SCS Uvule Foundation Brochure 2023

BUILDING BRILLIANCE SCS Fund Uvule

Uvule

Since1871, St Cyprian’s Diocesan School for Girls has lived its ethos of ‘teaching not for school, but for life; training not for time, but for eternity.’

We are that school that sets about unlocking intellectual and physical ‘smarts’, developing talents in all. Possibility, opportunity, celebration of potential and realisation of autonomy are the struts of the framework that provide the ‘St Cyprian’s Edge’.

Assisting our students to discover their brilliant brains and special gifts, we shape independent thinkers who dare to dream of applying their intellect to creating professions that have yet to be created.

We are a proud, independent school committed to transformative change, embracing and advancing diversity. We have a strong anchor that connects our Anglican tradition, values and heritage. It is from this frame that we grow and hone purpose, intellect, character and agency in our students.

St Cyprian’s School o ers a holistic, global, personalised educational approach, informed by a Round Square paradigm and an IEB assessment framework. We imbue the philosophy ‘There is more in us than we know’. A Cambridge curriculum is o ered to senior students, reinforcing our commitment to developing deep curiosity and a life-long passion for learning.

We applaud explorers, disruptors, job creators and change agents.

pivotal role in guiding our girls on the ‘Journey of Becoming’ – such that they

unique to each student.

The SCS Council, together with senior school management, has committed to a vision that sets up our school for the next 150 years. St Cyprian’s School’s mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity, human talent, and human adaptability. It is our vocation to spread the power of optimism and hope. By delivering a 21st Century campus that supports and enhances our holistic educational philosophy, we aim to expand our current capacity to grow a community of young women who will question assumptions, think deeply, apply knowledge and wisdom in seeking solutions, and act with integrity – leaders of the future.

The SCS Uvule Fund is our vehicle to unlock the vision and make this aspiration a reality. The SCS Legacy Plan explains our strategy and we invite you to journey with us and help us bring it to life.

Johann Lourens Photography

SCS Fund Uvule

For more than 150 years, St Cyprian’s School has played a significant role as a leading educational institution for girls. It has remained relevant to time and place, while expanding its influence in a global context. The value of girls’ education is generational and has been proven to bring about positive change in community and country. Evidence supports the assertion that an educated woman has an incrementally positive e ect in the arena in which she operates, and our many extraordinary alumnae corroborate that fact.

It is, however, a new world and a new dawn! It is time once again to stand up

WE ASPIRE TO AUGMENT OUR POSITION AS a leading centre of educational excellence

while augmenting a definition of excellence to embrace a wider relevance:

RELEVANCE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF uncertainty, ambiguity and uncontrollable change

INHERENT IN OUR TIME IN HISTORYmutual trust, moral leadership, competence and commitment.

THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

THAT STARTS WITH

the creation of developmental opportunities in microcosms where respect, mutual understanding, belonging and experience of the incredible potential of the capitalisation of difference to solve problems, invent new solutions and harness humanity, exist.

A NEXUS OF SHARED VALUES, RESPONSIBILITY BEYOND BOUNDARIES OF

The value and influence of humanity in a future world, largely destroyed by mankind, will depend on culture, nationalism and ideology and the cultivation of universal consciousness are required to transcend the status quo.

Our aspiration is to intentionally create that microcosm where diversity and the value of di erence can be experienced and explored – to intensify the development of individual talent through the power of the educational o er and to capitalize on the power of the collective. The wider definition of an excellent educational o er with significance for the future requires an educational experience where mastery of the intellect is the given, the honing of the body, the exploration and mastery of creativity, the development of character through the values of faith, hope and love, respect, integrity, compassion and accountability will need to accompany an appreciation for diversity and transformational thinking and being. Adaptation, mutuality, authenticity, collaboration, equity, social justice are the discriminators between (wo)man and machine, between those who will flourish and those who will struggle without purpose or hope.

