Junior School pupils celebrate Founders’ Day

On Monday 16 June, the Junior School boys marked Founders’ Day — one of the highlights of the school year — with a morning of sponsored challenges to raise funds for Mustardseed Junior School (MJS).

Our founder, William Waynflete, believed in the power of education to change lives. His vision of providing opportunity for those who might not otherwise have had access to learning continues to inspire the school’s values today. In that spirit, the Junior School dedicated the day to supporting Mustardseed, our partner school in Uganda founded by noted stage director and OW John Caird.

The relationship between the two schools is strong, with staff from MJS visiting MCS earlier this year to learn from colleagues and experience the school’s approach firsthand. Junior School staff have also offered mentoring support and went out to visit the school in October 2023, while pupils have enjoyed exchanging letters and Christmas cards.

This year, pupils had to complete a carousel of six sponsored challenges alongside other members of their house linked to the theme of ‘1480’ (the year of our establishment). Activities ranged from dodgeball, continuous football, rugby-tennis and ‘beat the goalkeeper’ to treasure hunt codebreaking and a ‘1480’ LEGO construction challenge. These events required pupils to develop the broader skillsets of critical thinking, teamwork, physical coordination and analysis.

Alongside this, boys were also encouraged to take on independent activities at home, inspired by the ‘1480’ theme, be it sporting, academic or creative. These extra efforts helped to boost donations and far surpass the Junior School’s collective target of £1,480.

Families and friends are warmly invited to continue to support the initiative by sponsoring pupils via the school’s JustGiving page. Every donation, however small, goes a long way in Uganda and will be gratefully received by all involved.

To find out more or contribute, please click here.