Formal Opening of Hurst's new Academic Quadrangle

It is a quite remarkable success story; Hurstpierpoint College numbers continue to grow significantly in the face of "the longest UK recession since records began"*

Early on 9th November, the final, £5 million, phase of Hurstpierpoint College’s Central Academic Quadrangle was formally opened by (left) The College’s Provost (and former Bishop of Horsham) the Rt Rev’d Lindsay Urwin OGS** and (centre) Rear Admiral Simon Moore CB, Chairman of the Governors of Hurstpierpoint College. To their right stands Tim Manly, the College's Headmaster.

Hurstpierpoint College has been transformed since the Governors appointed Tim Manly as Headmaster in 2005. Since he joined the school, he has made a number of imaginative key appointments (including Heather Beeby as Head of the Prep School in 2006) and this outstanding team has driven forward his remarkable vision for Hurst. As a result, academic excellence is now the foundation of the Hurst education and academic standards and value added have been transformed. Further, the range and quality of cultural, creative, sporting, community and ‘adventure’ opportunities have been very significantly increased whilst the spirit of what was always a remarkable, friendly, school community has been further strengthened. In response, pupil numbers have increased significantly.

Pupil numbers at Hurstpierpoint College have increased by 30% since 1996, prompting the need for significant additional teaching space.

Growth has continued in the teeth of a deep recession with nearly 80 additional students joining Hurst in September 2009 and further increases anticipated for September 2010 and beyond, prompting the need for significant additional teaching space.

This new build, representing the final stage in the construction of Hurst’s new Academic Quadrangle, almost doubles the capacity of the teaching space in the core academic block.

19 classrooms, a major conference room (in all comprising some 17,250 square feet) and a small open air performance area have now been added to the existing 22 classroom accommodation.

In addition, three new Houses have been opened in the College in recent years. The latest, Pelican House, a girls’ day house, opened in September 2009.

Despite this remarkable increase, Hurst remains a ‘local’ school.

Approximately 95% of Hurst students come from families who live in Sussex, some from Kent and Surrey and a few come from further afield. Of these 920*** pupils and students, 58% are boys and 42% girls.

 

Wherever possible, Hurst has employed local companies on this major project

Hurst has used local companies who have been key to the project.

• Architects Miller Bourne from Hove in East Sussex designed the final phase of the Academic Quadrangle
• Brighton man Mike Birch has overseen the construction as Project Architect.
• Planning supervision has been undertaken by John Spearman of the Hemsley Orrell Partnership of Hove
• Garden Designer, Julian Treyer-Evans from Hurstpierpoint designed the landscape gardens and social space in the Inner Quad itself
• David Gibson, a greatly respected expert in hand carved stone work, crafted the Foundation Stone. David, a former pupil of Hurstpierpoint College, is the owner of Aldwick Stone in Bognor. A number of his foundation stones have been unveiled by members of the Royal Family including the Queen and the late Princess Diana
• Andy Shead, Projects Manager from Farnrise Construction of Caterham has been responsible for running the site for the duration of the build.

Notes:

*Hugh Pym, Chief Economics Correspondent, BBC, 23rd October 2009
**The Oratory of the Good Shepherd (OGS, an international community of Anglicans, ordained and lay, who share a common Rule of Life.)
*** This total comprises:
80 in the Pre-Prep (boys and girls aged from 4-7 years)
246 in the Prep school (boys and girls from 7-13 years)
349 in the Middle School (boys and girls from 13-16 years)
245 in the Sixth Form (boys and girls from 16-18 years)

What our pupils think ...

"I think it looks really smart and I really like the colours. The rooms are really light and it feels like a nice environment in which to learn" Lucy King

" I love the way each floor has different colour schemes! The classrooms are nice and bright and easy to find!!! I especially like the black windows on the outside of the building!" Leigh Macleod

"Very nice, I like the coloured walls and the exit buttons. It's very light and airy and the desks are really good and nicely spaced out. I like the layouts and the new Inner Quad; when the Quad has benches it will be a great place to relax in. The paths lead everywhere and are very helpful once you understand the routes. Very nice building I really like it!"
Elsa Noad

"I love the new Academic Quad, it is big, light and airy, and it is more fun to work in. I feel very grateful that we have such an amazing resource in our school". Abbie Biggs

"I was really impressed with the relaxed and airy feel of the new classrooms. I think the light feel with all the large windows will make it a great deal easier to learn and keep focused in lessons. It was great to be able to use the new smartboards as tools for the lesson. Also, as I am studying two languages, it was fantastic to see the language labs that have been set up. I'm sure they will be very useful for listening and other exercises we do during our language lessons." Madeleine Hyman

"Thought the new Academic Quad is excellent!" James Atkinson

"I am very impressed by the new classroom block, especially the Language rooms where the computers come out of the desks. I aam also very pleased about the design of the interior." Hugo Blewett-Mundy

"In my opinion the new classrooms are very good to learn and the new technical things are very impressive. The air is all the time good and you can see the teacher perfectly. It is warm in the room on the 1st floor, however the ones downstairs are quite cold:-( " Victoria Nolten (note: Victoria, this is because, on the first day, everyone left by the emergency exits and left the doors open! Temperatures should be fine now)

"It is very impressive and provides a fantastic learning environment, however I think it would be even better if some pictures, posters or other item of decoration were added to the interior. I really look forward to future lessons in it!" Joshua Grubb (note: Joshua, there are plans in hand for Senior School Art Scholars to produce themed displays for the new classroom corridors, larger art works for the stairwells and conference room and , finally, sculpture for the new Inner Quad)

"I have to say that I am very impressed with the technology in the new classroom block, such as all Apple Macs in the IT classrooms, Bose speakers in the conference room, Dyson hand driers and also brighter and modern lighting." Wilf Freeman

I think that the new classroom block is amazing!!! Its vibrant colours and new, modern equipment really help for you to stretch yourself academically!! Chloe Burrows

"The French and Spanish classrooms with the computers that come up are cool !" Poppy Rogers

"The new building is awesome. I really appreciate the opportunity of getting so quickly from my House (Red Cross) to lessons." Marcin Konowalczyk