Grimsby school welcomes back 20 former pupils as staff

Havelock Academy in Grimsby has welcomed back more teaching staff this year who are former pupils at the school. Last academic year, the school had 16 members of staff who had all attended Havelock, which has now risen to a record 20 members of staff, or nearly a fifth of the teaching cohort.

Havelock Academy is part of the David Ross Education Trust, and one of the alumni, Lauren Johnson,  has just been promoted to Assistant Principal, in charge of aspirations and enrichment. Another, Alex Hodson-Smith, has just been appointed head of year 8. In an introductory assembly, Alex Hodson-Smith showed the current year 8s a photo of himself as a year 11 from 2012, describing where his former classmates were now. One friend in the picture, Danielle Eke, is also a teacher alongside Alex at Havelock, teaching music. The current Head of Computing and Business, Dan Sylvester, is another former classmate from that same year group.

The ‘Havelock returners’ have had different routes back to the school. One teacher joined the school straight after A levels as a teaching assistant and singing tutor, staying at the school for 12 years in different roles, and completing her training at the school, so she is now a qualified teacher. Havelock Academy has around 150 members of staff, and nearly 100 of them are classroom based, as teachers, pastoral staff or teaching assistants. There are 19 ‘Havelock alumni’ who are part of the wider classroom-based staff team and one who is a member of the core support team.

 Principal Emma Marshall explained why she thought so many alumni returned to Havelock:

 “Havelock Academy is a real community school and this is established in the school ethos and culture.  When Havelock became an academy in September 2007 we created a Havelock Song, with lyrics that refer to the "unified community" and that sense of collective belonging and pride.  This is seen in our everyday life at the academy and our returning alumni now enjoy singing the song in assemblies alongside the next generation of Havelock success stories.

 “I have been at Havelock for 20 years and have taught many of these alumni myself and three of our teachers were in the very first Sixth Form cohort here in 2008. I think it sends a really positive message to our students about their school, that you can go on to achieve many things, including living locally and doing something you enjoy in your local community.

 “It’s very rewarding to see so many of our excellent students returning to teach the next generation of young people.”

 Stuart Burns, CEO for the David Ross Education Trust said:

“The number of alumni at Havelock really does illustrate the David Ross Education Trust as a family, something that we pride ourselves on as we offer the very best to our students and community. It’s testament to Emma’s leadership that so many ex pupils want to return as teaching staff.”

Two members of the alumni, who were in the very first year of Havelock’s 6th form are delivering a programme to offer a new pathway strand to the current year 11 cohort who wish to stay on to study in the 6th form at school. Students will be able to take A levels or BTECs in health, STEM or media subjects, with links to local businesses offered to gain valuable industry experience.