PLYMOUTH COLLEGE
ANNUAL FUND
PIANO The music community at Plymouth College is a thriving one. All Plymouth College students take music until the end of Year 9 and 22% of all students in the school take extra instrumental music lessons. Our grand piano is the centre piece of all recitals and concerts and provides great joy to all who learn to play on this wonderful instrument. Unfortunately, our piano now needs to retire after years of faithful service. So far we have been successful in raising over ÂŁ5000 for a new piano - through foundation trusts and generous individual donations. We hope the annual fund will raise the final sums required to purchase a new piano this year. We would like to purchase a used grand piano at the modest cost of ÂŁ15,000. If you are interested in helping current and future students explore the world of music, please contact the Foundation Office for more information on how you can get involved.
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LEGACIES Whether our memories take us back to “Big School”, the classroom, the MK Hall, Colson House or the school field, those that have experienced a Plymouth College education know what an effect it has had on their lives. To ensure that this education is available to future generations, a Legacy Foundation has been created. A legacy to the Plymouth College Foundation is one of the most meaningful and enduring gifts you can make and will provide a source of much needed capital on a continuing basis. If, and when, the time is right for you to put a charity in your will, please remember your time with us. All legacies, whatever their size, will directly benefit the school and its pupils. To honour those who have helped the school in this way the 1877 Society has been created, which meets annually at the school. October is Plymouth College’s Free Wills Month and you can contact Samantha Buckthought at Wolferstans Solicitors who will assist you free of charge in the creation of your will. Samantha Buckthought can be contacted on 01752 292216 or emailed at sbuckthought@wolferstans. com. We would only ask that you remember us. As a registered charity all gifts are free of inheritance tax and may indeed reduce the tax burden of your beneficiaries.
OCTOBER 2014 M29
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OPEN MORNING
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PREP SCHOOL THEATRE Everyone involved with the Prep School knows how important productions are to school life and the confidence this inspires in our children. Everyone looks forward to the performances, whether as a parent or a grandparent, avidly watching the show, or as a pupil performing. The theatre is a unique and cherished space at the Prep School but the lighting and sound systems now need to be improved to do the students’ performances justice. This is a significant fund raising appeal by the Prep School as the new system will cost in the order of £12,000. If you are able to help the aspiring performers of this and of future generations, then please do not hesitate to contact the Foundation Office.
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DONORS GALA DINNER
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PREP - OPEN DOORS WEEK POST 16 INFORMATION EVENING
TELESCOPE A Plymouth College education offers a world of opportunity to students. The College would like to extend this beyond our worldly realm to take in the solar system. Astronomy is a key topic in the Physics curriculum; one which all students study at all key stages in their school career. It is also a very popular topic. Observational astronomy is the most important part of the topic and is often difficult to achieve because of a lack of equipment. The impact that a professional telescope would have on our ability to teach astronomy goes without saying. When combined with our Whiteworks facility, where the sky is dark and there are excellent “seeing� conditions, one can appreciate that having a telescope would provide excellent opportunities for star parties and other thematic extra-curricular opportunities, as well as teaching the astronomy syllabus. A telescope of this quality would even allow viewings of the moon and the inner planets during the day, during school time. A telescope is something that a school like ours should have: a jewel in the crown of our academic resources. Moreover, a telescope is more than simply a piece of equipment, it represents human aspiration and intellectual curiosity.
DECEMBER 2014 M01
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SENIOR SCHOOL CAROL SERVICE
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SENIOR SCHOOL AWARDS
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HOME-FROM-HOME Boarding is an important element of life at Plymouth College with 170 boarders from over 40 nationalities. The boarding house is our students’ home for much of the year. In discussion with the students we would like to upgrade the common rooms in both Colson and Captain’s House. This fund would improve the comfort and enjoyment for our students while they are part of the Plymouth College family. These funds will be used solely to foster that sense of ‘home-from-home’. The main projects that boarders have requested are: a home cinema system; new pictures for the common rooms; an electric piano; kindles loaded with books; house iPads and, if funds allow, the creation of a boarding house coffee bar-style area. In order to make this home-from-home a reality, this fund will need to raise £12,500 per boarding house.
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SCHOLARSHIPS The award of a Plymouth College Scholarship is a proud moment for many families. Scholarships are awarded to students with exceptional talents and potential. The Plymouth College Scholarship Programme ensures that the College attracts the very best local, national and international students. In turn, these students raise the College’s profile, inspire other students and assist the College in creating its own unique, aspirational character. Scholarships are awarded in a wide range of disciplines including academia, music, performing arts and sport. Receiving a merit-based scholarship is motivating to students, who strive to achieve their best in their field. The award continues to help students long after their school career, giving them a real advantage in applying to university and in their careers. Sadly, Plymouth College is not fortunate enough to have an endowment providing for the Scholarship Programme. This means that the College’s resources are limited and it is unable to offer the number and degree of scholarships many of our students deserve. Donations to the Scholarship Fund make a real difference to the students and to the College.
