School pupils returned to classrooms across Britain last week for the new academic year. In advance, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson issued a national warning to parents about absentee levels: “Every day of school missed is a day stolen from a child’s future,” she declared in a BBC interview.

But in Hastings over 1,400 school-age pupils were not in class at all in 2024/25. According to figures obtained from East Sussex County Council (ESCC), 1,221 of them had been opted out of both state and private schools and were registered as being ‘elective home-educated’. In addition, there were other children categorised as ‘missing in education’ – 200 of these in 2023/24. Figures for last year are not yet available, but if the trend of the last four years was not reversed, that number will have been even higher – and will be higher yet this autumn for both ‘home ed’ and ‘missing’.

The exodus from mainstream schooling has been taking place over at least ten years. In 2015/16 the number of home-eds in the borough was 356. The top graph on page 4 reveals a steady rise since then, accelerating during the Covid pandemic and briefly checked in its aftermath, but gathering pace again over the last three years. The graph below on the same page shows that, over this latter period, it is principally the pupils of secondary school age (Year 7 and above) who have been staying away.

The school most affected last year was Ark Alexandra Academy, with 94 new home ed cases among its former pupils (compared to 18 in 2015/16). But the trend has been increasing even faster at both St Leonards Academy (57 last year compared to just 4 in 2015/16) and Hastings Academy (33 last year compared to 5 in 2015/16). Ten years ago, there was an even split between home eds of primary and secondary school ages. Now 70% are in the latter age range.

Some general reasons why parents and children opt out of school education are explored in the Opinion piece on page 4, whilst the potentially positive benefits of home ed are enthusiastically endorsed alongside by parents who have embraced that option. However, poor performance of Hastings secondary schools, as measured both by exam results and by Ofsted inspections, should also be taken into account.

In 2009 48% of pupils in Hastings and Rye obtained five or more GCSEs at grades A to C in Year 11. That compared to 50% in the UK as a whole. Over the 15 years since, the local percentage has stalled at similar levels (last year it was 51%) while the national average has steadily climbed (to 67% last year). Pupils classified as ‘disadvantaged’ on socio-economic scales have performed even worse – just 11% of them achieved this pass rate in Hastings, well below the average of similarly disadvantaged pupils elsewhere across the country.

As for overall Ofsted ratings, Ark Alexandra has languished in the ‘Requires Improvement’ category for the past 15 years. Over the same period, Hastings Academy has slipped from ‘Good’ to ‘Requires Improvement’, while St Leonards Academy has tumbled from ‘Good’ to ‘Inadequate’.

In April this year the Hastings District branch of the National Education Union (NEU) wrote to Hastings & Rye MP Helena Dollimore declaring that the education system in her constituency was “in crisis”, and warning that without immediate and sustained funding it would collapse.

The union described to her a local education picture of schools “pushed to the brink by years of underfunded pay awards”; SEND provision “collapsing with EHCP delays, tribunal cases and desperate families”; major buildings suffering from asbestos and RAAC defects; support staff receiving “poverty pay” while facing “unrealistic expectations”. The NEU called for an above-inflation pay award, for the restoration of local democratic controls, i.e. an abandonment of the academy system, and for the abolition of Ofsted.

Dollimore herself hosted a Schools Summit in July, bringing together 20 local headteachers of both primary and secondary schools, and officers from both the Department for Education and ESCC. She reported in the aftermath that “our educational inequalities are nothing short of a national scandal”, and declared that she would “keep standing up for young people in our area to get the best state education possible”. The evidence of the figures set out above is that, in the judgment of many parents, that’s not worth waiting for.

An estimated 900 enthusiastic visitors attended Hastings’ first model railway exhibition for five years. Held at Hastings Academy, the show presented both 0 and N gauge miniatures referencing everything from a Sussex village, Swiss Alps and steampunk. Pride of place went to an impressively detailed Staffordshire pottery diorama, with smoking kilns and a canal in addition to trains. Built by Gillian Peters, in 2017 it won a Stuttgart exhibition award, beating 200 others. The smallest exhibits were travelling layouts, tiny enough to fit inside a little alloy suitcase.

This was a family day out, where tiny trains, houses, cars and people inhabited intricate idealisations of remembered and imagined worlds, and traditional craft skills combined with new tech computerised controls of signals and points.

Organiser Dawn Quest arranges shows around the country and intends to return to Hastings next year with more community involvement and a possible link with Men in Sheds. Her love of model railways began when asked to paint figures on a friend’s train set: “Before I knew it, I was hooked – it wasn’t long before I was painting and creating scenery and designing layouts.”

Dawn is a former journalist, writer and TV producer, including BBC1’s flagship Breakfast programme. “It felt like a natural progression to combine my journalistic and TV skills with my hobby and create the Model Railway Quest series on YouTube, featuring interviews with model railway builders, shows and tutorials,” she says. Dawn’s own efforts have a movie theme and include The Ladykillers and Brief Encounter, the latter in monochrome, as is the film.

The South Saxons men’s team have stormed to the Martlets league title for 2024-25 with two matches to spare. Defeating their closest challengers East Grinstead 3rds 3-1 away last Saturday, they put themselves ten points clear.

In what could be their last season at Horntye before the intended relocation to a new ground being built at Hastings Academy in Ore, the team has flourished,with many of its players promoted from the second team of the year before. Next year they’ll be back in Division 1 proper of the South East League – whether in the east or west section will depend on other promotion and relegation issues.

The second team is still fighting hard to stay in the top Martlets division with two home games left to play.

