IMPACT REPORT 2021
Thank you from the Headmaster
It has been such a challenging time for schools as it has been for all sectors, as we have negotiated the global pandemic.
Whether online and at home or in person, with and without restrictions, I have been so proud of how our pupils and staff have risen to all of the challenges that have been thrown at us and kept up our excellent education provision - from the academic to the co-curricular.
We have seen great results, both in our academic outcomes and university places, and also the fruits of our lockdown training and practice. We have got back to live musical and drama performances to great acclaim and we have had a hugely successful season of sporting fixtures so far. Ipswich School has certainly continued to grow and build, even in these adverse conditions.
We continue to strive to make these opportunities available to more children whose families simply would not be able to afford the fees to come here. I am so proud that we have been able to continue the awarding of 100% bursaries, through donations made to our Founding
Futures fund. Alongside this, with your help, we have been supporting families whose lives have been changed by the pandemic.
You, our supporters and donors, are wonderful people and it is one of my greatest pleasures to see the outcomes of your generosity. Of course we rightly want to grow this fund, and to extend the opportunities that we offer, so we are keen to recruit more supporters and donors into the fold. Together we can do more to offer outstanding educational opportunities to our wider community.
I am excited by the plans for our first ever Giving Day - 29 - 30 June 2022 - a 36 hour period which will bring the whole Ipswich School
community together to get behind children within our community who can really benefit from what we offer. I urge you to support this initiative; the funds raised really do change the lives of the pupils we support.
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy reading this booklet to see more of what your gifts have helped our pupils to achieve both in the past and at this very moment at Ipswich School.
NICHOLAS WEAVER HEADMASTER
Your Support in Numbers
We are delighted to report on donations and pledges received over the last 12 months.*
Donors by age spread
Numbers of families supported with fee-assistance from the Phoenix Fund and school support since the pandemic began.
£259,000 LEGACY PLEDGES MADE THIS YEAR *
Other Funds: 1%
Phoenix Fund: 10%
116 Donors & Pledges
Funds Supported
Bursary Fund: 89%
33
Current members of the Elizabethan Society (legacy pledges)
Total donations: £245,236
You help to shape lives like ours
“The bursary at Ipswich School changed my life.”
PROFESSOR MARK BAILEY (OI 1972-79)
In 1972 the successful 11+ candidates from tiny Dale Hall Primary School in north Ipswich were all due to start Northgate Grammar School that September. But my parents had heard that bursaries were available at Ipswich School.
When the offer of a Queen’s Scholarship to Ipswich School arrived in the spring, our family was assessed as requiring 100% remission. A full fee bursary. The family celebrated with a meal at the Martlesham Red Lion, the first time we had dined out for an evening meal.
“My recollection is of seven very busy and happy years.”
The teaching was inspired. The recent arrival of both a reforming Head - John Blatchly - and a clutch of young, highly able teachers who cared about pupils must have helped.
The encouragement to engage in a wide range of different opportunities, and the exemplification and support available to pursue passions and develop skills, were high. It opened up a world of sports and interests, and the culture raised academic aspirations.
“It shaped my lifelong interests and future educational values.”
Ipswich School led to Durham as an undergraduate and to Cambridge for a PhD. I stayed at Cambridge University for 17 years researching and lecturing in medieval history, while also playing rugby for Wasps and England after being coached by the impressive John Nicholson at school.
After lecturing at Cambridge University, I became Head of Leeds Grammar School, and finally High Master of St Paul’s School in London.
“The values I observed and absorbed at Ipswich School have been influential throughout my career in education.”
Ipswich School inspires with high academic standards and aspirations, a strong work ethic, provision of a wide range of opportunities, a culture that promotes engagement in whatever activity is right for the individual, developing interpersonal and life skills through all those activities, bags of encouragement, clear boundaries and direction when needed. Extending bursaries to enable talented children within the local community to benefit from a top education is highly commendable.
Northgate Grammar School was a damned good school; but would I have followed this varied educational career, and gained such pleasure from playing two sports to a high standard if my wishes had prevailed over my parents’?
Definitely not.
Photo by: George Herringshaw www.sporting-heroes.net
“I could never have imagined achieving as much as I have”
ROSIE GEELMUYDEN (OI 2011-2017)
It was suggested that an independent school education may be more suited to me by the head teacher of my primary school, but it had been completely out of the question due to my family’s financial situation.
My local high school was a poor performing school and my parents felt it would not help me to achieve my potential. Luckily, we were made aware of the Ipswich School bursaries.
After visiting the school my family and I didn’t dare to dream it would be possible for me to attend. The day the letter arrived confirming my place, I was excited, but at the same time I was nervous; coming from a completely different background made me wonder if I would fit in. I couldn’t have been more wrong, I felt welcome from the moment I crossed the threshold. Ipswich School seemed the perfect place that would allow me to flourish by providing the opportunities, challenges and support that I needed.
