Basildon new Chapel Hill Primary and Nursery school opened

The Chapel Hill Primary and Nursery School, in Dry Street, threw open its doors yesterday after creating more than 400 new school places for youngsters. 

Boasting brand new classrooms, a huge library, dedicated science and design technology rooms with school leader Sue Jackson hoping it would become a "centre of educational excellence that is the jewel in Basildon's crown".

The school is being built as a sister-school to the oversubscribed Lee Chapel Primary and is run by the Lee Chapel Multi-Academy Trust. 

Exciting - Some of the pupils at Chapel Hill Primary and Nursery School (Image: Sue Jackson)

Mrs Jackson said: “Opening Chapel Hill Primary School and Nursery, the sister to Lee Chapel, is an opportunity to give more children access to an outstanding primary education and the Lee Chapel brand ‘magic’.

“Opening this fabulous new school on the eve of my 25th anniversary as headteacher of Lee Chapel has really been the icing on the cake for me.

“All the more so because I have been fortunate to have established an amazing new team of staff at Chapel Hill, several of whom were pupils of mine at Lee Chapel.”

The school also includes a full production kitchen and a SEN therapy room alongside a new nursery. 

Mrs Jackson is also marking her 25th year as headteacher of Lee Chapel Primary School in Basildon.

When she took over at the helm in September 1999, Lee Chapel was only a two-form entry, had three locatable classrooms on site, no nursery provision at the school and was sitting on a “satisfactory” Ofsted rating.

Amazing - Sue Jackson, headteacher at Lee Chapel for 25 years (Image: Sue Jackson)

Lee Chapel has now been rated "outstanding" for nearly two decades. 

Mrs Jackson added: “It has been an honour and privilege to have led Lee Chapel for the past twenty-five years supported by my fabulous team of staff.

“The Lee Chapel staff and Governor ‘family’ and the superb partnership we enjoy with our parents are the foundations of the school’s success.

“During my twenty-five years as headteacher I have seen thousands and thousands of Basildon children come through the Lee Chapel Trust’s schools and we have always ensured that they received the best educational provision possible.

“I am honoured that my longevity has allowed me to remain in a vocation and a career that I love so very dearly.”