West Hatch High School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...

, Epping Forest,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

(near

Woodford Bridge Woodford Bridge is part of the East London suburb of Woodford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located on an old road between Chigwell and Leytonstone. Notable features Its notable features include Claybury Asylum, a psychiatric hos ...

). The area now occupied by West Hatch was previously the western gate (or hatch as it would have been known) into Epping Forest; it is from these roots that the school derives its name. The school currently educates 1,300 students from the local catchment area, and nearly 200 sixth form pupils from north east London and west Essex.

History

The school was built in 1957 as a four-storied building with glazing on all sides on

High Road by Richard Sheppard & Partners with the Essex county architect, H. Conolly. The grounds have been renovated on numerous occasions developing the many-acre site into seven main teaching buildings.

Facilities

West Hatch has been under major renovations recently, including a Music Suite (2002), Maths Dining & Drama Block (1999), Ruby Theatre (2000 built by students attaining Gold The Duke of Edinburgh Award Status), Sixth Form Centre (2000), Business and Enterprise Block (2003) technology, Science block, Design and Technology block and the 4-storey classroom block. Renovation of the ICT infrastructure has enabled evening classes and Microsoft Digital Literacy training for parents using a parent portal. There is now currently a new sports hall and classroom block being built as an extension to the school.

Notable former pupils

Jonathan and Charlotte Jonathan Antoine (born 13 January 1995) and Charlotte Jaconelli (born 24 August 1995), known collectively as Jonathan and Charlotte, were an English classical crossover duo from Essex. They finished as runners-up in the sixth series of ''Britain ...

– ''Britain's Got Talent'' finalists *

Vicki Michelle Vicki Michelle, (born 14 December 1950) is an English actress, radio presenter, businesswoman, film producer and former model. She is best known for her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche in the BBC television comedy series Allo 'Allo!'' and as ...

– actress * Sally Gunnell – Olympic gold medallist * Kate Silverton – BBC newsreader * Mark Wallinger – artist * Joey Essex – reality TV personality *

Charlotte Jaconelli Jonathan Antoine (born 13 January 1995) and Charlotte Jaconelli (born 24 August 1995), known collectively as Jonathan and Charlotte, were an English classical crossover duo from Essex. They finished as runners-up in the sixth series of ''Britain ...

- Actress, Singer,Britains Got Talent Finalist * Richard Jones – ''Britain's Got Talent'' winner *

Nancy Sorrell Nancy Sorrell (born 13 July 1974) is an English model, actress and television presenter from Chigwell. Early career Sorrell who began her career as a lap dancer, has modelled for high street brands including M&S, Next and Ann Summers and was t ...

– model, actress, television presenter *

Sonny Jay Sonny Jay Muharrem (born 30 June 1993) is an English radio presenter and singer. In 2021, he won the Dancing on Ice (series 13), thirteenth series of ''Dancing on Ice''. From January 3, 2023, he will host "The Capital Late Show" on Capital (radio ...

- Capital Breakfast host and Britain’s Got Talent finalist * Nathan Clarke - actor, voice actor

References

External links

* {{authority control Academies in Essex Educational institutions established in 1957 Secondary schools in Essex 1957 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Chigwell