Old Augustinians were delighted to attend the Ursuline College Prizegiving evening held at the school in Westgate at the end of the Summer Term. Prizes, sponsored by Old Augustinians and individual OA members were presented to students worthy of recognition for the contribution to the school and/or academic achievement.
OA Committee Members presenting prize were David Fugurally and Andrew Sharp, and they were joined by Ade Owusu-Ansah, widow of the late Stephen Owusu-Ansah and Obi Chiejina, the sister for the late Vincent Chiejina, who tragically died in the Grenfell Tower Fire.
Prizes were given to the following students:
The Stephen Owusu-Ansah Cup for Kindness was awarded by Ade Owusu-Ansah to Jordan Parkes
The Old Augustinians prizes for Service (Serviam) were awarded by Andrew Sharp to Ruby Carson, Jessica Stephens and Lauren Fagg.
The Vincent Chiejina prize for Mathematics was awarded by Obi Chiejina to Head of Maths, Paula Gaffney who accepted it on behalf of the award winner and Head Boy, James Cole, who was unable to be present.
The Simone Marella prize for Selflessness donated by OA members was awarded by David Fugurally to Esther Moses-Adeyinka
The Academy Principal’s prize, sponsored by the Old Augustinians, was given by Andrew Sharp to Academy Principal, Dannii Lancefield who presented it to Kalli Laming.
Around 300 students, parents and staff attended the event, which was followed by a reception afterwards. Andrew Sharp and David Fugurally, on behalf of the Old Augustinians, congratulated the students on their achievements and the teachers for their support for the students.
We are pleased to invite you to our Annual Old Augustinians lunch which this year will take place on Sunday, 1st October 2023 at the former St. Augustine's College and Abbey School (and former Les Oiseaux Convent School), 125 Canterbury Road, Westgate on Sea, Kent. CT8 8NL the home of our school from September 1971 to July 1995.
This year we will be joined by members of the Westgate Ursuline Alumni Association which represents all those former Ursuline students and staff as this year sees the beginning of their 120th year since the school was set up in Westgate. We shall also be joined by Sister Alice Montgomery, who became the first Headmistress of the Ursuline College as it became known in 1995 when the Ursuline Sisters kindly opened their school to take boys from St. Augustine's College and Abbey School, when the school closed. Sister Alice will be our Main Speaker.
We will again be joined by the Alumnae of Les Oiseaux Convent School, who occupied our school buildings pre-1971. The lunch is of course open to all Old Augustinians, Staff, friends and family.
This lunch event is normally held on a Saturday and should have taken place on Saturday, 30th September but due to an administrative error by the venue, there had been a double booking, we have had to settle for a Sunday this year. Consequently Mass will not take place prior to lunch, as priests, quite understandably, will be busy in their parishes.
The itinerary for this Celebration is as follows:
- 12 noon onwards The bar will be open for those wanting to buy pre-lunch drink or tea/coffee.
- 1:00pm Three course Sunday lunch (with vegetarian options) with wine or soft drinks, coffee & mints.
- 2:45pm Speeches including Guest Speaker, Sister Alice Montgomery, former Ursuline College Headteacher.
I do hope you will be able to attend this year and please encourage others who were in your class, friends and family to come to this event.
We have reduced the ticket price this year to £40 per person and an online Booking form and Menu choices form is available on our website link:
We must confirm and order the lunches in advance, I would be grateful if you could complete your booking form with menu choices and payment by Saturday 23rd September at the very latest.
There is plenty of parking at the venue and for those travelling by Rail, there are currently no planned engineering works from London or in the area that day. A map of the location is on our website link: below:
http://www.staugustineskent.com/contact-us
We look forward to seeing you - hope you will be able to attend.
Busy and successful month for the OAs which saw the Martin Morton Memorial Mass in London, Ursuline College PrizeGiving and the launch of the Westgate Ursuline Alumni Association where OAs can join.
Other news... Due to an administrative error by the venue, we have had to move the Westgate lunch to Sunday 1st October 2023. More news on this will follow shortly...