South Saxons women are also poised to win their own Martlets championship. After improving their goal difference by winning 6-0 away against bottom team Horsham 4ths last weekend, they are three points ahead of 2nd-placed East Grinstead 3rds, so a win and a draw from their last two matches would secure the title. However, neither fixture looks easy. Tomorrow (Saturday) they host third-placed Brighton & Hove 3rds; on the final day, 5 April, they have to travel to play another challenging team, Lewes 2nds.

If they do get promoted, they too will have to wait to find out whether they’ll be travelling east or west for away games in the higher league come the autumn.

South East Hockey League Div 1 Martlets (Men) – Top Three

South East Hockey League Div1 Martlets (WOMEN)  – Top Four

The Government has committed to abolishing the current Academy Schools’ funding model following the intervention of local MP Helena Dollimore in the House of Commons on 9 December. 

The Labour and Cooperative Member of Parliament told the Education Minister, Catherine McKinnell, that parents, teachers and students in her constituency “were horrified to find out that the University of Brighton Academies Trust (UBAT) has been taking a whopping 20% of the Government grant meant for our local schools and education.” She went on to ask “What is the Minister doing to resolve these issues and make sure that every child in Hastings and Rye gets the best quality education?”

In response, the Education Minister, Gillian Keegan, admitted that the outcomes in some schools in Hastings were “just not good enough.” She said the Department for Education was “determined to drive up standards” and would “continue to work with the University of Brighton Academies Trust on that.” 

The Minister went on to commit the Government “to ending its current financial model and to collaborating with school leaders on future budget setting to ensure we can drive high and rising standards in every school, including in Hastings.”

The move comes after months of negotiations between the teachers’ union, the NEU, and UBAT, attempting to stave off further industrial action. On a ballot in which almost three-quarters of all union members voted back in June, 93% voted to strike, leading to a total of five days of industrial action.

The issue has been ongoing since late April, when it was disclosed UBAT had taken nearly £3 million (25.9%) of the St Leonards Academy’s funds and around £1.1 million (16.45%) from the Hastings Academy and retained the money in their central funding pool – significantly more than the 5-8% that Academy Trusts generally take.

James Ellis, the NEU’s lead representative for local schools, says, “We believe that UBAT has historically been spending huge sums of money on their central team, whilst giving inadequate funding to the schools and frontline services that directly benefit young people in Hastings. This has led to excessive workload for our members and has damaged the quality of education that we can provide for our students.”

Since strike action was suspended in September, UBAT have agreed to a complete change to their funding model and have already made many executive staffing changes, such as the chair of trustees stepping down. As a result, they have requested that the NEU allow them time to reorganise their finances and create a new long-term plan for the trust.

In a statement to HIP, Ms Dollimore said, “since being elected, I have worked to resolve problems with the University of Brighton Academy Trust, which have led to around 3000 children missing school. I share concerns about the management and finances of UBAT, and in recent weeks I have had meetings with Ministers and officials in the Department of Education to raise these issues.”

More than 10,000 schools – nearly half of the UK total – are Academies, run by 1,200 multi-academy trusts. All could potentially be affected by the Department for Education’s new funding model.

We contacted UBAT for comment but have not received a response.

Mrs Hart has launched a petition to compel UBAT to “return the funds that rightfully belong in our schools” and to “transfer control of the schools to an academy trust that prioritises our children’s future…We need this money kept here in Hastings and St Leonards”.

In the meantime, staff at both schools have held an “indicative” ballot for strike action, according to their union, The National Education Union (NEU). The immediate cause is information which has been received by the union that the Hastings Academy is about to lose agency support staff. However, the NEU’s district secretary Jenny Sutton has associated this staff cut with the withholding of funds by UBAT. She says that the school has already removed student support managers, that teaching assistants are not being replaced, and that external mental health support is also potentially being lost. Each of these cuts significantly adds to teachers’ workloads as well as undermining children’s education in schools where attendance and achievement rates are already below national averages. 

Further preliminary ballots for strike action are scheduled to be held at two Primary Academies run by UBAT in Hastings and St Leonards, The Baird and Robsack Wood. 

A further school, Hollington Primary Academy, was removed ‘by agreement’ last year to a different trust, Pioneer, because the school was rated by Ofsted as ‘inadequate’.

Ms Sutton agrees with Mrs Hart that UBAT should be compelled to redirect to schools “the excessive amount of public funding they have withheld”. But she believes that all schools should be returned to the control of East Sussex County Council “where there is transparency and democratic accountability”, rather than to another academy trust. 

For a fuller expression of Ms Sutton’s opinion, see Academy Gravy Train on page 9. 

The parent of a current pupil at Hastings Academy said that she has received no information from UBAT about forthcoming staff changes. However, her son had reported to her that a teacher had told his class that staff numbers at the school were being reduced because it was “poor”.

UBAT was asked for its comments on the matters contained in this report but had not responded at the time of going to press. 

The artwork depicts Kizzy Lovell, the central character in Rumer Godden’s 1972 novel, The Diddakoi – described by sculptor Jake Bowers, “as defiant and bolshy as she ever was”. An artist and blacksmith, he is also a member of the British Romany community, estimated at around 200,000 people in the UK..

Bowers is delighted that the sculpture has found a permanent home in a school, where his three daughters all went. He says: “When I went to school there was no mention of our culture at all, our heritage was derided and hated. Using the original Romany craft of blacksmithing was always going to be the best way to create a powerful representation of such a bold, defiant and resilient culture. 

