LVS Hassocks in situated in 40 acres of beautiful countryside with most of its grounds being pasture fields.
Due to its location, LVS Hassocks has an abundance of wildlife in and around the campus, currently we have a herd of five roe deer, wild ducks, moorhens, buzzards, red kite, kestrels, slow worms, rabbits, foxes and a healthy population of bats all sharing our wonderful site.
We also hold a grazing license with a local shepherdess for 16 acres of land for her herd of 70 Suffolk sheep who live on the site for part of the year.
We are incredibly proud of our site and our Estates team work tirelessly to ensure we are utilising the area to the full as an additional educational resource for the school. We have installed rabbit and deer proof fencing, refurbished poly tunnels and built 6 large-raised beds. This year we have added a large work shed / classroom. We also have three chickens that we use for the students to learn animal husbandry. The students really enjoyed working in the grounds and this year produced quite a harvest some of which has been used in our school lunches. We are looking to continue to add to the project with potential 2 more raised beds and solar power for the work shed in 2022.
We are thrilled to have recently received the RHS Campaign for School Gardening Level 4 Award – through successfully using tools, protecting plants, harvesting produce and more!
History
Our oldest building is the Kingsland Building which was built circa 18th century. This currently houses our IT room, Library, offices, and meeting rooms upstairs.
In the late 1960’s the catholic church purchased the site after selling the Priory in Haywards Heath. They employed the architect Michael Blee who was renowned for his work with churches, to design a new convent. The standout feature of this build was what we call the Oast House. A cone shaped building standing over 30 meters tall, which originally was the church. The rest of the convent that we know as the “main building” is home to classrooms, our two dining rooms, reception, therapy, Lancaster house, the new wellbeing centre and the now empty boarding areas. We also have our own cemetery where the original nuns are buried.
In 2016 two new buildings were added to the site, the smaller Sussex Centre which is our meeting / training / assembly hall and the larger Buchanan building that houses seven classrooms.
At the same time as the 2016 builds the Oast Café was refurbished, this is run by the students selling cakes, snacks and drinks. During the pandemic the café was only open to staff and students in the school but from mid-way through September 2021 we will be opening again to the public again who pass by on the bridle path that runs past the school.
