Visited with me mate Flubbera87, our first of 3 locations we managed to do today with varying degrees of success.
some history shamelessly copied and pasted
Wispers Concludes 60 Years of Secondary Education
Wispers School for Girls, which moved to Haslemere from Chichester almost 40 years ago and was founded in Midhurst in 1947, has announced its closure from the end of the summer term 2008.
The Governors intend to establish a Wispers Education Trust to assist girls' education through the provision of bursaries to pupils who would otherwise be unable to benefit from independent education.
Wispers has educated several thousands of girls from the ages of 11 to 18. It was described by the Independent Schools Inspectorate last year as having 'many strengths', giving its pupils 'a broad and effective educational experience at all phases of their school life'. It was also praised for its 'excellent links forged with the local and wider communities' and for the 'outstanding quality of relationships between staff and pupils'.
However, Mr John Parker, President, said "We are saddened that the difficulties facing small schools in budgeting for ever increasing costs has resulted in this decision to close. Wispers' small size has been one of its strengths because of the sense of community and friendliness which it fosters, but its size also makes it vulnerable when single-*** girls' schools are under increasing pressure from the trend towards co-education and when the demand for boarding is in decline.
"Wispers is proud that for 60 years it has been faithful to its fundamental principles of providing an excellent education and encouraging the development of responsible, happy and independent young women. Through the education trust that we intend to establish, the school motto, 'Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter: Faithfully, Bravely, Happily' will continue to be both remembered and relevant in the future."
Mr Parker continued: "Wispers' pupils have willingly accepted, as a core aim, a duty to serve others and they have done this both during the school years and in adult life. Academically, it has been a source of pride that the school has been recognised in particular for its high achievement in music, science and modern languages and that for many years our sixth form students have enjoyed a 100% entry to prestigious universities including Oxford and Cambridge. We have actually been most successful in finding places at the most suitable schools and in assisting staff in seeking positions elsewhere."
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We were only there for an hour and a half however until the trouble started. Whilst in a store room, we heard a car or a van or something pull up outside the window and the sound of dogs barking. We swiftly moved on, and ventured into the hallway where we heard the sound of a key turning in a lock on an exterior door so we leg it upstairs and spend about 5 minutes hiding in some shower cubicles listening to footsteps and faint dog barks from downstairs...eventually we realise we have to move away so we venture down a different hallway and then lose the sounds so we moved quickly snapping a few pics off and stuff, before we make the bad decision to venture into the kitchen/dining room. We locked one of the many doors and then, suddenly, from behind a door just a few feet further down the dining hall we hear 2 dogs go absolutely mental. Needless to say we absolutely caned it out of there, not stopping running until we hit the road.
Undoubtedly a return visit is in order
the massive walk-in safe
I did get some pics of the lovely wooden staircase but they were taken as we were leaving so aren't that great, but you'll find them and more pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157622838379187/
The rest of the pics from our other 2 explores will be uploaded tonight or tomorrow depending on the time as I'm reeling from my 4.30am start
some history shamelessly copied and pasted
Wispers Concludes 60 Years of Secondary Education
Wispers School for Girls, which moved to Haslemere from Chichester almost 40 years ago and was founded in Midhurst in 1947, has announced its closure from the end of the summer term 2008.
The Governors intend to establish a Wispers Education Trust to assist girls' education through the provision of bursaries to pupils who would otherwise be unable to benefit from independent education.
Wispers has educated several thousands of girls from the ages of 11 to 18. It was described by the Independent Schools Inspectorate last year as having 'many strengths', giving its pupils 'a broad and effective educational experience at all phases of their school life'. It was also praised for its 'excellent links forged with the local and wider communities' and for the 'outstanding quality of relationships between staff and pupils'.
However, Mr John Parker, President, said "We are saddened that the difficulties facing small schools in budgeting for ever increasing costs has resulted in this decision to close. Wispers' small size has been one of its strengths because of the sense of community and friendliness which it fosters, but its size also makes it vulnerable when single-*** girls' schools are under increasing pressure from the trend towards co-education and when the demand for boarding is in decline.
"Wispers is proud that for 60 years it has been faithful to its fundamental principles of providing an excellent education and encouraging the development of responsible, happy and independent young women. Through the education trust that we intend to establish, the school motto, 'Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter: Faithfully, Bravely, Happily' will continue to be both remembered and relevant in the future."
Mr Parker continued: "Wispers' pupils have willingly accepted, as a core aim, a duty to serve others and they have done this both during the school years and in adult life. Academically, it has been a source of pride that the school has been recognised in particular for its high achievement in music, science and modern languages and that for many years our sixth form students have enjoyed a 100% entry to prestigious universities including Oxford and Cambridge. We have actually been most successful in finding places at the most suitable schools and in assisting staff in seeking positions elsewhere."
------------
We were only there for an hour and a half however until the trouble started. Whilst in a store room, we heard a car or a van or something pull up outside the window and the sound of dogs barking. We swiftly moved on, and ventured into the hallway where we heard the sound of a key turning in a lock on an exterior door so we leg it upstairs and spend about 5 minutes hiding in some shower cubicles listening to footsteps and faint dog barks from downstairs...eventually we realise we have to move away so we venture down a different hallway and then lose the sounds so we moved quickly snapping a few pics off and stuff, before we make the bad decision to venture into the kitchen/dining room. We locked one of the many doors and then, suddenly, from behind a door just a few feet further down the dining hall we hear 2 dogs go absolutely mental. Needless to say we absolutely caned it out of there, not stopping running until we hit the road.
Undoubtedly a return visit is in order
the massive walk-in safe
I did get some pics of the lovely wooden staircase but they were taken as we were leaving so aren't that great, but you'll find them and more pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157622838379187/
The rest of the pics from our other 2 explores will be uploaded tonight or tomorrow depending on the time as I'm reeling from my 4.30am start
