Queen Mary’s College was delighted to continue its year of festivities to celebrate 50 years of quality education in Basingstoke with an anniversary party for existing and former staff, students and governors. The College’s current Principal, Mark Henderson, was thrilled to be joined by 4 of his predecessors including the first Principal Eric McFarlane. His vision for the College in 1972 was to promote a different concept where students of all abilities have the potential to be high achievers and are supported to develop their skills and confidence and achieve their full potential. This ethos continues today where alongside traditional academic courses and vocational study, the student experience is enhanced by a supportive tutorial programme and broad and varied range of enrichment courses and opportunities to connect with local and national employers and universities.
Mark Henderson, College Principal, said “I am very proud that Queen Mary’s College has been at the educational heart of the local and wider Basingstoke community for so long and I am excited by the role that QMC will continue to play in developing skills and encouraging ambition that allows young people to flourish for the next 50 years and beyond. It is utterly inspiring to be joined by so many former and present staff and governors who have thoroughly enjoyed working with young people, sharing their expertise and supporting them to achieve their potential.”
The guests were able to see how the large, leafy campus had evolved over the years to incorporate outstanding specialist teaching facilities which enable students to learn in an engaging, exciting way. They were treated to tours of new facilities such as the industry standard recording studio and performance space, modern science laboratories, creative arts facilities and exhibition space and esports arena equipped with the latest gaming PCs.
Saadia Chowdhury, a student in her second year at QMC attended as part of her Marketing enrichment course to report on the event. Saadia writes:
I had the pleasure of attending the QMC 50th anniversary celebration as part of my Marketing enrichment. It was lovely to see past and current teachers, staff, students and principals mingling, as some had not seen each other in several years. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with ex principal Ali Foss who shared memories of her experience at QMC with me. Ali joined the College in 1987 as a teacher and worked her way up to the top. Ali loved the environment at QMC and how friendly and supportive the teachers were. She stated ‘Happy Staff, Happy students!’
Read more in the Basingstoke Gazette HERE