I hope that Kizzy’s presence at the entrance to the school on Rye Road will remind every Romany person that sees her to be proud of the 1,000-year journey our ancestors made from India.” 

The sculpture was created by pupils of the Hastings Academy and Sussex Gypsies and Travellers to mark the 50th anniversary of the novel – set in Rye and later made into a BBC TV series – in a project coordinated by the Hastings-based A Town Explores a Book literary festival. 

Simon Addison, principal of Hastings Academy, is proud to host the statue of Kizzy Lovell on school property. 

Watch out for the Hastings Rocks International Film Festival mid-April. It’s home to independent films that the organisers say “push boundaries across all genres, fiction or non-fictional.” In keeping with Hastings’s culture and history they especially welcome works that explore esoteric themes as well as films made in Hastings. Among the films to be screened – there were 66 last year – will be Mother & Wild, written and directed by Mark Forbes, and filmed on location in Hastings. A bereaved Mum and daughter take a trip to the seaside as they seek to reconnect after a two-year absence.

The festival runs 14-15 April 2023 at the Printworks, 14 Claremont Hastings. rocksfestivals.com. For Mother & Wild trailer: vimeo.com/811649862

PICTURING HIGH STREETS

A three-year project by Historic England is looking to preserve images of Britain’s town centres with a photographic exhibition to “breathe life back into high streets”. People from across the UK are invited to send in their photographs and document what their high street means to them.

A panel then select their favourite photographs for a touring exhibition. Historic England say they are championing an “often-overlooked fixture … to show a sense of community, belonging and pride”.

LIFE OBSERVED 

Photopia is back at the Stade Hall with an inclusive theme of Life Observed; a collective of fifteen local photographers are showcasing their unique take of this subject in different photographic styles and treatments. From quiet moments on the seafront, beauty in crumbling buildings, and colour close-ups of everyday objects to highlighting stark social issues. Custodian and founder, Chris Coombes, says: “It’s a lot to take in. We enjoy the fun and creative journey together with a view to developing local photography.”

Until 14 April 2023, The Stade Hall, 20 Rock-a-Nore Road

CREATING VISIONS

Renowned local sculptor Leigh Dyer’s latest work called Marina, focusing on the environment and educating about plastic waste, got its official unveiling at 15.00 on 5 April. It was commissioned by The Foreshore Trust, is promoted by Sweet and Dandy and was created with the help of students from St Leonards Academy, Hastings Academy, Sacred Heart School, Baird Academy, Christ Church Primary Academy and East Sussex College Hastings. As Leigh says: “I endeavour to create visions that are engaging for all generations”. It has been installed on the seafront in St Leonards to the east of West Marina Gardens: (goo.gl/maps/bjLCAcJkgNQ6em7C8)

MASS DISTRACTION

The Crown is hosting an exhibition by Annie Mackin during April. She’s a Hastings-based artist with a painting style “inspired by Celtic and medieval magical legends as well as the history and pageantry of the town”. Annie has had work exhibited at the De La Warr Pavilion in the mother artist collective she co-founded and co-curated, Babes in Arms. The collective recently took over the studio at Hastings Contemporary for International Women’s Day with an exhibition and performances. Annie is also part of the all-female show at Stella Dore, Women of Mass Distraction.

HUGH  SULLIVAN

Eleven pupils at the Hastings Academy have been “permanently excluded” from the school following their involvement in a protest demonstration there last week. 

The protest took place on the morning of Tuesday 28 February in a deployment organised by school pupils on social media. It was clearly anticipated by the school authorities, who had called in advance for a police unit to attend. 

What Academy Principal Simon Addison has described as “a significant minority of students” refused to attend the first lesson of the day. Instead they paraded within the central grounds of the school protesting against the implementation of certain school policies with regard to toilet access and dress code. 

In particular, they were objecting to the limitation of access to toilets both within and between lessons and to a system in which pupils needing the toilet (including girls menstruating) are required to remain at their desks until an escort (who may be male) becomes available on summons.

“Inadequate toilet provision”

A junior pupil who was not involved in the demonstration has told HIP that toilet provision at the school for the approximately 900 pupils is plainly inadequate, with queues forming to use the cubicles in the five-minute breaks between lessons. Lunch breaks of half an hour also give inadequate time, with late-comers often finding themselves queuing for more than 15 minutes for food provision before being served.    

There was also complaint that the school was refusing to sanction boys wearing shorts.

A number of pupils had brought eggs to school and hurled them at classroom windows. One window was cracked in the course of a fracas.

Teachers joined with police in forming a cordon to shepherd the demonstrating children out of the central area. They were instructed to return to their lessons or, if they refused, were required to leave the school premises.

What parents were told 

Mr Addison sent an email around 11am on the same morning to all parents informing them of the conduct of the protest, which had rendered the Academy “unsafe, disrupting the learning of the majority and resulting in several hundreds of pounds worth of criminal damage”. He added: “I would like to say that the overwhelming majority of students remained in their lessons engaging with their learning. The Academy is now a safe environment conducive to learning and we will contact parents after 11.45am should a student not be present in the academy following registration.”

Mr Addison went on to issue a subsequent email last Friday attributing the organisation of the protest to “a recent trend on TikTok that is causing disruption and concern in schools across the country.

“I want to stress that these types of ‘protests’ can be very dangerous” he wrote, “not only for those involved but also for others who may be caught up in the disruption. We take the safety and well-being of our students very seriously, and any activity that may put this at risk will not be tolerated. Please be aware that any student who takes part in such activities will face sanctions in line with the Academy’s behaviour policy, and if warranted we will not hesitate to involve the police if necessary if there is any violent conduct or conduct that causes damage to Academy property. Regrettably, the disturbance caused at the Academy this week has resulted in eleven students permanently losing their place in our community.” 

