Facilities

 

Set in 75 acres of beautiful green countryside, the school campus comprises an elegant Victorian manor house and purpose-built modern facilities, including a 360-seater state-of-the-art theatre, newly renovated boarding houses, a music school, a large well-equipped sports hall, Sixth Form study centre, a multi-media laboratory, art studios, dance studios, ICT suites and an indoor-heated swimming pool.

 

Many of the facilities are open until 9pm so students can make good use of them, whether they want to research a project in the library, play badminton in the sports hall or practise a musical instrument.

 

Kent College is committed to continual development across the school and facilities now include:

 

The Darbyshire Wing Science laboratories were opened on Saturday 20th September 2008 by Vice Chancellor of the University of Kent: Professor Julia Goodfellow CBE. This new building comprises 4 new laboratories and a specialist area for Sixth Form students, as well as a bigger area for staff to work in. The Darbyshire Wing takes its' name from Chair of Governors June Darbyshire MBE who will retire in 2009.

 

The Kent College Confidence Course was completed in the summer of 2008 and offers students a fantastic range of apparatus for outdoor education in amongst the woods of Kent College. Apparatus includes zip wires and rope walks over the lake, an abseil wall, monkey bars, postman's walk, scramble net and many others.

 

The theatre was opened in March 2002 and is know as the Judi Dench Theatre. We were delighted that the highly acclaimed British actress, Dame Judi Dench, gave her permission to name the theatre after her. The theatre was officially opened by former pupil, HRH The Countess of Wessex and her husband, Prince Edward, after the inaugural performance of 'Camelot' staged by a talented cast of students.

 

The new theatre has provided a modern, flexible performance space that is a first class venue for traditional theatre and theatre in the round. Raked seating provides comfort and excellent lines of sight with a maximum capacity of 360, as well as a stage that is 40 foot wide and 40 foot deep. Computerised lighting and sound equipment is managed from a control room on the first floor.

 

Sports facilities include a 20m indoor-heated swimming pool, tennis and netball courts, a hockey pitch, athletics field and dance studio. A large well-equipped sports hall was built in 1999, and provides an excellent multi-sport facility for badminton, indoor hockey, gymnastics, basketball, trampolining, tennis, netball, football and volleyball. It was officially opened by Olympic gold medallist, Roger Black MBE.

 

The school is continually investing in IT facilities and a campus-wide network of computers provides the latest software, email for every student and member of staff, broadband Internet access and CD-ROM databases. New IT suites have been developed, and the boarding houses and Sixth Form study centre provide networked IT facilities. Apple Mac computers, scanners, colour printers, digital cameras and digital video cameras are available for use by the students and staff.

 

The purpose-built Music Centre provides teaching rooms, several practice rooms and storage for instruments. A modern Apple Mac suite with specialist software and keyboards is used by music and A-level Media Studies students.

 

Design and Technology, Textiles and Food Technology are offered in well equipped rooms offering a modern and forward thinking approach to design and creativity linked to ICT including computer controlled machinery and a sublimation printing system.

 

A multi-media laboratory with 22 PC-based workstations in an air conditioned room. It is used predominantly by modern languages students.

 

A well-stocked Library Resource Centre (LRC) houses thousands of non-fiction, fiction and reference books, newspapers, journals and audio-visual material, plus a suite of networked computers. Open 7 days a week with hours beyond the school day, the LRC is made fully accessible for research and quiet private study and is fully utilised by the girls during lunchtimes and after school. Using the LRC students can practise skills that they are taught in the information skills study programme. Visit our Resource Centre page.

 

In recent years the Sixth Form study centre, Tilley, has been redeveloped to provide more study rooms, sixth form teaching rooms, a large comfortable common room with kitchen, and networked IT facilities.

 

There has been an ongoing programme of refurbishment in the boarding houses with new furniture, carpets and curtains being added. A major refurbishment to the senior boarding houses, carried out in the summer of 2006, has meant that students now have improved facilities and all study bedrooms are fitted with internet links.

 

The art studios enable every student taking AS and A-level Art to have a permanent workstation for the duration of her course, and GCSE groups have their own work areas. Art students have access to a range of resources including a computer with graphics programs, colour printers, CD-ROMs, digital cameras, books, videos and magazines.

 

The dining hall provides a light airy space for pupils and staff in both schools to eat lunch and is where all boarders have their meals.