In year nine my family had to move away from the area and continuing at the school seemed impossible. It was at this point that the generosity of my bursary exceeded all expectations and I was offered the chance to board until the end of sixth form. The boarding house became my second home.
During Thursday afternoon activities I immersed myself in primary school volunteering for four years and gained valuable work experience. I believe it contributed to being offered all five university places I applied for.
“Ipswich School has provided me with extensive support and a wide range of opportunities which would not have been available to me elsewhere.”
I am the first member of my family ever to go to university and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the school and the bursary fund for all it has done for me.
Without the assistance of my Ipswich school bursary, I could never have imagined achieving as much as I have.
“My story so far...”
TEKLE, YEAR 13
I
have been attending Ipswich School for just over a year now, I joined in year 12 and I
haven’t looked back!
Alone, I travelled to the UK through Ethiopia, Sudan, Libya and Europe when I was just 14, arriving in the UK some 18 months later. I was born in Eritrea but was determined not to stay. The country is run by a totalitarian dictatorship and has one of the worst human rights records in the world.
The reason I left Eritrea was to find peace to be free but I soon found the other countries I passed through on my journey to safety were far from ideal so I was determined to eventually arrive in the UK.
Judging that I was a genuine refugee, Border Force placed me into foster care in Essex. At 15, I eventually came to Ipswich to live independently with support from social services, and it is then my life began to really change.
I studied English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course at Suffolk New College and did some of my GCSEs at Northgate High School in Ipswich, I gradually built up my English to become fluent and scored highly in my exams - gaining 7s and 8s in Maths and Science subjects and a 6 in my English GCSE this year.
While studying for my GCSEs, I attended Suffolk Refugee Support Homework Club, which provides support to refugees who need more one-to-one help because English is not their first language. The sessions were first run at Volunteering Matters but were moved to Ipswich School in order to provide access to better equipment, facilities and tutors.
There I met Ms Caston, Head of Lower School, who has really supported me and who then approached the Headmaster to consider me for a scholarship to study A-levels in Chemistry, Maths and Physics.
The Headmaster and the Development Committee decided that I was a perfect candidate for a 100% transformational bursary and due to joining the school as an 18 year old, it would be an opportunity closed to me in the state school sector.
I am still planning my next steps and considering lots of different options in the field of engineering, possibly a degree apprenticeship.
I am so grateful to Ipswich School for giving me this wonderful opportunity of an excellent education. They have changed my life.
“I couldn’t be happier to be supporting another young person at Ipswich School”
“After 18 years as a now-retired Governor, I am aware of the difference to young people’s lives made by the school, the dedication of its staff and its wider community. I share that commitment to the power of education to benefit both individuals and society as a whole.
I am in the fortunate position to have been able to provide a bursary for a child for whom, without it, Ipswich School would have been unattainable. To those who may be similarly fortunate, I urge you to reflect on the enduring impact a bursary contribution would make to the life of the recipient and, more widely, to the school.”
JOHN POULTER, FORMER GOVERNOR
“This is our chance to unite the whole school community to support more deserving children with 100% bursary assistance.”
Nicholas Weaver, Headmaster
29-30th 2022
How to Support Ipswich School
Transform a life with the gift of education by giving to Ipswich School.
Whether your donation is large or small, immediate, or as part of a legacy gift, it makes a significant difference to the prospects of the children we support.
If you would like to help transform the lives of children in our region, there are a number of ways you can support Ipswich School:
Online:
Give a one-off or regular gift securely online at www.ipswich.school/ foundingfutures
In person:
Please contact the Development Office to arrange a visit.
Cheque:
Donations by cheque should be payable to ‘Ipswich School’.
By bank transfer:
Ipswich School, account number: 06485430, sort code: 30-94-55, reference: your name/fund
Legacy giving:
Via a gift in your will, please contact the Development Office for more information or visit our website.
Special gift:
If you would like to leave a special, non-monetary gift to Ipswich School we would love to hear from you. Such gifts may include assets, works of art, auction gifts or anything else you wish the school to have and be able to utilise for the benefit of pupils present and future.
BSUF:
US-based donors wishing to support the school are invited to donate through the British Schools and Universities Foundation (BSUF) and choose Ipswich School.
Gift Aid:
Don’t forget to opt in for Gift Aid (if applicable) as this allows us to claim an extra 25% on top of your donation from the Government at no cost to you. If you are a higher rate tax payer, you can also claim the difference between the higher rate of tax and the current basic rate of tax.
For more information about how you can support Ipswich School or to discuss a potential gift please contact Nikki Brown, Development Director on 01473 298961, or email nlb@ipswich.school
Thank you
In this, our second Impact Report, we would like to reiterate our thanks to all of our supporters who have given so generously to help young people at the school over the last 12 months.
