The 2026 Founders’ Day celebrations were made even more special with the opening of the Highbury Class of 2001 Time Capsule, sealed 25 years ago and reopened in front of Old Boys, parents, staff and the entire school community. We were delighted to welcome the following Old Boys from the Class of 2001 in attendance: Michael Davies, Dylan Ludlow, Luke Stewart, Michael Cannon, David Francis, and Luke Von Der Heyde.
Founders Assembly
The morning began in the Centenary Hall as Highbury gathered to honour our founder, Mrs Sibella McMillan, whose vision and courage laid the foundations of the school in 1903. This year, however, Founders Day also became a bridge between past and present as we celebrated another chapter in our shared story.
Headmaster Mr Roland Lacock reminded those gathered of the significance of Highbury’s 123-year history and how every generation plays a part in shaping the story of the school.
We were delighted to welcome Mr Bradley Cooper, who served as Deputy Headmaster in 2001, as our guest speaker. He took the audience back to life at Highbury 25 years ago, recalling handwritten reports, posted letters rather than emails, and a very different world from the one boys know today.
A Message from Mr Richard Stanley
Mr Cooper also shared a special message from Headmaster of the time, Mr Richard Stanley, now living in the United Kingdom:
“As the time capsule is opened today, it offers more than a glimpse into the past. It is also a reminder of a promise – a promise that each generation makes to the next: to cherish what is good, to build on what has been achieved, and to look forward with confidence and purpose.
Although I cannot be with you physically, I am with you in spirit, and I remain immensely proud of all that Highbury has been, and all that it continues to be. I have every confidence that the years ahead will be as rich in purpose and achievement as those that have gone before. May God’s empowering favour and protection remain as Highbury’s guiding light into the years ahead.”
Opening the Time Capsule
The honour of unlocking and opening the capsule went to Luke Stewart of the Class of 2001, while Mr Lacock revealed the treasures that had been carefully preserved inside.
Following the assembly, Old Boys, parents and staff from the Class of 2001 gathered in the Highburian Museum to examine the contents more closely, reconnect after 25 years, and share their fondest memories of Highbury.
Occasions such as these remind us that Highbury friendships endure, that the values learned here stand the test of time, and that the bonds formed within these gates truly last a lifetime.
A Highbury foundation is one like no other.
Watch the opening of the 2001 time capsule here
Items inside the Time Capsule
Among the items discovered were CDs containing class photographs and a copy of the then Highbury website, newspapers from the year 2001 featuring world events such as 9/11 and the price of the latest Nokia 6210, prize giving and school event programmes, a model of the Chapel once sold to raise funds for the building of the Centenary Hall in 2003, the school magazine, coins postage stamps and printed keepsakes including class signatures, the school song, which proudly remains unchanged today.
