Together
Our community, our impact
S P R I N G 2 0 21
Contents 03 Chairman’s introduction
Access 04 Transforming lives 06 Master’s personal reflection
Partnership in action 08 Technology 10 Innovation
Our Community 12 OMs making a difference 14 Why we became donors
Cover image “This piece is called ‘Eleven Years’ as there are only eleven years left before we can no longer reverse the detrimental changes that we have caused to the climate. Through this piece I have tried to convey the beauty of plastic and allude to the ‘throw away’ nature which we as a society have adopted, but which we can no longer sustain” Helvetica Haydn Taylor (NC Hu)
Marketing and Communications Marlborough College, Wiltshire SN8 1PA
www.marlboroughcollege.org www.marlburianclub.org www.marlboroughcollegefoundation.org
I am delighted to introduce this new annual publication focusing on the social impact made by the whole College community. Making a positive difference to society is a key part of Marlborough’s ethos. Schools like Marlborough have a real opportunity and obligation to contribute to society in a meaningful way, through their pupils, staff and alumni, and the following pages show what we have achieved together. Widening access to Marlborough is one of the Master’s key strategic objectives for the College and has my full support. In the article on page 6 she explains how her own experience transformed her life, demonstrating the importance of assisting young people whose parents are not able to afford full fees. Testimonials from Old Marlburians who received bursaries show how they have achieved their full potential as a result of the opportunity they have been given.
Chairman’s introduction
Making an impact together “Together the power of the Marlborough community to make a difference in society remains strong.”
We are also engaged in many different activities that are making a difference to individuals, schools and communities beyond Marlborough, as well as benefiting the experience of our own pupils. Our flourishing partnership with Swindon Academy of nearly two decades is a good example and we have ambitious plans to expand our partnership and outreach programme. Meanwhile the Master’s vision for the College’s academic ambitions has been enhanced by the addition of our new state-of-the-art Innovation Centre which will become a hub for our academic partnerships. Finally I know that our pupils go on to make a positive impact in society as part of our global alumni community in so many different ways. The work of Hospitality for Heroes during the pandemic is just one example of many (see page 12). Together the power of the Marlborough community to make a difference in society remains strong.
Giles Henderson Chairman of Council
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Access
Transforming lives When Nadia walked into Court for the first time, she admits to having felt somewhat daunted and intimidated. She had arrived with her English teacher to sit assessments and, despite her nerves, she impressed and was offered a place on a full bursary.
Nadia Hassan (LI 2017-19)
Nadia is the daughter of a Somalian refugee and was raised in Leyton, one of East London’s most deprived communities. However, she says she was surrounded by support and living there instilled a great work ethic. She is also grateful to her English teacher encouraging and helping with the application to Marlborough as her mother’s English wasn’t good enough. In her two years at Marlborough, Nadia excelled, securing a place at Trinity College, Oxford to read French. “The teachers at Marlborough were amazing. You could always go to them for advice; they would go the extra mile. The support from Guidance and the French department for my Oxford application was incredible. Although nervous, I was so well prepared for my interview. I am loving Oxford and I owe that to Marlborough.”
Terry Ventre (BH 2014-16)
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As well as her studies, Nadia is already giving back as a Project Officer for the Oxford Development Consultancy, a student-run body that provides consulting services to Development Institutions in less developed economies. In her first year, she volunteered with Oxford Hub, a centre for social change.
Terry came to Marlborough via the Royal SpringBoard Foundation, a charity that drives social mobility by broadening access to the UK’s leading independent schools. Here Terry describes his experience of life at Marlborough. “Initially, the move from my state school in Liverpool to a private school was incredibly daunting. The change in atmosphere alone was jarring and that was before absorbing the changes in living situation (boarding), teaching style, and the pace of learning. All of which was made easier by my class and housemates. Academically, Marlborough not only enabled, it actively encouraged me. I researched and presented a project on the basics of quantum mechanics, during which I discussed my ideas weekly with my Physics teacher. This was a tremendously beneficial style of learning that I wish every pupil in the country could experience. Meeting so many new people made me a lot more outgoing, confident and sociable. I became the head of the Debating team, a hobby I had never pursued before and learned chess, something I still play. It shaped my adult personality a lot. People that I meet now still say how quick I am to be comfortable to chat with a group of complete strangers. That confidence is something I absolutely gained from Marlborough.” Terry graduated with a 2:1 combined Master’s degree (MEng) from Liverpool University in 2020 and plans to work as an engineer in the aviation industry once it recovers and starts recruiting.
