Kent College

Kent College, Canterbury is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils between the ages of 3 and 18. It was founded in 1885, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Originally established as a boys' public school, it took girls into the sixth form in 1973, and since 1975 it has been fully co-educational.The senior school occupies a semi-rural site of some 70acre on the edge of the city of Canterbury, and also owns the nearby Moat Estate, where there can be found a farm, which is managed by staff and pupils, and extensive sports pitches. These are adjacent to Blean Forest, which is the largest area of ancient woodland in Kent, and is recognised on a British and international level for its importance as a wildlife conservation area.Its junior school, is located about a mile away, and provides day school education for boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 11, and boarding for children aged 7 and above.Kent College Dubai is a secondary campus of the Canterbury school and will be built in Meydan City. The college is due to open in September 2016 and began enrolling students in January 2016.HistoryThe school was founded in 1885 as the Wesleyan College, Canterbury. Upon land being made available by Edward Pillow, a local gentleman-farmer – recognition of which endures by way of the school's "Pillow Prize" – the foundation stone for the main building was laid in 1887. The architect was Charles Bell. In 1920 Kent College was acquired by the Board of Management for Methodist Residential Schools. Buildings forming a quadrangle were subsequently erected to the rear of the main building and the chapel. An increase in the number of pupils through the twentieth century, attributable in part to the admittance of girls, necessitated the construction of, among other buildings, three boarding houses.