It is over a year since we lost Simone Marella. Friends of Simone, led by David Fugurally, have decided, with the agreement of the Ursuline College, to raise funds among OAs for a school prize in memory of Simone. The Prize will be awarded to for Selflessness as this best describes in one word the type of person Simone was. It will be awarded next week, 13th July. Please donate if you can.
You can make your donation online to the Old Augustinian Society, you will need the Sort Code: 16.00.11 and the Account Number, 15267538. Please state your name and give the Reference "MAR". The CLOSING DATE FOR DONATIONS IS NEXT THURSDAY, 13th JULY. Thank you
We are delighted to invite you to an Ursuline and Augustinian Alumni Reunion on Saturday 15th July 2023 commencing at 11.45am at the Ursuline College, 225 Canterbury Road, Westgate on Sea, Kent CT8 8LX. This event is kindly hosted by our Successor School, The Ursuline College and organised jointly by the Ursuline Alumnae and OAs. ALL Ursuline Convent School Alumnae, Old Augustinians and former students at the Ursuline College are welcome with your guests/family. Also present will be Ursuline College staff and students who have kindly given up their time to join us for this historic event.
The draft itinerary for the day is as follows:
11.45pm onwards, Registration of guests who sign in at Reception
12 Noon Mass in the Ursuline Chapel celebrated by Canon Brian Coyle (former Principal of St. Augustine's College) together with an address and welcome from St. Alice (former Headteacher of the Ursuline College) and reading from Ursuline Alumnae, College Alumni and Old Augustinians.
12.45pm Reception on the Chapel lawn (weather permitting)
13.30pm Buffet Lunch served in the Refectory
14.30pm Short meeting for the Ursuline Convent Alumnae, Ursuline College Alumni and Old Augustinians who will be invited to form a joint alumni group to support the Ursuline College.
15.00pm Tour of the school (tbc)
16.30pm Close of event - all guests to be signed out.
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL so we are aware in advance of who is attending. Please make booking by Monday 3rd July, as we cannot guarantee bookings after this date.
More details about the day including the Itinerary can be found on our NEWS PAGE.
https://www.oldaugustinians.org.uk/events/ursuline-and augustinians-reunion
We are guests of our hosts, the Ursuline College therefore BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL so that we and they are aware in advance of who will be attending. We need to know numbers by MONDAY 3rd July so we cannot guarantee any bookings after that time, so please book early!
The Ursuline Alumnae and Old Augustinians will be giving £300 each towards the costs of the day. It will of course cost a lot more and we would encourage all attendees to consider contributing financially not only towards the cost of the event but to support students in their project work. If you can't attend, then donations are still welcome. All donations can be made online via our website.
We are all committed to support today's Catholic Secondary Schools in Thanet, just as we were supported by our alumni when we were at school. This is why we support our successor school, the Ursuline College so that today's generation of students benefit as we did in our time.
So, we do hope you will be able to attend this, Summer Reunion and encourage your old school friends to do the same.
Mrs Keryn Poulter. Ursuline Alumnae Chair of Governors, Ursuline College
Dr. Chris Horsburgh. Hon. President Society of Old Augustinians
A Memorial Mass to celebrate the life of Martin Morton takes place on Tuesday 11th July 2023 12.30pm at the Church of St. Charles Borromeo 5, Ogle Street, London W1W 6HS.
Ogle Street is off New Cavendish Street and the nearest underground stations are Goodge Street, Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street.
Fr. Oscar, the parish priest confirms the Mass intention will be for Martin Morton RIP. Refreshments will be available afterwards.
Thanks firstly to all those OA members who joined our Biennial General Meeting on 25th May, 2023 as, despite our school closing 28 years ago, we continue to grow in membership and activity.
All existing members were re-elected on to the OA Committee apart from Peter West (1967) who has stepped down but continues in the role of Archivist. Keith Fenton (1984) replaces Jason Savage (1976) as one of the Vice Chairman and the BGM elected two additional members, Andrew Heap (1984) and Charles Brough (1966). Our Treasurer, Bob Bridger also takes on the role of Membership Secretary too.
