Foundation Newsletter Issue 2 June 2009

Elizabeth College Foundation Newsletter Issue 2 June 2009

Progress Report

Contents Progress Report 1 Completed Projects 2

Memorial Field Pavilion Swimming Pool Cover Refectory

2 3 3

The Dead Donkey Club 4 Elizabeth College Foundation 4 Contact us 4

We may have reached our initial appeal target, thanks to the breathtaking generosity of OEs, parents and others, but we’re certainly not resting on our laurels.

Far from it. We are now more conscious than ever that maintaining the College as one of the island’s premier centres of educational excellence lies in securing extra funding from outside the usual sources.

In this newsletter, we report on the Dead Donkey Club and hope you might see your way to becoming a member of this elite An Elizabeth College Foundation Roll of Honour has now been created and copies are on display group now or in the future! in the Receptions at ECJS Beechwood and the And there’s Stop Press news about a College Upper School. refectory which will banish, once and for all, pupils sitting at their The Roll of Honour lists the names of all donors desks and elsewhere to to the 2007 Appeal, except for those who chose remain anonymous, alongside some eat their packed to illustrations of the Foundation Projects. lunches.

Bruce Parker Chairman - Elizabeth College Foundation

In keeping with the tradition of recognising major College benefactors, the names of the major donors to the appeal have been appliquéd onto the frosted glass panels within the AJ Perrot Sixth Form study room.

Three down, two to go Three of the five projects which were the subject of the 2007 Development Appeal target have now been completed.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Le Cheminant, one of the Patrons of the Foundation, visited Elizabeth College Junior School Acorn House on 7th November 2008 to formally open the newly constructed Library and Music Room. This bright new room is now in active daily use and has proved extremely popular with both pupils and staff.

The All-weather pitch at Elizabeth College Junior School Beechwood has certainly proved its worth through the inclement weather we have had recently. It is in regular use at break/ lunch times and during sports lessons.

The Sixth Form Centre was completed in October 2007 and is hugely appreciated by all of the Sixth Form students who use it. This flexible space provides quiet study facilities as well as a common room, kitchen and other areas for relaxation.

Elizabeth College Foundation

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Memorial Field Pavilion Those people who regularly use, or pass, the Memorial Field on Footes Lane will already be aware that the construction of the new pavilion has started.

The development of the new Pavilion is the single largest project to be funded by the 2007 Appeal and is much awaited by many, including Junior School and Upper School pupils, parents and the many external organisations which use the facilities such as the Guernsey Hockey Club and Guernsey Cricket Board.

The construction work was launched on Thursday 19th March 2009 when the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Reverend Michael Scott-Joynt, cut the first turf on the site of the new pavilion.

The launch was witnessed by Foundation Chairman Bruce Parker and Elaine Roussel, the widow of former Elizabeth College teacher Robin Roussel. The pavilion will be named after Robin who many remember as a great sportsman who engendered a love of sports in many of the boys whom he taught.

Elaine Roussel attended the The Bishop of Winchester turf cutting. The new Pavilion The Bishop of Winchester is the official Visitor for cuts the first turf on the site will be named after Elaine’s Elizabeth College and one of the most senior Bishops of the new Memorial Field late husband, Robin.

Pavilion. in the Church of England.

Builders F Watson and Son have been selected as the main contractors for the construction of the pavilion which is expected to be completed by early next year.

The initial groundworks have included the sinking of approximately 50 piles, some of them up to 8 metres into the ground. The first signs of construction above ground level have now emerged and it is expected that the new building will start to take shape in the next couple of weeks.

The new pavilion will provide four flexible changing areas including a disabled toilet, covered viewing areas over the hockey and cricket pitches and a storage room for groundsmens’ equipment. It will include a refectory area with catering facilities which will also be usable as a classroom, complete with an interactive whiteboard.

The new pavilion is positioned behind the existing building which will be demolished once the new building is in use. This will provide a much needed enlarged parking area.

Construction of the new pavilion at the Memorial Field is expected to be completed by early 2010

Elizabeth Page 3 of 4 College Foundation

Modern Languages ICT Suite The development of a new ICT suite in the Upland Road building was completed in January this year.

This excellent new facility, converted from a sorely under-utilised Lecture Theatre, provides specialist computer based resources to support and enhance the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages.

Although the new ICT suite is not a Foundation project, it has been enabled by the success of the Foundation appeal. The conversion work was paid for by funds which otherwise would have had to be preserved for the progression of other capital projects.

Elizabeth College Foundation Page 3 of 4

Swimming Pool Cover Initial feasibility work has started to look at possible suppliers and designs for a retractable cover for the Swimming Pool. This is the final project to be funded by the 2007 Appeal funds.

