28-739: The Caldecott Foundation , formerly known as the Caldecott Community , is a UK charity which provides therapeutic care and education for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. It has been based in the Borough of Ashford in Kent since 1947 and operates seven registered children's homes in Kent and Nottinghamshire as well the Caldecott Foundation School . The foundation's roots go back to 1911, when Leila Rendel founded
56-580: A by-election in October 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last full review of boundaries in 2019 the council has comprised 47 councillors representing 39 wards , with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council is based at the Civic Centre on Tannery Lane in Ashford, which was purpose-built for
84-712: A centre for rail engineering in the 19th century, and is now primarily light industrial and commercial, with the notable exception of Hitachi's rail depot. The borough's local plan ("Local Plan to 2030") continues to plan for new housing in and around the town, such as the development at Finberry . From the historic town centre, roads radiate out in the following directions: NW to Charing and Maidstone and SE to Hythe and Folkestone (A20/M20 in each direction); south to Hamstreet , Lydd and Romney Marsh and then westwards to Hastings ( A2070 ); SW to Tenterden and NE to Wye and Canterbury ( A28 ) and finally north to Ashford's historic port at Faversham ( A251 ). The area
112-462: A day nursery in the St Pancras district of London which catered to the children of women working in a nearby factory. It later evolved into a pioneering boarding school in Kent , first for working class children, and then for distressed and vulnerable children who had been placed into care. Rendel named the community after the children's book illustrator Randolph Caldecott whose pictures adorned
140-649: A large Victorian residence in Smeeth . Several residential homes were constructed on its grounds as well as a purpose-built school nearby which opened in 2000. The foundation launched another appeal in 2011, its centenary year. The appeal raised £750,000 which was used to upgrade the foundation's supported accommodation and to set up two vocational training centers. As of 2021, the Foundation's services include therapeutic residential care, education both through tutoring and small classes in their residential care homes or at
168-634: A large country house designed by Robert Adam surrounded by parkland. Located near Ashford in Kent, it had served as a military hospital during World War II. That same year with a grant from the Nuffield Trust , Rendel set up the first experimental reception centre in England to assess the most appropriate placement for children who had been taken into care. Mersham would remain Caldecott's home for over five decades. Its owner, Lord Brabourne became
196-406: A long-time supporter of the community and served on its board of governors for over 40 years. Leila Rendel retired from active directorship of the community in 1967 and died two years later at the age of 86. James King succeeded her as the director and served in that post until his retirement in 1993. Like Rendel, he was awarded an OBE for his work with the community. During his tenure he reorganised
224-413: A shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Ashford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 1999 have been: Following the 2023 election , subsequent changes of allegiance and
252-476: Is served by the regional news programmes: Radio stations that broadcast to the area are: There are more than 400 listed buildings in the district. This includes 33 churches listed in the highest grading in the national listing system (Grade I) as well as many oast houses and pubs dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, along with some even earlier buildings such as the Black Horse at Pluckley built in
280-638: Is the largest district in Kent. Parts of the borough lie within the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of High Weald and the Kent Downs . The neighbouring districts are (clockwise from west) Tunbridge Wells , Maidstone , Swale , Canterbury , Folkestone and Hythe , and Rother . The latter is in East Sussex , the rest are in Kent. The parish of Ashford was made a local government district in 1863, run by an elected local board. Such districts were converted into urban districts under
308-689: The English Poor Laws , a pioneer girls' club leader and a militant suffragist . Their school was located at Cartwright Gardens in St Pancras and mainly catered to the children of women working in a nearby matchbox factory. An admirer of Randolph Caldecott 's children's book illustrations, Rendel named the nursery school in his honour and adorned its walls with a frieze of his pictures. Rendel's grandfather, Alexander Meadows Rendel , provided them with an endowment and further donations were received from her large circle of family and friends. By 1914
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#1732783025660336-594: The Kent Downs AONB , whilst the south-west, including Rolvenden and the Isle of Oxney , is part of the High Weald AONB . In addition to these national landscape areas, the borough has many smaller Local Nature Reserves such as Hothfield Common . As of April 2023 there were 44 civil parishes within the borough. The parish council for Tenterden has declared that parish to be a town, allowing it to take
364-600: The Local Government Act 1894 . The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named Ashford after its largest town. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Ashford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council . Much of
392-513: The 1470s as a dry-moated farmhouse by the Dering family (see also: Little Chart ). Well-known examples of Grade I listed buildings include: the Archbishop's palace at Charing , Chilham Castle and Godinton House , as well as more domestic examples such as the row of 17th century Flemish weavers' cottages which stretches the full length of the south side of Biddenden High Street . See also
