Community Impact Report
At Ipswich School we put care at the heart of our educational ethos.
Care for the community follows naturally from this core value. We encourage all our pupils to understand their place in the world and to develop a spirit of service.
We share resources and projects with other schools, local organisations and communities in many different waysthrough teaching, as part of our co-curriculum, sharing our facilities and through fundraising.
These partnerships and activities enrich the experience of all at Ipswich School - pupils, staff, alumni and parents - and directly contribute to the broad education which we value so highly.
Over the following pages we summarise some of the activities which took place during the 2021-22 school year. Please do get in touch if you have any questions.
Nicholas Weaver Headmaster, Ipswich School
These partnerships and activities enrich the experience of all at Ipswich School - pupils, staff, alumni and parents - and directly contribute to the broad education which we value so highly.
Music students perform at St Mary-le-Tower Church in Ipswich to launch their Trees @ the Tower Festival, December 2021
Photo:
Our local community
Suffolk Refugee Support Homework Club
We hold a weekly Homework Club for refugee children in our Sixth Form Centre. From conversational English, homework or GCSE and A Level support, our staff and student volunteers help in any way they can and find the sessions highly rewarding.
Suffolk Community FoundationSuffolk Dog Day
Minibus Use
Gorseland, Sidegate, Springfield and Henley primary schools received help with minibus transport and drivers. Local organisations and charities helped with transport include: BEAM, Unity FC, LEAP, Suffolk Community Foundation, Volunteering Matters and South Street Kids.
Over 40 refugee children attend homework club 10
schools and charities helped with transport
In July the school teamed up with Suffolk Community Foundation for their annual ‘Suffolk Dog Day’ held at Helmingham Hall.
The purpose of the event was to raise funds for Suffolk Community Foundation which is an organisation that supports Suffolk charities to rebuild the lives of local people.
Ipswich School hosted the tea tent and the Catering Team provided many delicious treats, while students also volunteered to assist the organisers with different parts of the day.
The day was a huge success with approximately 6,000 dogs and their humans in attendance.
Suffolk Dog Day raised £47,500 for Suffolk good causes
Festival of Music Education Programme
As part of the annual Ipswich School Festival of Music, the Education Programme brings professional music to school children. It encourages young people to make music and not only improves their musical skills, but also their imagination and creativity.
During the 2021 Festival Ipswich Prep School’s Music Department led African music workshops with four local primary schools: Bentley, Copdcock, St Margaret’s and St Matthew’s Primary Schools. The workshops were a singing and percussion extravaganza with songs from The Lion King, traditional African welcome songs and a massed African percussion piece.
4 primary schools enjoyed African drumming workshops
Hoots help Hospice
A feathered friend joined Ipswich School for the summer, as Zentang-Owl took up residence at the front of the school as part of The Big Hoot art trail across Ipswich which raises money for St Elizabeth Hospice.
Ipswich School supported the trail as Associate Education Partner, as well as hosting Zentang-Owl for visitors to enjoyone of 50 statues on the trail.
Our Big Hoot was designed by local artist Alison Mayston and was inspired the
method of ‘zentangling’ - an art form that promotes concentration and creativity whilst also increasing personal wellbeing.
£6,000 contributed to The Big Hoot art trail
2022 Giving Day £105,362
Ipswich School’s first ever Giving Day was held on 29 and 30 June, and raised over £105,000 to support bursaries, offering young people the chance to study at Ipswich School, who couldn’t otherwise afford to.
The fundraising event aimed to maximise awareness, engagement, and donations, and was a huge success with the whole school community getting behind our aim to support at least three Ukrainian pupils in the 2022/23 academic year.
Total raised
332 Donors from across the world
Student-led
Initiative to support mental health
Students in the Sixth Form felt the #HelloYellow campaign through Young Minds was an important charity that needed to be recognised within the school.
Students wore yellow to show support for everyone’s mental health. Sixth Form donations from the day raised £539 for the charity.
Book donations for EACH
Organised to coincide with the 25th anniversary of World Book Day, pupils and staff from Ipswich Prep donated nearly 400 books to EACH - The Treehouse, Ipswich.
385 books donated
£539 to support mental health
Our global community
Rucksacks and supplies donated for Afghan refugees
In the Michaelmas term the school turned its charity support to the events in Afghanistan. Care4Calais, a volunteer-run charity put out an urgent plea for essential items and aid to support refugees who had fled Afghanistan and were living in the UK, Northern France and Belgium.
A wonderful response to the school’s rucksack collection saw 200 bags packed to the brim with essential clothing and supplies to be donated to Care4Calais and passed to those who needed the items the most.
200 bags of supplies for Afghan refugees
Support for crisis in Ukraine
Following a plea for essential items for those affected by the crisis in Ukraine, Ipswich School connected with Bury St Edmunds based charity GeeWizz who were arranging the transportation of goods across Europe as part of a huge charity effort in Suffolk. Hundreds of filled shoeboxes were donated by pupils and staff and taken to the GeeWizz base.
Three Year 11 pupils decided they wanted to help raise funds for British Ukrainian Aid and so, for four weeks the friends sold doughnuts to fellow pupils and staff at break time. Combined with other donations, £1,251 was raised.
Fundraising and volunteering
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
Our students provided 1,638 hours of voluntary service through the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme in the last school year, with a social value of £7,567. A pupil was offered a position on the Duke of Edinburgh UK Youth Ambassador programme, one of only 30 in the UK.
Senior School Fundraising
£3,123 Rainbow Railroad
£1,149 Suffolk Refugee Support
£1,853 Ukraine Red Cross
£1,829 Suffolk Rape Crisis
£5,732 raised for defibrillators and training for 3 primary schools
The Oliver King Foundation
Ipswich Prep School’s fundraising efforts of the year were in support of The Oliver King Foundation with a goal to be able to provide defibrillators, and training to local primary schools.
Funds were raised across the year in a number of ways including: a Christmas hamper raffle, a challenge where pupils were encouraged to take part in ‘heartfelt’ chores or activities with loved ones in return for donations towards the fundraising and collections at various events and performances.
Ipswich Prep raised £5,372 which equates to defibrillators and training for three local primary schools.
Our community impact
1,638 hours of volunteering for D of E awards
Latin Outreach 2022
50% achieve 9-7 grades
100% pass
£16,621 raised for charity
10 schools and charities helped with minibus use
200 bags of supplies for Afghan refugees
385 books donated to EACH Children’s Hospice
Over 40 attended Refugee Support homework club
£1,200 raised for British Ukranian Aid by pupils selling doughnuts
www.ipswich.school/community Published December 2022. Charity Number: 310493