COMMUNITY
Partnerships
In the academic year 2025-26 College students and staff engaged actively in partnership work with the following local primary schools in Mid Sussex:
- St Augustine’s Primary School,
- St Peter’s Primary School, Ardingly
- St Wilfrid’s HH
- Warden Park Primary
- Northlands Wood
- St Giles
- St Joseph’s
- St Mark’s Primary, Haywards Heath
- Holy Trinity
- Lindfield
- Crawley Down
- Estcots
- Fairway
- Bolney
- Danehill
- West Hoathly
- Blackthorns
- Cowfold
- Chailey Heritage
- Twineham
- Handcross
The Primary School partnership activity in the above schools made a significantly positive contribution to support the education of children attending. This included academic learning and widening their social and academic horizons, including:
- Author visits
- Key Stage 1 Cricket festival
- Performance of Guys & Dolls
- Science Workshop with Lower Sixth students
- Ready, Set, Dance!
- Prep production dress rehearsal - Shrek
- Girls’ Football Festival
- Women in STEM workshop
- Martlets Cup Sports Day, hosted by us & organised by Mid Sussex Sport
- Year 10 students volunteering
- Inspiring young Minds Day
Volunteering
Over 472 students engaged in volunteering at least once over a year.
194 students committed to doing regular, weekly volunteering either on-site or off-site.
Regular on-site volunteering included:
- Pre-Prep Clubs
- Prep Clubs
- Mentoring scheme
- Librarian support
- Hockey/Footie Stars
- Bridging Ages Café
- Cafe Staff
- Activity Centre
- House support
Regular off-site volunteering included:
- Warden Park Students Supporting Students EAL support
- Classroom support at St Peter’s Primary School
- Care Homes
- Charity Shops
- Sussex Rehabilitation Centre
One-off volunteering experiences included:
- STEM workshops
- Ready, Set, Dance
- Inspiring Young Minds Day
- YR10 Volunteering day at:
- Music/Drama/Dance on tour visiting schools & Care Homes
- St Peter & St James Hospice & Distribution Centre
- JubyLee Bakes
- Farm on the Forest
- Cricket Pavilion Painting
- Local Primary School projects
- Kangaroos Children's Disability Charity
Chapel
It is certainly true that each term of the school year has a different perspective to it, from the long frenetic slog to Christmas, followed by the ‘concrete in the middle’ of cold dark evenings in Lent term, followed by the light, cricket and exam-filled final term.
For Chapel, each term has also had its own features. In Michaelmas we looked at some big themes, from homelessness to mental health, ecology to servant leadership, interspersed with All Souls and Remembrance, followed by our Senior Provost, Matt Bullimore, visiting to install Jayne Adams as our new Chair of Governors. The term was finished by the always fantastic Carol Services in the final week of the year.
Lent term saw us making our way through the life of Jesus, from the appearance of the Magi at his birth, to his death and resurrection, movingly displayed in the two services of Tenebrae followed by an Easter Communion. Along the way we had a visiting sermon from Canon Martha Mutikani speaking on EDI at our International Women’s Day Service.
Finally, in Trinity term we looked in detail at the theological, ethical and philosophical questions posed by AI, from the difference between knowledge and wisdom to whether AI can become conscious. This ended with a sermon by Eve Poole, the Chair of Woodard and author of the book ‘Robot Souls’.
Through all of this I have been seeking to enable students to engage more with Chapel, and each House has chosen a hymn for a week and spoken about their House charity, while each year group has read (and sometimes written) the prayers for that week’s Chapel Service. It has been wonderful to see students flourish in speaking and leading in public in this way.
Special mention should also be given to our student musicians, particularly the organists, who have played for anthems, hymns and introits across the year. For a student to be willing to put themselves in that position in front of the whole College community is an amazing thing and shows the engagement and passion we have in our student body.
Rev Andy Nicholson
Charity
As in recent years, the modus operandi for charities at the College is to give students as much agency and engagement as possible. To this end, each Senior School House has a Charity Rep, whose job it is to help that House choose their House Charity. For instance, Neal House has been raising funds and items for Gateway Brighton, a charity focused on crisis support for women suffering from domestic abuse, meanwhile Crosse House has been raising funds for Cancer research. Each House chooses a charity that they can be passionate about and that links with the culture and interests of that particular House.
Many of the Houses have used their House Dinner to raise funds, either through playing paid games, or running an auction. Other Houses have done 24-hour sponsored events such as a row-a-thon or cycle.
I’ve been really pleased with the engagement that each House has shown and the thought they’ve put into deciding which charity they would like to support.
In addition to the House charity fundraising, we have held three Home Clothes Days where Senior Students vote for their favourite charity out of three chosen by the Charity Prefects. In Michaelmas term a local charity is chosen (this year it was Dame Vera Lyn’s Children’s Charity), in Lent term we have a National Charity (Prostrate Cancer UK), and an International Charity in Trinity Term (World Wide Fund for Nature).
This way across the school year we are able to donate over £1,000 to each of three different charities, as well as those chosen by the Houses.
At the beginning of next College year, the Charity Prefects are going to be running a Colour Run in aid of Rocking Horse Charity, a Children’s Charity focused on local hospital care.
Rev Andy Nicholson