East Block, following the closure of the adjacent Roman Catholic school, and in 1999, a new College Building was added to the campus. The College Building was officially opened by the then School's Minister,

Estelle Morris Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, (born 17 June 1952), is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2002. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (M ...

. 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 film director and former Kenton School pupil,

Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work in ''Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers o ...

Former headteachers

* Eric Hackett (1960–1) * Charles Jary (1965–1972) * Doreen Inness (1972–1981) * Barbara Payne (1981–1992) * Fran Done (1992–1993) (acting) * Mike Gibbons (1994–1997) * Fran Done (1997–1998) (acting) * David Pearmain (1998-2015) * Sarah Holmes-Carne (2015-2022) * Bill Jordan CBE (2022) (acting) * Jason Holt (2023-present) David Pearmain stepped down as headteacher in August 2015 and became the chief executive of Kenton Schools Academy Trust, under which Kenton School and Studio West operate. In 2017, Pearmain stepped down as chief executive, and was replaced by Kevin McDermid. In 2022, Ian Kershaw was appointed chief executive of the Trust, which rebranded as Northern Leaders Trust in May of that year. Kenton School's principal is Jason Holt. The academy’s current vice-principals are Richard Devlin, Noel Stoddart and Claire Gibson.

Academy conversion

In 2011, the school undertook consultation to investigate conversion to

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. 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 A studio school is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is designed to give students practical skills in workplace environments as well as traditional academic and vocational courses of study. Like traditional schools, studio sc ...

, Studio West, in the West Denton area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Studio West is based on the All Saints College site, after All Saints College closed in the summer of 2014.

''The Kentonian''

Kenton School had a newspaper, ''The Kentonian'', which was written by staff and pupils at Kenton School. The paper came out four times a year and typically contained staff interviews and news items about life in Kenton School. However, it is no longer published.

Notable alumni

* Chi Onwurah – Labour MP for Newcastle Central * Paul Dummett – Newcastle United and Wales footballer *

– Film director * Muzoon Almellehan – Syrian activist * Jamie Mole – Former Heart of Midlothian footballer * Danielle George – Engineer, astrophysicist and president of the Institution of Engineering & Technology

References

External links

Kenton School website

Kenton School Ofsted Report
{{authority control Secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Academies in Newcastle upon Tyne