| Motto | Rebuilding Lives |
|---|---|
| Established | 1998 |
| Principal,CEO | Christina Wells |
| Location | Ashgrove Road Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1SR England |
| Website | www.westheath.kent.sch.uk |
The New School at West Heath (or simply The New School) is an independent school in Sevenoaks, in southeast England. It caters for children for whom mainstream schooling has become insufficient, for varying reasons. While many are not mentally or physically disabled, many have been through harsh circumstances and suffer from related things such as emotional trauma, which fits with the school's motto, "Rebuilding damaged lives."
The school, founded in its current form as a charitable trust on 14 September 1998 as The Beth Marie Centre, is based in 31 acres (13 ha) of parkland on lease from Mohamed Al-Fayed, who has contributed almost £3 million GBP towards the school. The building formerly housed the school where Diana, Princess of Wales received her childhood education along with her two older sisters, Sarah and Jane. It was then called West Heath Girls School and was a very exclusive girls school with around 100 boarding pupils.
"The school is becoming a real living memorial to the life of Diana, Princess of Wales and her companion Dodi Al Fayed." --Valerie May, Principal
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The old school house was originally built in the 18th century and was the home of the Elliot family.
It became a school in 1932, at the time being West Heath Girls School, a very exclusive girls' school with around 100 boarding pupils. Both Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales and her sister Sarah (now Lady Sarah McCorquodale) spent their childhood education there. Other notable alumni include Issy Van Randwyck, and Tilda Swinton.
In the 1990s, the school got into financial difficulties due to falling numbers of pupils attending the school, and was placed into receivership in 1997.
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund wanted to buy the school at first, but decided against it, and Mohamed Al Fayed stepped in to buy West Heath for £2,300,000 on the 20th May 1998 as new premises for the Beth Marie Centre. He had previously seen for himself work being done by the Centre's founder, Valerie May, in a collection of portable buildings. Al Fayed later pledged to contribute a further £550,000 towards equipping the school and visits frequently, continuing to show his support for the school.
The school was founded in its current form, with Valerie May as Principal, on the 14th September 1998 and at the start the school had around 30 pupils. Boarding began in the year 2000, and there are six boarding houses, each named after one of the Trustees (see Management, below); Tarrant, Sissons, Astor, Ruth, Hunniford and Esther.
As well as the Old School a more modern teaching block was built to increase the classroom capacity and overall space for the school.
Founding patron: Mohamed Al-Fayed, of Harrods fame and father of the late Dodi Al-Fayed
The school is governed by a board of nine Trustees/Patrons (who are the tenants of the Al Fayed Charitable Foundation):
School management:
Unlike many schools, Ofsted inspection documents are not available online. Ofsted inspection, Policy, syllabuses, schemes of work and National Curriculum documents can be made available on request to the Head of Education.
Possible disabilities include: Acute stress disorder, Addiction, Affective spectrum, Agoraphobia, Anorexia nervosa, Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD), Asperger syndrome, Autism spectrum/High functioning autism, Avoidant personality disorder, Bipolar/Bipolar spectrum, Bulimia nervosa, Conduct disorder, Developmental delay, Clinical depression, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Epilepsy, Exhibitionism, Gender identity disorder, Genetic disorders, Hysteria, Nervous breakdown, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), Oppositional defiant disorder, (ODD), General anxiety disorder (GAD), Impulse control disorder (Kleptomania, Intermittent explosive disorder, Pyromania, Pathological gambling, Trichotillomania), Emotional or behavioural difficulties, Pathological demand avoidance (PDA), Panic attacks, Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Self-harm (SH), Separation anxiety disorder/School refusal, Selective mutism, Semantic pragmatic disorder, Social anxiety (Social phobia), Tourette syndrome, and other various mental health problems.
However many of the disadvantaged students have never had the opportunity to get a formal Statement of Special Needs (SSEN) for various reasons.
It received some money from Children in Need in 2004, and teachers and students also partook in fund-raising activities for Children in Need as a whole, for example sponsored silences, head shaves, makeup-for-the-day and so on.
GCSE grades:
Key Stage 3 tests [4] (not GCSE):
GCSE grades [3]:
As well as the school teaching students from Years 7 to 11, the school operates a section allowing students to get "support" from the school while going to college - the school itself does and cannot afford staff to teach A-level quality subjects itself. Many continue boarding at the school while going to college from there. Due to many of the students living far away, once they start a College course while staying with the Post 16 section of the school, it is very hard for them to move to another college if they change their mind and wish to stop boarding at the school. Often students are given the option of abandoning their college course and the qualification they have worked for a year on, or moving to another college and leaving the school. Most students just cannot afford their own transport and Local Education Authorities (LEAs) work on a yearly basis and will not help pay for transport if a student wishes to leave the school.
The New School has set up a fundraising drive, FaCE (Fund a Child's Education) to enable it to help enable children in need of the school to move from its very large waiting list of potential students. They appreciate any help, be it a donation, fundraising by a coffee morning, or corporate sponsorship.