Kimberly 'Kim' Treneman (née Campbell) is the fair, straight-talking former headteacher of Waterloo Road High School, previously being employed as the former Head of Pastoral Care at Waterloo Road Comprehensive School under former headteachers Brian Vaisey, Jack Rimmer and Rachel Mason.
Kim is a valued member of staff. She is always the voice of reason, and knows how to deal with the kids and their problems.
Kim is the first headteacher of Waterloo Road High School in the revival series. She later marries former colleague, Andrew Treneman.
Series 1
Kim and Andrew Treneman hated each other when he arrived at Waterloo Road, not least because of his "back to basics" approach to disciplinary issues, but have since fallen in love. She has a nasty encounter with Lewis Seddon when he makes sexual advances towards her in the Cooler (an internal exclusion centre), and has to be persuaded to reconsider her resignation after deciding that she wanted to leave the school; she comes to that decision after the appeal panel reduce Lewis's expulsion to a 15-day suspension on the grounds that they believe she had taken Lewis to the Cooler for "reasons other than discipline". However, Lewis still leaves the school after his family receive hate mail from other pupils and parents, and Jack Rimmer receives letters which claim that Mrs Seddon has been committing benefit fraud and has received a large sum of money in an insurance scam. He threatens to report Mrs Seddon to the police unless she withdraws Lewis from the school.
Series 2
Kim is also opposed to, and suspicious of, Chairman of Governors Roger Aspinall and does not agree with his plans for the future of the school, which he is hoping to turn into a state-of-the-art academy. At the end of Series 2, Andrew Treneman drops a bombshell on her when he tells her that he is leaving for Rwanda, and he asks her to go with him. She takes a leap of faith and goes with him, which ultimately proves to be the wrong choice for her.
Series 4
Kim returns from Rwanda in Series 4, bringing with her a baby daughter, Grace. At first it seems Grace is her own daughter, however Kim later confesses to Steph that she took Grace from Rwanda illegally. Since her return, Kim has had many arguments with deputy head Eddie Lawson over their opposing views. Eventually, Immigration become suspicious of Kim and make an appointment to look around her home; Steph however takes Grace away while the investigation is taking place, leaving Kim in the clear. This does not last, as the officials step up their investigation and eventually find Grace at Waterloo Road while Kim is helping Chlo to deliver her baby; a distraught Kim watches on as Grace is sent away, presumably back to Rwanda.
Andrew Treneman returns for a fundraising day at the end of the series and Kim blames him for Grace being taken away. Andrew confesses to Kim that he realised that she was unhappy in Rwanda and that they should have come back sooner. However, they make up and at the end of the series it looks as if the two of them have got back together.
Series 5
Kim stays on alongside Rachel Mason in the aftermath of the merger of John Fosters School with Waterloo Road. New deputy head Christopher Mead and executive head Max Tyler also head up the team as former John Fosters deputy head and headteacher respectively. Despite many differences with Max's methods and siding with close friend Rachel against Max, she engages in a relationship with him, unaware that he is married. She is put in a difficult position when Rachel confides in her about her harsh feelings towards Max and struggles to cope with maintaining the balance of peace between the two factions. When Kim finds out about Max hitting Philip, she immediately tells Rachel and ends her relationship with Max for good after he leaves Waterloo Road, horrified that he could do such a thing to a pupil and have no remorse for it at all.
It is then revealed that she is pregnant with Max's child. She tells Rachel and Chris her news and they seem shocked, especially when she tells them that she isn't going to tell Max about the baby. Later on in that episode, a pupil is abducted by their father, and Rachel follows them. This makes Kim's pregnancy really hit home and she becomes really upset about the situation.
Kim asks Chris to come with her to the scan and he agrees. Kim gets told that it is a boy she is carrying.
After Michaela White is rejected from the APU scheme, Kim rants at Chris for not accepting her.
In Series 5 Episode 18, Kim gives birth to her son Dexter by an emergency C-section. In Episode 19, Kim is stressed from looking after the baby, and when Chris wants to be with her, she she says it isn't right, Chris changing her baby's nappies when they haven't even been out on a date. She breaks up with him. Chris storms out saying he is a fool for trying to make it work.
Kim departs Waterloo Road to go on maternity leave at the end of the series, and does not return.
Series 11
Kim returns in Series 11 as the new headteacher of William Beswick High School which, after a peaceful protest from the students against the name because William Beswick was a slave trader, which descends into a riot, is renamed Waterloo Road High School.
In the years since Series 5, Kim looked after her son Dexter until he died of an unspecified illness at the age of 6. She still blames herself for his death for not seeing the signs of the illness sooner. She shows his grave to student Shola Aku.
