Campaign for Sport 2023 v7

AYLESBURY GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Founded 1598

WELCOME

We are more than just a School...

We are a community and a family built upon 425 years of history. As a School we inspire and nurture our students to explore for themselves who they want to be and find their place in the world.

Committed to a culture of innovative learning, achievement at the hands of the pioneering expertise of the staff and self-discovery through participation, AGS’s vision is clear.

We will be true to our foundation as a ‘free school for Aylesbury’ giving every student, irrespective of background and circumstance an opportunity to flourish. We will provide an education for all our students which is unparalleled in breadth and quality of opportunity, striving to become international leaders in academic and pastoral development.

As a result, we will be the School of choice for local families, preparing our community to succeed.

Founded by Sir Henry Lee in 1598, Champion of Queen Elizabeth I, Aylesbury Grammar School was a ‘free School for Aylesbury’ with the vision of promoting the local area to flourish through educating and nurturing its young people.

Initially based in the centre of Aylesbury, in 1907 the School moved to its present site and became co-educational. In 1959 the creation of Aylesbury High School meant the girls moved next door and Aylesbury Grammar School returned to being a boys School. Despite the separate site, our strong links with our sister School remain and provide a unique opportunity for our boys to grow up in their formative years in the company of their female counterparts, whilst also benefiting from the advantages of focused learning amongst their peer group. This unique collaboration provides a sensitive, mature and well-rounded interaction for our students to develop a true sense of character and to flourish in today’s world.

ABOUT US

Our Foundation in 1598 has survived 19 monarchs, the upheaval of two world wars - as well as the English Civil War - and various relocations around Aylesbury. From our beginnings as a boys’ school, then coeducational and back to a boys school, AGS has been at the forefront of educational change, and throughout has maintained an environment of support, inspiring our students to flourish and thrive.

We have a School community of 1336 students, including over 400 in the Sixth Form. Our students attend from Buckingham, Milton Keynes and surrounding areas, representing a wide range of socio-economic and culturally diverse backgrounds (51 languages). We employ over 150 staff across the School who are all committed to a culture of innovative teaching, learning and achievement through their pioneering expertise and with enviable support from the Governing Body, AGS PTA, the Old Aylesburian and wider community.

AGS has been nurturing character since 1598. Our core values of respect and aspire enable our students and staff to flourish in all they do. Providing an environment where we celebrate difference, embrace opportunity and lead with humility. As a School, we are expertly placed to enable our students to flourish whilst also ensuring they are well equipped to understand and meet the challenges they face with empathy and humility. Our staff know and understand each student to enable them to find their place in the world.

We are proud and remain humble that our School is consistently celebrated as one of the top state schools in the country with excellent results. In Key Stage 3, GCSE and A Level, our students make outstanding progress and are prepared for the next stage of their education or chosen career with confidence. In November 2022 AGS was awarded ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. This judgement was within a totally new and considerably more challenging Ofsted framework. We are one of the few schools in the area, and within our competitive set, who retained Outstanding.

“Pupils flourish in this exceptional school. They are proud to attend and demonstrate strong levels of commitment to their education.” Ofsted (November 2022)

The uncompromised breadth of the curriculum available enables all students to pursue the widest range of careers and studies at university or in the workplace. Through exceptional advice and guidance our students leave the School with aspirations to the most highly ranked courses and careers, at organisations and universities across the country where they will feel fulfilled and happy.

As part of our values and participation learning we have an active outreach programme with other local secondary schools and feeder primary schools.

MORE PEOPLE, MORE ACTIVE, MORE OFTEN

AGS was founded in 1598 with the sole purpose of improving life for all those living in and around Aylesbury. It is a ‘free School for Aylesbury’ with a vision of promoting the local area to flourish through educating and nurturing its young people. This is captured in the line “Floreat Ailesburia”.

Grammar Schools were created to enable social mobility and whilst the demographic profile of students attending our School varies from year to year - our three-year strategic objective is to increase the proportion of boys in the Aylesbury catchment area who apply to AGS by 25% over 3 years. We will achieve this by encouraging more young boys (and their parents) to see an AGS education as being ‘for them’, desirable and within reach. This is in line with vision for the town - Aylesbury was designated a garden town in January 2017 and is one of the key areas for growth in the UK, with just over 16,000 new homes planned over the next 30 years. There is no better time to encourage our local community to make decisions about education based on fact and not perception or myths.

FLOREAT AILESBURIA

We must provide facilities to encourage participation at all levels, motivate, and bring our growing community together. With this project, we aim to get more of Aylesbury, more active, more often.

The legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games not only built awareness of the importance of sport but improved participation, education and continues to improve accessibility in sport. It inspired people who are less active to engage in physical activity. More recently, the impact of Covid 19 has been significant. It has brought into sharp focus why exercise and participation is so important for mental and physical health issues.

Defining the future of Sport at AGS is in direct response to this. We have an inherent sporting ethos within the School and play and often win against some of the best state, independent and public schools in the country.

