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Immanuel College opens new Sixth Form Centre after £12m rescue
Chief Rabbi hails school as “thriving” five months after community fundraising drive saved it from closure
Five months after Immanuel College was facing imminent closure, the school has opened a new Sixth Form Centre as it embarks on an ambitious new chapter.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis formally opened the centre on Thursday, cutting the ribbon before affixing a mezuzah to the front of the building in front of pupils, parents, staff and supporters.
The milestone marks a dramatic change in fortunes for the Bushey school, which was due to shut after 35 years, before more than £12 million was raised in a community fundraising drive in April.
Now, under a revamped leadership team, Immanuel is developing pathways towards Oxbridge, Ivy League and other leading universities, alongside internships, mentoring and links with employers.
Completed in just two months, the newly renovated centre will serve Immanuel’s sixth form of just under 100 pupils, with dedicated classrooms and study areas, staff facilities and a fully equipped common room.
Chair of governors Aaron Etingen, who took over following the rescue, used the inauguration to set out how rapidly the school had changed.
“We raised £12.4 million. We delivered a dedicated and freshly renovated building for the sixth form. We turned an already excellent management team into easily one of the country’s strongest,” he told guests.
Etingen highlighted the appointments of CEO Rabbi Cobi Ebrahimoff, headteacher Chris Jones and Director of Sixth Form John Wilson, as the school sets its sights on developing routes into leading universities and careers.
He also paid tribute to the parents and donors who rallied behind Immanuel when its future hung in the balance.
The Chief Rabbi hailed the turnaround as an achievement that had once appeared impossible.
“The achievement has been off the charts,” Mirvis said. “You achieved something which we didn’t believe was possible, and that actually is a lesson in life. Never say never.”
He told pupils: “Even when the odds are stacked against you, if there’s something that’s worthwhile in life, students, go for it.”
Mirvis described the inauguration as “not only a celebration for Immanuel” but “a celebration for British Jewry”.
“Immanuel is not just alive, it’s thriving,” he said.
The school’s future had looked very different in April, when governors announced that financial pressures meant it would close at the end of the academic year.
Parents Claudia and Robert Salem, Annabel and Lee Sheldon and Jeremy and Davinia Teacher then led an urgent fundraising effort, backed by donors and supporters in Britain and overseas.
Within days, governors reversed the closure decision and Etingen, founder and CEO of Global University Systems, was brought in to lead the next phase of the school.
For Jones, who has since taken over as headteacher, joining Immanuel at such a pivotal moment was a “special opportunity”.
“I feel very privileged and incredibly lucky,” he told Jewish News, saying he had been struck by the “joy in the community” even before taking the role.
His focus now is on widening opportunities beyond the classroom, with plans for internships, employer partnerships and greater use of the school’s alumni network.
“It’s not just knowing how to use tech; it’s knowing the human skills that you need to thrive in the world of AI,” Jones said.
Wilson, who joined as Director of Sixth Form last month after previously serving as principal of Brampton College, said arriving so soon after the school was saved felt like “the beginning of something”.
“It feels like an opportunity to do things differently and to lead it in a different direction to create opportunities,” he told Jewish News.
His focus will be on identifying the ambitions of individual pupils and helping them find the route best suited to them, including pathways towards leading universities in Britain and overseas.
“The important thing is that we identify what the students are aspiring to do, and then we help them to achieve those aspirations,” Wilson said.
He also wants sixth formers to take ownership of their new surroundings – and ultimately, their futures.
“I really want them to take ownership of this building,” he said. “By doing that, they take ownership of their journey and their own destination.”
Speaking at the inauguration, Wilson said success would extend beyond exam results and university admissions.
“Our ambition here is that students leave this sixth form not just ready for university, not just ready for the world of work, but really and truly ready for life,” he said.
With Sukkot approaching, Mirvis also used his address to urge pupils to be confident in their Jewish identity while engaging with wider society.
“We want to be proud Jews, not to hide ourselves away from the world, and to be behind walls, but rather to engage with society, to be integrated in society, and to be a blessing to society, thanks to our Jewish values,” he said.
For head boy Zach Loftus, who has attended Immanuel since Year 7, witnessing the turnaround has been “completely surreal”.
“This school is such a cornerstone in the community,” he told Jewish News.
Loftus said the new leadership had made pupil involvement a priority from the outset.
“The first thing that was made really clear with this new leadership is that the student input is going to be a really important part of this process,” he said.
He described an “overwhelming sense of pride” at serving as head boy at such a significant moment for the school.
Governor Tyler Welby has experienced Immanuel’s journey from both sides, having attended the school from 2016 to 2024 before returning as a governor.
“Immanuel has always been a place where they care about you,” Welby said, who now studies History and International Relations at King’s College London, told Jewish News.
“You are nurtured, you are seen, you’re really just looked after.”
Seeing the new centre, he said it “shows that Immanuel’s back”.
The inauguration also featured singing from the school choir as pupils, staff and supporters celebrated a new chapter for a school that just five months ago was preparing to close its doors.
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