Kim's methods are constantly questioned by her deputy headteacher Lindon King, who lost out on the headship to her. They later see another side to each other and sleep together, although Kim breaks it off when she can't handle Lindon's messy separation from his wife Hannah.
Also in this series, Kim deals with problems including the fallout from Chlo Charles's death after Coral Walker bumped into a car which knocked Chlo over; Kelly Jo Rafferty's violent outbursts and potential ADHD diagnosis; Nicky Walters's financial struggles; Samia Choudhry's campaign against the boys' 'hot or not' group chat; Donte Charles's struggles to control his anger; and Tonya Walters and Izzy Charles leaving school grounds unannounced.
One problem ultimately almost costs Kim's career as headteacher though: Danny Lewis. On the first day of term he is discovered sleeping in school with his dog Angel as family struggles during lockdown left him homeless. The school manage to get him a place in a hostel, but threats from other residents lead to Valerie Chambers taking him in. His behaviour then improves and he gets great results in his GCSE resits, but after an incident during the end-of-term show in which Danny stabs Vinny McCullen, his mother's boyfriend who wanted the money Danny stole from him back, he is arrested and taken into police custody.
In a meeting with LEA officer Erica Thorne, Kim accepts that she took a risk with Danny and it blew up in her face. She accepts that her placing her trust in him ruined her chances of staying on as headteacher, but said that she would do it all over again because every child deserves a chance. She suggests Joe Casey to succeed her, but Erica asks Lindon instead, who declines the job after realising his approach would not suit Waterloo Road. While Kim is walking out of the school, her secretary Wendy Whitwell says that Erica has asked her to stay on as headteacher, but Kim says she doesn't think she can do it anymore and carries on walking. Though ultimately she stays on anyway.
Series 12
At the start of Series 12, Kim is floored by an unexpected blast from the past when the 'Schools against Knife Crime' representative sent to have a meeting with her at Waterloo Road in the aftermath of the stabbing at the end of the previous series turns out to be none other than her old flame Andrew Treneman, now a headteacher at a school in Salford. Kim refuses to speak to him, furious with him for suddenly walking out of her life and returning to Rwanda following the staff party which took place off-screen following the events of Series 4 Episode 20, and criticises him for not attempting to get in touch in the 14 years since. Throughout Series 12 the two of them start to repair their relationship and become friends.
Struggles in this series that Kim faces include the disappearance of Dwayne Jackson on the first day of term, battling with the governors about the strict security measures brought in following the stabbing, and the school's struggles with funding leading to cuts being made to the arts department, putting her at loggerheads with music and drama teacher Val Chambers.
At the end of the series, unhinged pupil Myles Massey deliberately starts a fire at the school that ultimately results in the death of Danny Lewis. Following this, Kim suffers a panic attack, blaming herself for Danny's death because she allowed Myles into the school. She is comforted and supported by Andrew.
Series 13
Series 13 kicks off with Kim launching a new initiative to bring in pupils who have had very low attendance records at other schools in the area, causing fireworks for staff and pupils alike. It is also revealed that she has begun a new relationship with Andrew Treneman, of which attempts to keep hidden from secretary Wendy fail miserably.
Andrew is revealed to be CEO of Lowry Community Academies, an academy trust which consists of six academies in the area. Andrew persuades Kim to have Waterloo Road become an academy and join the trust, and she begins to get the ball rolling on this without telling any staff at the school, even her deputies, and there is shockwaves when the staff find out before she is ready to tell them after teacher governor Neil Guthrie hears about it from another governor and informs everybody. Kim calls an emergency meeting with the staff and Andrew to discuss this, but is surprised when Andrew is a no-show.
There is further bewilderment for Kim when Andrew later turns up at the school to suddenly break up with her before leaving again, leaving her shocked and devastated. This makes Kim paranoid that Andrew and the academy trust will suspend her for poor school leadership. Andrew later returns to the school and tries to talk to Kim but ends up keeling over in pain. He reveals to her that he has been diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer. He explains that he ended their relationship as he didn't want to put Kim through more suffering following Dexter's death.
Throughout Series 13, Kim does her best to juggle her head duties whilst supporting Andrew through his chemotherapy. During inset day, when the staff of Waterloo Road are attending teacher training sessions at St Clements Academy, Andrew collapses due to dehydration from his treatment. He promises Kim that he will stop pushing himself so much.
The stresses of everything that Kim has to deal with get the better of her when she catches Preston Walters in her office attempting to steal back a bag of stolen goods, originally stolen by his sister Tonya. Preston and Kim get into an argument before Kim snaps and begins throwing items from the bag at him until Nicky walks in on this, at which point Kim apologises profusely and runs away crying.
