1701 SOCIETY

Welcome to our new 1701 Society. Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School was founded following a bequest by Sir Joseph Williamson in 1701, hence the name of this new group. The school is fortunate to have an active, dynamic and highly successful alumni group, the Old Williamsonians (contact via sarah.rose@sjwms.org.uk), and this new Society in no way replaces or changes that organisation or the school’s relationship with it. The purpose of the 1701 Society is to allow old boys and girls of the school, along with any others who hold an affinity to it, to recognise that an affinity by supporting the school financially and making a regular donation.

The school itself was founded following a donation in 1701 and it in turn has a long history of supporting others both financially and through its work. Those joining this new Society will be continuing the legacy of Sir Joseph Williamson and contributing to the future success and opportunity of all those associated with the school.

Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School enjoys superb facilities that are significantly beyond what would normally be possible through state funding alone. The original bequest from Sir Joseph Williamson is still carefully managed by the School’s Trustees which has allowed them to support a wide range of developments in recent years. They contributed to the cost of the new Da Vinci Art and Technology Block, the extension of Music facilities and an additional Mathematics classrooms.  Most recently in 2023, they funded new tennis and netball courts.  Going back further, they have supported the all-weather pitch, languages laboratory and swimming pool. The school itself has also been very successful in bidding for funding both from government and other sources to improve the facilities at the school, for example the recent refurbishment of the Science laboratories. Despite all this, we continue to have ambitious plans for the future of the school so that we can provide the young people here with the very best facilities and equipment to enhance the outstanding education they receive.

Potential future projects include further improvement to sports facilities and a new performance space in Music. In the current financial climate, school funding is becoming increasingly pressurised and the possibility of funding some of these improvements from more standard means is becoming ever more remote. Therefore, the school is looking to former pupils and those who have an association with the school to ask them if they will consider making a regular donation to the school so that it can continue to deliver the exceptional opportunities and facilities our students have come to expect and that they themselves enjoyed at the school.