New Sixth Form Centre
TODAY. TOMORROW. TOGETHER. campaign
TWGSB offers the widest range of A Levels available locally. Our motivation is to foster a lifetime love of learning across a plethora of academic disciplines, and we are passionate about providing young people with the opportunity to discover their potential. While the teaching and learning for our Sixth Form students is of the highest calibre, the current Sixth Form facilities, built in 1967 for 130 students, are woefully inadequate. They fall far short of providing a teaching and learning environment that matches the aspirations, talents and enthusiasm of our students and staff.
With no Government funding available, we are in the midst of a school fundraising campaign to replace this building, in Autumn 2021, with a Sixth Form Centre of Excellence. The new centre will be so much more than its bricks and mortar. It will offer high-quality resources and the space for 460 students to grow and learn independently and collaboratively, supporting students’ academic rigour and allowing them to fulfil their potential.
As a school, we are on a journey of transformational change and this new centre will represent the jewel in our crown, where each boy from Year 7 upwards aspires to be. We hope you will support our campaign and become an integral part of a bigger and brighter future for our students.
Amanda Simpson, Headteacher
Campaign Chair Introduction
These critical years aged 11 to 18 see our children grow into young men and women on the brink of adulthood, and it is the experiences and influences during these critical years that determine how they approach the rest of their lives. I am confident that my son is being provided with great opportunities to grow into a mature and well-rounded young man who will contribute positively to any community in which he finds himself.
I passionately believe that creating the right environment, which motivates our children to learn, is essential. This is why I accepted the invitation to chair the TODAY. TOMORROW. TOGETHER. campaign, which will see us raise a total of £1.5m towards a new Sixth Form Centre – £750,000 to be raised by the school community and £750,000 committed by the school itself, supported by a KCC loan.
As a group of parents and former pupils, I am confident that we can work together to make this campaign the success it deserves to be and give our children the Sixth Form Centre that matches their talents and aspirations.
Garry Gatt, Campaign Chair
Project Timeline
How you can help
Please click here if you would like to register for more information.
To help us realise our ambition for your children and those to come, we need your help. I hope you will feel able to support us in our fundraising campaign to ensure that we really do make this happen.
Philip Drew, Chair of Governors
The Fundraising Board
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Andy Hickey
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Andy is a Director of, and investor in, information technology ventures, as well as a Councillor for Pantiles & St. Mark's on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. He is also a lifelong Nottingham Forest fan for his sins! He and Liz would like their boys (Year 8 and 9) to be proud of the Sixth Form facilities and have the best studying experience they can, in the important couple of years before university or work. |
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Ben Kottler
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Ben is an investment manager with experience in research, strategy and positioning. With two sons, in Year 10 and 12 at TWGSB, he is excited that his youngest will be one of the first to use the new centre. As a former school Governor at TWGGS, he has experienced the benefits of a thriving Sixth Form and can see this new building will give the students something tangible to aim towards. |
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Carrie Bran
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Caroline works in investment banking operations while juggling being a mum of two teenagers and a labradoodle. She is a member of the TWGSB PTA and got involved in the Fundraising Campaign because she feels passionately that the TWGSB students and staff deserve a Sixth Form building that is fit for purpose and that they can be proud of. |
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Caroline Hutt
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Caroline is the MD of Hutt & Co and has worked in fundraising for more than 30 years. Hutt & Co have an enviable track record supporting educational and other community sectors to optimise their fundraising activities. Committed to industry best practice, Caroline is Chair of the Association of Fundraising Consultants and was one of the first tranche of UK fundraisers to secure professional accreditation. |
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Chris Hall
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Chris is a freelance financial journalist who has lived in west Kent for 15 years. He has a son in Year 10 and wanted to support the Sixth Form Centre fundraising campaign having been impressed by the quality of the Sixth Form students he met when he volunteered to conduct mock interviews. |
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David Lampitt
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David is a qualified accountant and has worked in the sports industry since 2003. He is currently Managing Director of sports data and tech company, Sportradar. He has a son in Year 7 and is passionate about enhancing the learning environment at TWGSB and maximising opportunities for Sixth Formers. He sees the project as a great demonstration to the students of what can be achieved when ambition and determination are brought together! |
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Elaine Dowdy |
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Garry Gatt
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Garry is our Chair and is Director of a Property Development and Management company, with over 25 years’ experience across all real estate sectors. He passionately believes that creating the right learning environment to motivate our children is essential and is confident that, as a group of parents and former pupils, we can work together to make this campaign a success. He is excited that his son in Year 9 would experience such an aspirational environment. |
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Hannah Gee
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Hannah is our Vice-Chair. She is a mum to three boys, one of whom is in Year 9 at TWGSB. She runs her own successful interiors-based business, Love Inc Ltd. selling LED neon lights and homewares in Tunbridge Wells. She has very kindly gifted the campaign our ‘Today. Tomorrow. Together.’ neon light for our new Sixth Form Centre. |
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James Bridge
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James is Head of Compliance at AXA PPP in Tunbridge Wells and has a son in Year 9. He joined the campaign having been shocked by the current Sixth Form facilities and inspired by the enthusiasm and drive of the students and teachers to create a great Sixth Form Centre for TWGSB. |
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Rebecca Honey
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Rebecca has previously held a number of roles in marketing and communications across a variety of businesses, including BT and Daily Mail & General Trust, where she is now a senior analyst across a number of digital platforms. Her youngest son, Ollie, is currently in Year 7. She was inspired to join the campaign board after seeing at first-hand both the current Sixth Form Centre and the impressive end vision the campaign board have for its replacement. |
Covid-19 update
Rest assured, the project remains of critical importance to the school.
Given the current circumstances we have paused some activities to ensure the campaign is run properly. While we cannot currently share information in person, we are planning how to keep you up to date virtually and we are still able to make significant progress with preparations for our planning application, which will be submitted in June 2020.