It starts with intent. Our intent requires facilities and circumstances to enable individual growth and development to facilitate the change. Our approach is two-pronged:

Aligning SCS Uvule with St Cyprian’s School’s needs

2021 marked the 150th anniversary of St Cyprian’s School. Anticipation of this milestone led to the call to action articulated in our mission. Critical conversations, which included reflection of past success, anticipation of future, sustained relevance and the desire to re-establish the base for the future coalesced into the identification of a new strategic vision with new strategic imperatives. The funding for the realisation of these imperatives, through the support of the past and present community, provides an opportunity to create a new legacy.

An independent, legal entity, SCS UVULE Fund enables the collection of funds to support the strategic vision of St Cyprian’s School. Its role is to assist the school to implement two imperatives, The SCS 150 Built Environment Campaign and The Diversity and Transformation Pathway.

These two whole-school imperatives, while di erent in approach, are aligned in purpose, and will materially impact the school’s future and longevity. To realise ambitions in constituting a more reflective student body, a more diverse sta complement, to build physical capacity, to expand an academic programme that extends to the Arts, Sport, boarding, growing citizenship and developing individuals, and to strengthen meaningful, reciprocally transformative and collegial partnerships with other schools, St Cyprian’s School will require financial assistance that cannot be fulfilled through the collection of school fees.

The SCS 150 Built Environment Campaign

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put into place the fundamentals of a transformed, functional, user-friendly campus that delivers on the physical and structural requirements of a student-centred environment. The infrastructural building programme will create a physical environment to facilitate the realisation of the mission while providing capacity to extend opportunity and fellowship to a wider sector of the Cape Town community.

Diversity for Transformation - Improving diversity in student intake requires the raising of bursary money; and

Creating internships across the multi-disciplinary employment requirements of the school, needs funding.

Funding Partnerships - To create collegial partnerships with public schools and create fellowship and community to Transformative educational opportunities - To ensure that all students (regardless of socio-economic status) can capitalise on opportunities o ered by the school, a discretionary fund is required. Such opportunities will encompass the realms of academics, cultural pursuits, sport, technology, and Round Square.

advance the sharing of best practice, resources and facilities, requires funding.

St Cyprian’s School Legacy Plan

THE SCS 150 BUILT ENVIRONMENT CAMPAIGN

In anticipation of the realisation of SCS 150 (Council’s strategic vision established in 2016) a Development Framework Plan was created in advance of a comprehensive Site Development Plan by a team of professionals who understood the school’s long-term educational vision. The focus of the strategic plan was:

• additional classrooms in the Preparatory and Pre Schools;

• ongoing modernization of Katherine House (Boarding);

• development of competition-standard sport facilities as well as improved capacity for sport development;

• the provision of a multi-purpose hall; and

• a commitment to assessing the needs of our exceptional Performing Arts o ering in order to deliver capacity and improved facilities, long term.

Application was made to the City of Cape Town for additional development rights on our heritage campus; School Council approved the acquisition of additional land through a long-term lease agreement for sporting facilities, and an application to upgrade Upper Orange Street field to accommodate a competition-standard Hockey Astro, was presented.

New Prep Classrooms

Multi-Purpose Sports Center

New Through-Road

Tennis Courts

Rasied Intersection

Basketball Court

Lease rights to an additional two hectares of sport facilities

Purchase of a residential property on our boundary

Town planning application for an additional 7 500 sqm of floor area

Partial accommodation for the growth in the Preparatory School

Oakhurst development – Prep School sta room and additional social space, sta workroom and and Pupil Support Centre

Converted and modernisation of six classrooms and a Discovery Centre

Additional classroom at School-in-the-Woods securing Preparatory School intake

Completed Oakhurst Extension which has delivered four Prep classrooms one of which is an Art room

The completion of two new tennis/netball courts and a basketball court

Water security with installation of a borehole capable of delivering a large percentage of the school’s needs, and a policy for rainwater harvesting and grey water usage

Having successfully delivered on supplementary and improved teaching spaces in the Pre- and Preparatory School spaces, Council has restated their commitment to prioritising the delivery of a dedicated music space. Belmont House and Nussbaum have been identified as the home of music and plans are well advanced to provide fit-for-purpose accommodation to meet the growing need of a strong and growing music community. Further plans include the development of a brand-new boarding house on adjoining land belonging to school. Such a build, apart from delivering boarding facilities that are in keeping with global standards required, will free up much needed space in the high school for additional classroom expansion. Reliable electricity supply solutions are prioritised!

