With Christopher Marlowe and Michael Morpurgo among its famous alumni, thousands of pupils have soaked up the spectacular setting of the centuries-old King’s School in Canterbury.

Steeped in history and set in the precincts of a Unesco World Heritage Site, the breathtaking location of the city’s cathedral was the scene of the brutal murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

After more than 1,400 years of the school being boys-only, the first girls were admitted to the sixth form in the 1970s, and it has only been fully co-educational since 1990.

And now for the first time since it was formed in 597, one of the world’s oldest schools has begun a new chapter in its history by employing its first female head.

Ahead of her starting in September, Jude Lowson spoke to KentOnline exclusively – an opportunity former headmasters in the institution’s illustrious and long history have rarely granted to the press.

It is all change at the school currently as builders work hard on the site’s historic architecture, taking advantage before pupils return in the autumn and new staff find their bearings on the expansive estate.

Having only recently moved in, Ms Lowson is still getting used to life in the city.

Apart from a visit aged 13 when she brought her French exchange partner to the city, she had not visited Canterbury before her interest in the prestigious role.

“I was not sure what it would be like to live in the precincts of the Cathedral,” she says.

“I had a few questions about how I even get my car in, use the one-way system in Canterbury and if you can get Deliveroo inside the precincts, but I have been struck by living in such an amazing place.

“On one side of my house I have this incredible vista of the Cathedral. I am surrounded by tourists who have travelled thousands of miles to see it and I have it there every morning.

“You have this privileged position where you sometimes have it to yourself.”

Ms Lowson grew up in south London and attended local state primary schools before her parents moved to Belgium.

When she returned to the UK aged 13, she boarded at Sevenoaks School before studying History at the University of Cambridge.

But before her impressive career in some of the UK’s most prestigious independent schools, Ms Lowson worked in advertising at Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

“I had the sense as I was selling KFC to people that perhaps there was more to life than that and I could do something of more positive impact,” she adds.

“Teaching felt like a natural way to bring together so much I love.”

Ms Lowson’s most recent posting was at the King’s College School in Wimbledon, a 10-minute walk away from the scene of a fatal car crash at a nearby school last month.

Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad, both eight, died after a Land Rover Defender crashed through a fence and into The Study Preparatory School on July 6.

Several people, including a seven-month-old girl, were taken to hospital following the collision.

“A number of pupils were relocated over to King’s Wimbledon to be supported by specialist officers and the school was also aware lots of parents might have connections and we offered any support we could,” she says.

“It was a really shocking day and the response of my former school was one of compassion and support, while also recognising being able to offer support in times of tragedy is always valued, even if there is only so much that can be done.”

Before that, Ms Lowson was deputy head at Putney High having started her teaching career at Whitgift School in Croydon.

And although she starts her job in September, Ms Lowson already has an exciting vision for the establishment, which has more than 1,300 pupils across its three schools, with about 70% boarding.

She is keen to grow the bursary provision, which 65 pupils are already on.

Fees for boarding at King’s School Canterbury set parents back £14,830 per term.

“I would love us to be doing more of these programmes, involving more schools to feel they can work with King’s and for us to feel we are having a positive impact on our local community,” she says.

“That is of crucial importance for me and I see so many benefits of that kind of work.”

She also wants to build on the cross-sector partnerships with neighbouring state schools for “mutual benefit”.

One example of this work is a classical music programme, called Sounding Out, for pupils from five partner primaries where they attend fully-funded lessons and perform in short concerts.

These are fundamental parts of her plan to ensure the school is more community focused.

“It is such an important part of what our school needs to do given our location, the setting we are in and what the school benefits from due to being in this amazing place,” she adds.

“I think it is going to be crucial for me to get to know the city well with local stakeholders and to understand how the school can play a positive role in the community.

“I think a big part of that is working with our local schools and making sure our facilities are accessible to those who can benefit from them.”

But she concedes this needs to be balanced with “our duties for safeguarding for pupils”.

Last year the school came under fire when the Dean and Chapter decided to beef up its security by closing one of the gates, which is shared with the King's School, to prevent visitors to a neighbouring historic attraction from trespassing.

Several people exploring St Augustine’s Abbey in recent years have climbed over fencing at the ruins to get onto its playing fields.

Some local residents assumed that King's had been part of this decision but this was not the case and the matter is now being reviewed by the Dean and Chapter.

Despite this, the school appears to want to enter a new chapter of being more open with the community.

Ms Lowson says there are so many elements of being community-focused which are working “really well” but there are “opportunities to strengthen those things further”.

“I would not imagine my approach to be secretive,” she says.

“I do not think that would be a word I would use to describe my leadership style or what the school would seek or desire going forward.

“We are at the heart of this city and I do not want the school to feel like it is hidden away – I do not think that is a benefit to Canterbury or our pupils.”

The debate surrounding some of England’s most elite independent schools has raged on for many years and will continue for many years to come, with some calling for them to be abolished.

Having spent many years at private institutions, Ms Lowson celebrates the need for independent schools in the 21st century.

“I am sometimes saddened by the debate surrounding independent schools,” she admits.

“It seeks to pit the two parts of the sector against each other but there is much we can learn from each other. I think there are myths about how independent schools operate. For example, independent schools do an awful lot of sharing their resources with local communities.

“For so many schools, that desire to be accessible and to bring pupils in who will benefit from that education is a core element of what so many independent schools are trying to do.”

Ms Lowson argues there are “slightly fewer constraints” on private schools compared to their state counterparts as it enables them to be “innovative and offer subjects that are squeezed elsewhere”.

“A great example of that is you see the creative arts championed in independent schools and that is being squeezed [in state schools] sadly but, to an extent, understandably,” she adds.

“There is also no choice of modern languages in some state schools.”

When Ms Lowson was first appointed, King’s School issued a statement that she would bring a “fresh and modern outlook”.

But given the school’s long-running past, some may feel these juxtapose each other.

“It is a balancing act and it would be easy to say there is perhaps a conflict between a school which values heritage and tradition, and one which is modern and forward-thinking,” she says.

“I honestly do not think so and I think it is the opposite.

“School is about finding out who you are, who you want to be and where you are going but also about finding your place in the world and how you can contribute positively.

“Those are skills young people need for their future lives.

“Being in a place which gives a strong sense of your place and values and enabling you to feel supported, to develop self-belief and raise your ambition – those are all things that happen as a result of the history, heritage and connection to the cathedral.

“Yet, they are incredibly valuable skills in the modern world.”

Ms Lowson has a lot to grapple with in her first few months: navigating the city’s one-way system and the enormous King’s site, settling at home and raising her five-year-old daughter.

But despite these pressures, she has a clear vision for what she wants one of the world’s oldest schools to be.

“There are so many things that made this role and the city really appeal to me as a place to work,” she says.

“On the school side, the fact it has this long-standing genuine commitment to academic excellence but also sitting alongside co-curricular excellence - the development of the whole pupil - that for me is what education is about.

“The fact that is so central to the ethos of the school was of crucial importance.

“No school can compete with this sense of history, heritage, and connection to the cathedral.

“I have got to know a few pupils in my time here getting to know the school over the past year and they all say what an impact it has on them.

“It is unlike other schools.”