Annual Report 2015-16 The Oakham School Foundation
Our thanks to you Our current OO Club President, Katherine Hodge (94), commented in an interview in the latest Old Oakhamian magazine on the many changes to the campus that she has noticed on recent visits to the School. “I have been impressed by the new classrooms and centres that access learning in ways that simply didn’t exist when I was a pupil. I feel confident that young people are getting a thoroughly modern world-class education at Oakham against a background of traditional lifelong values.” I was delighted to read Katherine’s words, as they mirror very closely my own aims and ambitions for Oakham; combining innovation with tradition lies at the heart of everything we do. Our aim is for every Oakhamian to receive an outstanding education, which will prepare them to take their place on the global stage. Key to achieving this is firstly, by making sure that we continue to attract and employ dynamic and forward-thinking teachers and, secondly, by developing the learning environment in which Oakhamians live, work and study together. Over the last 10 years we have been able to totally redevelop our academic facilities, thanks, in large part, to the generosity of our community, with a combination of refurbishment of the old and the construction of inspiring new buildings. The final phase of these exciting developments saw the new Faculty of Social Sciences open for business (no pun intended) in September 2016. It is a wonderful collection of innovative learning spaces that embrace the use of technological and collaborative learning. In the last Foundation Report the concept of a new centre for the teaching of Economics, Business, Citizenship and Politics was just an idea expressed by some architectural drawings. The fact that it has become a reality so quickly has been helped by the
support the wider curriculum beyond the classroom and, most importantly, the wellbeing of Oakhamians. This year will see the completion of a redeveloped and extended Sports Centre, a complete refurbishment of the Lower Astro, a new state-of-the-art Medical and Pastoral Centre (in the ground floor of the old Oakham Police Station which the School purchased last year). At the same time, we are beginning to draw up plans for the most exciting project that has taken place at Oakham for over a generation: the building of a new Centre for the Performing Arts on the site of the Odd House pub (which the School also bought last year!).
COMBINING INNOVATION WITH TRADITION LIES AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO. warm generosity of many Old Oakhamians and parents. We simply cannot express our gratitude enough – thank you so much for making a real difference to the learning opportunities that we can now offer to current and future generations of students. As we now move forward into 2017, our focus has transferred to the facilities that
02 | The Oakham School Foundation | Annual Report 2015-16
We live in exciting times for our great School. Thank you for your continuing support, not only for many of the School’s capital projects but, even more significantly, for the additional bursary funding that enables us to offer life-changing opportunities to many young people. Thank you.
Nigel Lashbrook
Measuring our success In the last five years over 1,200 donors have generously supported the School with donations ranging from £10 to £1,000s. Who donates to the Foundation?
Number of donors over the past 5 years
How Oakham School has benefited from fundraising in 2016
£102,000 Bursaries £97,000 Social Sciences Faculty
14% Current parents 25% Former parents 40% OOs 21% Other
£13,000 School trip fundraising £11,286 Dance facilities £3,000 Music £1,900 Shooting club £1,552 Gardening club £1,262 Other
The Oakham School Foundation | Annual Report 2015-16 | 03
Advanced Learning in the Keon Hyok Lee Room
The Social Sciences Faculty The Social Sciences Faculty opened its doors in September 2016 and is fast becoming a centre of teaching excellence in the School. Thanks to generous donations from the Oakham community, the Foundation has been able to support this state-of-the-art building, and I hope many of you will have the opportunity to visit it in the coming year. The three-storey building houses Oakham’s Economics, Business, Politics and International Relations and Citizenship Departments and includes presentation rooms and ‘break-out zones’, much akin to what students will find when they move on to university and the world of work. The classrooms are furnished with some of the latest ideas and technologies for learning: there are spaces for collaborative work, a Harkness-based approach, quiet reflection and effective discussion. There are also ‘brainstorming’ tables and walls, which students are actively encouraged to write over.
04 | The Oakham School Foundation | Annual Report 2015-16
Thanks to Joon Lee’s very kind donation, we have been able to fund an exciting and flexible learning space within the Social Sciences Faculty. The Keon Hyok Lee Room, named after Joon’s son who was at Oakham from 1974– 81, is a classroom that can be divided into two rooms with tables and walls that students can write on, thereby aiding discussion and their collaborative work. After leaving Oakham, Keon Hyok Lee studied Economics at LSE and after a spell working in an investment bank, he became an adviser to the Government. He is now Vice-President at Samsung. With this generous gift, the Lee family will hopefully inspire many more students to achieve the sort of success that their son has enjoyed.
Fundraising projects The Foundation welcomes donations at all levels, with our Foundation Projects existing to support a diverse range of smaller projects selected by our teaching staff to enrich beyond-theclassroom learning for all ages and interests. The projects for 2016 included: • a seating area for the Lower School gardening club • a range of Gamelan instruments to help broaden our range of musical understanding • creating a new performance space by transforming Old School into a multi-purpose venue, complete with retractable seating giving it flexibility for both smallscale theatre and wider school use • strength and conditioning equipment for Middle and Upper School students A popular highlight of the 2016 appeal to parents and OOs has been the purchase of a new set of Gamelan instruments. This new addition to our music resources will enhance the teaching of world music to our pupils in the Lower School, and provide all Oakhamians with the opportunity to experience a unique musical soundworld with these fabulous instruments. Our Gamelan workshops are a real music-making-for-all favourite. Part of our Exploring Internationalism work, Gamelan music enables children not only to explore the music of a different culture but to experience music from the inside through performing themselves. Teaching staff are currently submitting proposals for new activities that would benefit from a Foundation Grant in the year ahead. We look forward to announcing this year’s projects in the Summer Term.
