The Newsletter for the Herts & Essex Alumni

Alumni News September 2020 @HandEHighSchool

www.hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk

Welcome to the seventh edition of Alumni News!

This is a special edition, as it has been a time of

unprecedented change and challenge with the school

closed to the vast majority of students from the end of

March to the end of the summer term. During the

closure, educational activity continued very

successfully online, as was evidenced by the hugely

positive feedback we received from parents.

We were pleased to be able to welcome back some of our

Year 10 and 12 students in the latter half of the summer

term and are now delighted to be back and fully open as we commence the autumn term.

Things are certainly different but we are adopting a ‘can do’ attitude and embracing our

new ‘normal’. We are celebrating a record breaking year with exceptional GCSE and A

Level results! We couldn’t be prouder of our Year 11 and 13 students and teaching staff

who achieved such fantastic results under unique and challenging circumstances.

However, before coronavirus pulled the rug out from underneath us, there was a great

deal going on in school. We are pleased to announce that Herts & Essex was awarded the

status of a World Class School at a ceremony at Lady Mitchell Hall, University of

Cambridge, on Friday 13 December. In addition to this, the school has also been

recognised nationally by receiving prestigious awards for our outstanding Key Stage 4 and

5 results last year.

Our fifth Alumni Open Morning was held on 16 November 2019, exactly 110 years since

the Foundation Stone was laid. This was a wonderful opportunity to recognise the long

and successful history of the school. It was brilliant to welcome over 75 of our alumni and

their families.

We were thrilled to welcome the alumni who came back to support us during the spring

term. We had a number of former students returning for National Apprenticeship Week in

February, for the Year 12 Careers Day in March, as well as support for our Big Bang Fair —

I would like to thank everyone involved for giving their time and expertise.

I would also like to thank all of our alumni who contributed to our successful ‘Back to the

Future’ fundraising campaign to create an outdoor wellbeing space for our students. We

hope this will be something positive for our students to look forward to as they return to

school.

I hope you enjoy reading this edition. If you have any comments, contributions or

photos you would like to share please do send them to us.

With best regards, Cathy Tooze Executive Headteacher

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Meet the Team

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Ad Astra : Welcome!

Lucy Gray is the school’s

Communications Officer and

has overall responsibility for

internal and external

communication with the whole

school community.

Lucy has been working at the

school since 2012 and has been

instrumental in reaching out to

our alumni and building on the

work of the former Herts &

Essex Alumni Association.

Eira Barker is our

Development Officer. Many

of you may remember her

from her time teaching

Business at Herts & Essex or

from her fantastic work

behind the scenes (quite

literally) at many of our

school productions. Eira’s

role is instrumental

developing our relationship

with you and the wider

school community.

Jane Barger joined in

November 2019 as the

Alumni and Development

Administrator. Her role is to

keep you updated on

alumni-related and relevant

school news. Jane is also

responsible for maintaining

the database of our alumni

and putting together Alumni

News. If you have a story

you’d like us to include,

send it her way!

We would like to introduce you to our Alumni and Development Team here at Herts & Essex,

to improve our communications and further develop our relationship with you. As an alumni

member we want you not just to be connected to the school’s past but also its future and we

welcome you to join us on this journey.

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Despite the unprecedented circumstances for students nationwide, Herts & Essex is thrilled to an-nounce that their Year 13 cohort have achieved an outstanding set of results for their A Levels this year.

Executive Headteacher, Cathy Tooze, commented: ‘The past few months have tested all of us, and none more so than our Year 13 students. Sitting A Level exams is something of a rite of passage for Sixth Formers, and to have that opportunity snatched away is therefore not to be underestimated. I am incredibly proud that this year’s Year 13 cohort has dealt with this unique and uncertain situation with maturity and intelligence. We are delighted with what they have achieved and they should be equally thrilled. The results are exceptional and are testament to the tremendous hard work and energy that our students have continually put in over the last two years. They are also testament to the consistent dedication and commitment of staff on both an academic and, most significantly this year, on a pastoral level. I would like to thank the whole school community – students, staff, parents and governors – for the care and collaboration that has been evident in supporting the Year 13 cohort so exceptionally this year. Such teamwork builds a solid framework which allows our students to leave us as well rounded, superbly educated young people destined for the best universities and ready to embrace their new opportunities even in these unfamiliar times.’