Making a difference Access
10%
of our school community currently receives means-tested financial support
We aim to double the number of fully funded bursary places from
15 to 30
Partnership
Charity
£50k
STEM programme with local primary schools, reaching
500+ pupils
raised by the school community in 2020 for multiple charities
250
20
hours to peer-to-peer mentoring online*
local and global charities supported
by 2023
*during Covid-19
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Access
A personal reflection from the Master The current Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes, talks to us about the impact her education had on her life. She grew up on a council estate in Belfast in a supportive family who encouraged her love of learning. Her talent was rewarded by a scholarship to Methodist College, Belfast, the most prestigious HMC and grammar school in Northern Ireland and from there to Cambridge and into teaching. What do you remember of your early years living in Northern Ireland? Growing up on a council estate in Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles conjures up memories of a car bomb at the end of the street, the windows of our house blown in and a child killed, so it will seem counter-intuitive when I say that I felt safe (clearly a relative adjective in this context), well looked after – there were values – and my parents gave me all that I could ever have needed or wanted. Books abounded at home: luckily, I loved to read. I ran, played tennis, the viola and the piano. I have idyllic memories of my childhood but not of the culture prevalent at the time nor of the place.
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How important was education to your parents and your family? Education was definitely important to my parents but in the sense of it being a good thing that I enjoyed learning as opposed to having any aspiration that I attend, for example, a top flight school. They left the latter to me and applied no pressure, but I suspect that they were quietly pleased when I wasn’t won over by the new Biology classroom on the Open Day at local Glengormley Secondary. Did you feel different to other children at your secondary school and did that matter to you? The only thing that made me feel different at Methody was that when I finished school every day I would go
to an athletics track to run or would go to the Belfast School of Music for lessons when most other pupils went home. I also enjoyed Greek and Latin which will have put me in a minority. If I was different, it certainly didn’t bother me or indeed anyone around me. How important was going to grammar school in terms of your future life, career and values? Incredibly important. Methody set me up for just about everything that was to follow. There were strong values at home but the academic rigour and the co-curricular opportunities at the school were incredible. I owe so much to the Classics teacher who allowed me to join the Greek class at the age of 12 when my exam results were 2 marks lower than the entry requirement to study a third language, to the same teacher who suggested that I apply to Cambridge and to the Music teacher who found me a scholarship opportunity at the School of Music (my parents weren’t going to be able to afford ongoing lessons): these were lifechanging events for me. What encouraged you to return as the Master of Marlborough College? The Chairman at the time, Mark Malloch-Brown, published an open letter with the advert for Master stating that Council was committed to providing access to pupils whose families couldn’t otherwise afford a Marlborough education and that it was also committed to Marlborough’s pursuit of the academic. Both of these chimed loudly with me. I found Mark’s bold statement to be inspiring. I knew Marlborough to be an outstanding school, from my previous time spent
there, and the proposed vision seemed to me to be the perfect direction of travel. What are the benefits to bursary pupils and the school community of providing access? I would hope that, as happened to me, offering the opportunity to attend Marlborough to a child from a family lacking financial means would prove a life-changing gift. I would hope that some of those bursary pupils would leave Marlborough determined to make a difference in and to society themselves. The Marlborough community could surely only be enhanced by counting these children among their number because of the
different experiences and motivation that they would bring to bear. I also believe that enabling access is the right thing to do as do the the Chairman, Giles Henderson, and Council. Marlburians and their families are often, rightly I think, referred to as socially-minded and inclusive. What better way to develop this than by opening our doors to as many children as possible who will benefit from and contribute to our community, regardless of their parents’ ability to pay. What do you hope the College will have achieved in ten years’ time? That Marlborough is an evolved version of what it has always aspired to be: a tolerant, forward-thinking,
fast-paced and diverse place where any child with the ambition and ability to flourish will do precisely that. That we build our 110% (school fees plus extras) bursary provision from the current 15 places to 100 places, that we at least maintain our 10% of pupils in receipt of partial bursaries, and that every single pupil in the College has the drive and ambition to want to throw themselves unapologetically into whatever their passion happens to be. That Marlborough will be a place where ideas abound and where difference is celebrated.