The Oakham School Foundation | Annual Report 2015-16 | 05
Fundraising for the future If you have visited the School recently, you may have seen how the latest classroom developments that have taken place through your generous support are ensuring that our academic facilities are truly world class. We are now focusing our attention on the broader benefits that an Oakham education can provide through three main areas of development: A programme of refurbishment for our sporting facilities is currently underway to help maintain our highly successful competitive and recreational sporting provision, as well as our enviable reputation for excellent coaching. We are seeking to improve our Performing Arts facilities to build on our national reputation for musical and dramatic excellence. The purchase of the Odd House Tavern, adjacent to the current Music and Drama Departments, will enable us to create a new purpose-built home for the Performing Arts. We are expanding our Bursary and Scholarship Scheme in order to extend the benefits of an Oakham education to the brightest pupils, regardless of their background. SKETCH OF THE PLANNED PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE Connection through from existing Music Department facilities
Recital hall: views out to landscaped garden beneath tree
Existing barn converted into auxiliary facilities for Music Department, practice rooms, store, toilets
Existing beech tree to be retained and building away from root protection area
Existing barn to be demolished, allowing a new frontage to be built, including entrance foyer space
06 | The Oakham School Foundation | Annual Report 2015-16
Existing pub converted into Music Department administrative offices/stores
Our supporters Thank you to all our donors who have supported the School in the last two years. DONORS Mr Ken Alloway Dr Roger Anderson Umaru Bashar Mr Richard Basker Mr Christopher Bastow Dr Mark Beautement Miss Rachel Borrill Mr Malcolm Bower-Brown Mr John Bromhead Mr Martin Brown Mr John Buckingham Mr Ollie Burns Mr Paul Busuttil Mr David Butcher Mr Alex Butterworth Mr Paul Bysouth-Kemp Mr Tom Casswell Mr Wing Kin Chan Mr Nayan Chohan Mr Edward Church Mr Michael Churchouse Mr Peter Clarke Mr R L Colver Mr Joe Comes Mrs Alison Copley Mrs Ali Crossley-Mintern Mr Geoffrey Dawe
Mr Stephen Drew Mr Robert Eayrs Mr Geoff Edwards Mr Steven Eggelhoefer Mr David Epton Mr Fabio Ferrando Mr Glyn Goddard Mr Andrew Gordon Mr Michael Green Mr Alan Grieve Dr Richard Guy Mrs Rachel Hadley Mr Hans Haefeli Mr David Hamdorff Mr Mark Haynes Mr James Hewlett Mr Christopher Holland Miss Sarah Ingoldby Mr Peter Jacques Mr Peter James Mrs Sophie Janak Mr Andrew Jones Mr Labeeb Kawar Mrs Jennifer Kelly Mrs Camilla Kemp Mr Peter Kerruish Mr Bruno Klohe
Mr David Lambert Mr Richard Lashbrook Mr Peter Lawson Mr Joon Heng Lee Mr Peter Leffler Mr Moon Chuen Leung Mr Jamie Lewis Dr Leslie Lewis Mr Miles Linney Mr Anthony Loring Dr Elizabeth Loughridge Mr Ian MacLaren Mr Giles Marshall Mrs Claire Moody Mr Brian Needham Mr Carlo Nefri Mr Jeremy Newsum Mr Derek O’Brian Ms Lucy Pearson Mr Nicholas Priestnall Mr Mark Rollinson Mr Philip Rowe Rutland U3A Mr Hamish Scott Mrs Sehgal Miss Katherine Sharp Miss Madeline Simon
Mr Ian Smith Miss Hannah Stafford Mr Robert Stafford Mr Bill Steele Mr David Stocks Mr David Stovin Mr Nic Streatfield Mr Nicholas Summers Mr Michael Swallow Dr Sonia Swart Mr Ross Thain Mrs Wenna Thompson Mr Christopher Trower Vale of Catmos Lodge of Freemasons Mr Laurence van Someren Mrs Sylvia Vitale-Craig Ms Elizabeth Ware Mr Dominic Warre Mr Jonathan Watts Mr Derrick Webb Mr Charlie Welch Mr Jim West Mr Keith Westmoreland Mr James Wolstenholme Mr John Wyatt Mrs Olga Zabolotneya
We are also very grateful to our nine anonymous donors for their generosity.
The Oakham School Foundation | Annual Report 2015-16 | 07
If you wish to support us in our future projects, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Director of Development, Anna Bentley aeb2@oakham.rutland.sch.uk • +44(0)1572 758808
Oakham School Foundation College House Chapel Close Oakham Rutland LE15 6DT • +44(0)1572 758699 www. oakham.rutland.sch.uk foundation@oakham.rutland.sch.uk Registered Charity No. 1131425-2