Invited guests from the local community including the Deputy Mayor of Wellingborough, Hatton Academies Trust Directors, Staff and students congregated to celebrate the much anticipated opening of the Breezehill Centre and Westfield Auditorium on Tuesday 12th November. The environmentally friendly new building comprises of 10 classrooms, 255 seater auditorium, atrium/café and study area.

Guests were treated to a display of student performances in the state of the art digital auditorium ranging from the cast of the school production Oliver, a fencing display, an array of dance genres, Hatton Singers and the staff and student Jazz Band amongst many more.

The Breezehill Centre was officially unveiled by Glennis Hooper, Crazy Hats Founder. Sir Christopher Hatton and Glennis Hooper have a long standing relationship with the Academy raising in excess of £32,000 in support of Crazy Hats. The name of the new Centre and Auditorium are a tribute to Breezehill Girls School and Westfield Boys School which merged in 1983 and formed Sir Christopher Hatton.

The £3.5 million building was jointly funded by the Department of Education and the Local Authority and has enabled us to increase our admission numbers to cope with the demand for places at the Outstanding academy. We were recently ranked in the top 1% of schools in the Country for the Progress 8 measure and are consistently the highest performing academy in Northamptonshire.

Co-Principals Mr Mitchell and Mr Salisbury said:

The opening of the Breezehill Centre is a key milestone for Sir Christopher Hatton. The Breezehill Centre ensures that all children will have access to the best possible facilities and is just one part of our commitment to help young people reach their full potential. The building will provide modern, spacious classrooms that will be fit for purpose for our students in the years to come. The Westfield Auditorium’s flagship technology will enable our students to access fantastic opportunities such as; guest speakers on wide and varied topics, hold debates, participate and watch high quality performances from the world of arts and take part in lectures that will further expand our students learning'.

The plan of the Breezehill Centre has placed the students’ needs at the heart of its design, with the light and spacious atrium/café area that gives a campus feel. We are extremely grateful to the Department of Education and Local Authority for providing the funding for this exceptional centre, which will help us to meet the increasing demand for places at Sir Christopher Hatton.

We are fortunate to be able to have the very best staff at Sir Christopher Hatton who will now have this fresh, innovative, and enticing space to continue the delivery of the very best education. The Breezehill Centre and Westfield Auditorium will support in building excitement for learning across the whole community in addition to our students. Wellingborough now has an innovative new venue that will provide an outstanding environment for many years to come.

Rob Hardcastle CEO Hatton Academies Trust said:

It is an honour to be part of this momentous day, which is the culmination of many years of planning and hard work, to enable this fantastic building and its facilities to be standing here now. The benefit for our students, staff, and community will be enjoyed for many years to come and I believe will further enhance not only the students of Sir Christopher Hatton’s enjoyment of learning but widely across all children within Hatton Academies Trust.

I would like to thank the Department of Education and the Local Authority who have provided the necessary funding for this outstanding project that will ensure the very best education is provided for all our children, alongside my gratitude to the hard working team who have enabled us to be standing here now.