Headteacher's Newsletter
April 2021
Welcome Back
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you all enjoyed the Easter break and welcome back to the Summer Term.
It has been a challenging year for us all but I hope you are all feeling like there is some light at the end of the tunnel, with restrictions easing and 'normality' starting to return. I have been so proud of the way our students have coped with the ever changing world around them and it's been lovely to see their smiling faces back in school again this week.
Monday marked a very special day for the school with our new sports facilities being officially opened. I will go into more detail below, but I am so pleased that we have been able to provide our students with a school they can be truly proud of. Having been promised these facilities in May 2019 I'm sure many of our families thought they would never be finished; but despite the restrictions around the school, in terms of movement and space, our students have once again taken the disruption in their stride and it has never had an impact on the way they have conducted themselves, even with an additional 180 students in the school.
The next six weeks are going to be particularly challenging for our Year 11 and 13 students, with many assessments and exams being conducted to ascertain their Teacher Assessed Grades. I would like to wish all of our students the best of luck; they are in many ways in a fortunate position where they will be assessed by the people who know them the best. We have ensured however that there are significant checks and balances in place to make sure the students' achievements are purely based on the work they have produced and also that the number of assessments they fulfil is no more, and in many subjects will be considerably less, than the number of hours of examinations they would have sat had exams gone ahead. Please ensure your child speaks to a member of staff if they are worried about their assessments or need additional support.
I'd like to officially welcome back Mrs Jenkins from Maternity leave who will be continuing with her role of Head of Brunel House. This means Mr Calver, who has done such a tremendous job in Mrs Jenkins absence will be stepping down from the role. He will now be supporting Mr Orton with Year 11 to ensure they have ample opportunity to seek support during the next few months.
I hope the information in the rest of this newsletter is useful to you. Thank you once again for all your support over this year and I look forward to seeing our students settle back in to the routine of school and flourish over the Summer Term.
Daniel Leonard
Headteacher
West Hatch Covid Testing
Reminder about Masks
Students who are Isolating
Since the start of the year our policy, in line with the vast majority of schools, has been to publish lessons on MS Teams as soon as possible for students who are at home. This is not always possible before the lesson but I have asked for the work to be on Teams by the end of the school day. Many other schools have a turn around time of 24 hours after the students timetabled lesson to upload the work.
When we returned in March and had to ask a small number of students to isolate, some parents expected our staff to teach their children live lessons because that is what they had received at home previously during lockdown, however this is not in line with our policy.
Before we broke up for the Easter break many staff, including myself trialled live teaching from inside their classroom, setting up a video lesson for those at home while teaching the class. There has been mixed feedback from teachers and students alike regarding the challenges and benefits of doing so.
We will continue to set work online, preferably before but no later than the end of the day for our students at home. Where teachers feel confident and comfortable in doing so, and the nature of the lesson and or class allow, some teachers will teach lessons live to students at home as well; please note however that this will not be an expectation and our policy remains that lessons are uploaded onto MS Teams.
Year 11 and 13 Assessments
Jenna's Garden Mural Competition
We know many of our students suffer bereavement during their time at school and others just need some time out to contemplate the world around them and get away from the hustle and bustle of school. We hope to have Jenna's Garden completed by the summer so that students are able to access it from September.
Below you can see the shortlisted entries, selected by Julie Wilkins, Jenna's mother and founder of her foundation. The top three will be awarded with their prizes later this week by Julie Wilkins, and the first and second place winners will have their designs painted on the walls in Jenna's Garden. Well done to all of our entries, I know how difficult the decision has been to decide the winners.
Entry from Alisha Ahmed (Yr.9)
Entry from Erin Sands (Yr.7)
Entry from Hatice Zaman (Yr.10)
Parenting Help for Emotional Wellbeing
New Cycle Shelter
Our Sports Centre
As you know this has truly been a labour of love and I'd like to thank all of the staff involved, particularly our Business Manager, Mrs Barker who has been instrumental in getting us to this point. I'd also like to thank our Governing Body for their continued support over the last three years of the project.
The building includes a four badminton court sports hall, sprung floor dance studio, classroom and state-of-the-art fitness suite.
The Sports Centre has been named the Howarth Hall in honour of our former Headteacher Frances Howarth and she joined us for the opening ceremony on Monday.