420-700: The 1960s onwards Ashford has experienced phases of rapid urban growth, creating new suburbs such as Stanhope and, more recently, Singleton . Today's urban growth is partially shaped by the de facto corridors created by the M20 motorway , the High Speed 1 line and several other rail lines which converge on the town's railway station . The 2011 census reported Ashford as having: The area's economy, once strongly dominated by agriculture and associated activities such as brewing and food production as well as some quarrying of ragstone and brick manufacture, evolved into
448-660: The Caldecott School, and therapeutic fostering placements. Caldecott Fostering moved onto the Ashford site in 2020. The Foundation is governed by a board of trustees whose chairman is Charles Lister OBE. Nick Barnett was appointed as managing director in March 2017. The Caldecott Foundation School is an independent special school located on Station Road in Ashford, Kent near the foundation's headquarters. It provides educational services and integrated therapy for children in
476-514: The Maidstone area in 1932 where it occupied Mote House . The World War II bombing of Maidstone led to the community moving to Hyde Heath in Dorset in 1941 where they remained for the duration of the war. Lord Lytton served as chairman of the school's trustees. During that period 100 boys and girls, including 15 Jewish refugees , were living in the community. They ranged in age from 1 to 16. At
504-567: The community's structure and set up smaller family units for the residential care of the children and young people in its care. With the impending expiry of the lease on Mersham-le-Hatch in the late 1990s, the community's organization underwent further structural changes, and in 1997 changed its name to the Caldecott Foundation. An £8m appeal was launched to fund the future accommodation and expansion of Caldecott. In 2000,the foundation's new headquarters were opened at Caldecott House,
532-425: The council and opened in 1983. The council has announced plans to move during 2024 to International House, a 1972 office building opposite Ashford International railway station , which the council bought in 2014. In 1961, the population of the districts which make up the present borough was as follows: Forty years later the population had almost doubled: the 2001 census recorded a population of 102,661. From
560-563: The district is covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government for their areas. The council has been under no overall control since 2022. Following the 2023 election a coalition of the Ashford Independents and the Green Party took minority control of the council, led by Ashford Independent councillor Noel Ovenden. The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as
588-615: The first co-educational boarding school in the UK for working-class children. When the lease on Charlton Court expired in 1924, the school moved to another country house in Goffs Oak , a village in Hertfordshire and remained there for the next eight years. During its time there the community increasingly took in distressed and vulnerable children whose family lives had been disrupted by death, illness, and divorce. The school moved back to
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#1732783025660616-403: The listings: Grade I listed buildings in Ashford (borough) . Beyond the town of Ashford , most of the borough's land area is rural, with fields, woodland and fruit orchards . Much of the woodland is coppiced . Changes in rural land use over the past century mirror those in the rest of the present County. The north-east of the borough, including the villages of Wye and Chilham , is within
644-475: The residential care of the foundation and delivers the National Curriculum for Key Stage 2 through Key Stage 4 . The school has a sixth form and also provides vocational training in a number of areas. The vocational training includes an off-site training center for motor vehicle mechanics which is also open to pupils from other schools. As of 2017, 27 children and young people were enrolled in
672-486: The school was well-established with a written constitution and Percy Nunn as its chairman. Princess Louise served as its president. The continued German bombing of London and subsequent condemnation of the St Pancras building by the local council in 1917 led the Caldecott Community to move with its teachers and children to Charlton Court, a large country house near Maidstone . In the process it became
700-415: The school. The pupils range in age from 7 to 18 and are all eligible for pupil premium funding from the UK government. Many of them had been previously excluded from other care or educational settings because of their social, emotional and behavioural problems. According to the school's 2017 Ofsted inspection report, all pupils in the previous three years who left the school at the end of Year 11 or from
728-460: The sixth form went on to further education, training or employment. Borough of Ashford The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent , England. It is named after its largest town, Ashford , where the council is based. The borough also includes the town of Tenterden and an extensive surrounding rural area including numerous villages; with an area of 580 square kilometres (220 sq mi), it
756-400: The time, only children up to the age of 11 were educated within the community itself. The older boys and girls went to local secondary schools. Over the years, ten Caldecott pupils were sent to Gordonstoun School on scholarships. Leila Rendel was a life-long friend of Kurt Hahn , Gordonstoun's founder, and was a founding trustee of the school. In 1947 the community moved to Mersham-le-Hatch,
784-416: The walls of the St Pancras nursery. The foundation was officially incorporated in 1946 as the Caldecott Community. Its name was changed to the Caldecott Foundation in 1997. The Caldecott Comminuty began its life in 1911 when Leila Rendel and her friend Phyllis Potter set up their own nursery school based on the progressive ideas of Margaret McMillan and Leila's aunt Edith Rendel who was an active critic of
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