Duchess opens school’s £6 million new accommodation
12th March 2018
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester has officially opened a new accommodation block at Wycliffe College.
The £6 million development is Wycliffe's most ambitious development in its 136-year history.
Called Ward's-Ivy Grove, it brings together a boys' house and a girls' house into a single building at the Stonehouse school. Some of the bricks from the original building were added to the foundation of the new development on the site of the Victorian boys' house.
During the visit, the Duchess met many of the residents of the new Ward's-Ivy Grove, including boarders and flexi-boarders, and toured the bedrooms.
Twins Ben and Harry Tovey, from Monmouthshire, who are flexi-boarders, showed the Duchess what they consider to be their their home for two nights a week. They are the third generation of their family to attend Wycliffe.
Madeleine Stokes and Faith-Ann Fitzpatrick, whose families are in the forces, board full-time at Wycliffe.
Following the tour, the Duchess met pupils, staff and trustees, before unveiling the Foundation Stone.
The new facility will enable Wycliffe College to significantly develop the possibility of greater flexi-boarding between one and four nights per week.
Head of Wycliffe College, Nick Gregory, said: "Ward's-Ivy Grove not only supports busy families in which both parents might be undertaking professional jobs, but allows the benefits of a boarding education/ experience to be extended to day pupils and also expands the college's catchment area across the whole county and into surrounding counties."
Wycliffe College employs more than 300 staff, educating more than 700 pupils across prep and senior schools, with 450 day pupils and 250 pupils who board.
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