MidKent College
Further education college in Kent, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MidKent College (formerly Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education) is a further education college in Kent, England. It runs courses from two separate campuses in Maidstone and Medway, including a number of higher education courses.
| |
| Type | Further Education College |
|---|---|
| Established | 1887 (originally as a technical school) |
Academic affiliation | University of Kent |
| Students | Approx. 8,500 students (as of 2023) |
| Location | Gillingham, Kent (Medway Campus), Maidstone, Kent (Maidstone Campus) , United Kingdom |
| Campus | Medway Campus, Maidstone Campus |
| Website | MidKent College Website |
There are approximately 8,500 students aged 16 years and upwards enrolled at the college. Courses offered range from pre-entry level to degree level and cover a wide range of vocational and academic subject areas.[1]
History
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The college has been delivering vocational education in Medway and Maidstone for nearly 100 years. Its roots lie in the technical institutes established within the Medway towns in the 1890s and Maidstone around 1918.[2]
The college first began delivering courses from the Horsted Centre in Chatham in 1954.[3] The site was opened as Medway College of Technology[4] by the Duke of Edinburgh on 5 April the following year.[5]
Medway College of Technology and Maidstone Technical College amalgamated in 1966 to become Medway and Maidstone College of Technology.[6] The purpose-built City Way site in Rochester was subsequently opened as an additional college site in 1968.[7]
The college changed its name to Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education in 1978,[8][9] before dropping the hyphen and space and the latter part of its title to become MidKent College in October 2008.
Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the college's students were famed for their Rag Day parade. This saw them conducting a carnival procession through the Medway Towns. The parade started at Gillingham train station and ended at the esplanade in Rochester. Each year the students elected their own "Rag Day Queen" to head the procession.
Campuses
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Gillingham (Medway) Campus
MidKent College's Medway Campus in Gillingham, located on Prince Arthur Road[10], became the college’s main site[11] in September 2009, replacing the former Horsted and City Way campuses. The £86 million project[12], mostly funded by the Learning and Skills Council, began construction in 2007. The campus was officially opened by Princess Anne on 25 March 2010[13][14]. The campus was designed to meet contemporary vocational training needs (including media, IT, science and engineering workshops) and won planning clearance after archaeological surveys. During construction, workers uncovered a unique Napoleonic-era “listening post” (a domed ‘igloo’ intended to detect tunnelling) which was carefully preserved in place.[15][16]
The Gillingham site lies on part of Chatham’s historic Great Lines defensive earthworks (the old “Lower Lines” field-of-fire). Planning documents note that the land had been “used by the military over the years for…[siege] works up to and including the First World War”.[17][18] Archaeological evidence of the old defences and training works remain on site (including ruins of small buildings and two brick cottages)[19]. In recent decades, when not used as training grounds[20], the overgrown tract served as council-owned open space (Lower Lines)[21] adjacent to Brompton Barracks.
Maidstone (Oakwood Park) Campus
MidKent’s Maidstone Campus is based at Oakwood Park[22] (south of the town). In 2011 the college purchased the nearby University for the Creative Arts (UCA) campus on this site, integrating it into the college’s provision. Beginning in late 2012 the college began a £22 million refurbishment of Maidstone facilities to bring them up to modern standards.[23] Today the campus offers further and higher education courses (and even hosts a University Centre Maidstone for degree study).[24] In 2023, MidKent opened a new Green Skills Factory at the Maidstone campus (funded by the national Strategic Development Fund) – a centre for sustainable construction and energy efficiency training.[25]
Horsted (Chatham) Campus
The Horsted Centre (Chatham) was the original Medway campus of the college, opened in 1954[26] (first courses) and formally inaugurated in 1955. By the 2000s it was outdated; courses were moved out to the Gillingham campus in 2009. In planning documents from 2005, the Horsted site was approved for mixed residential redevelopment (outline permission for up to 336 homes and some community facilities)[27]. The old Horsted buildings were cleared in 2014[28][29] and the site has since been redeveloped for housing.[30][31]
City Way (Rochester) Campus
The City Way campus in Rochester opened in 1968 and served MidKent (then Mid-Kent) for decades. Like Horsted, it closed in 2009 when the new Gillingham campus opened. Planning permission was then granted to redevelop City Way for housing[32]. For example, an outline application approved in 2007 required 25% of the new homes to be “affordable” and included developer contributions for local schools and transport The site has since been built over (apart from a few buildings preserved elsewhere) and is now a residential area[32].
Principal
The current principal of MidKent College is Simon Cook[33], who has held the position since July 2014 after the sad death of principal Sue McLeod.[34]
McLeod had previously worked across the Caribbean, United States and Europe during her time in the travel industry, including a stint aboard cruise liners. She had earlier achieved a degree in Business Studies at the Dorset Institute of Higher Education – now Bournemouth University – where she returned to study Travel and Tourism prior to embarking on her teaching career with MidKent College.[35]
In 2014 Sue McLeod was diagnosed with a brain tumour.[36] On 24 July 2014, MidKent College informed the public via social media that she had died, the statement stated "It is with great sadness that MidKent College announces the death of its much-loved principal Sue McLeod at the age of 53."[37]
Chief Executive
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The current chief executive of MidKent College is Simon Cook[38], who has held the position since the retirement of previous CEO, Stephen Grix, in July 2016.[39]
Mr Grix first joined the college in 1971 when, having left school at age 15 with no formal qualifications[40][41], he enrolled as a day-release bricklaying student at the old Horsted site in Chatham.[42] After 13 years in the trade he returned to study an education degree, followed by a master's degree in education management.
The father-of-three eventually went on to become principal of Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow, north-east London, and then head of Ofsted's post-compulsory education division. Next was a role as director of education for the London borough of Tower Hamlets before Mr Grix returned to MidKent College as principal and chief executive in March 2005.
Once back at the place where he launched his career, Mr Grix took on the mammoth task of closing the college's dated Horsted and City Way sites and identifying funding opportunities for the new £86 million Medway Campus, which opened in 2009. He then turned his attention to improving the Maidstone Campus, which is currently undergoing a £23m redevelopment due for completion in December 2013.
In January 2013, Mr Grix announced he would step down as principal at the end of the academic year but continue as chief executive on a part-time basis until 2015. He was succeeded as principal by his former deputy Sue McLeod.
In June 2013 Mr Grix was appointed an OBE for services to further education in The Queen's Birthday Honours List.[43]
Mr Grix is also an executive director of MKC Training Services Ltd, which administers the college's contract to deliver training within the Royal School of Military Engineering at Brompton Barracks.
Affiliations
MidKent College became an associate college of the University of Kent in 2001. The University of Kent validates the college's higher education programmes.[44]
Notable alumni
- Caroline Feraday, television and radio broadcaster[45]
- Mo Abudu, African businesswoman and television personality[46]
- Kat Driscoll, Olympic trampolinist[47]
- Jack Green, Olympic hurdler[48]
- Matt Coles, England cricketer
- Charlotte Evans, Winter Paralympic gold medalist
References
External links
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