Foundation Day held to celebrate Rowan Preparatory School joining UCST
12 May 2010
On Friday 7 May, the United Church Schools Trust (UCST) officially welcomed Rowan Preparatory School into its family of independent schools. The school, which joined UCST in February 2010, is a feeder school to two of UCST’s independent schools – Surbiton High School and Guildford High School.
To celebrate the school’s union with UCST, a special Foundation Ceremony was held during which all pupils and staff were presented with Foundation Certificates and pin badges. As well as parents of Rowan pupils, guests at the ceremony included:
• Councillor James Vickers, the Mayor of Elbridge
• Mrs Heather Hawker, the Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey
• The Rt Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Carey of Clifton, Chairman of UCST
• Sir Ewan Harper, Chief Executive of UCST
As a member of the UCST family, Rowan will remain an independent school and will be free to send its pupils to the full range of schools it currently feeds. The school will, however, benefit from UCST’s extensive educational resources, training opportunities and facilities. This includes access to new sports facilities which are planned for the site adjacent to Rowan at Oaken Lane and will be shared with Surbiton High School.
Mrs Kathy Kershaw, Head Teacher of Rowan Preparatory School, said: “This was an extremely memorable event and I am very proud to be the Head Teacher of such a wonderful school. Being part of UCST will give us greater opportunities for our girls. We see this as the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in our history.”
Charlotte Rendle-Short, Deputy Chief Executive of UCST, said: “Today’s Foundation Day was to welcome the pupils, staff and parents of Rowan Preparatory School into our family of UCST schools. Rowan is a happy, vibrant and welcoming school and we are delighted that they have joined us.”
