Town Talk Holmesdale gets its new head teacher
James joins
town council JAMES Minter, the Conserva- tive Party candidate in the Snodland West and Holbor- ough Lakes Ward, won the by- election to fill the vacancy on Snodland Town Council caused by the death of Anne Moloney. He gained 380 votes com-
pared with 273 votes for the Labour Party'sWayne Mallard, and the Liberal Democrat Luke Chapman on 123 votes. Total votes cast was 776 out of a pos- sible 4,655, a turnout of 17%. Cllr Minter lives in Hegarty
Court and has two daughters and two grandchildren. He moved to Snodland from Walderslade seven years ago and his hobby is cycling. He often covers 60-80 miles in the Whitstable and Rye areas. Aged 52, he has worked in
sales and marketing within the flooring industry for more than 30 years. He said Snodland is a fantas-
tic place to live, with awealth of facilities, and he believes in sup- porting local businesses. He said Anne, who had been chairman of the town council and a member of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, con- tacted him and asked if he would do some canvassing in the town. She also asked him if he would like to join the town council in the future.
THE new head teacher of Holmes- dale School, Tina Bissett, joined the school as senior deputy head- teacher in October 2016. She succeeds Patrick Hannaway, executive principal of the Malling Holmesdale Federation since 2011, which became defederated at the beginning of January. Mrs Bissett, who lives in Tun-
bridgeWells, hasworked in educa- tion in Kent for many years and was previously principal of the Oasis Academy, Hextable. She said: "When I discovered
two years ago that Oasis planned to close Hextable I was committed to staying in the academy to en- sure the young people and adults had a secure onward pathway. “I worked in theHextable school
for 14 years and felt I should be the person to see the project through. "I believe theHolmesdale School
has the ingredients for a great fu- ture. We have wonderful students, fantastic staff and families that sup- port what we do. "I look forward to working with everyone to ensure that Holmes- dale becomes the school of choice for the local community." Under the Malling Holmesdale
Federation, both schools, Holmes- dale and Malling, had the same
RICHARD Sams is standing down after 17 years as chairman of the governors, initially for Holmesdale School and then the federation. He said the dissolution of the fed- eration will help Holmesdale im- prove its educational performance and presents him with the opportu- nity to hand over the chairmanship to Bob Huelin.
S Educational Nursery
Author interviewed by pupils
HOLMESDALE School, Snodland, was the first school to welcome popular author Katy Birchall on a week-long tour of schools around the country. She talked to students about her latest book in the highly re- garded IT Girl Series, "Don't tell the Bridesmaid", after being inter- viewed by a group of year 7 students for an article in the school magazine. Katy then went on to talk to a hall full of students from local pri-
mary and secondary schools as well as two year 7 classes. She ex- plained how she uses ideas to build and create her own characters and then went on to answer questions from the audience.
body of governors. They have now been separated
and Holmesdale, under the chair- manship of Bob Huelin, includes
"Governorship of a school is both
a demanding and rewarding role," he added. "It also requires a high level of personal input to success- fully lead a school governing body. Mr Sams thought having two separate bodies would enable each to focus on the differing chal- lenges that each school faces. "The governing body and senior
three members of the previous body and new governors include a local head teacher, deputy head teacher and a borough councillor.
Chairman of governors hands over the role
leadership team at Holmesdale have seen significant personnel changes," he continued. "Holmes- dale is also receiving significant 'e- ducational' support from KCC "There is every confidence that
Bob Huelin and Tina Bissett 7will deliver a significant and rapid im- provement in the performance of Holmesdale this year."
Local news for Snodland and Halling
A Downs Mail supplement produced in conjunction with the Snodland Chamber of Commerce.
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