Sue Demont's Blog

The last week has been quite an emotional one as the reality of the closing of HCC has begun to hit home. On Monday evening we said our formal farewells to the Governors, a splendid band of individuals who have worked tirelessly in support of HCC throughout my 5½ years here. Presentations were made and tributes paid, in particular to the work of Bernadette Lee, Chair of Curriculum & Standards; Lance Garrett, Chair of Finance & Premises; Bob Edmonds, Vice Chair of Governors, and most of all Diane Chidzey, our Chair of Governors, who appointed me as Principal back in October 2004. Many other governors have made significant contributions to the curriculum, our arts specialism, the appointment of staff, appraisals and pay reviews, and less enjoyably but very importantly, to exclusion panels, disciplinary hearings and formal attendance meetings. I thank them all for their time, their support and their wisdom, and am delighted that I will continue to benefit next year from the input of four current governors through the new Academy Council – Philippa Winchester, Ralph Nathan, Bob Edmonds and Amanda Taylor – which meets for the first time on Monday.

Saturday night saw another somewhat poignant occasion when our annual staff party morphed into a ‘Farewell to HCC’ from colleagues past and present. It was good to welcome, and in some cases meet for the first time, staff who had taught both at HCC and previously Rectory School, including former deputy head Netta Ford, Hilary Dodman, Gloria Routledge and more recently, John Clark. Linda Carpenter co-ordinated the whole event brilliantly and the hall looked a treat – again a huge thank you is due to those staff who gave up their time to decorate the hall so beautifully and assemble all the HCC and Rectory School memorabilia which aroused great interest amongst the current staff. Loved the picture of Ms. Yeatman’s hair and Mr. Scruby in his HCC school uniform  – and no, we couldn’t identify the young Mrs. Drennan! Thanks also to our in-house musicians Chris Firmin (drums) and Jonny Logue (guitar/ vocals) for entertaining us alongside the disco; not many schools have a business manager who doubles as a jazz drummer and a Head of Music with such an astonishing vocal repertoire spanning five decades of hits!

There will be a few more ‘last of’ and ‘end of’ events in the week to come, but then it’s full steam ahead to 1^st September when Hampton Academy officially opens its doors (though please note that school does not start for students until Monday 6^th September). A letter detailing the arrangements for the start of the new school year, including collection of the Hampton Academy Dress Code for Years 8-11, will be published separately to parents this week.

It’s difficult however to feel too sad about what is passing, when what’s to come is potentially so exciting. Indeed, our students have already been looking ahead to their new school. Friday’s cross curricular day focused on ‘Our Future’ with students meeting together in their new colleges with their base group tutors, choosing their college names (to be published shortly), and putting together presentations and creative writing pieces on their hopes and aspirations for Hampton Academy. It was interesting to see how closely these mirrored both the ideals and the issues raised by staff, who conducted a similar exercise several months ago. We intend to address the points raised by students through our College Councils, each of which will send two representatives to the Student Council to meet with me at the end of every half term, and two of whose members will sit on the Academy Council.

There have been many memorable events over the past three weeks. Last Thursday saw a remarkable first with Mr. Molin’s ‘Bridge the generation gap’ initiative, run jointly by Year 7 and Year ‘9½’ students for senior citizens from the local community. Our many guests, who included Mr. Molin’s grandfather and my own mother, feasted on Victoria sponge, took part in a range of activities from knitting to bingo, entered a quiz and a raffle, and enjoyed personalised tours of the school.

All the students involved deserve credit but particular thanks must go to Year 7 students Jack (Cramp), Sean, Keenan and Paris whose organisation of the whole occasion (which lasted several hours) was truly impressive.

Other highlights have been Sports Day at Lady Eleanor Holles School; three of our Year 10 students performing at Orleans House Gallery, coached by the Rambert Dance Company (well done Robert, Daniela and Lucy); HCC’s Got Talent (well done George and Nicole); the highly successful Rhine Valley residential (thanks to Mr. Ovenden and Ms. Graham); and of course our great success in winning the Richmond Business Partnership Award for our Languages Faculty’s work with HSBC. Well done Ms. Hoseason! You will see these and a multitude of other good news stories on this website – do scroll down and marvel at what a very tired staff can achieve in the last month of a long and particularly challenging year – all whilst preparing to open a new school in September. I salute them.

Finally, readers who have admired the beautiful new Teddington School in the pages of the local press this week, will be wondering whether we can still be confident of our own new building going ahead. As I write, we have no definite answer, though we are assured that one will come before the end of July. Please refer to this website throughout the summer for any updates; it will remain ‘live’ until replaced by the Hampton Academy site which is currently under construction. Speculation on the building is pointless, but I can confirm that our case is being as strongly and widely made as possible. It’s now just a matter of waiting.

