Christ College announces a multi-million pound development plan in the build up to its 475th Anniversary
06 Feb 2013
Christ College has unveiled a multi-million pound investment programme designed to bring significant benefits to its pupils and the local community by the time it celebrates its 475th anniversary in four years’ time.
The school has launched its 475th Anniversary Campaign to celebrate its anniversary in 2016 to supplement existing resources for an investment programme consisting of:
A £2m investment for Y Neuadd Goffa : Memorial Hall theatre to create a new, dramatic and multi-function space for school events, performances and conferences, which will also be available to the wider community on its completion next year;
The redevelopment of its iconic cricket pavilion – a well-known Brecon landmark;
The building of The Beacon Tennis Centre, a brand new £1.5m indoor tennis academy, again available for use by the wider community;
A refurbishment of the school’s historic chapel.
The establishment of a new 475th Anniversary Scholarship & Bursary Bursary Fund to continue a long-held tradition of enabling pupils from a wide range of backgrounds to attend the school.
At the same time, Christ College has announced that planning is underway to establish a Junior School.
Junior School planned
Head of Christ College Emma Taylor said: “For many years Christ College has considered opening a junior school, or junior section. Earlier this year the school commissioned some market research into the feasibility of extending our teaching range below the age of 11, and the feedback from this research, as well as the changing nature and shape of the school over time, has encouraged us to make a decision in principle to go ahead and develop plans for teaching junior forms.”
She continued: “The hard work on matters such as premises, curriculum, staffing, the shape of the school day, the shape of the school week and other key aspects of this development is just beginning, and more detail will be available in the Autumn.”
She added: “We are inviting expressions of interest from prospective parents in the near future and these will help us with our planning. This is a very natural and evolutionary development for a family-orientated school such as ours.”
As well as celebrating the milestone anniversary, the developments reflect the school’s charitable status and the commitment it is making to support the local community as much as possible. Mrs Taylor said that the planned investments would consolidate the position of the school as a provider of excellent all round education and an active participant in the community of Brecon and beyond.
“Our philosophy as a school has always been to offer our students the best education coupled with the opportunity to experience an outstanding range of extra-curricular activities through sports, theatre and all manner of other activities,” she said.
“With our 475th anniversary on the horizon, we have given a huge amount of thought to what we want our school to represent for future generations, and are proud and excited to announce this ambitious scheme to put in place a number of major developments over the next five years.
“They will build on our existing sporting and artistic strengths, providing fabulous experiences and opportunities for our young students – but they will also enable us to reach out even more than we do already to link the local community, who we want to come in and share these facilities.”
Expression of interests in a Junior School at Christ College can be give to Admissions Registrar Mrs Margaret Stephens on 01874 615440 or via admissions@christcollegebrecon.com.
Photo: The proposed Y Neuadd Goffa, The Memorial Hall