In delivering our holistic education philosophy that sets about unlocking intellectual, creative and physical ‘smarts’, Council has determined to proceed with plans that deliver ‘fit for purpose’ facilities for the widest possible range of school activities.

The way forward THE CASE FOR SUPPORT

Our professional team has reviewed all design and cost options for each component on the wish list

The Council and school management have agreed to a preferred timeline for infrastructural delivery

We have a clear vision, the rights to continue, the design solutions, and we know the costs

Our ability to achieve this vision is dependent on the availability of funds

This strategic realignment behind sport will deliver the following facilities to support the depth and breadth of the sport o er at the school:

SPORTING FACILITIES DELIVERED

Adopting a scientific approach to sport eight years ago has brought about a thrilling and exciting performance transformation in the standard of St Cyprian’s School competitive sport. Critical to the successful implementation of transformational, long-term strategies was the premise that our sport programme would devote itself equally to participation for enjoyment and well-being as well as competitive sport in pursuit of excellence.

Creating the appropriate physical environment - through The SCS 150 Built Environment Campaign – ensured that our vision for sport can be maintained. Having home facilities, many of which are shared with a sister state school, Good Hope Seminary School, enhances the partnership between the two schools and bring about much needed amenities for both schools. Moreover, this dovetails with a core precept of our mission.

The Built Environment initiative comprised four elements:

• Orange Street Astroturf Hockey Field

• Aquatic Centre: Swimming and Water Polo

• Multi-purpose hall: academic, educational, indoor sport

• Upgraded Netball and Tennis courts at Good Hope Seminary – a mini sport hub

ASTROTURF HOCKEY FIELD

A competition-sized, artificial sand-based surface Astroturf to FIH (International Hockey Federation) standards. The surface, while optimised for hockey, can host other sport disciplines.

GOALS ACHIEVED

Development of skills in formative years; life skills of motivation, discipline, dedication and teamwork;

Premier league U19 inter-school matches;

Inter-school matches – home-ground advantage and community support;

‘Home’ training and practice ground – whole school development of talent and enhancement of participation;

Mini-hockey, 5-aside soccer facilities for competition;

Small club house and tuck shop and ablution facilities;

Growing the sport at GHS;

A Hockey home that serves the school and wider community, including visiting international teams

Johann Lourens Photography

AQUATIC CENTRE

The pool has been designed to the size 25 x 20 x 2 meters and will provide 8 competition width swimming lanes. It is a rim-flow heated pool to FINA (International Swimming Federation) standards of around 26/27 degrees. The depth and size also easily accommodate water polo training and match hosting. The Aquatic Centre will provide spectator seating for 280 people.

GOALS ACHIEVED

• Water survival skills and recreational swimming

• Swimming as sport Gr 1-12;

• Water polo as sport Gr 8-12;

• Inter-house competition;

• Inter-school competition;

• Ablutions and changing rooms;

• A Swimming Academy that serves the school and wider community.

Johann Lourens Photography

A Multi-Purpose Indoor Sport Centre that can accommodate multiple sport codes has provided much needed physical space to meet a myriad of activities required at a school with the aspirations that St Cyprian’s School has.

GOALS ACHIEVED

• Meets the needs of sport briefs across all three schools

• Accommodates indoor basketball, tennis and soccer;

• Accommodates indoor physical education space during winter season;

• Accommodates significant curriculum-related school activities such as high school exam venue, an additional hall to accommodate the Preparatory and High Schools; and

• department – across all levels of the school and storage facilities for sport equipment.

TENNIS, NETBALL & BASKETBALL COURTS

Four new courts (including an indoor court in the Multi-purpose Hall) were built at St Cyprian’s main campus. Two existing courts on the SCS’s western boundary, as well as a smaller Astro court, were retained. Refurbishment of four courts at Good Hope Seminary School strengthens partnerships and collaboration.