Caroline Lewis, Deputy Headteacher, Director of Sixth Form, commented, ‘I am so very impressed by our Year 13 students who embraced the situation they were faced with and took everything in their stride. It has been such a privilege to work with them. I am extremely pleased for them and congratulate each one. Not only have they achieved great academic results, but over the course of their time in the Sixth Form, they created active and enthusiastic role models for the rest of the school. They leave us with the confidence of knowing that they can overcome unexpected obstacles and achieve whatever they aim for.’

Emma Kirkham, Headteacher, added, ‘Not only are we delighted with the results but this year’s Year 13 cohort has secured some fantastic destinations including many of the best universities in the world. A handful of examples includes: Professional Dance and Musical Theatre at Bird College, Law at Birmingham, Language and Linguistics at Birmingham, History at Cambridge, Classics at Cambridge, Classics at Durham, Maths at Exeter, Law at Kings College London, Psychology at Kings College London, Medicine at Leeds, Dentistry at Liverpool, Accounting at Loughborough, Medicine at Oxford, Medicine at Nottingham, Veterinary Medicine at Nottingham, Film & TV at Norwich University of the Arts, Animation at Norwich University of the Arts, Veterinary Medicine at Royal Veterinary College, Architecture at Sheffield, Medicine at Sheffield, Fashion Design at University of the Arts London, Medicine at Southampton, Economics at UCL, Modern Languages at Warwick, Classics at Warwick as well as some highly competitive apprenticeships.’ Some of the top achievers included: Ella Piron, A*A*A*A*A* - Medicine, St Johns, University of Oxford Victoria Dominiczak, A*A*A*A* - Economics, UCL Grace Haynes, A*A*A*A* - Law, Gonville & Caius, University of Cambridge Elody Alcaraz A*A*A*A*A - Economics at UCL Nurya Dunsire A*A*A*A* - Law, Kings College London Honor Kitson, A*A*A*A* - Medicine, University of Leeds Lydia Butson, A*A*A*A* - Modern Languages with Linguistics, University of Warwick Erin Evett A*A*A* - Classics, University of Durham

Benjamin Jenkins A*A*AA - Mathematics with Finance, University of Exeter Olivia Court A*A*A* - Psychology, University of York Isabella Prichard A*AAB - Fashion Contour, University of the Arts, London Samantha Mowbray A*A*AA - Architecture, University of Sheffield Alis Kingston, A*AA - English Language, University of Birmingham Hayley Ng, A*A*AA - Medicine, University of Sheffield Emilia Kings, A*A*A - Medicine, University of Southampton Kira Knight, A*A*AA - Psychology integrated Masters, University of York Winnie Sowter, A*A*B - Textile Design, University for the Creative Arts Elizabeth Elmer, A*AA - Psychology, Kings College London Joshua Franklin, A*A*A *- History, Corpus Christi, University of Cambridge Sacha Hudson, A*A*A - Law, University of Birmingham Charne Smith, A*AAB - Marketing & Management, University of Loughborough Julia Sage, A*A*A - Film & Television Production, University of York

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As already noted, 2020 has to go down as the most uncertain year in terms of results for both A Levels and GCSE, but our GCSE results were once again solid and successful. They were anything but uncertain with the number of grade 9s in all subjects consistently high, those in English and Maths being exceptional in particular. Executive Headteacher, Cathy Tooze, commented, ‘With all the upheaval and last minute changes from the DfE and Ofqual, our students have had to cope with levels of stress that have been higher than usual. I am thrilled that they have achieved the results they deserve which have come out of hard work and determination. I have nothing but admiration for the way they have dealt with the situation. The consistency of these results gained by Herts & Essex at such a high level, despite everything, is a testament to the hard work, dedication, focus and partnership of the whole of our school community. I am grateful to everyone who has been part of achieving this success, be they a student, a parent or a member of staff.’ Emma Kirkham, Co-Headteacher, said, “I am delighted for our Year 11 students. They fully deserve these amazing results. Their determination, hard work and stoicism in the light of the Covid19 situation, has certainly paid off. We are very proud of them all and I am thrilled that they now have so much to celebrate. Such results are a great foundation on which to start sixth form studies and I look forward to seeing the majority of them here in September”.

