As a refugee from Uganda I understand the importance of having a good education in life. I am very fortunate that the United Kingdom and Ipswich school gave me such a wonderful opportunity. An education is something which stays with you for life and I am so grateful.
To me, Ipswich School is a leading school offering an all-round, first-class environment fit for students to reach their full potential. Through the generosity of Ipswich School and the benefactors who make the bursary programme possible, I was able to attend Ipswich School. Something which I would have not been able to do, without the support of a bursary or scholarship.
When transitioning to Ipswich School, the expectation of strong academic performance became immediately clear to me. The teachers regularly went above and beyond to understand the pupil’s needs, strengths, and areas of improvement. Whilst the seriousness of the students was clear through the attitude of success (through hard work) being an expectation rather than an aspiration.
The facilities Ipswich School offers regarding sporting activities is first-class and I leveraged the opportunity by playing rugby and football during my time at the school. This provided a chance for me to gain sporting skills which I used outside of school, and I carried on to university.
Regarding non-sporting co-curricular activities, the school offers a breadth of options. I thoroughly enjoyed Chapel Choir which involved singing in notable places including St Paul’s Cathedral and Snape Maltings. CCF was also an asset in my development, giving me a platform to build my communication and organisational skills.
With the generous support of my teachers, most importantly Steve Blunden, and the all-round excellent education I received during my time at Ipswich School I was able to continue onto UCL to study Civil Engineering.
At university I was able to intern with the World Bank in the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) department in the Research Group of the World Bank. I was able to use the GIS skills from my degree in producing remote sensing outputs. In my fourth year of university I also interned with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) within the Remote Sensing Technology Institute. At DLR I worked on AI models for atmospheric correction. The work was accepted for publication in a leading AI journal. I also worked as a research assistant for Coventry university in my fourth year. The research project was on the social explainability of AI to the general public. Through this work I was able to get a publication under my belt. All of these achievements were only possible because of the education I got at Ipswich school.
I am forever grateful to Ipswich School for transforming my life and future prospects. I would encourage all people who are able to contribute to Ipswich School’s Development efforts to consider supporting the School. Thank You.
Baker Kagimu
(OI 2013-2018)