Having agreed to increase the school's pupil admission number by an additional 60 students per year from September 2018, Essex County Council funded additional facilities at the school, building a nine-classroom English and Languages block as well as additional Science, Music, Technology classrooms and an extended dining area. The Sports Centre is the final piece of the puzzle and the school now has the capacity it needs to support the additional students in each year group.
I am so proud of what we’ve achieved but also how well the students and staff have coped with the disruption and delays of the project. We finally have facilities we can be truly proud of.
The school's sports facilities including the swimming pool, extensive courts and fields and the new sports centre including the dance studio are available for hire by external clubs.
For more details, email the school's finance office at finance@westhatch.net.
Being Respectful to the Local Residents
Tracey Coffey
Mrs Coffey had been very unwell for a long time and had battled hard to try to overcome her illness. She leaves behind her husband Chris and two children Dylan and Charlotte. Mrs Coffey started with us in October 2011 as a Science Technician and her hard work, organisation, knowledge and straight talking earned her promotion to Head Technician in July 2014. Mrs Coffey was extremely diligent and worked exceptionally hard for the Department; she will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her.
Our thoughts and love are with Mrs Coffey's family at this difficult time, as well as the other families within our community who have suffered bereavement recently.
Staff Leavers
I am pleased to announce that Mrs Edmundson-Palmer has joined us as a Teacher of Social Sciences from the start of this term and we have appointed successfully into Science from September.
Important Dates for your Diary
Thursday 29th April - Year 7 Parents Evening (online appointment system)
Monday 3rd May - Bank Holiday
Thursday 13th May - Year 11 and 13 Virtual Awards Evening
Friday 28th May - Inset Day - no students in school
Monday 31st May - Friday 4th June - May half term
Monday 7th June - final half term begins
Wednesday 23rd June - Inset Day - no students in school
Tuesday 20th July - break up for Summer
Our Students' Achievements
Ella Daley (Yr.9)
During the lockdown Ella continued with her acoustic guitar lessons online. She submitted recordings online to be assessed by an Examination Panel for her Grade 7 qualification and achieved a Distinction. Ella is now studying for her Grade 8. Well done Ella.
Thea Bouskila (Yr.8)
Thea is continuously growing with her interest in music. She writes her own music and makes main stream songs her own. She made it to the last 60 contestants out of 10,000 from the The Voice. Well done Thea what a great acheivement!
Max Lewis (Yr.11)
Martina Dainauskaite (Yr.7)
Martina keeps dancing from home and competing in International Competitions. She became champion in Latin and Ballroom in both age categories U12s and U14s at Blackpool Spring Festival of Dance Live Online. Keep up the great work Martina.
Eva Miller (Yr.7)
Eva has been working hard on some logo designs for a new website that she is launching with her dad (just for fun!). They have recently launched it via Instagram, and all of the designs are Eva’s own creations for clothing and homeware merchandise. Her inspiration being her dog Ted. Great work Eva. Please take a look at her website www.frenchie-one.co.uk
Cordelia Hankin (Yr.8)
Cordelia has been creating amazing meals at home for her family. She is now the weekend chef, making delicious omelettes, stir fries, and cakes. She made a special mother’s day cake for her Nan who was so proud. Well done Cordelia.
Joshua Lord (Yr.11)
Joshua has been invited to perform in the Virtual Festival of Music organised by the Rotary of Woodford & Leytonstone on Friday May 21st. It is in support of a few charities but in particular raising money for Haven House Children’s Hospice a charity very close to Joshua’s heart after they helped his family when his cousin Molly passed away at 8 years old in 2010.
Skye Morley (Yr.10)
Skye entered into the Stratford & East London 2021 Music Festival in February. She sang in three categories: Songs from the Shows, Popular Songs and Solo Grade 4-6. She was awarded two Commendations and a Merit. Well done Skye.
Meghana Pirabaharan (Yr.7)
Meghana has been selected to take part in the Young Writers Program and is having her work published in a book. Well done Meghana and we look forward to showcasing your book once it has been published.
And Finally....
When I was appointed as Headteacher four years ago I couldn't have possibly believed the challenges we would be facing in the years to come. However, as always our community has pulled together and our students, despite the significant increase in numbers in each year, have continued to thrive and show the morals and values we work so hard to instil in them.
This Term marks a point in history for West Hatch with our school finally fully open for business and I know that whatever the next four years throw at us we will be able to take it in our stride and continue to flourish as a community.
I want to thank all of our families, Governors, students and staff for their continued support, and hope that it won't be long until we can fully open our doors once again to you all.