Opening the doors to educational excellence on Mary Ward Day
On 23 January 2024, which would have been the 439th birthday of our founder, Mary Ward, St Mary’s School, Cambridge was proud to open a bespoke development of four state-of -the-art classrooms to the Senior School campus in Bateman Street.
It was an honour to be joined by Sister Jane Livesey CJ (Congregation of Jesus), Sister Frances Orchard CJ, who is also a governor, and Sister Gemma Simmonds CJ, to stand alongside headmistress, Charlotte Avery for the formal opening and blessing of this brand-new addition to our school – the Mary Ward Educational Suite.
We were also delighted to invite all those from our wide community of governors, parents, alumnae, friends and benefactors to mark the occasion by the unveiling of a donor board in recognition of their kind and generous donations to our ‘Brick-by Brick’ fundraising appeal. More than £11,000 was raised in under three months towards the transformation of the teaching environment for future generations of girls and young women.
Once prayers and blessings had been given, guests enjoyed the hospitality of our school kitchen with freshly baked scones, cream and jam, and the obligatory cup of tea while visiting the new classrooms and inspecting the donor board to find their own personal inscriptions.
Individual messages in memory of loved ones, in recognition of much-loved daughters, teachers and families – each ‘brick’ on the donor board represents a meaningful sentiment which will remain on display in the hallway of the Mary Ward Educational Suite.
And as time passes, and students become alumnae, and alumnae become parents, the ethos of Mary Ward will endure.