New Eco-Classroom

The eco-classroom, set in the surroundings of the former Victorian Water gardens, is an interesting and innovative addition to the School.  The structure is built from renewable timber sources and a large rain water tank is combined with a complicated filtration process to provide water for the building.  The tank is fed by run off from a sedum roof and is designed to maximise insulation, while extensive solar-panelling will light and heat the building as well as heat the running water.

The Classroom will be used not just for teaching biology, but also in enhancing the geography and english curriculas.  Local primary schools will also benefit as they will be able to use it for day trips and experiments.

The refurbishment of the Chapel has been completed, following generous donations by Seniors to 'The Seniors' Window' and the new pews.  The Chapel has been redecorated throughout and new lighting installed with the focal point being the Seniors' Window.  This beautiful stained-glass window is a celebration of those original Seniors who contributed to the creation of the Chapel over fifty years ago.  These renovations have made the Chapel a more welcoming and vibrant place for both religious and other occasions to be staged.  We are grateful to all the people who donated to the refurbishment of the Chapel to be enjoyed by many generations of Benenden pupils to come.

Benenden School Theatre

Since the new stage Theatre Campaign launch in 2003, the Benenden School Trust has raised nearly £2.6 million in donations and gift pledges for this exciting project. Donations have been received from Benenden parents, grandparents, Seniors, Council, staff and other friends of the School. In addition, an advance from the Estate of Miss E B Clarke, a former Headmistress of Benenden, also gave the campaign a powerful boost.

A Personal Fitness Gym Extension to SPLASH (Sunley Pool Leisure and Sports Hall)

Gifts from current parents and The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation have enabled the Trust to proceed with this project and the Fitness Gym opened in October 2005.

The duCharme Cloisters

Opened in May 2005 by former Headmistress, Gillian duCharme, the newly renovated Cloisters provide a new focal point for the School. Housing the impressive Art and Design Centre, situated on the first floor, new bright and airy classrooms have been added, so helping to create an area that is both beautiful and practical, at the heart of the School.

Space vacated when the Library was relocated to the Study Centre has been put to good use. An expanded Art and Design Centre was created in the Cloisters. New and refurbished facilities have been designed especially to support individual and group work, as well as formal and informal instruction, in a variety of disciplines. In this way students are supported to create work of the highest quality. Specific improvements include:

The Penelope Cox Memorial Studio
Individual work spaces for Sixth Form students
Separate rooms for student groups preparing for GCSEs and A Levels
Studios for drawing, painting, printmaking, textile design and sculpture
A photography darkroom
A pottery kiln

‘Traditional boundaries between Art and Design disciplines are breaking down. Contemporary practice has seen the employment of new technologies and materials in the creative process and the department has wholeheartedly embraced such practice. Pupils are now not so concerned as to whether they consider themselves to be ‘painters’, ‘printmakers’, or ‘textile artists’ but rather express their own ideas in whatever medium best suits their needs. This has made for a vibrant, exciting and, at times, bustling environment which nurtures creativity and the cross-fertilisation of ideas. The expansion of the studio space was the essential ingredient missing until now’.

Rob Leighton, Head of Art

The Penelope Cox Memorial Studio

As Head of Art from 1949 until 1974, Miss Penelope Cox worked tirelessly to nurture individual talent and to develop the overall Art and Design programme at Benenden. Sadly, Miss Cox died in March 2001 at her home in Rolvenden. Miss Cox’s niece, Mrs Charlotte Molesworth, who also taught Art at Benenden, says of her aunt, “the School was her life, she always encouraged the girls to experiment with new approaches to Art.” The Penelope Cox Memorial Studio in the new Centre allows her unique contribution to be recognised by past and future generations of Benenden Art and Design students.

The Clarke Study Centre

Benenden students began using this magnificent resource in 2000. The Centre provides instant access to a virtually unlimited array of resources from the World Wide Web, creating better-equipped teachers and more independent learners. A test-bed classroom has been set up to test equipment and train staff in new teaching techniques.

Eugenia Leung Library

The Eugenia Leung Library within the Clarke Centre offers a much-enlarged and improved facility. Students are also benefiting from the use of eight large and well-equipped classrooms and breakout spaces. Separate workrooms for staff members enable them to provide even better support to students.

Dining Room and Kitchen Refurbishments

The newly refurbished kitchens and dining room offer a wider choice of delicious food.

As planned, the Study Centre contains a teaching room named in honour of Philip Baylis, who taught Economics at Benenden between 1975 and 1998. Thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of the committee of Seniors who came together to organise this special fund, 46 Seniors who studied with Philip Baylis donated over £20,000 in support of the Philip Baylis Room.

Donors’ Commemoration Wall

Benenden School Trust commissioned the design of a special wall of commemoration within the Centre. In addition, specific rooms and spaces within the Centre contain plaques with the names of individuals who have supported their development.