The New School at West Heath
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West Heath School is an independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent. It caters for children for whom mainstream schooling has become insufficient, for varying reasons. The school's motto is "Rebuilding Lives Through Education." The school, founded in its current form as a charitable trust on 14 September 1998 as the Beth Marie Centre, is based in of parkland on lease from
Mohamed Al-Fayed Mohamed Al-Fayed (; arz, محمد الفايد ; born 27 January 1929) is an Egyptian-born businessman whose residence and chief business interests have been in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. His business interests include ownership of ...
, who contributed almost £3 million towards the school. The building formerly housed
West Heath Girls' School West Heath Girls' School was an English girls' independent school established in 1865, initially in London and from 1932 near Sevenoaks, Kent. It closed in 1997. History The Reverend Philip Bennet Power and his wife, Emma, undertook the educatio ...
, a girls' school with around 100 boarding pupils, established in 1865 and closed in 1997.


History and grounds

The school occupies premises formerly occupied by
West Heath Girls' School West Heath Girls' School was an English girls' independent school established in 1865, initially in London and from 1932 near Sevenoaks, Kent. It closed in 1997. History The Reverend Philip Bennet Power and his wife, Emma, undertook the educatio ...
, a private school founded in London in 1865, and which moved to this site, the 18th-century Ashgrove House, in 1932. The former mansion house is grade II listed. Pupils included (from 1974 to 1977)
Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
, the future Princess of Wales. In the 1990s the school began to experience financial difficulties owing to falling pupil numbers, and it was placed into receivership in 1997. The
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was an independent grant-giving foundation established in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to continue her humanitarian work in the United Kingdom and overseas. It was a regi ...
considered buying the school, but decided against it, and Mohamed Al Fayed stepped in to buy West Heath for £2,300,000 on 20 May 1998 as new premises for the Beth Marie Centre. He later pledged to contribute a further £550,000 towards equipping the school. In a statement, he said: :I am surprised that the Princess Diana Memorial Fund, with all its millions in the bank, did not show a greater interest in this project. I believe it to be a far more fitting tribute to her work than putting her name on tasteless souvenirs. The school was founded in its current form, as The New School at West Heath, with Valerie May as Principal, on 14 September 1998. At the start it had around 30 pupils.
Boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...
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. An additional, more modern, teaching block was built to increase the classroom capacity and overall space for the school. The entertainer and singer
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
, who visited the school in 2010, has funded the educational progression through it of one pupil (who has been kept anonymous). The school was renamed as West Heath School in September 2015.


Management

Founding patron: Mohamed Al-Fayed The school is governed by a board of 10 Trustees School management: * Principal: Photini Bohacek * Head of Education ( school): Rob Walton * Head of Boarding: Tracey Goodland * Head of Post-16 (school support at
colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
): Rhiannon Easton


General information

Policy, syllabuses, schemes of work and National Curriculum documents can be made available on request to the Head of Education. * Criteria for pupils: 11 to 19 years old, female or male. Disabilities which pupils may have include: acute stress disorder, addiction, affective spectrum,
agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can in ...
, anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD), autism spectrum/
high functioning autism High-functioning autism (HFA) is an autism classification where a person exhibits no intellectual disability, but may exhibit deficits in communication, emotion recognition and expression, and social interaction. HFA is not included in either t ...
, avoidant personality disorder, bipolar disorder, bulimia nervosa,
conduct disorder Conduct disorder (CD) is a mental disorder diagnosed in childhood or adolescence that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that includes theft, lies, physical violence that may lead to destruction, and reckles ...
, developmental delay, clinical depression,
dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
, developmental coordination disorder, epilepsy,
exhibitionism Exhibitionism is the act of exposing in a public or semi-public context one's intimate parts – for example, the breasts, genitals or buttocks. The practice may arise from a desire or compulsion to expose themselves in such a manner to group ...
, genetic disorders,
hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...
, nervous breakdown, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD),
oppositional defiant disorder Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is listed in the DSM-5 under ''Disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders'' and defined as "a pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness". This behavior is us ...
, (ODD), general anxiety disorder (GAD),
impulse control disorder Impulse-control disorder (ICD) is a class of psychiatric disorders characterized by impulsivity – failure to resist a temptation, an urge, or an impulse; or having the inability to not speak on a thought. Many psychiatric disorders feature imp ...
(
kleptomania Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main cha ...
, intermittent explosive disorder, pyromania,
pathological gambling Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...
,
trichotillomania Trichotillomania (TTM), also known as hair-pulling disorder or compulsive hair pulling, is a mental disorder characterized by a long-term urge that results in the pulling out of one's own hair. A brief positive feeling may occur as hair is remov ...
), emotional or behavioural difficulties, pathological demand avoidance (PDA), panic attacks,
pervasive developmental disorder The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), is a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and co ...
(PDD), seasonal affective disorder (SAD),
self-harm Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...
(SH), separation anxiety disorder/ school refusal, selective mutism,
semantic pragmatic disorder Social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD) - previously called semantic-pragmatic disorder (SPD) or pragmatic language impairment (PLI) - is a disorder in understanding pragmatic aspects of language. People with SPCD have special challenges w ...
, social anxiety (social phobia), Tourette syndrome and other various mental health problems. Many of the disadvantaged pupils have not had the opportunity to get a formal Statement of Special Needs (SSEN) for various reasons. * Costs – £15,790 p/a ( per annum) for day pupils, £42,972 p/a for residential (boarding) pupils. * Class size – 10 maximum. * Funding – The school does not have
state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...
status; however it is indirectly funded through the
Local Education Authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
(LEAs) of individual pupils,
Social Services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...
,
Health authorities Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity". World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Orga ...
, bursary or self-funded. Each pupil has an annual review each year to determine if their needs are being met and what changes if any need to be made in their education. Recently the school had to cut back hard on funding due to a decrease in charity donations. Al-Fayed ceased funding the school. It received some money from Children in Need in 2004, and teachers and pupils 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. * Entry – Entering the school requires a Local Education Authority procedure or
Social Services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...
referral, as the school has the status as a
Special School Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
. * Number of pupils – 101


