Kentish Express Ashford & District
School goes from strength to strength over 50 years
Fifty years have passed since the Towers School in Kennington opened its doors for the first time. Reporter who spent seven years at the school from 2006 to 2013, looks at the site’s history in this special anniversary feature
When Malcolm Ramsey was moved from a school in Whitstable to take charge of Towers in 2001, he didn’t know what to expect.
The Cliftonville resident, now 71, had transformed the fortunes of his previous school and was tasked by education bosses with doing the same in Kennington.
Towers in Faversham Road was in special measures at the time, and was in serious need of a facelift.
“I didn’t apply for the job, the local authority wanted me to sort it out,” Mr Ram- sey, who overcame a prostate cancer scare in 2015, recalled.
He said: “Everything about i t was poor – i t was being run by supply teachers and it took three or four years to turn it around.
“Turni n g a s c h o o l around is like trying to do the same with a battleship – it takes a long time and a lot of hard work.”
About 30 years earlier, Lady Brabourne – who died in June at the age of 93 – officially opened the school in 1967.
She j oined the first head teacher Geoffrey Foster at the ceremony, who, like Mr Ramsey, had switched from another coastal school to take up the position.
Mr Foster died l ast year aged 91 but his widow, Jessie, remembers the time well.
“There was an advert in the educational supplement saying they were looking for a head teacher for a new school in Ashford,” she said.
“At that time, we were in Walmer and it was time for him to move on, but he hadn’t even seen Towers.
“He went for the interview and, once we knew he got it, we drove around Kennington looking for the school.”
Teachers welcomed their first 90 children before the summer holiday in 1967, but their first full year began in the September.
“Everything had to be ordered to get the school going and it meant Geoffrey had a free hand to do the things he wanted,” said Mrs Foster, 86.
“They had to think of a name for the school and one of the councillors on the board of governors looked out of the window and said ‘why don’t we call it the Towers?’
“They didn’t want it to be called Kennington – because it wasn’t a school just for Kennington children – so naming it after the Eastwell towers worked well.
“I am incredibly proud of what Geoffrey did – he believed children should be taught how to live a life.”
When Mr Ramsey took the helm in 2001, he became the school’s fifth head, earning a Good with outstanding features rating from Ofsted in 2008.
He said: “I was very proud of my time there. I had the greatest time of my life at Towers and we got the best results Ashford Towers School the school had ever achieved. I always like a challenge and I didn’t realise what a challenge it was going to be, but it was a great school.”
Sadness struck in 2006 when popular deputy head teacher Carol Webb died following a short battle with bowel cancer. She was my best colleague ever – Carol was clever and hard working,” Mr Ramsey said.
“That was the lowest point the school has ever seen. She was loved by the kids. When she died, everyone was crying.”
Mr Ramsey retired in 2011, but his legacy lives on through the Ramsey Centre performing arts and sport building, which opened that year.
It cost £1.5m – covered by the sale of land at the front of the school near the playing fields, which has now been turned into the Furley Close housing development close to Ulley Road. Current principal Rich- ard Billings, who took charge in January 2014, says he is planning to mark the 50th anniversary of the school, which is now an academy.
He said: “It is wonderful to be able to celebrate 50 years being at the heart of the local community. Our ongoing journey has seen our school go from strength to strength with ever improving results and an ever increasing roll reflecting our popularity in the community. I am aware of the responsibility and am delighted to be securing the school for future generations.
“We look forward to the next 50 years.”