THE Bridge house CAMPAIGN Future Development Plan 2015 AND beyond

Bridge House is a globally relevant and sustainable learning community, realising each individual’s BRIDGE HOUSE potential to lead, innovate and serve with confidence in a changing world. PRE-PRIMARY • PREPARATORY • COLLEGE

From 54 children at rented premises in 1995 to 750 pupils on a self-owned The Bridge House Campaign has been created to raise the necessary

campus 19 years later, the growth of Bridge House has been nothing short funding to extend and enhance the school facilities, ensuring a world-class

of astounding. This success has been largely due to the founding families holistic education for our children and our children’s children.

who not only gave financially, but also gave of their time and resources to The priorities that the Campaign supports will result in a changed school INTRO create this school which we are privileged to enjoy today. DUCTION campus with better traffic flow, safer access, added security measures, With a magnificent campus totalling 28 hectares in one of the most beautiful a dramatically expanded music centre, additional boarding facilities,

settings in the world, it is now the challenge of the next generation of Bridge state-of-the-art science laboratories, the inclusion of our Playschool pupils on

House pioneers to continue the school’s development for the future. site and sports facilities which will be amongst the best any school in the

world can provide.

Table of Contents: We live in a global village. If we want to be a leader 1. Introduction among the best 2. Development Plan Breakdown in the world we need world-class facilities. 3. Benefits of Future Development

Ken Kinsey-Quick 4. Historical Milestones Fundraising Committee Chairman, Trustee and parent

5. Guide to Giving What we DEVELOP IN our people

Integrity Love and compassion Health and Vitality Positivity (a “Can Do” attitude) Learning for Life Although there are development plans in place for the Existing Campus, the Sport is so much more than just games and match results, it also builds

New Campus, the Renaissance Centre and upgrading infrastructure, it will sportsmanship. Increased levels of participation and enjoyment mean:

be apparent from the breakdown on the following pages that much focus - adhering to the traditions, ethos and etiquettes of sports codes Development has been given to sporting facilities on the new land across the road. - inculcating pride in representing Bridge House on the field or on

Plan the side-lines Breakdown The need for additional sporting facilities has been highlighted for a number

of years. The new facilities on this section of land will include a full size - monitoring participation to ensure healthy lifestyles for our pupils

Astro-turf for hockey; a cricket oval which can also function as an athletics - providing the opportunity to learn the value of teamwork, mutual track, rugby and soccer pitches, squash courts, comfortable stands and respect and fair play

terraced areas for spectators and strategically placed change-rooms. - celebrating successes more and learning to regard victory and defeat in the right spirit

Bridge House encourages an holistic educational philosophy, which includes compulsory sports participation and aims to attain high levels of achievement, performance, skills development, sportsmanship, fitness, enjoyment, participation and the promotion of healthy living. Dave Rundle, ex-Springbok cricketer, parent, member of the Bridge House Board and co-author of the Sports Curriculum Plan of Action 2014 – 2020. DS N U F

BUILDINGS & INFRASTRUCTURE SCIENCE MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS SPORTS FACILITIES

The approximate

boundary A section of the land which is not suitable for construction will be retained in lines of the its natural state as a wetland, offering an outdoor environmental consolidated propertY educational experience for the pupils. Renaissance Centre Infrastructure

The Renaissance Centre boasts a Learning Commons which is a In addition to the three existing boarding houses another boarding space designed to promote and enable progressive and engaged house is planned. Our boarders come from all over South Africa Development critical thinking in a collaborative learning hub where pupils can and the world and these pupils bring a richness and diversity develop essential learning and professional skills. beneficial to the school as a whole. On-site staff accommodation will be another advantage of having an additional boarding house. Plan The addition of the Music Centre, designed to adjoin the Breakdown Learning Commons, will allow for a number of small, sound- The upgrading of infrastructure (roads, drainage, water supply and proof practice rooms, bigger rooms for ensemble rehearsal and storm water management) is a less glamorous but essential part of staffroom facilities. The 350-seat auditorium is designed to have the new developments on campus. The new access road will allow two tiers that could be used together for large performances or improved road safety, better access control and better management as two separate venues. Between the performance areas and of the traffic flow to the school and to the new “sports campus”. the rehearsal rooms is a recording studio. This will allow for the teaching of ‘music technology’, which is now part of the senior syllabus, for outsourcing commercial recording and for vocational training for pupils interested in other aspects of music as a career. The reception area will provide a social gathering space for pupils during the day and a hospitality venue for a variety of functions - both school and community-based.

