THE ARTS CENTRE appeal
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Arts Centre Appeal
‘Academic excellence: definitely yes. But preparation for the real world demands more’
Arts Centre Appeal
Sherborne girls has been at the forefront of girls’ education for over 100 years because we continue to remain true to our founding values, while still embracing the best of what a modern, independent boarding education has to offer. Our vision is to achieve consistent excellence in every area of school life, because we must prepare our girls for an increasingly challenging world; and that means providing exceptional teaching and first class facilities. Over the last decade we have invested boldly: a new Science Centre, refurbished classrooms with first class technology, new and improved boarding houses and the Sixth Form Centre. The final phase of the plan is to build an Arts Centre in the centre of the school. Academic excellence will continue to count; universities and jobs demand it and we will pursue it. But, in order to succeed in life, we believe that young people need to develop a variety of skills. We aim to send out into the world young women who are adaptable, intellectually enquiring, courageous and compassionate, with the confidence to be effective leaders. This is why we place such a strong focus on areas of school life where girls can develop these skills. Indeed, a recent inspection report noted that such ideals pervade every aspect of life at the School today. Co-curricular activity is a hallmark of Sherborne Girls. The skills young people develop through their work
in drama, sport, art and music stay with them for life. The opportunity of working in a team or group, the experience of leading others, as well as the intrinsic enjoyment of developing skills – these are powerful features of an allround education.
‘Music, art, drama and sport have always been hallmarks of Sherborne Girls...’ Yet there is an obvious gap in our facilities: suitable areas for developing outstanding talent in music and drama, and space to celebrate the achievements of our artists. We believe that improving our facilities for Music and Drama will bring great benefits to the school. And a new space for the school to meet, perform, listen, watch and celebrate will be in constant use! The foyer will be available for formal and informal gatherings, something the girls have wanted for a long time. A large hall useful for socials, concerts, plays, speakers and rehearsals will be in great demand. An arts centre at the heart of the school is the perfect way to complete 10 years of carefully targeted investment in every area of school life.
Jenny Dwyer Headmistress
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Arts Centre Appeal
COMPLETING THE PICTURE Looking across the full breadth of education at Sherborne Girls, it is clear that Performing Arts is the area where development will bring the greatest benefits.
THE PLAN To create a new centre, at the very heart of the school. This will comprise a new building for Music – to include a 520–seat Recital Hall – and an innovative conversion of the existing Stuart Centre, to house Drama.
‘... a whole-school benefit’ The new building will link with the existing Art Department and will provide attractive display space in the foyer. As a whole, the Centre will be somewhere to inspire every student.
‘... the girls will feel ownership’ This will be a prominent new building to complement the existing campus. It will create a real sense of arrival. Our plan is to create somewhere for girls to meet to work on joint projects or simply to enjoy each other’s company. We want them to feel ownership of the new Centre.
‘...this is a project which will benefit every girl.’
Sherborne Girls
KEY FACTS • • • • • • • •
Completion target: Sept 2017 Cost: £6.5M Appeal target: £2.5M The final project in the school’s Growing for the Future development strategy A new Music School, including a recital hall Conversion of the Stuart Centre to a drama school Provision of central display space for art A creative hub at the heart of the school
‘The benefits will reach across the whole school.’
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Arts Centre Appeal
WE WILL GIVE MUSIC THE PLATFORM IT DESERVES ‘This is going to transform both practice and performance.’ JOHN JENKINS, DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
‘... more extensive and better teaching space.’
Sherborne Girls
A creative outlet, a way to gain confidence, a sphere of activity in which to learn the value of practice – music is an incredibly important area of education.
‘... latest technology and a recording studio.’
Music has always been a vibrant part of school life: choirs, ensembles, the orchestra, individual practice and performance – the opportunities for expression are numerous. Many studies now show the ways in which learning a musical instrument complements education. Currently 50% of our girls have music lessons. We want to see this proportion increase, but we are already constrained by the lack of space in our current facility. More than this, we want to offer a wider range of musical activity. The advances in musical technology in recent years make musical creation accessible to everyone – from the classically trained to the unconventional. This is why we are so keen to include the latest technology and a recording studio in our new centre.
‘A new performance space – a game-changer’ We believe the planned 520-seat recital hall will raise aspirations, lift standards and increase audience enjoyment. It will truly give music the platform (and the acoustics) it deserves.
THE MAIN BENEFITS • A really attractive performance space with superb acoustics • Purpose-built, sound-proofed practice rooms • A recording studio • More synergy – the proximity of Drama and Art
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Arts Centre Appeal
One of the main aims of this development is to give drama improved facilities and thus increase its stature and popularity as both a curriculum subject and an extra-curricular activity. Drama has always been an important part of Sherborne Girls’ life. Each year we put on a junior play and a senior musical – both of which provide valuable opportunities to collaborate with the Boys’ School. But we want to go further. We aim to see more girls involved in productions, with fewer limitations. Being a star is not the point. The big gain is in the soft skills that count for so much in life: communication and empathy – learnt through‘ being’ someone else. Drama also provides wonderful opportunities for teamwork – both onstage and backstage – and set design.
‘This is going to give Drama a bigger presence in the school.’ A CLEAR NEED Drama teaching currently takes place in basic and modest facilities and our productions are either in the School Hall, which is far from ideal, or we have to go to the Boys’ School. If we wish to see more girls participate and at a higher level, we must invest in better facilities.