We have an obligation to meet the needs of our young people, both in the School and in the community, to tackle the problems we face in terms of inadequate and outdated facilities, and the problems we see young people struggling with every day in relation to their physical health (weight, diabetes, etc) and mental wellbeing. We must provide facilities to encourage participation at all levels, motivate, and bring our growing community together.

With this project, we aim to get more of Aylesbury, more active, more often.

UNPARALLELED

A sporting evolution

Sport at AGS is an essential part of our learning through participation education and it has a high priority. Whether representing the many teams and squads or taking part in activities which promote a healthy lifestyle, there are options available for all. This is one of our main aims of the Sport and PE Programme at AGS.

Every student throughout the School from Year 7 to Year 13 takes part in sport through the curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and well-structured House events, and this helps to encourage a life-long interest in sport and physical exercise. The variety of sports we offer along with the numerous teams available enable all students the opportunity to take part at their own level. Students are nurtured and encouraged by specialists in all areas allowing them to flourish and participate without prejudice. Several students, with exceptional promise, can progress into County and National squads.

Shaping the future of sport at AGS

Whilst Sport is an integral part of our learning, through participation there has been limited investment in Sport in the School for decades, simply due to constraints of funding and other premises needs.

We are one of the only schools in the area that currently has no artificial pitch provision. For rugby and football we have to use grass pitches offsite which pose a health and safety risk accessing them (crossing busy roads) and they are sometimes waterlogged and unusable from November to March each year, seriously reducing the activity levels. There is no pavilion, there are no pitch side facilities, and no accessible spectator areas, meaning that site users have very limited choices about what activities can be undertaken. Such limitations place a very real barrier in the way of encouraging our community to be active - particularly the least active in the population, who are the ones we most need to reach.

There’s a strong community demand for better provision, as identified by the Football Foundation. “The Aylesbury Vale Local Plan’s (2013-2033 – yet to be adopted) vision is to secure the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the people and businesses in the District. This will be achieved by the delivery of infrastructure, services, and leisure facilities in the right places at the right time, to bring maximum benefits to new and existing communities”. The current population of the Aylesbury Vale Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 196,020 . This is expected to rise to 242,038 by 2039. It is ranked 38 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 280 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS). Limited space and basic, outdated facilities mean we’re not meeting the needs of students, or the community. The right plan must now be put in place. Having assessed the significant challenges presented by our lack of space, we are proposing to transform our sporting facilities, overcoming current constraints, and creating a focused whole school approach to increasing activity for all our students. We owe it to our students, and we want to support participation in sport within the local community.

We know there will be significant challenges ahead for our School if we are to maintain its reputation and continue to deliver an outstanding education. As an academy, our annual operating costs are funded through central government each year, and in recent years, our annual allocation per student has been one of the lowest in the country. In 2022/23 our allocation amounts just over £5,000 per year to educate a student in Years 7-11 (and significantly less for a Sixth Form student). A reduction in Sixth Form funding has had a considerable impact on us, especially as we have such a large Sixth Form. In real terms, funding has been cut.

Our income is only just sufficient to meet our annual basic operating costs. There is limited scope for additional funding from the Department for Education and so significant capital development is severely restricted from the School budget. This means that we have limited resources to invest in our infrastructure and buildings.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

Enabling the vision by promoting a culture of philanthropy among our local community.

As a result, any meaningful capital improvements must come from outside resources, either in grants or individual gifts. This is why the School’s Development Office plays such an important role in the delivery of an outstanding education at Aylesbury Grammar School –as well as our ability to meet immediate needs.

Gradually, a culture of giving is evolving throughout the School, and in recent years we have seen an increase in participation in our Aylesburian Annual Fund, although this fluctuates significantly depending on the economic climate and the cohort. However, through philanthropic sources we have been able to refurbish our Maths department, IT Rooms, and more recently complete the refurbishment of Art, DT and Engineering. Capital projects, funded by various sources, have included a new Science Centre, Library, Squash Club, School Entrance and Sixth Form Centre.

We also have a vibrant and growing community of Old Aylesburians spanning several generations and are proactive in organising a varied events and activities programme to encourage most of our Old Boys to stay in touch.

A new generation of School sports

facilities for all

We seek to reconfigure our entire current sporting provision at AGS. There will be a phased approach to this with the aim of improving on-site provision and creating an off-site AGS Sports Campus.

This will give us greater capacity and flexibility on the School site to meet the needs of Physical Education and Sport within the curriculum with an ambitious and exciting longterm vision to create an AGS Sports Campus off-site for our Extra-Curricular Sport.

This will be an innovative facility to transform Physical Education and Sport, designed with all users in mind.

...create positive experiences

...tackle inequalities

...inspire teamwork

...increase participation

...encourage healthy habits

... forge leaderships skills

...help with concentration

...support character development

...build resilience

...develop

social skills

...make a meaningful difference

...improve self esteem

VISION FOR SPORT

PHASE 2 & 3

MORE PEOPLE, MORE ACTIVE, MORE OFTEN

3G PITCH

CROSS SECTION

GRASS FIBRE

GRANULATED RUBBER

SAND

BACKING SYSTEM

SHOCK ABSORBING PAD

LEVELLING LAYER

SUB BASE

GEOTEXTILE MEMBRANE

AGGREGATE PIPE BEDDING

DRAINAGE

FORMATION LAYER

PHASE 1

OVERHEAD REVERSE ANGLE VIEW

Creating spaces that inspire...

