Message from the Headmaster

Dr Richard Maloney with Dr The Honourable Sir David Li Kwok Po (H 54) on the official opening of Uppingham’s new day house.

The 2024 to 2025 academic year began with two significant additions to the Uppingham community.

The first took place when Li Kwok Po House, our new dedicated day house, opened the doors to its first cohort of pupils on the 31st of August. The House is named in honour of Dr The Honourable Sir David Li Kwok Po who was the first pupil from Hong Kong to attend Uppingham. Sir David joined The Hall in 1954 and has been a loyal friend and inspiration to our community ever since. Sir David’s pioneering spirit was mirrored by the 25 youngsters who joined the House this September. In time, the House will accommodate 120 pupils in the newly-converted heritage Thring Building. You can see pictures of the House, as well as the LKP pupils meeting Sir David when he visited Uppingham to attend the formal opening of Li Kwok Po House, on page 70.

Our second momentous event was the opening of Uppingham Cairo. The first pupils arrived on the 8th of September to see a first-rate campus, built to the highest standard by our partners New Era Education. Once full, Uppingham Cairo will accommodate 1,500 pupils aged three to 18. For now, the pioneering first cohort are enjoying the benefits of a Thringian holistic education, with day boarding and partnerships with elite sports coaches, all underpinned by a strong emphasis on academic excellence and the performing and creative arts. Uppingham Cairo has already bonded with Uppingham Rutland with last year’s School Captain, Tom Castle (LH 19), working as a gap student there for a year, alongside several other young OUs, and a choir tour due to arrive in Cairo in December. If you visit Uppingham Cairo on Instagram you can get a sense of the new school and its fantastic campus.

Dr Richard Maloney with Dr The Honourable Sir David Li Kwok Po (H 54) on the official opening of Uppingham’s new day house.

Although we have much to be excited about, there is no doubt that the next 12 months will be challenging for the independent sector. Nevertheless, we will not pull back from our philanthropic intent and will continue to invest time and resources in promoting meaningful partnerships with state maintained schools. The independent sector is at its most impactful when schools like ours can demonstrate a genuine and positive contribution to the national educational ecosystem. Uppingham is working with eight academies in Leicester to bring about life-changing and transformative fully-funded places. We have ongoing educational partnerships and skills development programmes with state maintained schools – including Uppingham’s two primary schools, The Mead Academy Trust in Leicester, Beauchamp Sixth Form College, Lodge Park Academy, Red Kite Academy, Brightways, and, shortly, a STEM partnership with Uppingham Community College. Furthermore, we offer broader opportunities for local children to have enriching experiences at Uppingham – events which touch several hundred children each academic year.

Only through clarity of moral purpose can we encourage policymakers to think about the collective and positive power created by all schools working together. With the support of the OU Community, I have no doubt our school can continue to deliver on our charitable mission for young people nationally and, now, internationally.

Dr Richard Maloney