Science Wing

A further dream is to build on a Science demonstration venue and a preparation room to add to the three existing Science venues in the College. This will allow our pupils to experience more involved Biology / Life Science dissections; to engage in a wider range of chemistry experiments and to allow for work with state-of-the- art digital technology in the physics venue, making Science and Biology teaching at Bridge House ‘cutting edge’ for both Prep and College and for the wider community. Development PLAN KEY FUTURE STUDENT FUTURE AQUATIC CENTRE THE CAMPUS IN BOARDING HOUSES IT’S EARLY DAYS Multi-sport field for Renaissance Centre: cricket & HOCKEY Music Centre, auditorium, sub-terranium FUTURE COVERED sound-proof music WATER POLO POOL classrooms

New tennis courts Multi-sport field

SQUASH COURTS & Natural wetland area ABLUTIONS for outdoor environmental Future Pre-Primary & education activities Junior Primary

Astro turf with STAFF HOUSES floodlights

FUTURE DINING HALL FUTURE SCIENCE Wing The Bridge House Campaign focuses on holistic development The Bridge House Campaign focuses on holistic development Benefits of the through four inter-related elements: Future a. superlative Academic Standards and Teaching Practice Development b. A Vibrant Cultural Programme Plan c. A Progressive Sports and Physical Education Curriculum d. An outstanding “wider classroom” philosophy

Benefits for pupils: Benefits for parents: -- A specially designed Music Centre with enough space for all - With the Bridge House Playschool moved from Pearl Valley to the interested pupils to participate in music lessons and the latest music main campus parents will have only one drop-off point for all pupils technology. from Playschool to Grade 12. - Better traffic flow, more parking and easier access to key school - Subterranean music practice rooms with superb acoustics and facilities via the new access road. sound-proofing. - Increased security on campus. - A state-of-the-art science centre for more interactive and experiential - Improved spectator facilities. learning.

- More time on the sports field owing to additional sports facilities. This Benefits for the school: has been highlighted as a problem for pupils over the past few years. - Additional revenue streams from the hiring of sports facilities and the - Pupils will have access to more space for field sports (cricket, hockey, Renaissance Centre. athletics, rugby and soccer). - Full elevator access to all sections of the school for special-needs - Squash Courts visitors and guests. - Hockey Astro-turf (hockey is a growing sport in South Africa). - Complete schooling infrastructure to encourage exceptional students to come to Bridge House - Additional tennis courts strategically placed with easy access from the main school building and the boarding facilities. Benefits for the community: - An additional boarding house on campus - Access to the Renaissance Centre for performances and rehearsals. - Environmental wetland which will create an outdoor educational - Access to the additional sports facilities for clinics, sporting camps centre. Pupils will be able to learn about indigenous fauna and flora and fixtures. in practice and not only in theory. - Improved facilities ensure that the school continues being a magnet - Easier, controlled access to mountain-biking and running-trails in the for successful, often entrepreneurial families, who bring additional surrounding mountains. skills to the Valley. - A bigger campus and more boarding facilities will contribute to the school’s bursary programme. This programme actively seeks extraordinarily talented young pupils from the wider community who would flourish in the Bridge House environment. 1994 1995

- The number of young English-speaking families in the Despite the difficulties, Bridge House was born not a day later than valley had reached the point where the concept of a local planned, under the oak tree outside the front of the primary school. English-medium moved from the realms of At the end of the second term the Pierre Simond headmaster’s house fantasy to realistic possibility. The Huxter, Friedman and Rands became available and suddenly there was space for luxuries such as families made it their business to evaluate the feasibility of a local a staff-room with a door that closed, an office for the Head, Biology independent school and devoted themselves tirelessly to making and Science labs, a classroom for Grades 6 and 7 where bags it happen. could be brought into the class and the teacher had a desk to stand Historical - Graham Beck, owner of the farm Bellingham, very generously behind! agreed to donate 10 hectares of an undeveloped corner of Milestones his farm next to the main road. The small proviso in accepting 1996 the ground, that rezoning from “Agricultural” to “Institutional (Education)” be approved, was to prove more of a headache The numbers nearly trebled from the first intake, to 140. With the than anyone realised at the time. application for rezoning still grinding its way through municipal bureaucracy, more space was acquired at the Pierre Simond School. - Owing to delays in rezoning the Beck land from Agricultural Even so this could not accommodate the whole school, which to Institutional, part of the Pierre Simond Primary School was then found itself divided between the new premises and the old leased as temporary premises. To make up the necessary headmaster’s house and staff houses, with prefabs erected in haste accommodation for the 54 scholars that would start the year, on both sides of the building to cater for the mushrooming numbers. from Pre-primary to Grade 9, four vacant labourer’s cottages (These prefabs can still be seen today on the new campus!) adjacent to the primary school were also rented.

Jess Buys “Sogby” was played during breaks, a combination of rugby and Lloyd Smuts, first Head, (Dana Buys’s under the oak tree daughter) turning soccer, with no rules and uncertain objectives, using one or more balls of unspecified the first sod on shape or size. Girls and boys of all ages played; there were no red or yellow cards the property. given, and no injuries. Just a lot of muddy laughing faces and happy memories. Semi spontaneous hikes up Rock or walks through the Paarl Arboretum were as much part of school life as blackboards and homework.

