Welcome to the Autumn term! We hope you all had an enjoyable summer break and our students are feeling refreshed and ready for the new academic year.
As well as bringing joy the summer also brought some extremely sad news to us all locally and especially here at Varndean School. As you are aware two former students, Matt Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, tragically died in the Shoreham Air-crash and are fondly remembered by many staff, students and alumni. This week we learnt of the passing of Mr Kemp. Mr. Deighan and Mr. Dee, Chair of Governors, have enclosed below a letter about the recent tragic news of teacher Mr. Kemp.
Dear Varndean families,
We write with great sadness today to inform you that one of our teachers, Mr. Andrew Kemp, passed away on Monday this week. He was on holiday in Bulgaria at the time. His mum and dad, Carol and Douglas, and sister Sharon are in the process of bringing Andrew home. We offer our most sincere condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.
Andrew taught in the Technology and Art departments for more than twenty years. He was an incredibly hard working and gifted teacher. Generations of students have benefited from his quiet and gentle wisdom. Colleagues will remember him for his humour, his dedication and kindness. He will be missed by students and staff both past and present.
Mr. Kemp was a free spirit whose spirit is now free – we wish him well on his journey.
William Deighan Jon Dee
Headteacher Chair of Governors
From Monday there will be a books of condolences open in our reception. Should you wish to pass on your wishes to their families please do call in next week, or if unable to do this you may email your respects to us rememberingjacob@varndean.co.
With fond memories forever in our hearts we look forward to the future and what opportunities this new year will bring to our school community. We have once again seen some truly fantastic exam results and hope this serves as inspiration for all our students. Our new student leadership team are super keen to get started and are in school a day early today to help welcome the new Year 7 students as they embark on their journey with us. The Year 7s will be venturing into our new specialist schools to develop their talents and interests in the specialist Schools of Discovery, Expression, Creativity and Leadership.
As well as welcoming new students this September we are delighted to be soon launching our brand new website. This is in addition to the new Varndean View system for parents and students (which replaces Parent Portal). Log in details for this will be emailed to you shortly. Should you need any help or guidance in using the system please see the video tutorial which will be on our website soon. There will also be an evening arranged for later this term for parents and carers to come into school for more detailed guidance, should you need this.