PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

Dear Old Kingswoodians

Our 275th Anniversary year is upon us and with it a programme of celebratory events organised to mark this important milestone.

As I approach the end of my third year as Headmaster, I have thoroughly enjoyed the increasing number of opportunities I have had to spend time with our alumni. There is a strong sense of the Kingswood Association being a connected family of former pupils, staff and governors who still enjoy each other’s company and remain supportive of our mission to offer our pupils life changing opportunities.

This year has had an international flavour with a key celebration being our hosting of the Methodist Education International Education conference in April. I was really struck by the global reach of Methodist education and how educational leaders, bound by shared values and a belief in the power of education to transform lives, responded to our call and travelled from all corners of the globe to Kingswood School where Methodist education all began 275 years ago. I have also taken the opportunity to do some travelling to meet groups of alumni with social events in Hong Kong and Tokyo being real highlights. Thank you to all the alumni who have supported our 275 events so far this year, whether at home or abroad.

We started the 2022/23 academic year with a real spring in our step with our Year 13 leavers bucking the national trend and achieving the School’s best ever A Level results. It was no surprise therefore when the Independent Schools Inspectorate commented during their recent visit that assessment data show that “almost all pupils achieve significantly higher examination grades than expected at both GCSE and A Level.” These outstanding academic results are of course important and the currency that will facilitate their onward journey, and yet we all know that success in life is measured not just in terms of academic achievement but in terms of human flourishing. It was heartening too that the inspection also recognised our commitment to equip our young people with the skills and personal qualities to go on and lead meaningful lives, at university, in the workplace and in service of their communities. Educating young people for life within a caring community remains at the heart of our mission. for school chefs to improve their knowledge and skills. The final area of focus is the Dixon Centre, which needs to be remodelled into a space that will better prepare our Sixth Formers for university life and beyond. Our aim is to raise £2.75m towards these initiatives and I would ask that you consider supporting these fundraising efforts.

I am hugely grateful to Gary Best for the wonderful job he has done in writing a fresh history of our school, this time telling the story through the alumni who have gone on to influence the world for good. The book, A School Set Apart, is a fascinating account of Kingswood through five different eras and shows just how important the input of alumni has been in helping keep Kingswood true to its roots whilst enabling it to develop new facilities and meet new demands. This remains true today and whether as governors, campaign board members, donors or loyal followers, our alumni are integral to the success of our school. Thank you.

As someone educated at a state school in South Africa during apartheid, I could only have wished for the wonderful breadth of opportunity afforded to our pupils today. I realise what a privileged position we are in and am grateful to my staff and governors for their strong commitment to Kingswood being a generous player in our local community.

The three focus areas of our 275 fundraising campaign are influenced by our priority to serve the community; the first is to raise funds to support a greater number of 100% transformational bursary students in our Sixth Form. We have been able to make five such awards in the last two years. The second area is funding for our Cookery School which is to be a facility for both our pupils and those in other schools. Kingswood Cookery will also enable us to support the government’s national food strategy, as a training base

I hope alumni have been enjoying the 275 monthly newsletters with interesting stories from our archives as well as details of forthcoming events to bring the community together. There is much to celebrate during 2023 so please do come back to school to get involved. You will be very welcome.

Andrew Gordon-Brown Headmaster and Principal of the Kingswood Foundation