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Partnership
Technology enhancing outreach and partnerships There is no sense in denying that the past twelve months have been especially difficult for the world of outreach and partnerships. However, it would be wrong to say that Marlburians have neglected their social conscience and their sense of duty. With adversity has also come opportunity, both to reflect on our outreach programme as a whole, away from some of the daily bustle of actually delivering it, and also to think creatively about new ways in which we might reach out and deliver on our commitment to enrich the lives of those
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beyond the school. One of the traditional barriers to our outreach work, namely being in a market town in Wiltshire with countryside for 10 miles in all directions, has to some extent been removed by the nation’s necessary migration into a virtual environment.
Our work with Swindon Academy has continued: Latin lessons have moved to Microsoft Teams and our Lower Sixth mathematicians have worked collaboratively and as mentors with Year 11. An online model has developed, with break-out rooms allowing for small group work and appropriate supervision and guidance from beaks. Pupils from Pewsey Vale School have joined these sessions too, with the virtual world allowing us to be in two places at once and reach out to more pupils from our partner schools.
To further expand our provision in this area we are excited to be working alongside Colet Mentoring, a not-forprofit venture driven by two alumni of St Paul’s School. This provides us with a platform to allow our pupils to provide mentoring support online, in a fashion which is flexible in terms of timing, and is not limited by physical distance. The platform is not dissimilar to the ‘Chat’ function which many will have used on various commercial websites. It provides the ability for a ‘mentee’ to upload a photo of a question they are struggling with, and to be guided through it by structured questioning from the mentor. The whole process is monitored by an AI algorithm to ensure that all content is appropriate, and also in person, to provide mentors with constructive feedback and develop their practice. We have a group of Lower Sixth pupils training on this platform currently and will be rolling out to partner schools next term and looking to expand further next year, with schools further afield in Slough already expressing interest. Alongside this, we have been particularly pleased with our ability to move our Global Impact Scheme talks online. These are interactive presentations on STEM subjects, delivered by Lower Sixth pupils to children in primary schools. Again, virtual provision has allowed for a rapid expansion; we have moved from working with St Mary’s, Marlborough to working with seven local primary schools in the space of one term. We are the only UK partner school of
When Swindon Academy opened, the vision for the school was that it would use its partnership with Marlborough College to provide additional opportunities and raise expectations for the pupils it serves. Joining as Principal of Swindon Academy in 2012, I saw part of my mission to bring about generational change so that the pupils who attend the Academy now will be different parents in the future.
the Young Guru Academy, a non-profit organization based in Turkey, who are instrumental in developing these presentations, which are hosted on an app called Twing. They see us as a key partner in providing them with insight into the UK’s Key Stage 2 curriculum through our work with partner schools. They are also the group behind the WeWalk intelligent stick for the visually impaired which was recently in The Times, and the Twin Science kits which we were using with partner primary schools before lockdown, and which will be central to some of our outreach activity in the new Beko Innovation Centre.
Over the last eight years the power and the reach of the partnership with Marlborough College has gone from strength to strength. Through an extensive programme of study visits, residential experiences, mentoring and tutoring, UCAS support, the Grammar Stream and The Marlborough Project, working with Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge the eyes of our older pupils have been opened to the possibilities of further education and university.
So, whilst the last year has presented us with challenges, we are now at an important crossroads, with the near ubiquitous use of video-conferencing and significant innovations in the world of virtual education combining to provide us with the opportunity to overcome some traditional obstacles. In the months and years ahead, we hope to expand the academic strand of our outreach programme and we are currently working on developing introductory courses in Latin and Japanese for primary schools. Our future programme will certainly combine virtual provision with physical visits to schools and trips onto our site.
For other pupils, this partnership will have lit a spark of ambition in their hearts. We will never know how many of our pupils will go on to greater things thanks to the inspiration and opportunities that they have received as part of this ongoing partnership.
Ruth Robinson Principal, Swindon Academy
Jimmy Scragg Deputy Head Co-Curriculum and Outreach
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Partnership
Innovation as a catalyst for social impact At 178 years old, Marlborough is relatively young for a British public school, yet from its early days it has punched above its weight when it comes to leading on educational innovation.