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FENCING PISTE Plymouth College Modern Pentathlon and Fencing Academy attracts some of the world’s best athletes to its programme. To assist these students in their training and competitions, the school needs to purchase a ‘fencing piste’. A fencing piste detects when fencers have been ‘hit’ by their opponents. Plymouth College students have achieved remarkable success, with many students representing their country at both European and World level in both Fencing and Modern Pentathlon. Plymouth College students have so far achieved 23 gold, 8 silver and 10 bronze medals at National Championships. This important piece of equipment will allow our students to experience real fencing competition conditions while training at the school. The cost for a competition grade fencing piste is £9995.
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PREP SCHOOL TABLE TENNIS Play and learning define a happy childhood. To make the most of the outside space at the school, the Prep would like to introduce a number of weather-proof table tennis tables. These will enhance the play areas of the Prep for all children. These tables will cost ÂŁ695 each and will give real enjoyment to pupils for years to come.
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BURSARIES The resources of Plymouth College are, of course, limited and every year there are students who apply to the Senior and Prep Schools who are offered places based on their talents, but are unable to take up the place they deserve due to financial restraints. All bursaries are rigorously means-tested to make sure funds go to the most deserving students. We will continually endeavour to raise more bursary funds to ensure we are able to offer the exceptional Plymouth College education to as many young people as possible. “A Plymouth College Bursary has enabled me to receive a first class education while becoming double British U16 Fencing Champion. A Bursary makes a real difference to students like me who may otherwise not be able to take advantage of the opportunities at Plymouth College�. Tia Simms Lymn (Year 10)
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SWIM CAMERA Plymouth College has the enviable position of being one of the world’s best swimming schools. The Swimming and Modern Pentathlon programmes generate some amazing results. However, all students learn differently and some students need to see what they are doing in order to improve; this is where the underwater swimming camera comes in. This camera records the student swimming and allows instant replay by the side of the pool. This enables a student to instantly see how they are improving. The school will also be able to create a video library on each athlete to monitor their progress. The cost for this stateof-the-art equipment is £5,995.
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PREP OPEN DOORS WEEK
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TRAVEL SUPPORT A Plymouth College education provides a world of opportunity to our students beyond the classroom. Our students travel throughout the country and the wider world to further their education. Unfortunately, some students are unable to take part in these important opportunities because of travel costs. There is a wide range of travel needs for students whether attending a sports tour, an international competition or an educational field trip. There have unfortunately been examples of students being unable to attend European and World Championships who had excellent medal chances due to financial constraints. The Travel Bursary is a brand new fund to assist students in taking part in these important events. Each student will need to apply to the fund and demonstrate a real benefit to their education to be successful in receiving an award.
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SCOREBOARD The Sports Hall at Plymouth College is one of the most heavily used facilities within the school. Every student both past and present will have precious memories of important events in the Sports Hall. To make the most of this facility, we would like to raise funds for an electronic scoreboard. The scoreboard is able to display results for all the sports played by the school including, basketball, netball, football, indoor cricket, badminton and hockey. The scoreboard will make a real difference to the excitement of the matches held in the Sports Hall. The scoreboard will cost in the region of £3,000 to install – to be involved in this high profile and exciting project, please contact the Foundation Office.
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A CASE FOR SUPPORT
Dr. Simon Wormleighton Excellent education can change lives and that is what Plymouth College has been doing since 1877. However, whilst proud of our past, the key focus today has to be on the present and the future and on becoming better at all we do. A 21st century education needs to be as diverse and enriching as possible. A challenging academic programme will be at the heart of this but there is so much more that a good school should provide to inspire, enthuse, encourage and engage our young people. In recent years we have added many new elements to the Plymouth College experience, and with your help and support we would like to add even more. This is where the Annual Fund should make a huge difference. With the on-going and philanthropic support of alumni, past and current parents and other important friends of the school, we could achieve so much more for the Plymothians of today and tomorrow, and by doing so sustain our position as one of the leading independent schools in the region. Please join us in this effort.
Mr Chris Robinson
Mr Christopher Gatherer
I always think it’s important to remember that Plymouth College is a charity. Any surplus generated is constantly reinvested to the benefit of all the stakeholders, whether it’s the pupils in terms of better facilities, or the staff who have an improved environment or set of tools to work with.