Mandi Brooker, Teacher at the Pierre Simond premises, describing school during the early years 1997 1999 2010 Allan Graham was appointed Head of Chris Storey became Head of the Prep Mike Russell takes over from Anne van Zyl as Bridge House. Rory Malcolm, as well as School. Head of School. teaching History and Geography, was The school motto of “Learning for Life”, the appointed as Head of the College. winning entry of a competition open to all 2011 Bridge House families, had been chosen to 25 April 1997 reflect the all-embracing ethos offered. Launched Fittest School Campaign. The application for rezoning of the 640 000km,16 times around the The Prep school song composed by Sandy proposed premises for the current school circumference of the world and also the Malan was chosen. campus near the Berg River bridge was number of kilometres set as a goal for the approved. Klein Lusthof, a guest-farm only a few kilometres staff, pupils, parents and others in the Valley Historical from the school, was added to the school 13 October 1997 who wished to support the initiative. portfolio as a boarding facility, to start in 2000. Milestones Official Sod-turning Ceremony on the new campus 2012 2000 End 1997 Official opening of the new gymnasium, 10 March 2012 First matriculants left the school. already in use since late 1999, together 647 434kms was reached on Founders’ with the substantially revamped art room and Day, and so a remarkable feat was achieved. 1998 the new library, on 12 February. Second generation starts school at Bridge Total enrolment had swelled to 281. 2002 House. Putting down roots. 29 August 1998 Alan Graham retires as Head of School and First Open Day in the new premises. Anne van Zyl is appointed in his place. 2013 October 1998 Pupils from numerous countries around the Digging began for the pool. 2006 world are attending Bridge House At a conference in in the United Kingdom, Bridge House, one of 100 schools worldwide, is accepted as a full member of the International organisation.

the “antique” Chamonix fire engine which came Happy, bright, inquisitive, modern, along to wet the roofs of the new buildings. school for the future, easily adaptable, has flexibility - not rigid, moral fibre, African but international.

Susan Huxter, founding parent, when asked to describe Bridge House today unfinished buildings on the new campus

How to Give a Donation: South Africa How to Give a Donation: United Kingdom

Bridge House is a registered PBO organisation. Phone: The School has a registered charitable Trust in Donations to the school are tax deductible. Credit card and debit card payments can be made by the UK and is able to offer tax deductible benefits. phone on: +27 (0)21 874 8100 Online: Please contact the school A digital donation form is available for download In person: for information. at www.bridgehouse.org.za . Simply click on the If you are in the area, and would like to come “Giving” button on the Homepage. to the office to make a gift in person, we are always You can pay online via credit card or EFT (Electronic delighted to meet alumni and friends of Bridge House. Fund Transfer) to : Bridge House Educational Foundation, FNB, Account No 62406131277, Franschhoek Branch Code 250655.

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Major projects You can give your gift from anywhere in the world Major, individual gifts make a transformative impact to large-scale projects. For donations from other parts of the world, donors are advised in the first To find out more about how to support projects on this scale, please contact us. instance to consult their own financial advisers with regard to making gifts GUIDE TO in tax-efficient ways. The Bridge House administrative staff is happy to assist Sponsorship in this process, liaising directly with advisers to ensure that gifts are made in GIVING optimally efficient and effective ways. Sponsoring of sports codes or creative groups is welcomed. Whether it’s corporate assistance in exchange for advertising or the donation of instruments or equipment, we would be happy to discuss a strategy that Above all, you can discuss your gift with us works best for all parties involved. If you have any questions, no matter how straightforward you think they might be, and regardless of the size of the gift you have in mind, please don’t hesitate Bespoke Assistance to contact us. We are here to help and every gift to Bridge House counts. If you have a particular interest or passion that you would like to focus your funding on, we would be happy to discuss this with you. Whether it’s In conclusion indigenous trees and plants, building a bird hide, or buying art for the new Our goal is to raise the necessary funds during 2014 so that construction boarding house, we would welcome your personalised contribution. can be complete by 2017. It may seem like a daunting task, but considering that what we have today began as a dream under an oak tree 19 years ago, we believe it is possible - we have a “Can Do” attitude. Let us continue in the pioneering spirit of those founding families who literally built Bridge House from the ground up. We have achieved so much with what has been created to date. Just imagine what the future could hold…

Wherever you live; however much or in whatever way you are able to give, please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information . THE Bridge house CAMPAIGN Future Development Plan

Janis Christian, Business Manager: Bridge House School

P.O. Box 444 Franschhoek 7690 South Africa

Tel: +27 (0) 21 874 8100 Fax: +27 (0) 21 874 1260 Email: [email protected]

KEN KINSEY-QUICK, CHAIRMAN: FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE

Mobile: +27 (0) 82 520 4939 Email: [email protected]

www.bridgehouse.org.za

BRIDGE HOUSE PRE-PRIMARY • PREPARATORY • COLLEGE