The Beacon Folkestone
Foundation special school in Folkestone (Kent).
Location
iSchool location from Get Information about Schools. Nearby schools are coloured by phase. Open Map+ for a full-screen map with neighbourhood deprivation (England only).About
Within that Federation, both schools attained independent Ofsted Outstanding judgements in June 2014 and the move to our new building gave us the chance to build on this to create a wonderful new single school Foxwood provided education for pupils with Profound and Severe Learning Needs and Highview for pupils with Complex Needs.
The journey from individual schools, through Federation in 2010, Teaching school status in January 2015 and then in September, forming a Foundation Cooperative Trust alongside 18 special schools across the County has been amazing and we are looking forward to this new and exciting chapter in the School's life.
The brand new school building, specifically designed to meet the needs of the pupils at the two schools, caters for 342 pupils aged 3-19 years with Profound, Severe and Complex Needs (PSCN). We will also continue to provide training and support for mainstream schools through the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service team managed by the school.
This team offers support, training, outreach advice and guidance to our mainstream colleagues. In addition, the Beacon has both conference and meeting facilities and regularly hosts nationally renowned speakers on its courses.
In the school’s own words, from the school website.
Enrichment
6 activitiesiFound on the school website by WhatSchool. Not verified by Governance Register; the school website is the authority.- Swimming
- Talk for Writing
- Times Tables Rock Stars
- Accelerated Reader
- Letters and Sounds
- Little Wandle
Key facts
- URN
- 119044
- Type
- Foundation special school
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- Has a sixth form
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Local authority
- Kent
- Constituency
- Folkestone and Hythe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Governing body (9 current, 1 former)
Special schools governing body.
Leadership
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicola Webster-Hart | Chair of Governors | Appointed by GB/board | since 2026 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
Full governing body
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Craig Ward | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2026 · until 2030 |
| Mrs Alison Grimmett | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2026 · until 2030 |
| Ms Samantha Myall | Governor | Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates | since 2025 · until 2029 |
| Stewart King | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Mrs Kate Yeoman | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2023 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Nicola Webster-Hart | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · until 2030 |
| Mr Nathan Moore | Governor | Elected by school staff | since 2021 · until 2029 |
| Mr Ady Young | Governor | Ex-officio by virtue of office as headteacher/principal | since 2021 |
| Mr David Hart Former | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2025 · term ended 2026 |
Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools (governance records, as at 25 October 2026). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Names are shown as published; there are no addresses or contact details. Current and former are worked out from term end dates when the page loads. Object or ask for removal · Report an issue with this record