Here at the Preparatory School we are very aware of how lucky we are with our site and facilities. We are also blessed with a Friends Association who do an excellent job of raising funds and helping with projects to enhance the whole learning experience. Even with all that help, the School needs to raise funds for its larger projects.
Inevitably, there won’t be a single department in the school that doesn’t feel that it could do with even better equipment, resources or space than it already has, indeed I would be disappointed in some respects if they were. Just as we want our pupils to aim high, so we want our staff to do the same. However, we don’t have a magic wand and short of continually putting up fees it simply isn’t possible to do all of the things we’d like to do ‘just like that’ – hence our Annual Fund Appeal. Our hope is that if Plymouth College means something special to you that you may just be in a position to help make it even more special for the current and future generations.
We put a great deal of emphasis on the importance of the performing arts for all our pupils and not just the ones who are already filling in their application forms for ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. Apart from developing confident and articulate speakers our drama and music plays an invaluable role in developing all-round confidence. However, we are still using a basic light and sound system that was installed at least thirty years ago. If we had the funding to replace the antique system with a more modern, flexible system this would not only enhance productions but offer pupils the opportunity to develop the skills in lighting and sound. I am also delighted to support any scheme that will help us offer more bursaries to the school and I do wish the whole venture every success.
The Foundation Office would like to introduce you to some of our recent alumni who will be contacting current parents and alumni, to discuss our programme of development and the 2014-15 Annual Fund. I am looking forward to speaking to parents and alumni to see if we have shared similar, enjoyable experiences at the school, as well as communicating how much I cherished my time at Plymouth College. I am looking forward to being part of this team and to helping develop the school, to ensure that other pupils are getting the most out of their experience. I loved being a part of the girls’ sports teams, such as Netball and Hockey; I would love to help these areas, as well as the academic side of the school. I am currently studying International Business at Cardiff University, which I am really enjoying. I hope to be able to have the opportunity to study abroad as well as gaining valuable experience in the banking and commerce industries. After university, I intend to work abroad in Asia or Malaysia for a short period of time, before returning to the City. Olivia
Having just completed my final set of A Level exams after being at Plymouth College for the past ten years, I am eager to give something back to the College, as a sign of appreciation for all that the school and the teachers have done for me. Plymouth College is a really special school in the way that there is a real sense of community that everyone is proud to be part of. I am looking forward to speaking to parents and alumni who have their own personal relationship with the College and creating connections with people who are interested in the continued success of the school. From a young age I’ve had an interest in performing arts. I have studied LAMDA Mime for the past 11 years, and I was an associate at the Royal Ballet School for 5 years. I was always keen to participate in school productions at both the Prep and Senior School, therefore I am particularly interested in helping to improve the Drama and Music Departments. A new piano, or the redevelopment of the Prep Theatre, would be very beneficial to the performing arts. In the future I am hoping to have a career in marketing and I plan to enrol in Pearson College in London in September 2015. However, this year my main aim is to finish my LAMDA Gold Medal Mime Award and my Mime Diploma, meaning that I will have competed all of the LAMDA examinations for mime. Bethany
One of Plymouth College’s stand-out features is its community; I wanted to be involved with the Annual Fund because I believe it will allow alumni to reconnect with the College, giving them a better insight to how the school is developing. For parents, I believe it will be an invaluable way to gain a greater insight in to life at the College, bringing the past and present communities together. A big part of my life at the College is sport; recently we have enjoyed much success in this field so I would like to encourage investment in sport to further its success. Having just finished my last year, I am looking forward to having a few weeks off to relax and enjoy the summer before going on to university. Harvey
Having attended Plymouth College from the age of 4 to 18, I consider myself fortunate and have benefited hugely from the all-round education the school offers. I would like to impart my enthusiasm for the school to parents and alumni, who, no doubt, will be aware of its many strengths. Throughout the Prep and Senior School I was particularly involved in all aspects of sport, including Athletics, Cricket, Hockey and Rugby. I appreciate the support and opportunities given to me, therefore I am especially interested in helping the school raise funds, which will allow all pupils to enjoy sport whilst at the school. I have just finished my BSc in Sport Performance at the University of Bath and intend to pursue Sports Marketing. Jamie
Dr Simon Wormleighton Headmaster
Mr Christopher D M Gatherer Headmaster
Plymouth College Ford Park, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 6RN T: 01752 505100 F: 01752 203246
Plymouth College Preparatory School St Dunstans Abbey, The Millfields, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3JL T: 01752 201352 F: 01752 201351
mail@plymouthcollege.com www.plymouthcollege.com
prepschool@plymouthcollege.com www.plymouthcollege.com
Registered Charity No: 1105544
Registered Company No: 05189426