Benenden School

Benenden School is an independent boarding school for girls in Kent, England. It is located in Benenden in the Kentish countryside, between Cranbrook and Tenterden. It is the only remaining full boarding girls' school in the United Kingdom, meaning all pupils board at the school full-time.The Good Schools Guide called the school "Everyone's idea of a traditional, up-market, girls' boarding school though not remotely hidebound by tradition; cutting-edge and unconventional in multiple ways, in a stunning setting and underpinned with common sense."Today Benenden remains an all-boarding school for over 500 girls aged 11 to 18. The headmistress is Samantha Price (previously head of Godolphin School, Salisbury, Wiltshire), who took over from Claire Oulton in January 2014.Benenden is governed by a Council. Council members are leaders in their fields and work closely with the Headmistress, Bursar and Senior Management Team.FacilitiesThe school occupies a Victorian mansion, set in 240 acres of parkland, manicured gardens and woodland in the Weald of Kent. Living, learning, sporting and leisure facilities are clustered around the original 19th-century mansion, which adds to Benenden's sense of close community. There have been, and continue to be, many improvements to the site. There is a Sports Centre (known as "SPLASH"), a humanities building ("Leelands"), a Design Technology centre, Study Centre ("SCN") and a Theatre and drama teaching complex (finished Summer 2007)at the cost of £2.3 million. The Study Centre consists of the Eugenia Leung library and new-age classrooms featuring interactive whiteboard technology and an IT cluster known as "break-out". The School's most recent enhancement has been the construction of a new Science Centre, one of the most advanced centres of scientific learning available in the independent sector. The centre was opened by HRH The Princess Royal on 10 October 2012.