Leading the festivities was His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, Andrew Blackman, who presided over a special tree-planting ceremony to mark the inauguration of the school. The Ligustrum lucidum tree, planted during the event, serves as a symbol of strength, resilience, and endurance, qualities that OIC Brighton students will cultivate. Following the tree-planting ceremony, Ms. Jackie O’Quinn, the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, officially inaugurated the new facility, and attendees had the opportunity to explore the school campus during guided tours.
The school, with plans to gradually expand its capacity to accommodate a maximum of 400 boarding and 100 day students in the years to come, builds on the successful model of its sister institution, Oxford International College, in Oxford. The latter was ranked as the number one performing independent school for A Levels in England in 2023 by The Telegraph.
OIC Brighton, offering pre-GCSE, GCSE, and A-level programs to British and international students, has welcomed over 160 students from around the world as they embark on their academic journey at the school this September.
Tess St Clair-Ford, Founding Principal of OIC Brighton, expressed her excitement, saying, “We are delighted to welcome our inaugural cohort of students to our newly renovated Brighton campus as they embark on their educational journey with us. Following significant investments, all our students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities meticulously designed to support their learning. Our enviable location in the British countryside, near the city of Brighton and the coast, offers our students numerous opportunities for relaxation, study, and physical fitness.”
The College’s curriculum is designed to prepare students for entry into their chosen universities or careers, with a strong emphasis on academic excellence and personal and career development to ensure that students reach their full potential. Students will also engage in OIC’s unique Super Curricular Programme, which goes beyond traditional extracurricular activities to offer career-related experiences alongside sports, charity work, and arts clubs.
Principal St Clair-Ford further stated, “Our dedicated teachers, experts in their respective fields, will guide our students to become trailblazers, original thinkers, and highly adept learners. By matching the ambition we see in our students with an equally ambitious and motivated teaching team, we will foster a culture of dynamism, making our College an inspiring place for both learning and teaching.”
As part of the Nord Anglia Education family of schools, OIC Brighton’s students will also benefit from the group’s collaborations with prestigious global institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Andrew Fitzmaurice, CEO of Nord Anglia Education, commented on the school’s opening, saying, “OIC Brighton will be an exceptional institution, dedicated to high-quality teaching and learning, academic excellence, and student well-being. Our new school is an international center of learning committed to nurturing global citizenship, confidence, resilience, and teamwork among students.”
St Clair-Ford emphasized, “We are a school community with a strong focus on well-being. I firmly believe that there is a deep connection between academic progress and strong mental health and well-being. This emphasis on well-being is at the core of everything we do as a school, creating an environment where all our students feel fully supported and ready to tackle any challenge.”
Discover more about OIC Brighton at its Open House on 16 September. Register to attend: https://oicbrighton.com/open-house/