Principal’s commitment

The Hastings Academy comes under the umbrella of the University of Brighton Academies Trust, whose website quotes Mr Addison on taking the job of Principal last year: “My commitment to our students, parents/carers and staff is to be a visible and approachable Principal; one who truly champions our students and their many successes… In doing so, I am keen to harness the views and energy of everyone in our community.”

Asked by HIP to make further comment, a spokesperson for the Academy said: “Following recent local and national social media trends encouraging young people to protest, a small group of students held a protest against the use of toilets during lesson time. The Academy does not limit the use of toilets during the school day; however, to ensure the safety of our students, permission during lessons is required.

“Student voice is very important to us. The Academy has several mechanisms already in place to allow our students to voice their concerns, and we encourage our school community to air issues respectfully and responsibly. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our school community and thank them for their ongoing support.”

The spokesperson made no mention of the expulsions.

There have been protest demonstrations at a number of other secondary schools in East Sussex in recent weeks, including at Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings, Heathfield Community College and Hailsham Community College. At Heathfield the pupils were demanding more mental health support, but girls were also taking issue with the school’s skirt hemline policy. 

“All decisions to suspend or permanently exclude a pupil will be taken by the Principal after considering all the circumstances. Every decision made will be proportionate to the seriousness of the behaviour with reference to the academy’s behaviour policy.”

A gov.uk education website states that parents or carers should be invited to a review meeting with the school’s governors if their child has been permanently excluded. If the governors don’t overturn the exclusion, a challenge may then be made within 15 school days via the School Appeals Manager to an Independent Review Panel (IRP) convened by the East Sussex Appeals Service. Where an IRP either recommends reconsideration or quashes the initial decision, it will be considered within 10 further school days. This may involve a rehearing with oral evidence given by the academy and parents or may be a reconsideration with only the governors and a clerk present.

Tasters

St Leonards Ceramic Studio celebrates its first anniversary of work by students and members, having taught more than 300 people in courses, tasters and workshops. They are taking part in Coastal Currents with open studio and sales on 8 and 9 October at 36 Marina. 

www.stleonardsceramics.co.uk 

Folk Cultures

Violinist Max Baillie is joined by Berlin-based star Serbian pianist Ljubica Stojanovic for the next St Leonards Concert – an evening of violin and piano music. The programme includes some music inspired by folk cultures, and two of the great French pieces for violin and piano. Friday 14 October 2022. 

Details and tickets from eventbrite.co.uk

Effervescent 

Barefoot Opera are coming to St. Mary in the Castle on 14 October, with Cenerentola – Rossini’s effervescent comedy. It tells the classic tale of Cinderella with a sparkling new twist. The professional cast is joined by Voiceworks, Arts on Prescription Choir, Seaview Choir and students from Bexhill College and Hastings Academy.

Tickets from www.stmaryinthecastle.org.uk/events

3D Self Portrait

Hastings’ Digital Arts Hub mounts an exhibition and event from the 1 – 8 October. It’s a culmination of this summer’s work and a chance for people to take home personal 3D printed scans as part of the XR22 Project – a digital 3D mass self-portrait of Hastings: its town, culture and its people, using the latest the emerging XR technologies. dah.

hastingscommons.com

Dust and Light

Hastings Contemporary celebrates the gallery’s 10th birthday with three new shows this autumn: Caragh Thuring –
a survey show of paintings, drawing and monotypes created in the last 15 years; Making Waves features artworks from 10 alumni artists and Penny McCarthy presents Cloud falls in Love with mortal – drawings inspired by the clouds, water, dust and light of Hastings.

Afrikaba

Habib Koité one of West Africa’s leading guitarists, returns to the UK for a series of live shows this November, including Sussex Hall, White Rock Theatre, as part of Afrikaba Festival.

www.africannightfever.com

The decision was taken, according to the academy principal Hilary Morawska, after detailed discussion with Public Health England and “in consultation and agreement with “the local authority.” 

The reason given was not the risk of further infection of pupils, but “the number of staff that we currently have self-isolating”. 

The school remains open, however, for the children of “critical workers”. In this definition are not just managers and staff in health and social care services but a much wider range of both public and private sector workers, including those providing education, childcare and general social work,  servicing transport,  working within the justice system, police and national security systems, food production and distribution – even “journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting”.

Children identified as “vulnerable” are also expected to continue to attend, while weekly food boxes can be collected from the school for those who will not be attending but are eligible for free school meals.

In the meantime, the car park of the Academy was used opportunistically last weekend as a temporary ‘pop-up’ virus testing station. As previously reported in HIP, the Hastings area has been poorly served up to now with accessible testing sites, the closest being at Gatwick Airport or Chichester following closure of one at the Amex stadium in Falmer. Another full-time facility was opened at Plumpton racecourse last week, which is still, at best, over an hour’s drive from the town.

But no testing site, permanent or temporary, is open to the public to walk in. You need to have secured a previous NHS referral. This should be offered if you report identifiable symptoms – a high temperature, new and continuous cough, or loss of smell or taste – but won’t be if you merely share a household or have been in close contact with someone who has the virus.