‘We are scaling up the number of opportunities for girls to take part.’ AN EXCITING PLAN An innovative conversion of the Stuart Centre will mean we can bring Drama alongside Music, in facilities which will allow us to grow. In particular, the Benjamin Britten Hall will become an exciting performance space – a world away from putting on productions in the School Hall. The development will include new technology and a control room – allowing girls to explore different avenues of creativity. Our new facilities will enable us to invite in professional companies and to draw in the community. We will be able to put on more productions, giving girls increased opportunities to perform.
‘We want to take productions to Edinburgh. Having this new facility will make this a real possibility’
Arts Centre Appeal
A NEW HOME FOR DRAMA, WITH A DEDICATED PERFORMANCE SPACE
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Arts Centre Appeal
In addition to linking music and drama, our plan is to link the new building with the existing art department, to form a creative hub at the heart of the school.
BRINGING ART TO THE FORE
‘transform a central part of the campus...’
By bringing Art into the new centre in this way, we will raise its profile and create synergy between the disciplines. Practically, the planned foyer space will provide a perfect display area for the girls’ art, increasing pride and inspiration and adding to the sense of arrival we aim to achieve. Beyond the benefits to Music, Drama and Art, the new Centre will provide uplifting common space, at the heart of the school. This will be a striking building which will transform a central part of our campus.
Arts Centre Appeal
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PART OF THE TOWN The school already enjoys strong links with the town and with dorset. We believe our new centre will increase the opportunities to draw in artists, musicians and performers and to become an even more active part of the town. For instance, we envisage becoming a venue for the Sherborne Abbey Festival. We may put on our own high quality music series, possibly including the National Children’s Orchestra. Together the recital hall and the new performance venue (the converted Benjamin Britten Hall) will draw in musicians, speakers and performers. The new centre will have pulling power, and this will create a new buzz within the school.
‘Strong links...’
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Arts Centre Appeal
THE WIDER BENEFITS The Arts Centre is a development which will have a profound effect on the education of every girl in the school. The benefits will flow beyond the arts. For instance, the recital hall will allow us to develop a more extensive and ambitious programme of visiting speakers. It will also be a perfect space for socials. And the foyer will become a venue for match teas – with the added attraction of art displays. The centre will enable us to provide more opportunities for local people and other schools to attend plays, concerts, art shows and talks. From the earliest stages of design, we have made it clear to the architect that this development is more than another teaching space: we want all the girls to feel ownership of the Arts Centre.
Olympic rower, Matthew Pinsent - a recent speaker at the school. The new hall will enable us to expand our programme of visiting speakers.
Arts Centre Appeal
2013 Aldhelmstead West - the new junior boarding house
2006 The Swimming Pool
2012 - 2013 Classroom refurbishment
2011 The new Science Centre
THE FINAL PHASE OF A TEN-YEAR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
The Arts Centre
2013 refurbishment of the Beddington Building for Humanities
2014 refurbishment of Kenelm
2013 The Sixth Form Centre
2012 The Tea Crate
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Arts Centre Appeal
Our numbers are up and we are strong financially. However, we have no significant endowment to draw from: fee income is our lifeblood. Yet fees do little more than cover our running costs. Also, we are acutely conscious of affordability, so we have kept the rate of fee-inflation below that of our competitors. We have achieved this through rigorous management of budgets.
‘We are acutely conscious of affordability.’
THE NEED FOR FUNDRAISING
‘The appeal is key. We can only go ahead if we raise the target sum.’
Against a background of tight financial control and no major endowment we have still managed to invest in facility improvements and upgrades. Now we face our biggest ever development challenge. The new Centre will cost £6.5M (including VAT and fees). We have done all we can to minimize costs, without compromising the ambition of the project, Appeal, and we have maximized £2,500,000 the funds the school can bring to the challenge, through School borrowing and through input, the imminent sale of £4,000,000 an area of development land. But we are still faced with a significant fundraising target.
Arts Centre Appeal
We have until Commemoration Day, Friday 1st July 2016 to raise our £2.5M target. If we are successful, building work will start over summer 2016, working towards completion by autumn 2017. We will only ask for your donation, if we raise enough to be able to proceed with the project. We need pledges now. Please choose your level of support for the project.
Face value of donation £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
80,000 40,000 20,000 10,000 5,000 2,000 500 200
Total value of donation with Gift Aid
Net cost (40% tax- rate payer) £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
SPREAD IT OVER TIME Many donors are choosing to spread their gift over time – in most cases, four years. We have allowed for this in our cash flow planning.
60,000 30,000 15,000 7,500 3,750 1,500 375 150
£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
100,000 50,000 25,000 12,500 6,250 2,500 625 250
Annual net cost to you if given over 4 years £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
15,000 7,500 3,750 1,875 938 375 94 38
NAME IT We are offering donors the opportunity to name rooms and areas of the new Centre. As well as contributing to the success of the appeal, naming will give the building more character. Looking forward, it is also true that donor names help promote a culture of giving towards the school. We have listed the naming opportunities on our website:
www.sherborne.com
PLEASE PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
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James Underhill, Appeal Director: +44 (0) 7919 308160 j.underhill@sherborne.com
THE ARTS CENTRE appeal
Laura Windsor, Development Officer: +44 (0) 1935 818320 +44 (0) 7710 258130 development@sherborne.com Development Office, Sherborne Girls, Bradford Road, Sherborne Dorset, DT9 3QN Main switchboard = 44 (0) 1935 818320 www.sherborne.com