GOALS ACHIEVED

• Augmented Tennis and Netball programmes that meet growth demand across all grades;

• Accommodation of Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model’s skills requirements, which teaches physical literacy, fundamental and sport-specific skills;

• Hosting league fixtures and sport festivals;

• Hosting inter-school, regional, national and international competitions;

• Accommodation of specialist Tennis, Netball Academies;

• Accommodation of increasing numbers of students participating in all three sports for recreational pursuit.

The SCS Transformation for Diversity Pathway

St Cyprian’s School intentionally cultivates a sense of belonging for all members of our community. Within a fractured society we represent an oasis of mutual respect, a microcosm of diversity, a crucible of possibility for a normalised society. We consciously strive for an equitable and just culture, one where transformative values and habits of the heart are entrenched, and historical norms, policies and processes are challenged and changed. Our students are critical thinkers and creative problem solvers, conscious of the dignity of all people and aware of their responsibility to engage positively and meaningfully with social justice issues. ,

As a school, in the spirit of equity and redress, we are committed to providing an outstanding education to talented, previously marginalised students through our bursary/scholarship programme, knowing that with such opportunity comes the gift of diversity, and of hope for the future. Our Teacher Intern Programme has been devised to train talented and determined people to become excellent teachers and role models for all our students.

PERSONAL STORY

“As teenagers, most of the time we are unsure of ourselves. One often finds oneself in new and unfamiliar territories:

can all be overwhelming. Knowing that the world is reeling backwards, unemployment is at a high, discrimination is rearing amongst us, sometimes one just doesn’t know what to do. We ask ourselves questions like what am I doing to contribute to the world around me, what is my purpose?

At St Cyprian’s School, there is no doubt of the vision, “We teach not for school but for life” and this is seen by the strong values we encompass. We are encouraged to disrupt faulty systems, to remold the foundations of not only celebrated.

It’s rare to be a part of a community in which the aim is to understand, challenge and celebrate diversity. Over the years we have learnt that there is an unspoken truth about women and how we navigate throughout the world - and that is that we are revolutionaries. We are able to excel in whatever field we are in. Our presence is able to break barriers and create a space for a fuller existence. St Cyprian’s School has given us, a cohort of remarkable young women, that space to play, thrive and live freely. St Cyprian’s School has expanded our views of ourselves and encouraged the act of listening to people’s stories or views too.

It can be easy to think that being a girl is being told what to do and who not to be and constantly being redefined by a social patriarchy which states that our rights are not something we should advocate for. But what’s even more special at our school is that to be a girl is to be a universe of a sort, and that our womanhood is not defined by our exteriors but by our commitment to each other, and by our identities that overlay it all.

We need to create more environments where the expectation for women is to follow their passions and to know their worth. So, as we go into a new phase of life, we know that our purpose is to “let our own light shine” and by doing that, “we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -

Marianne Williamson

GRADE 12 STUDENT 2018

THE BURSARY ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN

St Cyprian’s School is committed to growing its bursary programme and through the SCS Uvule Fund, seeks to create an ongoing conduit for funding for students who will bring the desired diversity to the school. The vision is to attract talent and potential in diversity as well as target historically disadvantaged students. Such an endowment plan also enables us to assist current girls – whose families are facing financial distress - to remain at the school.

Growth in funding over the past decade has been promising but there is room to do much more. Available funding in 2010 was just over R1 million, and in 2022, St Cyprian’s School has expended R12 million on our bursary and scholarship funding.

BURSARIES SCHOLARSHIPS

An invitation to partner St Cyprian’s School

“To whom much is given, much will be required,” is a maxim that is true for our school and dominant in the Round Square paradigm. We acknowledge our privilege, hold ourselves responsible for what we have, and recognize our obligation to practise conscientious custodianship while remaining relevant and significant in a challenged world. If we are blessed with talents, wealth, knowledge, or time, it is incumbent on us to use these well to benefit others.