Marlborough paved the way for the uptake of Science as an academic discipline during the 19th century; Science was moved onto the main curriculum in 1871 and our first recognisable Science laboratory was built in 1879. We have produced Nobel Laureates such as Sir Peter Medawar and distinguished scientists such as Sir Archibald Garrod, who made the link between genetics and disease, and the neurophysiologist JZ Young, described as “one of the most influential biologists of the 20th century”. Science, Technology and Innovation are rightly at the top of the current global educational agenda and Marlborough, as it has in the past, wishes to be at the forefront of this movement. To quote the Master: “We wish to equip pupils to face the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which encompasses advanced robotics, autonomous transport, artificial
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intelligence, biotechnology and genomics. In an age when the workplace of the future will require an entirely new set of skills and when creative and mental agility will prove key to success, we want Marlburians to have the confidence and originality to enable them to flourish as individuals and to make a difference in the world. Taking a different approach to other schools, we will focus on innovation as a contemporary educational philosophy, rather than just creating new science spaces and a new building.” We are enormously grateful for the generous support of our donors from all parts of the Marlborough community, and for the partnership with the Koç Group through their UK subsidiary Beko plc, which has enabled us to build our new Innovation Centre as part of this vision. Teresa Arbuckle, MD at Beko, noted: “We are delighted to be supporting this new Innovation Centre.
Beko has always believed in the power of innovative technology to improve lives and protect the environment. We share the College’s commitment to educating the scientists and innovators of the future.” We are looking forward to working in partnership with Beko to realise our ambition that these new facilities are utilised to foster new collaborations – academic and cultural, local and global, progressive and sustainable – to ensure the broadest possible social impact. It has been recognised by universities for some time that a highly effective way to develop creativity and independent problem-solving skills is through makerspace environments. Beko will be sharing their experience in R&D and manufacturing from their own workshops, called ‘The Garage’, and by being an incubator and hub for the growth of potential new businesses, rather than only a place for learning,
the Innovation Centre presents an opportunity to allow pupils to interact with the working world. Longer-term, we see it as an ideal support for the Old Marlburian Angel Investment Network (OMAIN), which matches investors with entrepreneurs who have Marlborough connections. The flexible space will allow development in many of these areas, working with wellestablished companies like Beko or alongside other young entrepreneurs trying to make their mark. Promoting research and development at all levels, with staff, pupils, our partners and other schools, creates a culture of innovation that will transcend the classroom. Marlborough is also the first school in the UK to be to be partnering with the Young Guru Academy (YGA), a non-profit organization whose aim is to engage children in Science and Innovation to produce future leaders with the skills to create solutions to the
world’s problems. As part of a joint ‘Global Impact Project’ between the College and YGA, a group of our Sixth Form pupils are giving regular STEM presentations and mentoring to seven local primary schools, and these have run during the pandemic via Zoom. Our intention is to expand this programme dramatically in the next few years. William Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Our new Innovation Centre will be the hub where our pupils and partners will be able to spark their fire for Science, Technology and Innovation to find solutions to the problems they see in the world, as well as inspiring their lifelong love of learning.
Jan Perrins Associate Director (Development)
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Our community
OMs making a difference Hospitality for Heroes is a ‘not for profit’ initiative which has been providing free daily healthy restaurant standard meals for NHS workers during three lockdowns. By putting the skills and resources of professional chefs and furloughed catering staff to use whilst the hospitality industry was closed, the initiative provided much needed support to both sectors. OM and co-founder Amelia Wix (MO 1999–2004) explained how it started and the impact this social enterprise has had.
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Did being educated at the College help develop your social conscience? At school, I enjoyed so much of what Marlborough had to offer and was inspired by my Housemistress who encouraged me never to give up. The Wednesday afternoon activity programme, I am sure, sowed the seed of doing something to help others and that was then developed as I went through university and started my career. How was the Marlburian Club able to help? When we were looking to raise awareness for Hospitality for Heroes the Marlburian Club came immediately to mind as a great network of likeminded people to ask to spread the word or give donations of produce or money. OMs are generally so willing to help or make introductions.