This will enable us to reshape the learning through participation opportunities, and inspire young people, regardless of ability, to follow an active pathway not just at school, but at university, in their community, and beyond into employment.

We have an obligation to do this, and importantly, we see it as an essential part of how we nurture the character of our young people.

We need to deliver this vision in phases.

A future we define...

PHASE 1 | Aylesbury Cricket Club Partnership secured to free up space on the current School field. Achieved and secured for Cricket Season 2024.

Design, plan and gain all permissions for a 3G Pitch on the current School field providing an all-year facility to enhance the delivery of both the PE curriculum and training facilities for School Team Squads. To be available for community use.

PHASE 2 | The conversion of the old caretaker’s bungalow into a dedicated PE Classroom to deliver both A Level and GCSE PE plus provide the PE Staff with offices. Aim is to finance it with a charitable donation.

PHASE 2

PHASE 1

PHASE 3 | Create a new all-weather (3G Multi Use Games Arena) on the current School field.

PHASE 3 PROJECT OUTCOMES

• Plans will address a range of urgent health and safety, timetabling and safeguarding concerns presented by the lack of facilities onsite and the current need to use offsite facilities.

• By adding a new all-weather facility, it will unlock flexibility of provision and increase student activity, whilst creating a community use facility when not in use by the School.

• Increased student participation and activity will address health and well-being concerns following the aftermath of Covid-19, whilst also adding to the academic and overall benefits of participation learning.

• An all-weather pitch onsite will replace a significant amount of activity currently taking place on the offsite provisions, addressing the challenges of health and safety and sometimes waterlogged pitches, which impacts continuity of teaching and use.

*Depending on funding avenues

PHASE 3

MASTER CAMPAIGN

Committed to innovation...

Our vision is to create an exciting new Campus to be built on a new site in the Aylesbury area. It will be used for extra-curricular activity and for hosting School fixtures, and available to groups within the community during evenings, weekends and school holidays.

It will be a flagship facility for the local area, and an example of what is possible when an entire community and all its stakeholders come together in pursuit of a common goalto improve health and wellbeing and enhance the education available to its community.

Providing this facility will drastically improve the sporting landscape in the local area and offer our young people and members of the community new opportunities to be active.

Community sport re-imagined...

PHASE 4a | To research and procure an appropriate piece of land in Aylesbury or the surrounding area that is accessible to the School and to obtain planning to create an AGS Sports Campus

PHASE 4b | Design and build a new AGS Off-Site Sports Facility.

• Plans will include 5 rugby/football pitches and 2 cricket squares (one will be all-weather).

• Facility will include a large changing, refreshment, teaching, and conference venue, including offices for the facility manager, and car parking spaces for over 80 vehicles.

PHASE 4A | ONGOING

PHASE 4B

ESTIMATED COST | £7-8 million

COMPLETION | DECEMBER 2028

PHASE 4a

PHASE 4b

• This is the culmination of three years of detailed preparation (planning approval has taken nearly two years).

• The initial quote received for the Arena represents competitive and good value for money and considers the prevailing economic climate, sustainability, and future proofing. For due diligence we are in the process of cross quoting with two other suppliers.

• Phase 3 is not a development in isolation, it is part of a longer-term vision to create an exceptional sporting provision for the Aylesbury community.

• We have an established project team, with impressive levels of professional experience in delivering refurbishment and build projects in schools.

• We are in the process of creating a Capital Campaign, including a Giving Day, to encourage our community to support and match fund a lead benefactor.

We want our students to flourish, aspire and achieve beyond School, and to be prepared for the challenges they face at university and in the workplace.

Participation in sport offers life enriching opportunities, self-discovery through that participation and selfless commitment.

Our ten-year strategic plan must therefore ensure that all our facilities enable every student, whatever they choose, to fulfil their personal potential.

We have been nurturing character since 1598 and will be for many years to come, inspiring and enabling our students to flourish throughout their lives.

FLOURISH

Be a part of our legacy...

This project is entirely dependent upon charitable fundraising - it will not be possible without the generous support of charitable trusts and foundations and the goodwill of our direct and wider community.

We need to embark on a Capital Campaign and look at all other sources of funding for Sport.

We want our students to flourish, aspire and achieve beyond School, and to be prepared for the challenges they face at university and in the workplace. Participation in sport offers life enriching opportunities, self-discovery through that participation and selfless commitment. Our ten-year strategic plan must therefore ensure that all our facilities enable every student, whatever they choose, to fulfil their personal potential. We have been nurturing character since 1598 and will be for many years to come, inspiring and enabling our students to flourish throughout their lives.

We must now find the resources to accomplish our goals. Your comments, reactions and suggestions are most welcome.

AYLESBURY GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Founded 1598