Only around 3% actually processed [Covid-19 tests] turn out to be positive

Testing turnover at Hastings Academy over the two days of the weekend appeared less than brisk. This could suggest that local cases remain low. It might also reflect the logistical difficulties of processing initial reports and marrying them up with short term testing facility time-slots. And it may also be that the reported bottlenecks in laboratory processing mean that test numbers need to be rationed.

Those attending at the Academy were being told that results should be provided to them within a period of two to four days. It will be interesting to hear whether this results in a spike in local cases.

Public Health England issues statistics for numbers of tests being undertaken and numbers of cases identified. They can’t tell us the numbers of people who believe they have, or have had, symptoms but don’t manage to get a test – still less, the substantial proportion who may have had the virus asymptomatically. What they do reveal is that currently only around 3% actually processed turn out to be positive.

Schools in Hastings and Rother apart from Hastings Academy have stayed generally open so far since the start of the autumn term, though some specific classes have been closed and sent home.

Hand gel or handwashing is the norm on class exit and entry. Masks are donned in secondary school corridors, pupils are directed down one-way systems, and PE kits worn all day if it’s on the curriculum.

At Claverham College in Battle, year groups are “bubbled”.  They had a positive test case in Year 9 and sent 33 pupils home to self-isolate.

At Rye College, where there has been one confirmed case, students are not kept in one class for all lessons. A parent comments that teachers she has spoken to “feel that they are now getting used to the difference in teaching and the invisible barrier between teacher and pupil groups”.

The school authority has been more concerned at pupils failing to wear masks or socially distance on trains into and out of Rye station – parents have been told that one pupil was reported as having “deliberately coughed on a member of the public”.

At St Leonards Academy a one-way system has been instituted, but it’s reported that this sometimes leads to dead ends or locked hallways and that several year groups may have to wait together until a member of staff arrives. Some pupils in Year 10 have been compelled to drop one or more GCSEs because of school closures.

Some primary schools have clearly experienced social distancing issues among parents at drop-off and collection. At Battle and Langton C of E, children are required to line up outside in separate bubbles to be let in at 5-10 minute intervals, with the road and car park shut off. Other schools have made similar adaptations.

But, in general, primaries are praised by parents for in-school organisation. One mother said: “My son attends St Pauls C of E Academy [in Hastings], he has had a very pain-free experience within the school. It has been quite an adventure for him to eat his lunch in the classroom.   We were worried that the school would be very aggressive in the way they approached social distancing at play times but he has not been affected by this.” 

Teachers at St Pauls do, however, even in reception class, wear gloves, and wash their hands every time they touch a child.

Another mother, with children at both primary and secondary schools, comments: “Mine are both very happy to be back at school, and both adjusted very well to any new arrangements – a lot better than I thought they would. I’m just hoping we don’t get shut down, as my oldest has just started his GCSEs and finds learning from home extremely hard.”

On Wednesday 5th June, almost 120 year nine pupils from Hastings and St Leonards commuted to Canary Wharf in London for a unique careers experience arranged by the Hastings Opportunity Area (HOA). The students, from Hastings Academy, Ark William Parker, Ark Helenswood and St Leonards Academy, were hosted by some of the world’s biggest multinationals, including Citibank, ANZ Bank, Clearstream, Fitch Ratings and Barclays. They took part in a range of workshops, Q & As and tours around skyscrapers and trade floors. 

Year Nines at Canary Wharf
PIC: Kneecap

Dylan, Alyssia and Owen (all 14) from St Leonards Academy talk us through their day:

What did you know about Canary Wharf before the trip and what were you expecting to find from the day?

Dylan: I’m not actually sure what I’d like to do when I’m older, so I was hoping this trip would open my eyes up to new stuff. I didn’t really have any idea what jobs go on in Canary Wharf – I thought it would be some office jobs, security and receptionists. I’ve never been there before but I’ve driven past it. I knew it was an important place so I was hoping I’d find out what goes on inside today. 

Owen: I was expecting to find out what various jobs there are in that sector of banks. When I’m older I’d be really interested to do something in business. I was hoping it would give us some guidance for the future so we know what we’re going to do. I also wanted to get a sense of what it’s like in the offices. 

Alyssia: I thought it was going to be really busy and very crowded. I didn’t know what many of the jobs were before – I thought it was going to be loads of bankers and then security for the money and people who work in the shops. 

What did you make of the trip?

Dylan: I thought it was amazing! 

Alyssia: It looked like a stereotypical city, with big buildings like in a film. I thought it was really cool how everything works. I was expecting it to be really busy with people running around, but everyone was really calm and everything worked very smoothly. 

Owen: I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’m really happy now!

Which bank did you go to, and what did you learn?

Dylan: We went to Citibank. It’s like a big family almost. There are lots of job opportunities, lots of training opportunities. I’m really surprised to be honest. 

Alyssia: It was very inspiring to see how many people make an impact with their jobs and you don’t even realise. 

Owen: The banking industry has a lot of different jobs to offer. Computer programming, and marketing. You don’t think about that when you think about banking. It’s made me think about doing a job like that myself. 

Alyssia: We asked questions about their daily routines, their wages and what they enjoyed about their jobs. It was interesting to hear that quite a few of them had actually done different jobs and switched around roles themselves. So they had experience in one part of the bank, or done an apprenticeship and then moved to a different role within the same place. 

Dylan: It was very exciting for me. I’ve basically learned what a bank does, instead of going there to get your money, they have loads of ties to companies. It’s a big responsibility because if they crash, the companies crash. 

Action Jackson
PIC: Kneecap

What did you learn from the speakers?