Kim later confides in Andrew her fear of losing him, explaining that she can't cope with more loss. Andrew comforts her, assuring her that it's okay for her to show her emotions.
On the last day of term, the abuse of pupil Schuey Weever by his father Pete comes to light after Kim and Nicky find Schuey locked in the boot of his father's car. There is drama when Pete later bursts into the school grounds and ends up trying to run over caretaker Donte Charles and ends up running over Nicky instead.
Following an English class, with Kelly Jo and Samia's support, Andrew proposes to Kim, who accepts. The two of them plan to go on a road trip ending with getting married in Las Vegas.
Andrew also says to Kim that he is considering standing down as CEO of the academy trust and returning to classroom teaching, hinting to Kim about the opening for the job of CEO that this would leave. Kim later drops hints that she is considering this when she tells Joe to "polish up his CV" because there might be an opening for headteacher, but that she is not leaving the school.
Series 14
In Series 14 Episode 1, Joe Casey explains that Kim and Andrew are now married and travelling. Kim makes her only on-screen appearance in Series 14 Episode 8, when Schuey Weever calls her from police custody, begging for help after being framed for the murder of Boz Osbourne. Kim visits Schuey in prison, revealing that she is also unexpectedly pregnant with Andrew's child. Schuey pleads his innocence to Kim, claiming he would never hurt Boz as he was his friend.
Kim visits the new Waterloo Road Community Academy unsure whether Schuey is lying or not. She confronts headteacher Steve Savage, who insists Schuey is lying. Unbeknownst to Kim, Steve is lying in order to protect his son, Billy, who accidentally killed Boz.
When the truth is finally revealed, Kim is last seeing getting in the car with Andrew. The two of them kiss and he jokes that he can't keep her away from the school.
Trivia
- Kim's actress, Angela Griffin, also directed Series 13 Episode 3 and Series 13 Episode 4, making Kim the only character in Waterloo Road history whose actor also had a role behind the camera.
- Angela Griffin's real-life husband Jason Milligan appears in Series 11 and Series 12 as Vinny McCullen.
- Kim is the only character to ever serve three different regular stints on the show.
- Kim Campbell was a new teacher starting in March 2003.
- Kim has a gay brother, which caused her mother to pressure her into a marriage with her best friends brother.
- Paul Langley and Bolton Smilie are shown to know Kim on her return to the show in Series 4 Episode 11 despite previously not appearing on screen together. This suggest that Paul and Bolton were unseen characters in Series 1 and 2.
Quotes
- "Mystery over." (first line)
- "That takes us up to five mums to be. We could start our own antenatal classes."
- Kim: "You can't do that. Come on, you can't do that to me."
- Grantly: "Come with me."
- Kim: "Andrew..." (final lines of her first stint)
- "Hi, Rachel? It's Kim. I'm in." (first line upon her return in Series 4)
- Kim: " Grantly, I'm surprised.
- Grantly: "About what?"
- Kim: "You're not dead!"
- Bolton: "Miss, you're back!"
- Kim: "Huh, so I am."
- "AMY IS NOT BANKSY! She's a vandal and a disgrace to the school. If you think that Banksy would draw all over someone else's art?!"
- "Also, hang on, hang on, hang on, can we give it up for Mr and Mrs Adam Fleet!" (final line of her second stint)
- "Number one, they're not allowed to kill you. It's against school rules." (Series 5 Episode 7, replayed as one of the quotes from past and present characters heard at the end of Series 10 Episode 20)
- "How the hell did that get there?" (first line upon her return in Series 11)
- "Yeah. You heard right. Nearly. Because as of now, this school is no longer known as William Beswick High. We've taken the first available name on the council's list. It belonged to a school that was demolished some ten years ago. And I happen to remember it very well. So let's have a big shoutout for your new school. Waterloo Road!"
- "Can you tell Andrew Treneman that he can go and jump off a cliff?"
- Andrew: "Yeah. Took be back a good few years. When we used to work together."
- Kim: "No, we were never that bad."
- Andrew: "Grantly and Steph were higher up your Christmas card list than me."
- Kim: "That is bad."
- Andrew: "She didn't see us."
- Kim: "No. No, no, she definitely didn't. You know she did though, don't you?"
- "No I can't...I can't lose you!" (to Andrew)
- "Everyone keeps...every one keeps telling me that it's gonna be OK, and...and that we're gonna get through this, but...they said that about...about Dexter, and...I can't-I can't hurt like that again."