With one week to go, another blog is unlikely this side of the holiday. I therefore wish you all a restful and happy summer, and look forward to good news on Tuesday 24^th August when our Year 11 students come in to collect their GCSE results. You’ll read it here first!

Sue Demont

Last week saw a couple of those watershed moments in the life of a school. On Monday I found myself in the palatial surroundings of Sanctuary Buildings, headquarters of the Department for education (formerly the DCSF) for our sign-off meeting. Eight people gathered round a table, watching me give a presentation and then answer questions on our sign-off plan, the purpose of which was to demonstrate that Hampton Academy will be fit for purpose and ready to open on 1^st September 2010. Although the questions felt pretty exacting they appeared satisfied that everything would be in place. Another hurdle jumped!

As we were leaving I became conscious of an air of suppressed excitement and the word ‘minister’ being murmured around the atrium…yes it was none other than the Right Honourable Michael Gove MP, en route to a meeting, flanked by two female bag carriers in typical ministerial mode. Caught unawares, I felt it politic to accept the proffered handshake and smilingly accept his good wishes ‘for the success of the Richmond Academies,’ a project with which he was clearly acquainted. There’s no going back now then!

The next day saw a more precisely historic moment when members of the Learning Schools Trust Board arrived at HCC for their first full meeting in one of their future academies. Hampton was honoured to have been chosen for this important occasion and our students and staff, as expected, more than rose to the occasion. Each visitor received a tour of the school with two specially chosen guides, followed by a combined presentation by the ‘Sweden Six’ on their visit to Kunskapsskola Nykoping and their aspirations for Hampton Academy.

Most eminent amongst our visitors was Governor of Stockholm and former Swedish Minister for Education Per Unckel, the first Chair of the LST Board. It seems to have been my week for meeting ministers! – and the contrast in styles was interesting. We were also pleased to welcome Nick Jones, Principal Designate of Twickenham Academy, which opens together with Hampton on 1^st September, and Nancy Robinson, P.D. of Ipswich Academy, whose consultation period is currently moving towards its conclusion in anticipation of a January 2011 opening (depending on the outcome of the consultation). It is always valuable to meet and discuss common issues with fellow headteachers and I look forward to working more closely with Nancy in the months ahead.

On the same theme, the LBRUT Secondary Headteachers’ Conference was the usual enjoyable affair including a really helpful (from my point of view) presentation from the Headteacher of Teddington School on managing a new build. My fellow heads took a lively interest in our plans for Hampton and Twickenham Academies, and all took part in a constructive discussion with the Director of Children’s Services about the future plans for Richmond secondary schools in the changing educational landscape occasioned by a change of government, a change of administration locally, and the opening of three new academies (the third being Shene School, under the AET) from September. A theme likely to be revisited regularly over the next few months.

Against all this ‘high end’ activity, not to mention some football tournament or other, the life of HCC continues apace with our summer programme of visits and journeys in full swing. Students have already been to Boulogne and Ypres, with Box Hill and the Rhine Valley still to come. Our maths and technology awards evening was a great success, one of the high points being the return of former student Adam Bartlett (who by his own acknowledgement was not the most committed of the Class of 2009…) Adam was able to put across with real conviction the importance of gaining a maths qualification in order to succeed in your chosen career. Our thanks go to Ms. Broome and Ms. Rodgers and their teams for running this delightful event.

Notwithstanding the significant events of Monday and Tuesday, the absolute high spot of last week for me was the private view of our GCSE Art Exhibition, which was better than ever, and a real tribute to the tireless work of Ms. Jackson-Stevens and Ms. Graham with their students over the past two years. Congratulations also to Roseanne Mills of Richmond House and her key worker Mrs. Murawska; Rosie is the first RH student to complete a GCSE in Art and exhibit her work alongside HCC’s Year 11. The standard of work was excellent with a potentially record number of ‘A’ grades, and it was good to welcome so many visitors, including local councillor Darren Thornton, veteran Rotarian Mike Bayes, who is a fantastic supporter of the education of young people in our community, and several HCC Governors, alongside the families and friends of our students. Numerous guests commented on the outstanding use of colour in this year’s work – a true feast for the eyes which enriched all who saw it.

With just four weeks to go, Hampton Academy is becoming very real. The signs and display screens in reception are up; the new minibus has been purchased and sprayed; and our environmental improvements for September are well in hand. We will shortly be welcoming our new Year 7 on their Primary Transfer Day as the first cohort of students who have chosen to attend Hampton Academy; and their transfer day will include some hands-on experience of our new and exciting thematic curriculum (which incidentally was praised for its innovation at Monday’s DFE meeting).

These are exciting and occasionally daunting times, but the future looks bright for the education of young people in Hampton. Whether it looks equally bright for the England Team and Signor Capello – you’ll know by the time you are reading this!

Sue Demont