Dylan: We met an inspirational speaker called Action Jackson. He told us about a metaphorical glass ceiling, where you can see your hopes and ambitions on the other side, but you can’t reach them because of the glass. But he said to persevere and work hard, then you can get whatever you dream. What most motivated me was that he got a D in English GCSE, and yet he’s published a book. He’s gone so far despite what society says we can do. 

Alyssa: Action Jackson taught us about the elevator pitch. When you meet people you only have one first impression, so he told us how to make a good one. 

Owen: After that we met Richard Meddings. He told us his story about how he got to where he was. He’s the Chairman of TSB, so a very important person – it’s great to hear that from someone like that, and know that he’s just a normal person. 

Alyssia: I don’t know if I’d like to do a job like that because it seems very serious and office related and that isn’t what I want to be doing, but for him it seemed like it really suited him and that he enjoyed it. It’s important to do things you care about and I think it’s really inspiring that he wanted something, and he put his mind to it and actually went and did it.

The trip was part of the Hastings Opportunity Area’s commitment to improving careers experiences in Hastings and St Leonards and was arranged in partnership with Career Ready*. “Some of the kids today will have got on the tube for the first time and seen Canary Wharf, which is a remarkable centre in terms of the scale of the buildings, the number of people and the intensity” said Richard Meddings, Chair of the HOA. “It’s a change of experience. It’s about energy, resilience and hard work and attitude and ambition – and then the world is full of opportunity.”

Cordelia MacMillan, Assistant Principal at Hastings Academy also attended the trip. “They were blown over, stepping out of the tube, looking up at the sky scrapers, to what felt like New York – it was a step into unknown territory. But, actually it was a real reality check, because meeting people like Action Jackson and the workers at Citibank, they realised that was a future they could easily have – and that’s what’s important about an event like today.” 

• For more information visit: careerready.org.uk
or contact Dan here: thedanmatthews@gmail.com

• See a short film about the school children’s day here

North-east Hastings is not an obviously distinct neighbourhood. With a population of around 8,000 residents, it ranges from Down Farm and Red Lake at the north end to the streets around Priory Road on West Hill to the south. Educationally it provides a catchment for four schools: Sandown and Ore Village Academy at primary level, Hastings Academy and Ark Helenswood at secondary, though the site of Helenswood and the Ore Valley Campus of East Sussex College are each located just beyond its borders. There are four community centres within it – The Bridge, Broomgrove, Ore and Downs Farm – which provide focal points for local activities. In 2012 it was identified as one of the 150 ‘most deprived and neglected areas of the country’, according to official statistics of poverty, unemployment, health needs and other indices of deprivation.

An award of £1 million was made by the Lottery Fund to be spent over ten years between 2014 and 2024 to improve the lives of people resident in this neighbourhood, working out at an average of £100,000 a year. Distribution of the funding is administered by the Big Local North East Hastings (BLNEH) committee, termed and functioning as a ‘resident-led partnership’. But it is not a legal entity. Money is drawn down for specific projects determined by BNLEH, but banked and dispensed by Hastings Voluntary Action (HVA). Its principal paid employee, Jan Papworth, who works three days per week as ‘community development officer’ –administrator and hands-on organiser – is technically on the HVA payroll.

The Chair and other officers of BLNEH are democratically elected by the residents and trusted to make funding decisions in their best interests with little supervisory control from above. There are no rules requiring expenditure on capital projects or on infrastructure rather than on day-to-day funding for an ongoing project if the latter is judged to be of most use. Support for local youngsters to attend Albion in the Community football sessions at Hastings Academy, for instance, may not come into most people’s idea of what a charitable enterprise might fund. But why not if it serves a need that cannot otherwise be afforded? 

There are no local councillors as placeholder in the partnership, though one partner, Tania Charman, is a serving councillor at both borough and county level. Current Chair Richard Street was also a Labour councillor for Ore up to the most recent election, but only took this role after his retirement.

Whether provision is for the old or the young, or in between, BLNEH expect the enterprises that they fund to be supported by volunteers and to engage fully with local residents. The ten-year programme is already four years in and there’s no reason to assume that it will be renewed beyond the 2024 end-stop, so the aim must be to make a game-changing difference by then.

• For further information see www.biglocalnortheasthastings.org.uk

Ark is an education charity that, according to its mission statement, “exists to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life”.

One choice that it seems that Ark will no longer give children in Hastings from next September is to be educated in a single sex school. Of the four secondary schools in Hastings and St Leonards, two – Hastings Academy (formerly Hillcrest) and St Leonards Academy (formerly The Grove) are already co-educational from Year 7. Ark are proposing that Helenswood and William Parker, the two secondary schools which they run in Hastings that have hitherto – and for their entire previous existence over many decades – been single sex for girls and boys respectively, will merge and also become co-educational throughout.

Ark have not sought to make a virtue of this. But nor does it seem from their press release issued earlier this month that they have even noticed that it might be an issue. Their rationale is overtly financial. They say their merger proposal has been made because both schools ‘have too few students and require significant investment in their buildings, which are currently spread across three sites.’

The press statement goes on to express Ark’s belief that “our plans will build upon the traditions and expertise of both schools and ensure that we are able to use these strong foundations to create a high-performing school for the community which is sustainable into the future”.

