1646 – Issue 4

Sign up to Reading Blue Coat Connect our community O N E R E A D I N G B L U E C O A T A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDATION OFFICE I am delighted to once again bring you the latest news and updates from the Reading Blue Coat School Foundation Office. It is said often but the year really has flown by and has, thankfully, been jam packed! We hope this version of ‘1646’ not only gives a sense of what a busy year it has been at Blue Coat but gives you an insight into the exciting world of some of our Old Blues. We are so grateful to them all for taking the time to contribute to the magazine, we quite literally couldn’t do it without you! Over the past year the Foundation Office has been focused in its efforts to support the School and provide opportunities for our Old Blues to engage and contribute. Our primary focus has always been on two key areas: engagement and fundraising activities. Strengthening the bond between our Old Blues and the School has always been one of our top priorities. Our ever-expanding events programme continues to foster connections, facilitate networking, and provide opportunities for Old Blues to give back. This past year, we successfully hosted reunions, networking events, and career guidance sessions. As such, we have connected with over 500 Old Blues at face- to-face events over the past academic year and are excited to connect with even more during the year to come! New events included an Arts networking evening in Henley-on-Thames, a 10-year reunion and what would have been a networking event in London postponed due to rail strikes (do come along in September if you can)! Our aim with our events has always been to allow Old Blues to reconnect with old friends, make new connections and share their experiences and expertise with current students. We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm and participation from our Old Blues community grow with each passing year. Be sure to check out our upcoming events for this next academic year on pages 32 and 33 and please get in touch with Louise Smith if you would like to help organise an event or offer to host an event at your workspace in the future (lms@rbcs.org.uk) . It isn’t just about events though! Our networking platform, Reading Blue Coat Connect continues to go from strength to strength. This year we opened up the platform to Parents at the School to further increase networking opportunities for our wonderful community. Next year we will be launching a mentoring scheme which will allow those on the platform the opportunity to give back to some of our current Year 12 students. We love the idea of this full circle moment and we know that our students will be extremely grateful for any and all help given to them. There will be more updates on this soon so watch this space and if you would like to get involved with this exciting initiative, be sure to sign up to Reading Blue Coat Connect today using the QR code or via the website (www.readingbluecoatconnect.org.uk) .