Discussions have commenced with possible suppliers, all of whom have experience of similar projects within secondary schools. The cover will comprise a number of telescopic panels running on wheels. These can be retracted into fixed end-pieces to allow the pool to be open-air on sunny days but also, when closed, provide protection to lengthen the useable season of the pool. The cover will extend across most of the pool surround.

The next stage will be to confirm the design of the cover and apply for planning permission. Work on the construction of the cover is scheduled to take place in 2011, with funding coming from the ongoing monthly/annual covenants.

Future Projects – Refectory The Foundation has been enormously successful in funding urgently needed, and arguably overdue, capital projects such as the Sixth Form Centre, Pavilion and Acorn Library. The next significant priority project is to create a refectory for Elizabeth College Upper School pupils.

We are delighted to report that planning permission in principle has just been granted for an extension to the Geography block. This will involve the construction of an additional floor on top of the existing two-storey building to create a large open space which will form the refectory.

Detailed plans are yet to be drawn up but it is anticipated that the refectory will provide dining space for up to approximately 150 pupils, plus catering facilities. The refectory will be designed as a flexible open space, with removable seating, to provide an additional large space as a much needed alternative to the College Hall, which is frequently occupied by music and drama performances, exhibitions and other day-to-day College activities.

In conjunction with this project the Gatehouse, which is currently used as a tuckshop, will be redeveloped.

While College would like to proceed with the construction of the refectory as soon as possible, this project is currently unfunded: all of the funds raised through the 2007 Appeal have been allocated to those five projects.

It is nevertheless a project which the Foundation has within its longer term aims and the Trustees are considering how to make it happen.

Elizabeth College Foundation

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Legacy – The Dead Donkey Club The 2007 Foundation Development Appeal has been hugely successful in providing funding for five desperately needed and hugely appreciated projects.

In line with many other independent schools, the Elizabeth College Foundation has created a Legacy Club – the Dead Donkey Club – to help extend the financial support the Foundation can provide to Elizabeth College in the medium to long term.

Those people who have made a bequest in their Will in favour of the Elizabeth College Foundation are eligible to join the club, which will have its own programme of events. Members have already enjoyed a lunch in the Sixth-Form Centre and a hugely enjoyable Hog Roast and barbeque on a recent sunny June evening. Future events planned include a wine tasting evening.

A few words from the Chief Donkey The appeal by the Elizabeth College Foundation has succeeded well beyond the expectations of most people. With several successful projects behind them, but plenty more on the “wish list”, the Trustees of the Foundation have put their thinking caps on and come up with an ingenious scheme to provide further funding, which is both painless and fun! Namely a legacy club. The aims of this are to persuade OEs and other friends of the College to provide a bequest in their Wills, leaving money to the Foundation. A benefit of joining this elite club is some interesting, entertaining social events for the members which will have no fund raising element in themselves.

The Trustees, in their wisdom, recognised that all Old Elizabethans are either true Guernsey Donkeys or honorary Guernsey Donkeys and so came up with the inspired title of the Dead Donkey Club. When they were casting around for someone to be the “Chief Donkey”, they not unnaturally thought of me as, over recent years, I have been closely associated with making islanders prouder and more conscious of being Guernsey Donkeys.

A silk Dead Donkey tie will be awarded personally by me to every member on confirmation that their last Will and Testament has been appropriately altered and a flag has been commissioned, to fly as occasion demands – at full or half mast.

A full explanatory brochure is available from Dot Carruthers in the Foundation Office at College, or by contacting me or any other friendly member of the Foundation.

Geoff Dorey (4992)

The Elizabeth College Foundation The Elizabeth College Foundation Trust (comprising both Guernsey and UK charitable trusts) was established to help provide long term financial stability to the College.

The 2007 Appeal has been hugely successful thanks to the support and generosity of parents, former pupils, and many other people in the wider College family.

The Trusts are managed by a team of Trustees and have a clear set of objectives which allow them to direct funds in areas where they feel the most benefit can be given to Elizabeth College, its students and staff.

In essence the objectives cover: •

the provision of facilities for the education and development of students and staff of the Elizabeth College Schools;

•

the provision, preservation, protection, maintenance and improvement of any School buildings; and

•

the awarding of bursaries and scholarships to students to assist in the furtherance of their education.

If you would like any further details about the Elizabeth College Foundation please contact Architectural drawings and images Dot Carruthers - Elizabeth College Development Officer reproduced courtesy of Lovell Ozanne Tel 01481 728217 email dot@elizabethcollege.guernsey.net