Where did the idea originate? A friend, Oli Coles, saw an opportunity to help by connecting two areas of need. Overworked NHS staff faced empty supermarket shelves with no fresh food left at the end of a back-to-back shift and, to cap it all, many of the canteens were closing at 5pm leaving the night shift with no onsite food provisions. Meanwhile, furloughed chefs and restaurant staff had free time and food suppliers needed a market for their produce. When I heard what he was planning I was keen to get involved. We set out with the ambition of providing 200 meals each week using three restaurant kitchens, a group of volunteers and a delivery partner who offered their services for free. Within 3 weeks this had quickly ramped up to 10,000 meals a week and by the middle of the 1st wave we were supplying 14 hospitals.
to go directly to providing meals. We also organised a free virtual concert to say thank you to NHS staff which was screened across all NHS hospitals in the UK. What kind of an impact has Hospitality for Heroes had? We see the positive impact our meals have made in many heartfelt messages of thanks. One that particularly touched me was from the family of a young nurse living alone in a flat in London who told us how grateful they were that she was getting at least one good healthy meal a day. We also heard from one Trust about how nurses were literally running down the corridor when our meals arrived. What might you do next? Going forward once meals are no longer required, we are looking for other ways to support NHS staff and other unsung heroes.
How did the project get off the ground? We ran a social media campaign to raise awareness, with chefs sharing a recipe and nominating others, and asking the public to support us with donations. This gathered momentum quickly with lots of restaurants, chefs and volunteers getting in touch and wanting to help and before long we had 50 volunteers a day creating meals. Our mission was to provide nutritious restaurant style meals rather than fast food. The time and care taken over the preparation was also an emotional boost appreciated by NHS staff. How were funds raised? We raised further funds through a charity auction which raised around £22,000, through private donors and a Go Fund Me page. More recently we produced a cookbook, ‘Recipes for Heroes’, which thanks to the generous recipe donations of 28 chefs and our sponsors has allowed 100% of all sales
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Our community
Why we became donors My late father believed that school bursaries schemes were one of the most robust and influential ways to inspire systemic change in the education sector. OM Tessa Packard (TU 2001-03) explains how her family supports bursaries.
When approached correctly, he believed them to be transformational, and not only for the bursary pupil. In his opinion, bursaries had the power to affect everyone connected to the school because what they were enacting was so very real. My sister and I had the great privilege of attending Marlborough College and continue to support bursaries at the school in our father’s memory. We believe, like he did, that the imbalance of opportunity in the education sector must be continually
Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bojana gained her A levels at the College supported by a bursary from the Packard family. She went on to study architecture at University of Edinburgh after which she completed a Masters in Political Architecture: Critical Sustainability, at KADK in Denmark. Bojana is now a Project Coordinator at ETH Zurich, working on an urban transformation project for the city of Sarajevo in her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which suffered considerable damage during the conflict of 1992-95.
Bojana Papic (SU 2009-11)
“The bursary programme at Marlborough College was an academic experience that transformed my life. The Packard family’s faith in me gave me confidence, not only in myself, but also in the possibility of building a better world through such acts of kindness.” 14
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addressed. We believe that one way we can address this imbalance, and encourage the future generations to be more socially minded, is to help schools like Marlborough, become environments that actively seek out and embrace diversity in its many forms. Bursaries not only support brilliant pupils in transformative, tangible ways; they also engender systemic change by breaking down old walls and rebuilding new ones. Having recently become a mother, I often think about the education I would like to bestow on my daughter,
and my aims and ambitions for her feel very clear. I want her to be happy, I want her to be fulfilled, I want her to be inspired, but I also want her to grow up acutely aware of her privilege. I also want her to go to a school that upholds these values and that understands the important role diversity plays in forming mature, well-rounded individuals. Over the years, we have had many real and moving conversations with the bursary pupils we have supported. We have been continually humbled by their
extraordinary talents and drive; their intelligence, strength of character and conviction never ceases to inspire. As past and present donors, we have never questioned our decision to support school bursaries, nor have we ever regretted a penny spent on them over the years. We will continue doing so for many more years to come and hope – with a little luck – that others will too.
Leave your legacy Supporting Marlborough with a gift in your Will can both acknowledge the influences that have shaped your life and secure the future strength of the College for generations to come.
There are currently 105 members of the 1843 Society A total of £6 million has been pledged All legacy gifts are valued and celebrated, regardless of size Email: development@marlboroughcollege.org
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2020 in numbers Over
£4 million
raised from
500 donors
59% 26% of whom were current parents
were OMs
79%
of the money provided funding towards
15
fully funded places and
81
partially funded places
Thank you for your generosity
marlboroughcollegefoundation.org The money was raised through the Marlborough College Foundation. All figures are taken from donations and pledges received between 1 January and 31 December 2020.