Herts & Essex

Year 11

2019-2020

Grade 9 Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 6

CAVANAGH Charlotte 10 0 0 0

SCHILDER Aimée 10 0 0 0

CAVANAGH Louise 9 1 0 0

COULBECK Millie 9 1 0 0

DIGGINS Sophia 9 1 0 0

LI Elizabeth 8 2 0 0

HORTON Emma 7 3 0 0

LEIGHTON Natalia 7 3 0 0

HALL Lilian 6 4 0 0

CHURCH Evelyn 5 5 0 0

GALLAGHER Léa 7 2 1 0

COLES-SMITH Chloe 6 3 1 0

ALEXANDER Amy 5 4 1 0

Grade 9 Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 6

GILKES Alexandra 4 5 1 0

WALKER Hannah 3 6 1 0

SEAKHOA-KING Kimberly 7 1 2 0

KELLY Daisy 4 4 2 0

SHAH Emilia 3 5 3 0

FORD Sophia 2 6 2 0

WILKS Sophie 2 6 1 1

ALLERTON Grace 1 7 1 1

PIRON Madeleine 6 1 2 1

SPRAGG Bethan 5 2 3 0

KELLAWAY Isabelle 4 3 3 0

HART Lily 2 5 3 0

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Alumni Open Morning

On Saturday 16 November 2019, we were delighted to

welcome back to H&E over 75 of our alumni and their

family members to our Open Morning to celebrate the

110th anniversary of the laying of the Foundation Stone.

As with every alumni event we have hosted, there was

much fun, laughter and chatter! We were particularly

thrilled to see former Headmistress Miss Hammersley

catching up with some of her former pupils after such a

long period of time. Current Sixth Formers were on hand to

give tours of the school and there was an opportunity for

our alumni to reconnect over tea and cake!

‘Thank you for a lovely morning. It was wonderful to see

old friends and to have the opportunity to chat with Miss

Hammersley. It was really nice to walk around and remi-

nisce, oh, so many memories!’

Thank you to all those who attended.

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This year, not to be outdone by the Covid

situation, we took our annual Awards Evening

online and created a virtual Awards 2020. We

were delighted that alumna Kathie Bowden (H&E

1970-1977), who would have been here in the

flesh under normal circumstances, recorded her

inspirational words from the relative comfort of

her own garden! Cathy Tooze also recorded her

congratulatory message to all the students who

have received School Prizes or Special Awards

acknowledging their hard work and dedication over the past academic year.

Whilst it wasn’t the same as the real thing, it went a good way to celebrate all

the amazing achievements of students from all year groups. It was also

testament to the ‘can-do’ attitude of staff and students alike who made it

happen; ‘initiative’ is one of our core values, and it certainly was a fantastic

illustration of that!

We are also proud that Herts & Essex has recently achieved a World Class

School Quality Mark (WCSQM) which is awarded to non-selective state schools

that offer the best education to young people

in the UK. WCSQM assessment requires

schools to demonstrate that their students are

capable of compiling comprehensive evidence in support

of their application. All applicant schools must exceed a

challenging threshold in their Key Stage 2 or 4

performance before being invited to apply. Their

students must then develop a compelling case for

accreditation through detailed auditing of their school's

capabilities, video submissions in support of their applica-

tion, and participating in an assessment centre event, at

which their performances are measured against a

challenging framework.

We are also delighted by the outstanding

progress our students make

which ranked us in the top

5% of schools in 2019. We

really do keep reaching for

the stars!

Celeb

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Success

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Mic

hel

le R

ow

e (H

&E

19

95

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02

) In

spir

e M

alaw

i I first travelled to Malawi as a

volunteer teacher in 2003 as a

GAP year after H&E before

going to De Montfort

University, Bedford, to train

to teach. Between 2003-2010,

I raised funds to purchase

school resources and

complete minor development

work in a handful of schools, then in 2010, founded the Charity 'Inspire

Malawi'. Our aim is to support, promote and enhance education in rural

Malawi and provide free teacher training opportunities. Jessica Hodges, (a

fellow H&E former pupil 1995-2002) is also a Director as was Julia Jopez

(nee Dockerill) who was also at school with us. In fact, all in the same

Form! Julia stepped down in 2017 after becoming an MP for Hornchurch

and Upminster.

This year we celebrate 10 years of Inspire Malawi, but are celebrating all

the more as we are finalists in two categories in the 'Charity Today Awards',

a National Award celebrating our fundraising and community impact. We

have developed several schools in Dedza and Ntcheu District with projects

including the construction of boreholes, classrooms, toilets, staffrooms,

libraries and school permaculture gardens. Voting opens for the

'Community Impact Award' on 17th August 2020, as a Twitter Poll. Please

visit @CharityAwards and vote for us there!