There may be differing political views as to whether the traditions and expertise of Helenswood and William Parker were creatively built upon by the local education authority in turning them three decades ago from selective grammar schools, which they were previously, into comprehensives. There will now be further questioning of whether such traditions and expertise as now remain will be enhanced by co-education – Ark have set up a  ‘consultation’ process that commenced earlier this week  and will run until the end of October for parents and others affected to have their say. What is plain, however, is that the background to the proposed merger is one of falling admissions to both schools, reflecting the majority choices made by local parents. They have been voting with their preference forms to choose what is on offer for their children at Hastings Academy or St Leonards rather than at either Ark school.

It could be that the popular majority do indeed favour co-education, and that the merger will lead to a revival of favour for the new Ark entity. However, that would still undeniably entail a loss of choice for those who don’t.

Edwina Fuller is a former parent and teaching assistant at Helenswood with a role in behaviour management, as an administrative assistant to heads of year, as a form tutor and as cover supervisor giving particular support to vulnerable students. She was also a member of the PTA, then governor for two decades up to the Ark takeover in 2011.  She says that “the whole ethos of both schools was the advantage to both girls and boys of receiving single sex education. It is both known and accepted in educational circles that both do better in single sex classes during the teenage years. This is especially true for girls: they are intimidated by the presence of boys in class, particularly in the STEM subjects [science, technology, engineering and maths].”  Mrs Fuller also believes that the more vulnerable and weaker girls “lose protection”, and wonders how pupils from a Muslim background will cope.

The real reason, in her view, why the schools have suffered such a fall in admissions is because of “the recent leadership styles, the poor results ‘despite all the hard work of the staff’, and the loss of the previous excellent reputations of the two schools. Helenswood in particular had the best pastoral care reputation within the area and many vulnerable students were taken in there, having failed to achieve, or having been removed from the other two co-educational schools in Hastings. There was a real sense of community among the staff”. That, she says, has been lost during Ark’s tenure.

No failing students
She goes on to report that, when Ark took over in 2011, she, like all the other governors of the school remaining from the previous regime, was interviewed by a manager for purposes of re-appointment. As a former teaching assistant, she asked what the policy of the new management was in relation to weaker pupils  – “How do you support the most vulnerable?’  She was told: “We don’t have failing students in an Ark academy”. And she was not re-appointed.

Over subsequent years she has watched from the sidelines as most of her professional colleagues at Helenswood have left or been shown the door. Of nearly 50 teaching staff who were working there then, she can count only 14 who are still on the payroll.

Some of this turnover was rendered inevitable by the drop in pupil numbers – from around 1,400 when her daughter was being taught there to less than 730 now. But another more recently departed teacher, who doesn’t want to be named, says that around 35 members of staff were made redundant two years ago, some replaced by teachers who were either not professionally qualified or, even if they were, not in the subjects they were asked to teach. Many of those that remained were being required to travel between classes in up to three different venues (the lower and upper sites of Helenswood plus the William Parker site over a mile away) several times a day in what should have been break time.

‘Requiring improvement’
OFSTED, for what it is worth, rated Ark Helenswood as ‘good’ following its inspection in April this year, ‘requiring improvement’ only in the area of personal development, behaviour and welfare, with some criticisms of exclusion levels and low attendances by disadvantaged pupils and those with special needs.

Ark William Parker, on the other hand, last inspected in October 2017, was assessed as ‘requiring improvement’ in every aspect of performance. The quality of teaching came in for particular negative findings. As for discipline, ‘some pupils do not routinely behave in an acceptable manner in lessons and around the school site. A few pupils, especially in the younger years, behave in a disrespectful way. Teachers do not manage poor behaviour consistently well.’

Perhaps the mixing in with the girls of Helenswood will raise behavioural standards. Or not. Time will no doubt tell.

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By Andrew Everest

Students at Hastings Academy have used a fun fashion day, and a dash of enterprise, to raise funds for the school’s chosen cause, the mental health charity MIND.

Students felt MIND’s focus on mental health chimed with their own concerns and worries with exams looming and the prospect of future challenges, with the opportunity to help vulnerable local people serving to unite the school around a worthy cause. Spurred by these thoughts, pupils raised £483.05 by paying a donation to display their most outrageous and eye-catching Christmas jumpers (and their impeccable fashion sense, we’re sure!) or ditch their normal uniform for the day, and also by selling refreshments at parents’ evenings (with their next stop The Apprentice !)

MIND as a charity campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding of mental health issues, and provides support to over 375,000 people nationwide through advice and support services, supported housing, crisis helplines, drop-in centres, employment and training schemes, counselling and befriending, offering over a thousand services.

The student’s efforts are set against a backdrop of local issues, where MIND’s services are particularly relevant:

• Bexhill, St Leonards and West and East Hastings have over 10,854 adults diagnosed with depression in 2013/14.
• There is a significantly higher GP reported prevalence rate of mental health disorders than in the rest of East Sussex, with West Hastings, St Leonards aand Bexhill have significantly higher rates than East Sussex and the three highest rates of all East Sussex localities.
• St Leonards has significantly higher than expected emergency admissions (age and sex standardised) for people with mental and behavioural disorders compared to East Sussex. The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) caseload is 18 per 1,000 population aged under 19 years.
• There are 1,699 patients on dementia registers.Source: Area Summary for Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group, Based on the NHS view of the JSNAA Scorecards 2015. East Sussex Joint Strategic Needs and Assets Assessment – www.eastsussexjsna.org.uk

To donate to Mind, please visit their website at www.mind.org.uk/ or text MIND to 70660 to give £3.

Back in the days when wooden bats came with rubber pimples, table-tennis was seen as the universal sport for youth. Tables were set up typically in youth clubs and church halls. As a miniature version of tennis which required agility and quick reflexes but no strength of muscle – and no outlay on expensive equipment – it was an ideal exercise for the physically immature.

