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Proud students showed off their school to a government visitor.

Kemi Badenoch, Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, is touring schools in her constituency to get a feel for education and the challenges facing schools today.

She visited Forest Hall School and met with members of the Student Senior Leadership Team, including head boy William Chapman and head girl Sophie Lloyd-Rossi.

After finding out about the school’s unique curriculum – where students begin to gain GCSE grades from Year 9, 100-minute lessons and Saturday school, Ms Badenoch took a tour of the school.

She saw lessons in all faculties in full swing, as well as finding out more about the school’s Dyslexia Support Unit, which enables children from across Essex to study in a mainstream school while receiving the necessary support to achieve highly.

Head boy William told the visitor about the new Student Executive Team, which will be selected soon from students in Year 7 to 11, to take on responsibilities around the school.

Ms Badenoch said: “Every school is so different; what is happening in one is not necessarily comparable to others. For me, this is about finding out what students feel about school and what the challenges are.

“School is very different to when I was a child, and my own children are only one and four, so it is a way of understanding how things are today in schools. That’s why these visits are so important.

“I have not seen any other school with a Student Executive Team, so everyone has their own ideas.

“I really enjoyed my visit to Forest Hall.”

Of the school’s three-year journey of transformation since it joined the Burnt Mill Academy Trust (BMAT), Will said: “Forest Hall has changed a lot – and all for the better. Everything is more education focused.”

Lottie Whitmell, deputy head girl, said: “A lot more opportunities have come to us since the arrival of BMAT. There are a lot of music and sporting activities for us to get involved with, as well as links with other schools so our knowledge of post-16 options is widened.

“There’s so much more for us to get involved with which takes our minds off of the stress of exams, but we can also gain qualifications from those subjects.”

Anna Myatt, co-head, said: “It was great to welcome our local MP into school to have a look at the very many wonderful things we have going on here.

“Visits like this are also an opportunity for us to stop and take stock of what we have achieved on our journey and for our students to proudly show what they are proud of.

“We hope our visitor enjoyed seeing what it is we are doing that makes Forest Hall a unique option for secondary school education in the area.”