This year has been a busy one as we started developing Theke Primary

School. A small rural school hidden in the hills at the tail end of the East

African Rift Valley in Masasa, central Malawi. The School had three

classrooms - two made of brick (which had been severely damaged by

Cyclone Idai) and one temporary classroom made

of sticks and grass.

The first stage of development involved us build-

ing two new classrooms from the ground up,

working hand in hand with the local community

who provided sand and bricks for the building.

This was opened in November 2019. Stage two

was the construction of a borehole. Logistically, it

proved incredibly difficult getting the rig up to

the school site which sits atop a hill at the end of a steep dirt road. We finally managed to hire a larger

vehicle in June 2020 and the borehole became operational in July, serving the school and wider

community. Alongside the drilling, we also completely renovated the damaged classroom block proving

new windows, doors and a roof (which had been blown clean off of the old classrooms). These new rooms

await painting/decorating and opening as our plans to travel to Malawi in April were cancelled due to the

outbreak of Coronavirus. The final phase of our development at Theke is to build a library and this began

in July 2020.

We have had many schools, around the world, supporting us with our fundraising efforts this year

(including Primary Schools in New Zealand and Taiwan). Particularly in raising funds for the new library and

in collecting second hand books. We had a ‘book drive’ during Kindness Week at my school in London and

various schools across Cambridgeshire and Devonshire and Yorkshire supported us on World Book Day. I

have a team of Newton Prep teachers flying out to Malawi in October half term to help transport the

beautiful books, paint the library and provide free CPD to the teachers

of Theke Primary School and a variety of plans in the pipeline. The

impact of Coronavirus on our small Charity will be huge, particularly

regarding fundraising as all public events we had planned for this year

have been cancelled. If you, your school or organisation would be

interested in supporting us or connecting with our partner schools in

some way then please do get in touch with me directly at

lizulu@hotmail.co.uk.

You can keep up to date with our work by following us on Twitter or

Instagram @inspire_malawi or by visiting our website,

Big

Ban

g Scien

ce Fair

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Maisy Fuller (H&E 2005-2011) - A Profile

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I currently work as a Marine Educator in the Caribbean where I

have been based for nearly two years. I have been lucky enough

to have worked all over the world at various conservation pro-

jects as both a researcher and an educator.

From a young age, I have been captivated with nature and grew

up dreaming of crazy adventures in the wilderness. My journey

to becoming a Marine Educator started when I studied Marine

Biology at the University of Southampton. During the summer

break after the first year, I volunteered with a turtle nesting

project in Greece, which solidified 3 things to me: 1) I wanted to

work in marine conservation, 2) I loved living in the middle of

nowhere with no modern luxuries and, 3) turtles are the most amazing creatures on this planet. In the

following 4 years, I graduated from university and continued my passion for all things turtle and worked

with turtle conservation projects in Australia, Panama and Malaysia. However, as is the nature of

marine conservation, contracts were short, there was no pay, and I needed to build up my skills set to

become more attractive to potential employers. To do this, I took a job in the Philippines, which

focussed on establishing MPAs by training volunteers to conduct scientific surveys. This job allowed me

to expand my knowledge of coral reefs, improve my scientific survey skills, and gain my PADI Divemas-

ter certification. It also meant that I was responsible for teaching volunteers both in the classroom and

out in the field which was something I had rarely done before. I had always been passionate about

educating the public about the marine world but thought of myself as a researcher rather than an

educator. Who would ever want to listen to me speak to them?...I think I’ll stick with science! However,

I found I loved teaching, and the rest is history. I have been working as a marine educator ever since.

The Big Bang Fair came to H&E on Wednes-

day 11 March. We were pleased to welcome

over 500 students from local schools from

Year 5 to Year 11 competing with their STEM

projects and attending a STEM careers fair

for students full of organisations showcasing

their STEM employment opportunities.

We are grateful to alumni Amy Poulton (H&E

2004-2010), Cosmetics and Personal Care

Industry and Natasha Lane (H&E, 2004-2011)

Digital Project Manager at Barclays and

Mentor to Women in Tech, for giving their

time to exhibit a stand. Our students

thoroughly enjoyed these opportunities.

Reunions!

