Heathfield students honoured at awards ceremony

On Thursday 12 July, Heathfield Community College held its annual Honours Evening in the Sports Hall at the Heathfield Leisure Centre. The evening was a celebration of student success with selected students from Years 7 through to Sixth Form presented with awards for effort, progress and excellence in particular subject areas.On arrival, students and their families were welcomed with refreshments and music out on the lawns. The College band played in the hall as people took their seats and the evening began with welcome speeches from the Headteacher, Ms Caroline Barlow, and the Chair of Governors, Richard Karn.

The evening continued with a review of student achievements throughout the year followed by the presentation of awards. The night drew to an end with keynote speaker Jan Meek, who engaged and inspired the audience with her adventures across the world and her life motto: why not?

Jan Meek is an adventurer who can proudly claim to be the only woman on the planet to have rowed across an ocean and walked to two poles. There are more people who have taken that giant leap for mankind on the moon.  Jan’s career started in the TV and film industry in the 1960s. She has since worked in Saudi Arabia for the US Geological Survey, run several of her own businesses, held public office as Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, Town Councillor and then Mayor of Chipping Norton. She has travelled extensively, independently, and raised a family.
When Jan was 52, her son, Dan Byles, talked her into rowing with him 3,044 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean in a 23 foot wood built rowing boat. Their adventures later led her to the North Pole, Mount Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp. Jan now dedicates her life to inspiring others to achieve goals they might never have dreamed possible.

Heathfield and Waldron Rotary Club supported the awards with a generous contribution to help support the event.