One of the major OA projects, let by our Archivist, Peter West, is nearing completion as all the School Magazines will be digitised and posted on our website later this summer. This has been a long and painstaking exercise but has been more than worth it as it means we can all access magazines from the late 19th century onwards until the school closed in 1995.
Another key project is the Ursuline College Support Group, where we have been working with the Ursuline Alumnae and College to find ways of helping wha became our successor school. Both our President, Chris Horsburgh (1967) and I, have been representing the OAs at these meetings.
At the time of the last BGM in May 2021, our activities were almost non-existent as Covid curtailed them. Since then, we have held two Westgate lunches, a Black-tie dinner at the National Liberal Club, London, Two Remembrance Services at Ramsgate and a lunch in London, in most cases getting record attendances.
Over the next two years we will be holding more events representing all the generations of OAs and so you have them for your diary, here are the gatherings listed for the remaining of this year:
Tuesday 11th July - St. Benedict's Day - Memorial Mass and lunch in Central London held in Memory of our former President, Martin Morton. We hope that Madeley Court OAs will be able to attend but all OAs will be welcome.
Saturday 15th July - Ursuline and Augustinian Alumni Reunion at the Ursuline College, 225 Canterbury Road, Westgate on Sea. More details can be found on our EVENTS Page on our website. There will be a Reunion Mass, lunch and tour. A new Ursuline Alumni group will be set up open to OAs.
Saturday 30th September - Old Augustinian Reunion Lunch at the former school premises, St. Augustine's 125, Canterbury Road, Westgate on Sea.
Saturday 11th November - OA Remembrance Mass at St. Augustine's Church, St Augustine's Road, Ramsgate followed by reception and lunch.
More details of all these events will be circulated shortly...
Lastly a plea from the OA Committee. The OAs are a not-for-profit unincorporated membership organisation. We totally rely on membership subs and donations. All our events are not for profit and we often subsidise them too. Due to good financial stewardship and hard work put in by OA Officers hehind the scenes, we have been able to fund such projects as digitising the Archives, a cost-of living crisis grant to help Ursuline College students in need and smaller donations such as for St. Augustine's church Visitors Centre in Ramsgate, Ursuline College prizes as well as our costs of our website management and administration, the latter two costs are kept to an absolute minimum.
Many of our members have taken our life membership, so consequently this will influence annual revenue, unless we get more members from a shrinking pool to recruit from, as we sadly lose friends year by year. Without members, we cannot service the OAs, nor can we carry on giving donations to the causes we believe in.
Our Facebook Group has over 500 members but less than 20% are actually paid-up members of the OAs. We have nearly 300 on our Mailing list but less than half are paid-up members.
This is a good time to join. Annual Membership is £20 or you can join at the discounted Life Membership rate which is £100. It is easy to join - it will keep us going... Here is the link to our Membership Page:-
Join Us
Thanks and I look forward to meeting you at a future OA event and thanks to in anticipation of you support.
With best wishes, Andrew
We are sorry to inform you that Lord Tom Pendry has died. Tom was for many decades associated with our school, the Monastery and St. Augustine's Church. Born in Broadstairs in 1934, he attended St. Augustine's RC Primary school in Ramsgate and was tutored by the monks. He represented Kent Schools at Boxing, which held him in good stead as he later became a Govt Whip when Labour had the narrowest of majorities. As a Govt Minister, he never lost his roots and remained in contact with the monks and our school and one year was the main guest for prize giving. He was President of Ramsgate Football Club. In later years Tom kindly hosted our House of Lords dinner in 2015 as well as supporting events for St. Augustine's Church. He remained committed to his Catholic faith. May he Rest in Peace.
The Biennial General Meeting for the Society of Old Augustinians will take place on Thursday 25th May 18.00 (UK time) via ZOOM. More details will follow nearer the time.
We are now taking bookings for our London lunch which takes place on Saturday 25th March 2023 at 12.30pm at SARTORI'S Restaurant near Leicester Square tube station. More details can be found on our Forthcoming Events page including Online Booking Form, Menu Choices and Payment online. Final date for Booking is Wednesday 15th March. Do hope you can join us there...