Unfortunately, a relaxed reunion picnic planned in July for the Class of

1973 had to be cancelled due to Covid 19. The picnic was being held to

celebrate 40 years since the class finished their A Levels and left

Herts & Essex and 20 years since a magnificent 60 of them

met at the school for their first reunion! The picnic is being

rescheduled for next summer and organisers are hoping for a

great turnout of ‘old girls’.

If you hold a reunion, please get in touch and share your photos with us.

Since the last newsletter, we have had several fantastic offers of support, please keep them coming!

If you would like to speak to students, mentor stu-dents via phone or email or offer work experience

placements, please get in touch with us at alumni@hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk

National Careers & Apprenticeship Week

We were delighted to welcome back alumni Hollie Mae Mackay (H&E 2011-2016), Elizabeth Murphy (H&E 1996-2003), Charlie

Instrall (H&E 2017-2019), Mia Papier-Bantick (H&E 2010-2017), Saira Hamilton (H&E 1985-1992) and Alex Fenn (H&E 2015-2017)

to the school as part of our Sixth Form ‘Apprenticeship Week’ which ran from 3-7 February.

Hollie opened the week with an inspiring talk on Law apprenticeships during assembly followed by students attending a variety of

talks led by our alumni on areas such as independent publishing, Chef, Media, Investment Banking and GSK apprenticeships.

We are most grateful to all the alumni who came back in to share their experiences and insights so readily with our current Sixth

Formers. They provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn about apprenticeships and specific careers. We are very

grateful for their support!

Thank you also to all of our alumni who came in for our Year 12 Careers event as part of National Careers Week which took place

from 2-6 March. The school was buzzing with enthusiasm and advice.

Alumna Natasha Lane opened the week with a motivational talk during Assembly, followed by students attending some of the

wide variety of talks on offer from Accountancy, British Transport Police, Writing, Business, Quantity Surveying/Apprenticeships,

Government and Politics, Campaigns and Public Affairs along with workshops on CVs and University choices.

We were delighted to welcome back a number of our alumni. Thanks to Natasha Lane (H&E 2004-2011), Laura Pettitt (H&E 1996-

2003), Dany Atkins (staff alumna, H&E 1995-2015), Victoria Johns (H&E 2006-2013), Alfie Burns (H&E 2012-2014), Ella Fitzsim-

mons (H&E 2007-2014), Corey Kemp (H&E 2012-2015) and Lauren O’Neill (H&E 2001-2008).

‘It was really helpful to speak to ex-students and to ask them questions about their career path’.

Year 12 student

We are very grateful to all our alumni who gave their time to come back and talk to our students - it makes such a difference!

‘Thank you for having me back at Herts and Essex. It was lovely to be part of the day and to have had a tour from two Year 12s’.

Alumna speaker

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We would like to keep in touch with as many of you as possible. You can do so in the following ways:

Fill out the submission form!

If you haven’t already given us all your details, you can do so by filling out the submission form on the

website http://www.hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk/alumni/58985.html

In our endeavour to improve communications we have launched the new Facebook page and updated

the website. You will receive emails about alumni and relevant school news, events, information on

careers days and other ways you may wish to give back.

Check your junk! We have found that some of you experience problems receiving our emails

to your Inbox. If you add alumni@hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk to your address book you will ensure our news does not get lost in your junk folder.

Find us on Facebook! It has been great to see so many of you engaging with “The Hertfordshire & Essex High School Alumni” Facebook page. If you have something you would like to

share: achievements, old photos, memories, please email Jane.

Follow us on Twitter! The school has a twitter feed @HandEHighSchool which regularly tweets out school news. If you’d like to find out more about what’s going on in the school

today, please follow us.

We have such a diverse range of talents and experience amongst our alumni, and students really benefit from your support and they listen because you share a common starting point at Herts &

Essex. If you are able to help in any of the following ways, please contact Jane at alumni@hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk

Act as a mentor to current students in person, by phone or email - Careers days - talk to students about what you've been up to since leaving

Providing work experience opportunities for current students - Help with mock interviews

We do appreciate all offers of support and we will be in contact when opportunities arise. We are looking forward to keeping in touch with you, hearing any news you wish to share, providing a link

with Herts & Essex and developing alumni relations in the future.

With best wishes, Lucy, Eira and Jane

Get in Touch - We Want To Hear From You!

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The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Warwick Road, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 5NJ

tel: 01279 654127; e-mail: admin@hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk www.hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk