Kent College – ‘We are the Future’
Kent College is on a mission; a mission to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to find their strengths and talents and become equipped for very bright futures. Head, Katrina Handford, has set every department the challenge of ensuring everything the school does is designed to help pupils to prepare for the future by supporting them to become well rounded, globally aware and equipped with the necessary skills to excel in their lives beyond school.
Each member of staff encourages and supports the pupils to make a purposeful contribution as global citizens by providing a future focused, creative and adventurous approach to life and learning. By way of example, in Textiles lessons, pupils learn about the sustainability of fabric, and the source of the fabric, as well as designing unique pieces from bags to clothes, before developing a marketing plan to sell the products. In Maths (the subject deemed to be the one they felt most confident in according to a recent student survey) pupils have connected with Metro Bank to learn about interest rates, mortgages and investments, with visits both to and from the bank.
This drive towards preparing for the future does not just happen in lessons, but across every area of school life. The Tenner Challenge run by the Business Department saw pupils create their own businesses from scratch, even including the setting up and running of the school’s tuck shop. As part of their enrichment programme, Sixth Formers participate in the Ivy House Award, a transformational personal and professional development programme which aims to develop extraordinary leaders.
In catering too, the aim is to deliver fresh thinking and creative dining at Kent College, with a focus on sustainability and waste management. Every decision about what and from whom to buy is considered against a set of criteria to find the right balance between minimising the carbon footprint of the food whilst delivering on the best quality ingredients. The school makes full use of ingredients from the British growing calendar, buys all-natural products, and only British meat and fish from sustainable sources.
Katrina Handford
The upgrades of the whole ICT infrastructure, including the rollout of 1:1 devices for staff and pupils is supporting the drive to prepare the pupils for the future, with the administrative teams also taking this mission very seriously by moving across to digital systems for ticketing and signing in. The whole community is continually setting the pupils a positive example by improving their skills such as innovation, creativity, problem solving and intrapersonal skills, all skills which are in demand by employers.
Senior School Open Morning on Saturday 7th October 2023.
A recent Good Schools Guide review commented;
“If you’re looking for an injection of optimism, it’s right here: bold, courageous and resilient learning where the message emblazoned on the school minibuses — ‘We Are The Future’ — really does apply to these pupils, who we felt are more than ready to ‘smash the world’.”