St Cyprian’s School manages and contains costs, responsibly and ethically. To realise our mission, funding beyond school fees is required. The school does not receive funding from any quarter other than fees, and fees cover costs only. The independent school landscape is a competitive one and under prevailing economic circumstances, a di cult one within to operate. The proliferation of private, franchised, lower fee schools adds further pressure. St Cyprian’s School will have to mine a list of individuals, friends, enterprises and business who share our vision and have the foresight to support our mission, if we are to continue to impact the future.

Your gift to The SCS Uvule Fund is an investment in the future – not just of the school but of the world. Administered outside of the operating budget of the school, these gifts will be used to help bridge the gap between where the school is today and what it can become in the future.

Why support St Cyprian’s School

Changing the world one girl at a time

We promise to teach ‘not for school, but for life; train not for time, but for eternity’ in the myriad forms and circumstances that a relevant education requires in an uncertain world.

We believe intrinsically that ‘there is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.’ We instil this self-belief in our students in order to unlock and nurture their talents and passions. And through your generosity, something will be unlocked in your identity and altruism.

We energise intellectual, emotional and physical potential, and social economy and generative change.

We shape explorers, disrupters, job creators and change agents, and celebrate their potential and the realisation of their unique talents.

We foster courage, resilience and fortitude.

We ignite and hone purpose, character and agency to shape independent thought, conceive vision and cement community values.

We pursue transformative change, the kind that furthers sensitivity and empathy, tolerance and respect, and understands and promotes social justice so that we contribute to creating an equal and just society for all.

We believe in the significance of women, in growing women who question assumptions, think deeply and meaningfully, apply knowledge and wisdom, and in their contribution to the world, act with integrity, compassion and conviction.

Giving back to St Cyprian’s School

Support through financial donation to St Cyprian’s School contributes to the school’s future success and richness of thought, courage and diversity. We need support to a rm SCS as a foremost provider of excellent independent education for girls. Generosity will contribute to making St Cyprian’s School more than simply a good school but rather, a place of significance, driven by a vision to do good and e ect meaningful changes.

Giving to St Cyprian’s School will enable the growth of influence across our community. It presents an auditable opportunity to improve the prospects of many through our school partnerships and our commitment to diversity (with its o er of opportunity through funding).

DONATION POSSIBILITIES

Diversity for Transformation Built Environment

One Girl at a Time Endowment Fund

"If you educate a woman, you educate a nation".

We intend to expand our o ering of bursaries and scholarships to our future leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and achievers.

100s and 1000s

The impact of small contributions spread among 100s and 1000s of alum emphasises that small generosities combined can fortify our mission to deliver our promise. Like the tiny, colourful specks of delight scattered across cakes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For every 100 donations, 1000s fill up the endowment fund.

Matric Legacy Fund

For many, education comes at a cost, but when gifted, it is priceless. We invite Matric parents to leave a gift behind for those who are next to walk through the gates of SCS and, ultimately, the gates of spectacular possibility for our future Girls In Blue.

Music Centre

Music continues to contribute to the soul of St Cyprian’s School and the extraordinary growth in student numbers taking up instruments for pleasure or in-depth study and mastery. We hope to repurpose Belmont House and the Nussbaum Building to create a distinct music facility from which the entire school can benefit.

Expanding Katherine House

Plans are afoot to develop a fit-for-purpose boarding house for the school on land that abuts the pre-preparatory school. The demand for boarding is increasing, and Katherine House is bursting at the seams. In addition, the move would free up much-needed space in the high school for classroom redevelopment.

TAX-EFFICIENT GIVING

The SCS Uvule Fund, formerly registered as the St Cyprian’s Foundation, is a charitable trust registered with the Master of the High Court, Cape Town. The Trust is also registered as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) with the South African Revenue Service in terms of the Income Tax Act, which a ords it numerous tax benefits and advantages. It holds Section 18A status which ensures donors enjoy tax deduction benefits in respect of donations made in cash and in kind to the Trust.

The Foundation has intentionally been formulated as a separate fundraising structure from the operational aspect of St Cyprian’s School. The trust is managed independently by a professional team of trustees who assume full fiduciary responsibility for its execution and administration.