Gifts come in all sizes and through a variety of ways and we are so grateful for all your support. It is because of you, our benefactors, that an outstanding education continues to be offered to children who would otherwise be unable to access the array of opportunity here.
We would also like to acknowledge those who have decided to remain anonymous, and a special thanks goes to those in our community who are no longer with us but who chose to leave a gift in their will.
Ipswich School is an environment built to help children achieve their potential.
Education is a gift that cannot be taken away, a gift that lasts a lifetime.
Eddy Alcock OI
Apollo
Daphne Badcock
Carrie Baker
Mike Bannan OI
Malcolm Barnett OI
Eric Bauly OI
Rowell Bell
Geoffrey Bell-Jones OI
Colin & Elisabeth Blackmore
Brian Blomfield OI
Peter Bloomfield OI
Alexander Brooks OI
Nikki Brown
Marco & Donna Caporilli
Canon Cedric Catton OI
Terry Chapman OI
Dr William Charnock OI
John Chessher OI
Douglas Chivers OI
Howard Clarke OI
Bob Clarke OI
Nick Clowe OI & Nina Clowe
Andrew Cockrill OI
Jeffrey & Rachel Conley
Nigel Connor OI
Graham Cook OI
Geoff Cook OI
Frank Cross OI
Karl Daniels OI
Bob Dennish OI
Charles Doig OI
George Dunnett OI
Warwick Dunnett OI & Melanie Read
Yahya Elsaie OI
Robert Erith OI
Nik Fairweather OI
Richard Fairweather OI
John Felgate OI
Mike Fenn OI
Jonathan Fieldsend OI &
Helen Clarkson-Fieldsend
Bruce Finch OI
Friends of Ipswich School
Dick Garrard OI
James & Victoria Gibson
Sean Gillings & Afua
Marfoh-Gillings
Spencer Gladwell OI
Joshua Glanvill OI
David Gould OI
John Graham OI
Archie Gravell OI
Jonas & Rebecca Grist
Thomas & Sharmila
Groot-Wassink
Sivarasa & Nalinarani
Gunaswaran
Roger Hailey OI
Alexander & Rebecca
Hamilton-Wright
R I Harcourt OI
Edwin & Melanie Harrell
Rosemary Harrison
Claire Haynes & James Smith
Martin Holland OI
Jonathan Holmes OI
Mark & Joanne Howard
Anthony Hubbard OI
Philip Hunn OI
Ipswich Mortgage Centre Limited
Muhammad Ishaq & Seema Khan
Tony Jackson OI
Juliette Johns
Roland Johnson OI
Denis Kennedy & Sheila Boath
William Latta OI
Cindy Lawes OI
Robert Lewcock OI
James MacLachlan OI
Jean Macleod
Ian & Fiona Marlow
Mary Mindham
Graeme Moir OI
J Keith Nelson OI
Robert Newby OI
Ian R Orger OI
The Old Ipswichian Club
Sam Pace OI
Dr Gerry Pell OI
Dr Brendan Pell OI
Ranulph Poole OI
Robert Porter OI
Roger Porter OI
Richard Porter OI
John Poulter
Ali Prior OI
Jonathan Pulham OI
Nigel Rendle OI
Alexander & Candida Robson
Steve Runnacles OI
Rt Reverend M Seeley & Rev J Bruck
Julian Sharman OI
Jon Sheppard (Shed) OI
Albert Smetham OI
Julian Spettigue OI
Richard Staines OI
Chris Thorogood OI
Timothy Townshend OI
The Lord Belstead Charitable Trust
Christchurch Vets
John Ward OI
Michael Warner OI
Sally Webber OI
Andrew Weston OI
Richard Wilson OI
Stuart Wilson OI
John Winyard OI
Dennis Woolmer OI
Peter Wrinch OI
Thank You.
This document is titled an “Impact” Report, and the numbers on pages 4 and 5 are certainly impressive.
The extraordinary generosity of the many donors listed here, who have given to others despite the challenging times we are living through, is surely worthy of celebration.
But the real impact is felt elsewhere, in the lives that are changing right now, the opportunities that are being grasped, the doors that are opening. Those children whose futures are transformed – that is really where we should look to see the impact that your giving has made.
The psychological, social and economic effects of COVID-19 on young people are only now beginning to be felt. Though their optimism and resilience are extraordinary, they need more – and we can offer more.
Then we can truly say that we have made a difference, and left a legacy for life.
RICHARD WILSON OI (1970 - 1981) DONOR, GOVERNOR AND CHAIR OF THE FOUNDATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Nikki Brown Development Director
Ipswich School Development Office
Henley Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 3SG
Telephone: 01473 298961
Email: nlb@ipswich.school @ipswichschool /ipswichschool /ipswich_school
www.ipswich.school/foundingfutures