Blessing of the Wright Building

Last Thursday 31st March, I went over to the excellent St. Edmund’s College, Portsmouth in order to bless a new building on the site, the Wright Building. The building, to a bold modern design, is named after Barry Wright, a former head and chair of governors who died last year (here with his widow, Nora, the headteacher Simon Graham, and the head boy and head girl). Barry spent 33 years working in secondary education and was Headteacher of St Edmund’s from 1988 to 2001. Subsequently he worked part-time as an educational consultant and undertook various roles including Ofsted Inspector, external adviser to governing bodies, School Improvement Partner and Link Inspector with a local authority. The new building is a splendid commemoration and is used especially for languages and RE. It has a unique “Living Wall” along one side of it, along Upper Arundel Street, well worth seeing next time you are down this way. Let us pray for the staff, students, parents and governors as they look forward to the Easter break next week.