Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, recently went back to visit his old secondary school, the James Hornsby School in Laindon.
Mark was met by the Headteacher Chris Hayes, and given a complete tour of the current school including its new sports hall and swimming pool, but also including Mark’s original classroom, which is now part of the Home Economics department.
The school was formed several years ago by merging St Nicholas Comprehensive School with Laindon Comprehensive School; however the school was known as St Nicholas when Mark attended in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. During his time there, Mark captained the school rugby team, and was also appointed joint Head Boy in the 6th form, prior to going on to Bristol University where Mark studied history.
James Hornsby has had a challenging time in recent years but the new Headteacher, who has been in post for about a year, does appear to be turning the school around, and its academic results have subsequently improved.
Commenting on his visit Mark said:
“For most people it is a pleasure to go back to their old school and MPs are no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at what was St Nicholas School, and going back to what is now James Hornsby School brought back many happy memories, including returning to my original form classroom, where I started off as an 11 year old pupil many years ago. The school is now under new leadership which appears to be improving its performance and I definitely intend to keep in touch with James Hornsby School in the future.”