Statistics


2005

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
grades:
Unpublished


2004

GCSE grades:Secondary Schools 2004
* Number of pupils aged 15: 20 * Pupils achieving 5 or more GCSE passes (A*–C): 0% * Pupils failing to achieve at least ''one'' entry level qualification: 20% * Average total GCSE point score per 15-year-old: 121.3 (for comparison, the nearest non-Special Educational Needs school, Sevenoaks School: 498.2)


2003

GCSE grades:Kent , Special Reports , EducationGuardian.co.uk
/ref> * Number of pupils: 31 * Pupils aged 16 achieving 5 or more GCSE grades A*–G: 89% ''(unpublished which of this is passes, e.g. A*–C)'' * Average total point score per 16-year-old: 23.8 (for comparison, the nearest non-SEN school, Sevenoaks School average: 66.8) * Pupils with Special Educational Needs: 100%


2002

Key Stage 3 tests ''(not GCSE)'': * % pupils achieving level 5 or above in English test: 0% * % pupils achieving level 5 or above in Maths test: 22% * % pupils achieving level 5 or above in Science test: 0% * % 15-year-olds achieving 5 or more grades A*–C: 4% ** 1998–2002 ''decrease'' in % of 15-year-olds getting 5 or more A*–C: 17% * % 15-year-olds achieving 5 or more grades D–G: 32% * % 15-year-olds failing to achieve at least 5 G grades: 64%


2000

GCSE grades: * Pupils achieving 5 or more GCSE grades A*–C: 33% * Pupils failing to achieve at least 5 GCSE passes: 67% * Pupils failing to achieve ''any'' GCSE passes: 17% * Pupils with Special Educational Needs: 100% * Pupils with SEN with statements: 61.9% * Pupils with SEN without statements: 38.1% * Number of pupils: 42


1999

GCSE grades: * Pupils achieving 5 or more GCSE grades A*–C: 21% * Pupils failing to achieve at least 5 GCSE passes: 79% * Pupils failing to achieve ''any'' GCSE passes: 11%


Post 16

As well as teaching pupils from Years 7 to 11, the school operates a section allowing pupils to get "support" from the school while going to college; the school itself does not have staff to teach subjects at A-level. Many continue boarding at the school while going to college elsewhere.


Fund a Child's Education (FaCE)

The New School has set up a fundraising drive, FaCE (Fund a Child's Education) to enable it to help children in need of the school to move from its very large waiting list of potential pupils.


References


External links

*
The New School at West Heath, Ofsted social care inspection reports

The New School at West Heath, Ofsted independent school inspection reports


* ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/3102462.stm Article mentioning the schoolon BBC News Online, September 2003
Information about the school previously on Al-Fayed's website
(last available archived version, 17 May 2006)
West Heath Tennis Centre
which takes place on the schools facilities when not in use for additional funding. {{DEFAULTSORT:New School at West Heath, The New School at West Heath New School at West Heath New School at West Heath Boarding schools in Kent Educational institutions established in 1998 Memorials to Diana, Princess of Wales 1998 establishments in England Schools in Sevenoaks