There was the historical example of Fred Perry, who had been world table-tennis champion at age 19 before going on to higher profile domination in the world of lawn tennis. Ann Jones too, who eventually won Wimbledon in 1969 at the age of 30, had been runner-up in both singles and doubles in the world table-tennis championships at age 18. And in the mid-1960s there was the phenomenon of Chester Barnes. With dark good looks and something of a bad-boy image – the table-tennis equivalent of his near contemporary George Best – he won the British championships in 1963 at the age of 16, repeating the feat over the next two years. Television cameras followed him. The sport was booming. Youth would conquer all.

And then gradually the profile of table-tennis in British sporting life faded again. Chester may have continued to garner media coverage on and beyond the home sports pages, but he couldn’t beat the elite Japanese and Chinese players, nor even the top Europeans, in international competition. Britain, it had to be recognised, was a second- or third-class nation on the world stage. And TV, after its early flirtation, lost interest. In black-and-white the narrow focus of the table had a certain televisual appeal, but colour added nothing. Suddenly snooker or darts, even crown green bowls, looked more attractive.

The sport has searched for its lost glamour ever since. Introduced as an Olympic sport at Seoul in 1988 there was a brief upsurge in interest as the fearsome speed and spin mastery of the Chinese and Koreans, using more sophisticated rubber technology on their bats, was demonstrated anew across home screens. But the speed of the modern game was itself a visual problem for the spectator. Rallies were getting shorter and shorter, and the intricacies of imparting or neutralising spin were lost in a blur. The International Federation responded in 2000 by stipulating a marginal increase in size and weight of the celluloid ball to slow it up. They also decreed that the traditional scoring system of first-to-21 over best of three sets should be altered to first-to-11 over best of five with the idea that this would produce more frequent dramatic high-points in a match (wouldn’t that be a good idea for basketball, by the way?). But television continued to ignore the sport away from the Olympics. And although Sport England did start to channel some funding in the direction of the British squad in the run-up to London 2012, even that has been subsequently withdrawn four years later in the realisation that no medals are going to come our way from Rio 2016.

In Hastings and St Leonards there has been a steady drop-off in participation over a long period, reflecting a steady decline in the number of venues in town that can offer one or more tables in sufficient space. There has also been an inexorable rise, year on year, in the average age of the players.

Thirty years ago the Hastings and District League attracted over a hundred three-a-side teams playing each week through the winter in a wide variety of halls; in the season 2015/16 just ended this number was down to 35, spread over ten clubs. Many, such as Hollington Academy, Saints and Tackleway have led a nomadic existence over decades, switching homes more often than an expenses-maximising MP as one venue after another became unavailable. A veteran Saints player told me that over a 50-year career – he joined the club in 1965 at the age of 16 – he has played home matches in Albany Road, in Hughenden Road, in Westfield, in Bexhill Road, in Ivyhouse Lane, at both Pilot Field and at the Post Office club in Elphinstone Road, on West Hill. The one thing he couldn’t remember, if he ever knew, was why the club was so named.

Saints, who were league winners this season, still operate in five teams spread over the three divisions of the league. Latest home is the sports hall at Hastings Academy (formerly Hillcrest), which offers ample space on Tuesday and Friday evenings for at least ten tables. They share it with three other clubs. But if it was hoped that this would stimulate a junior section to be drawn from pupils of the school it hasn’t happened yet. The youngest Saints player, I was told, is 29. And this is replicated in other clubs: the number of players under 30 who play in the league has dwindled to a handful, even those under 40 seem an endangered species. Oldest is Dick Copsey aged 85 (so I am told) – playing for the C team in the second division he still clocked up more wins than losses over the season.

The league regime provides for matches to be played midweek with individual contests played out sequentially on a single table: each of the three team members plays singles against each opponent, making nine in all, plus one doubles. So there’s a lot more sitting about and watching than direct participation – good for team spirit and social bonhomie no doubt, but not so thrilling for younger players with limited leisure and more physical energy to burn. Match evenings are long, starting at 7.30 and going three hours or more – particularly in the lower divisions where lack of forcing strokes may render the play attritional.

Social bonhomie and a mature age range were both noticeable at the Hastings Closed Championships which I attended at the Hastings Academy hall a couple of weeks ago as the culmination of the league season. The number 1 Saints player Ritchie Venner who had a phenomenal 100% record in the league – played 42 matches, won 42 – didn’t compete. However 30 men, youngest around 30, oldest well into his 70s, and five women battled out a series of rounds for bragging rights over the summer recess. Rosemary Rainton topped the women. Dave Butler of Saints and Paul Barry of Hollington Academy, who had three days earlier combined as a pair to win the doubles title, fought out a close five-set match in the final.

Dave, a tall left-hander, stands back from the table and crouches low, looping heavy forehand top-spin hit from the level of the surface or below, which means that from the other end the ball may dip out of sight at the moment of impact off the bat before re-appearing back in mid-flight. Paul, considerably shorter, leans forward, aiming to take the ball early on either wing so as to hustle his opponent into error. It was an absorbing clash of styles, as far from a war of attrition as could be imagined. Dave took a two-set lead, was pegged back at 2-2 and eventually squeezed home in the fifth on a net cord.

There is, I should add, a junior league which takes place at St Leonards Academy on Wednesday evenings. The team names – “Wacky Whackers”, “Balls of Steel”, “The Smashers”, to take a sample – suggest a different ethos. I will have to investigate on another occasion.