Headmaster Roger Clark opened with a speech about the school's successes and achievements during the year, including the best ever GCSE and A-level results and a letter from the Minister of State for Education, congratulating the school on it's GCSE success, which put it in the top 56 schools nationally and top in the whole of Sussex.

Arts at the school also received high praise, along with the choir, plus the school has produced some excellent results on the sports field, including an international horsewoman and international karate competitor.

Boarding is flourishing at Battle Abbey and the 6th form will be nearly 80-strong next year, with waiting lists.

The nursery has also been a success and Mr Clark paid tribute to the foundations laid down at the prep school in Bexhill under the headship of Judy Clark.

Special guest was Tana Ramsay who, as Tana Hutcheson in the 1980s, had been a boarder and games captain at Battle Abbey.

Since then she has travelled extensively, written cookery books, married celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, completed five marathons and has four children under 12.

Tana captivated the audience by recounting her three years of boarding at Battle Abbey, and of the lift she had felt when returning through the Gatehouse arch.

Tana recalled she had enjoyed many experiences at the school, including illicit midnight feasts.

When she was 16, she and her parents moved to London, and Tana studied for her A-levels at Holland Park Comprehensive, although she missed the Abbey, her friends and her teachers.

But she said that, 18 years later, she still appreciated the secure, strong start which Battle Abbey had given her.

Tana studied to become a Montessori Nursery teacher, and married Gordon Ramsay when she was 21.

She loved teaching, and returned to work after the birth of their first child.

Tana said she believed there is no particular 'right route' to life – it is what is right for each individual.

She said it's being able to deal with life's obstacles which is important, and enables people to gain strength professionally and personally, and which gives the confidence to seize opportunities when they arise.

Tana's time at Battle Abbey offered her so many options – in her words there was always something for everyone, and each pupil was given opportunities to discover their strengths.

The Great Storm of 1987 had also been a memorable experience, with window panes being blown in, and everyone huddled together in the Abbots Hall, frightened and grateful that "the Abbey will protect us".

In closing, Tana reminded parents, pupils and staff that even if she may not have been considered to be extremely academic at the time, it was nevertheless at Battle Abbey School where she had been taught the importance of doing her best and pushing herself.

In Tana's words: "Finding and nurturing individual talent – that's what Battle Abbey School does so well."