Clifton School: Planning the Centenary

When a school reaches significant milestones in its history, it is always a time for celebration. Jubilees allow schools a moment to pause and reflect on their histories – of past pupils, significant alumni, and physical growth and development of the campus and building infrastructure.

Jubilees allow a school to look forward – as they should; they give schools the opportunity to put into place new strategies, new developments and new policies all aimed at securing the institution towards the next significant milestone.

On 5 February 2024, Clifton School celebrated its Centenary – 100 years to the day that the school opened. Though the foundation of Clifton was a Preparatory School with only 12 boys and the founder – Mr. Harry Stubbs as headmaster and only teacher – this moment in history is an origins story for a school that now encompasses a high school, boarding house and well-over 800 boys.

Clifton marked its 50th Jubilee in 1974 with a new hall; there was celebration for its 75th in 1999, but we knew that we had to ‘pull out all the stops’ for the Centenary. With this mind, the Executive Headmaster at the time, Mr. David Knowles, constituted a Centenary Committee in 2021 with an eye towards the preparations for 2024.

The aim was that all ideas and logistics had to be in place by mid-2023. So, for its first few years the meetings of the Centenary Committee were irregular, and discussions mainly revolved around basic ideas and concepts: ‘What is our Centenary going to look like?’ ‘How do we make it unique to Clifton?’ These early meetings laid the foundation for the submissions of budgets for the lead-up in 2023, and the events of 2024.

These meetings were creative and filled with spectacular ideas: assemblies, tie designs, merchandise, cakes, invitations lists etc.; but a key discussion was that of the Centenary logo. This was perhaps the most crucial foundational element: the logo needed to speak the school’s ethos and branding – as well as reflect its history and aspirations.

Clifton School centenary publications

There were many logo variations which, with the assistance of a professional design company, met all the Committee’s criteria. The final version was a play on the current school badge and logo but includes the ‘100’ – uniquely with the two ‘0s’ interlocked to simulate to two ‘Cs’ to reflect the original Prep School of 1924 and the College founded in 2002; but it also embodied a form of the infinity symbol with its obvious connotations.

The design company and school shop worked together to develop apparel and merchandise to go on sale at the end of 2023 utilising the new logo. One of the most exciting projects was the ‘Centenary Calendar’ – the art for which was created freely by members of the wider Clifton community: staff/ ex-staff, schoolboys and Old Boys, as well as parents and ex-parents. We received art from as far afield as New Zealand and Ireland.

Logistics centred around two pivots in 2024: the main ‘Centenary Festival’ in early February and ‘Reunion Week’ in mid-May. The aim here was to plan events that would be celebratory and fun, and this included, in February, a ‘Centenary Assembly’ for the boys at which a bust of the Founder was unveiled.

In the same week, a time-capsule was interred, an ex-staff function was held, and an Old Boys’ Service – all culminating in the Centenary Gala Dinner. In between all these events there was a community service element and the new boarding establishment, appropriately called Centenary House, was officially opened. It was an, indeed, an exhausting week of events but the right note of enjoyment and gravitas was achieved. We look forward to our old boys returning in May for a derby day against a traditional rival and our Centenary Old Boys’ Dinner.

Embarking on a jubilee is a daunting task for any school and its subsequent organising committee; there were many lessons learnt and often ideas never quite came to fruition as they might have originally been intended – or not at all in some instances.

Preparing for the Clifton School centenary

From four years of detailed planning for our Centenary, the following lessons have become clear:

LESSON 1: Forward planning needs to begin a lot earlier than one might expect.

While in the beginning, it might seem slow, time is needed to be able to whittle down all the ideas to those that are both workable and practical. From the planning and discussions, timelines develop, and champions are identified.

LESSON 2: Get the right team together to form an organising committee.

Any given school staff room is a wealth of talent, expertise, and passion, and it is imperative to make use of people’s strengths. This includes bringing more people on board to assist as the jubilee gets closer. Any organising committee needs to include representative from the executive, staff, marketing department, facilities, and events managers.

LESSON 3: Any jubilee needs the support of the Board.

The buy-in from these individuals is important from a creative element but more crucially when it come to the submission of budgets. Regular updates are both necessary and valuable to the organizing committee.

LESSON 4: Develop a ‘think-tank’ – formally or informally.

Whilst the organising committee is central to the formulation of ideas, it is important to consult with other elements of a school community: pupils, alumni, parents, and other schools. Indeed, other schools that have celebrated jubilees are a wealth of experience and ideas.

LESSON 5: Create strategic partnerships within the wider school community.

This allows for such things as sponsorship, parents’ support, local entrepreneurs, and alumni networks to contribute to the needs of the jubilee.

LESSON 6: Accept that not all ideas will come to fruition.

There is a certain reality that some ideas will be nonstarters or simply not find currency for various reasons. That’s alright and should be seen as a form of natural attrition for all the ideas that are generated.

LESSON 7: The student body needs to be involved.

Involved with ideas and suggestions in the first instance and, secondly, they can actively be involved in many of the Centenary events. Ideas to include pupils as poetry or photography competitions, jubilee murals, time capsules amongst many others.

LESSON 8: Continuous check-ins

These need to take place with the organising committee and those that have been brought on board to assist. Clear and precise information needs to pass onto the staff involved in grounds, facilities, events, and catering.

LESSON 9: Nothing is possible without planning, support, and funding.

Beware though of ‘jubilee fatigue’ – as it is possible to try to do too much. A careful curation of the celebrations is necessary as normal schooling and cocurricular activities still need to take place during the year.

LESSON 10: Let it go.

When the events start, allow them to happen knowing full well that they have been meticulously planned and checked, so that any mishaps or curve balls can be dealt with calmly and efficiently.

The Clifton School centenary dinner

Clifton School can look back on its ‘Centenary Festival’ with satisfaction in spite of a few minor mishaps. Onwards now to the next milestone!