Minutes of the Special General Meeting 16 February 2026

Present

Tom Webster, Michael Barney, Nigel Barton, Paul O’Reilly, Andrew Roberts, Ben Whinney, Robert Sheardown*, Mark Whittington*

*via Teams

Apologies were accepted from:

Andrew Jones, Tony Shearer, Rich Bijster, Simon Pickett, Gavin Purvis

Items and Reports for Discussion and Action

MB introduced the two items to be discussed at the meeting.  Both have been produced by MB and BW as part of the initiatives from the Communications and Communities sub-team. The Special General Meeting had been arranged to allow an extended discussion of the proposals.  Both proposals had been issued to Committee members prior to the SGM.

MB noted that there had been progress in several of the identified areas since the relaunch of the Alumni i.e. vision, new constitution, etc. It was now an opportune time to move this along further by building the brand and associated network which would be the umbrella for all other ongoing initiatives, especially in conjunction with the Alumni’s 125^th and Newton’s anniversaries coming up. 

The rebranding aims to demonstrate that the Alumni is distinct from the school but also 100% supportive of it and that the current Alumni is a new beginning.  The rebranding would be part of the improved networking which is critical for the development of the Alumni. 

1. Nomenclature proposal (Attachment 1)

A number of reasons for change had been identified including:

• The terms ‘Old Boys’ and ‘Alumni’ don’t include teachers;
• Girls now participate in Sixth F form activities

The proposed new name for the Alumni is ‘Old Granthamians’.  It is considered that the term ‘Granthamians’ was already in use by the school and using such a term for the Alumni is proposed as it clearly related to Grantham and was a frequently-used style for other Alumni (approx. 75% of other similar schools’ alumni use the term ‘Old XXXXXians’). 

SP had provided some comments on the proposal prior to the meeting. SP agreed that the use of ‘alumni’ was now not appropriate for the King’s Alumni. However, his opinion was that ‘Granthamian’ would be seen as generally referring to someone from Grantham, not specifically someone from King’s.  There were several other secondary schools in Grantham who could also be considered as being ‘Granthamians’ whereas, when the term was initially used, King’s would have been the dominant school in the town, so it would have been clearer who this term referred to.  Concerning branding, SP had noted that, although the new branding aims to be distinct, separate but complementary to the school, this should not be seen as a drift towards separation from the school.  The Society exists because of its connection with King’s and any rebrand should reinforce, not obscure, that link.  The Committee wholeheartedly agreed on this point.

The points raised were extensively discussed by the Committee.  It was concluded that no other school in Grantham referred to being ‘Granthamian’ and that this term had been in use within the school/Alumni for many years (e.g. the Granthamian magazine).  There was a risk that the term could decline in use if not used here.

The term ‘alumni’ had only been brought in recent years, when it was recognised that ‘old boys’ wasn’t appropriate any more.

TW stated that he was in favour of the new term although noting that many things were changing within the Alumni and that, in light of recent changes, any name change needed to be a final choice.  This would ensure that our networking could then proceed along a permanent name basis. ‘Old Granthamians’ was considered to be a more unique branding rather than ‘alumni’ or ‘old boys’ and the Committee considered that the terminology was appropriate for the situation that the school and Alumni face in Grantham.  Name changes are usually done to attract attention to a changing situation and this can be seen as being the case here. Rebranding will bring uniformity to all the Alumni’s activities into a coherent message about familiarity and belonging, encouraging more involvement.

The impact of a name change on LinkedIn, domain names etc. was discussed.  Currently the Alumni utilise the school’s domain for correspondence.  The Alumni’s intent is to have a separate domain/emailing arrangement in the future.

If agreed, then a comprehensive set of brand guidelines will be prepared for use.

Of the eight members present, all were in favour of the name change to ‘Old Granthamians’.  Those absent will be polled for their views. However, it was noted that the majority of the Committee approved the proposed name change.

2. Rebrand Proposal (Attachment 2)

MB introduced the second proposal.  The discussion mainly centred around a proposal for a new badge for the society which, it would be similar to that of the school but with distinctive differences identifying it as being of the Alumni.  This revised badge would be used in all Alumni communications.  If adopted, rules for how the badge/colour scheme/typeface would be used will be required (those proposed are complementary to those used by the school). 

The proposed design of the Alumni’s badge had gone through several iterations to get to the version under discussion which is based on the arms of Bishop Foxe in the style of the plaque in the Old School (as is the current school badge).  The logo would comprise both the badge and ‘Old Granthamians’ wording.  A couple of versions would be in use, depending on how/where it was used.

SP’s comments on the logo/badge were discussed.  SP had the opinion that the new badge/logo should be similar to the original badge as depicted on a painting of Bishop Foxe in the National Portrait gallery and that of the crest in the Old School.

MB noted that none of the badges in use or proposed are sanctioned for use by anyone other than Bishop Foxe.  The previous Granthamian badge (‘three lions’) was not based on that of Bishop Foxe but made up from separate component parts, having no real association with the school.

MB explained that he had engaged the College of Arms to confirm whether the use of the arms of Bishop Foxe or the Victorian school badge had been granted for use by the school.  Neither had been and should be considered – in the best case – pseudo-heraldry.  Both the school’s current badge and the proposed Alumni badge are seen as stylised versions of the arms of Bishop Foxe, which are in turn interpretations of a written description.  A discussion with SP was considered timely to discuss the design of the Alumni badge in light of the other versions that exist. 

Following further discussions on style, punctuation and content, those present were in favour of the presented revised Alumni badge going forward. Other Committee members not present at the meeting would be polled for their views.  A final decision will be made following the poll and discussion with SP.

Action 1: AR to issue a WhatsApp message to those Committee members not present at the meeting for any comments, agreement or objections on the two proposals.

Action 2: MB to arrange a discussion with SP to summarise the opinions of the Committee on both issues and to finalise a suitable Alumni badge design.

On this basis, and subject to further discussion with SP, MB stated that his intent was to now develop the rebranding process/membership database with an intent to implement without further delay.  A discussion, via SP, with Grace Bufton, the school’s Development and Alumni Relations Manager, would also be appropriate to ensure both the Alumni and the school were aligned on the way forward with no duplication of effort.  Decisions will have to be made on how effort is divided between the school and Alumni, e.g. control of databases and upon who contributes financially to the upkeep. 

Roll out of the rebranding would include social media and there was further general discussion about who/how this could be managed however no decisions on this were taken at the meeting.  MB stated that the other aspects of the sub-team work would also be progressed once the rebranding is established.

Action 3: Following discussions with SP, MB to lead further progress on the rebranding initiative and development of a full set of rebranding guidelines.

MB expressed his thanks to BW for his significant contribution to the work completed and TW also added his thanks to MB and BW for the comprehensive presentation and discussions.

Any Other Business

None.

Date of next meeting

The next scheduled Alumni meeting will be on 2 March 2026 at 7.00pm in the library and online. The agenda with online joining instructions will be issued no less than 7 days prior to the date of the meeting. Interim meetings for various sub-committees prior to the next scheduled meeting will probably be individually organised.

Actions arising:

Action 1: AR to issue a WhatsApp message to those Committee members not present at the meeting for any comments, agreement or objections on the two proposals.

Action 2: MB to arrange a discussion with SP to summarise the opinions of the Committee on both issues and to finalise a suitable Alumni badge design.

Action 3: Following discussions with SP, MB to lead further progress on the rebranding initiative as discussed.

 

Attachment 1:

Nomenclature proposal

Attachment 2:

Rebrand Proposal