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. 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, 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 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 film director and former Kenton School pupil, Mike Figgis.
Mr David Pearmain was the longest-serving Headteacher and, after stepping down in August 2015, he 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 now the trust is managed by Mr K McDermid, the current CEO. Kenton School's current Principal is Mrs Sarah Holmes-Carne.
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 actionin 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 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, after All Saints College closed in the summer of 2014.
''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.
