Founders’ Day is a great opportunity for the whole English College community to come together. It is when we thank the people who founded the ECP. The event takes place every year on a date roughly halfway between the birthdays of our two Founder Patrons, Prince Charles and Václav Havel.
This year’s Founders’ Day was very special. It is 25 years since our iconic blue doors opened to students for the very first time. So last week, we celebrated the vision, hard work and dedication of our two Founder Governors, Ann Lewis – our current Chairman of Governors – and Dr Martyn Bond.
We looked back at the early days of the College and celebrated our achievements. There were speeches and students entertained us with readings and musical performances. We also had the chance to see our talented artists’ Pre-IB Visual Arts work, exhibited for the first time.
Former Headmasters
We were delighted that ECP’s first three Headmasters – Hubert Ward, Albert Hudspeth and Peter De Voil – were able to join us for Founders’ Day. Hubert Ward was appointed in 1992, before the College opened. It was he who recruited the first teachers, support staff and students. He also supervised the restoration of the empty primary school that was to become ECP’s home. Dressed in his academic gown, as he was on that first day in September 1994, he read the speech he made to students and staff on the very first morning. Since then, over 1350 students have graduated from the English College with the full IB Diploma.
ECP Patrons
It was a great honour for us that our current Czech Patron, Karel Schwarzenberg, was also present at Founders’ Day. He congratulated the ECP on their 25th anniversary and although our UK Founder Patron, Prince Charles, could not be with us in person, he also sent us his congratulations.
Achievements
But as well as an opportunity to look back at the early days of the ECP, Founders’ Day is also an occasion to celebrate our achievements. Five students received Talent Awards and fifteen were presented with Founders’ Academic Prizes. Some of last year’s award winners told us how they had spent their prize money. One of them was Michal Vu, who had bought a camera to capture his exciting longboard run. The talent and energy of the musical performances delighted the audience. We also heard a preview of the Drama department’s special 25th anniversary production. To show our appreciation of our Czech Founder Patron, The Memorandum is being staged at Divadlo Na Prádle on 22-23 November.
President of the Student Council
And finally, the newly-elected President of the Student Council, Alfred Byrne, delighted everyone with a witty and perceptive speech. He described his fellow students as potatoes although gratifyingly, he meant they were well-rounded, rather than starchy, dull and boring!
