Last week, Hillingdon Manor School invited Anna Kennedy OBE to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a special assembly led by students at the school.
Hillingdon Manor School which is run by Options Autism and part of Outcomes First Group, was founded in 1999 by Anna Kennedy OBE. Starting out with 19 pupils, 20 years later and the school has gone from strength to strength, now registered to support 185 students with autism. Last Friday, staff and pupils came together for a special assembly to mark the occasion.
The Pupil Voice (school council) representatives lead the assembly in sharing some history about Hillingdon Manor School, how the classes and number of pupils have grown and the various changes in class names. They also recited a lovely poem written by Madhu, who coordinates the Pupil Voice and facilitates the meetings and presentations.
There were fantastic performances from the school’s World Dance Championship Qualifiers, Autism with Attitude and the pupil band, led by talented Music Teacher James.
Anna presented a talk to all the pupils and staff, sharing her journey and wishes for Hillingdon Manor School. The longest standing pupil at present, who joined the school in 2007 and is currently in his last academic year, presented Anna with a bunch of flowers and 20th anniversary cake. Darren, the Horticulture teacher, also presented a tree to Anna, with a view to be planted in the new development project to commemorate 20 years.
On display in the hall was a series of work created by all the pupils at the secondary site, varying from newspaper articles of the school’s opening, messages from past staff, changes within the building, to pupil’s achievements and journeys following their time at the school.
Well done to everyone for making the event a huge success. Here’s to the next 20 years!
