Pent Valley Technology College


Pent Valley Technology College was a secondary school situated in Cheriton, Kent, England. The school attracted pupils from Folkestone, Hawkinge and Hythe.

History

The school was formed by the merger of Harcourt Secondary School for Girls, Harcourt Primary School and Morehall Secondary School for Boys in the early 1970s.
The school was granted Technology College status in 2003. A new sports hall was opened by Colin Jackson in 2005.
In 2011 plans were announced to demolish the school in order to regenerate the original building. All plans have been postponed because of a government spending review.
In December 2015 Kent County Council launched a consultation on the closing the school due to poor GCSE results and declining pupil numbers.
The secondary school was closed down but the premises will be used again in 2018 as a free school to be run in a similar fashion to a grammar school.
The name of the new school which will be situated on the premises will not be called Pent Valley technology College. The site is now occupied by Turner Schools, who have situated their new secondary school, Turner Free Schools, which opened its doors to their first year group in September 2018.

Pent Valley Leisure Centre

The Valley Leisure Centre was renamed the Pent Valley Leisure Centre to make it appear more connected to the school.

Valley FM

In 2005, Valley FM was opened as part of the Leisure Centre development. The station was formally opened in February 2006 by Folkestone officials and has since been broadcasting online and in-school. It is open to the public as a community radio station.
The station was run by Kent Safe Schools until April 2010, when ownership was handed over to the school itself. It is now working toward greater community involvement.

Notable former pupils