Official Opening of The View @ East Street

‘We have gone from absolute despair to feeling hope for the future and for our son for the first time in two years’

Friday 8th October saw the official opening of The View @ East St, the Hillview School for Girls post-16 and school engagement centre in the heart of Tonbridge. The centre opened informally in November 2020 when the Viewpoint school engagement programme was established and rapidly grew in numbers to being oversubscribed by Sept 2021. After the formal agreement was received in May 2021, the Post-16 academic and work-related programmes accepted students in Sept 21 and has since gone from strength to strength.

Tom Tugendhat MP had the honours of opening the centre with the event being well attended by parents, students and staff from the centre, Hillview and other local West Kent secondary schools, officers from The Education People and The Regional Schools Commissioner’s Office. Hilary Burkett, Headteacher at Hillview School for Girls recounted the journey and challenges faced to enable the centre to be opened and the rationale behind the provision. Teresa Copeland, Centre Manager read out some highly emotional and reflective statements from parents and students who have attended the setting.

‘This setting has been an absolute lifeline for our son, for our family. Imagine the saddest, most broken young person you can who wants to engage with life and school – but simply can’t…. And imagine a person, a provision, a setting that can offer that young person a lifeline to regain their confidence and the opportunity to re-engage in education – and that is our son and our experience with Viewpoint. He is coming back to life, back to the young man we know and adore. We have a long way to go, but this finally feels a firm step in the right direction.’

The centre was established to ensure that every child had a place in education and positive life chances for the future. So far it has had a significant impact on many young people’s lives and given them hope for the future. Not only has it had a positive impact on their futures but it has enabled young people to be happy and engage in a wider way at home and in their personal lives.

This is the only centre of its kind in the UK and as any pioneering centre needs support to secure financial sustainability and hopefully to develop new systems and methods for future similar centres to be established in other areas of the country.

If you are willing to support and donate then personal donations can be made through our PTA crowd funding page: Crowdfunding to kit out with technology and classroom furniture at a new educational setting for post-16 students on JustGiving. In the near future the centre will also be seeking corporate sponsorship.

Hillview and The View@East St wish to thank everyone who has taken part in the journey so far and are continuing to do so in the future. Establishing and operating a centre such as this is a team effort and we have the greatest team possible doing so.