Skip to content

Primary school moves to castle after flooding

BBC A photo of a Lorraine Curry who is the executive head of Kenton Primary School. She is standing in the middle of the photo wearing a blue quarter-length sleeved dress with stripes of black. She also has a lanyard round her neck which says staff on it. She has blonde hair past her shoulders. She is stood next to four desks made of wood. In the corner of a room there is a United Kingdom flag. BBC
Kenton Primary School will be in Powderham Castle for its first term of this academic year

A school in Devon has moved into a castle after its building was damaged by flooding.

Kenton Primary School was one of many properties hit by flood water after heavy rain in September 2023.

The school and its pupils temporarily relocated to two different buildings while repair work took place and pupils will now attend Powderham Castle in Exeter for their first term.

Lorraine Curry, executive head of Kenton Primary School, said it had been "an amazing experience so far".

A photo which shows one of the temporary classrooms. There are four wooden desks in the photo with wooden benches tucked underneath them. In the middle of the photo there is a TV screen presumably used for teaching. Next to it there is also a whiteboard, and a map on the right-hand-side on the wall.
Children will learn in Powderham Castle for their first term back at school which started on Wednesday

She said she had approached the Earl of Devon Charles Courtenay, who lives in the castle, to see if he could help and he offered them a space to use.

The executive head said: "The children love it. It feels quite surreal coming to school down the drive, past the deer park and into the castle.

"It has been an amazing experience so far."

A photo which shows Powderham Castle in the distance. The castle is made of grey bricks and has turrets. In the foreground is green grass as well as concrete road leading up to the castle. There are trees surrounding either side of the castle.
The school approached the Earl of Devon Charles Courtenay who lives in the castle

Ms Curry said the children would not return to their old school, which is more than 200 years old, due to a continued risk of flooding.

She said money had been given to the school by the government to build new premises.

"We've been really lucky to have funding from the government to build a new school in the village. It's brilliant news for us," she said.

After the first term, the children will move to buildings on playing fields in Kenton until the new school is built.

Follow BBC Devon on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

More on this story
Related internet links