Abeunt Studia in Mores
(“Studies Build One’s Character”)
Geoff Wills and his late wife Molly at Rowland’s Castle 2014
This website records the history and activities of the boys who attended the School over the years from its founding in 1928. We are proud that our establishment had such an illustrious cast of masters and boys. Many masters spent inordinate amounts of time and energy developing our sporting prowess, our dramatic stars of the future, our military officers and top civil servants.
The school started as a fee-paying grammar school and went on to become state funded after the second world war. Finally, in the 1970s a comprehensive model was adopted which, whilst not able to produce the same level of results as formerly, performed well in the circumstances.
It is now some eighteen years since Geoff Wills initially took it upon himself to arrange a 90th birthday celebration for Frank Haill. He invited some ten old boys to sit round the table and enjoy the milestone birthday celebration occasion of one of our old French Masters who also played a lead in School football and cricket. In fact, he was the last ever amateur footballer to have played in the top division of the football league when he played left-back for Fulham.
The following year Geoff arranged a meeting to discuss the resurrection of the original Old Cicestrians Association which had become defunct in the late 1960s and this time sixty-six were present. Many of those have now passed on, but it is encouraging to see a regular and growing attendance at the Christmas luncheon. Amongst those who played a leading rôle alongside Geoff, one must be mentioned in particular. Geoffrey Barnard's connection with the Old Cicestrians goes back a long way. He arrived at the High School in 1934 when its first ever students were still at the school taking their University Matriculation exams. He became School Captain and became the Old Cicestrians’ President in the 1950’s. He was also instrumental in the setting up of the Association as it exists today by encouraging a small group of interested old boys to meet up with a view to reconstituting it.
Important Note:
General Data Regulation (GDPR)*
Statement by the Old Cicestrians’ Committee August 2018
On the 25th May 2018 GDPR came into force requiring all organisations to have the permission of their members to hold personal data.
The Old Cicestrians (OC) is a small not-for-profit organization which holds data only managing membership and communicating with members. As such it is not required to register. By joining the OC and supplying contact information, members have given their consent for their data to be used for that specific purpose. The OC continues to adhere to the principles of the Data Protection Act and follows best practice in managing personal information.
*The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA)
The Old Cicestrians Constitution
Revised 2025
Adopted at the Annual General Meeting, 6 December 2025
1) The Association: shall be called The Old Cicestrians Association.
2) Aims: To assist former pupils, teaching and support staff of the former Chichester High School for Boys (CHSB) in staying in touch with one another and hearing news of other former school members. To inform members of events organised by the Association for the benefit of members of the Association. To assist former members of the school in advertising events they organise through the Association’s website. The Association aims to inform its membership of current news via the Old Cicestrians website and the occasional letter or email. To recognise that the current Chichester High School (CHS) is successor to CHSB, and as appropriate to share news of CHS and, if appropriate, offer support.
3) Powers: To raise money to support the above Aims through the collection of an annual subscription from all members. The current subscription is £5.00 (January 2025). All social events organised by the Association for the benefit of members must be self-financing. The Association’s Committee is empowered to work on behalf of the Association in the fulfilment of all the above Aims. The Committee will keep members informed of its actions through the Chairman’s Report given at the AGM and through the Association’s website.
4) Membership: Membership of the Association is open to all former pupils, teachers and support staff of the former Chichester High School for Boys (and the former Lancastrian School for Boys) upon payment of the Annual Subscription. There is no upper limit to membership numbers in the Association but if the membership were to drop below 30 then the Committee would inform the remaining members that the Association was no longer viable and suggest how its remaining assets should be distributed.
5) Association’s Committee: The Association’s Committee is elected from the membership at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee shall comprise a President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Membership Secretary, Honorary Archivist, Honorary Events Secretary and as many other members as the Committee may decide. One of the Committee, or another OC Member, will undertake responsibility for the updating of the Association website. The Committee will have the power to co-opt a member or another individual to serve on the Committee by virtue of possessing special knowledge or expertise relating to a specific matter in hand. If a Committee member leaves during the year then the Officers of the Committee can co-opt another member onto the Committee until the next AGM when all members come up for re-election.
6) Officers: A President shall be appointed by election at the AGM to serve for such term as the meeting may decide and will always be eligible for re-election. The President has no executive role butrepresenting the Association as appropriate. The Chairman leads the Association, chairs meetings – including the Committee and AGM - and is responsible for the Annual Report to members. The Vice Chairman assists the Chairman and in the event that the Chairman is unable to attend meetings will act as Chairman until such time as the Chairman is able to resume office. The Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Membership Secretary, Honorary Archivist and Honorary Events Secretary shall be appointed each year at the AGM to serve for one year but similarly shall always be eligible for re-election.
7) Meetings: Members of the Committee will meet on a regular basis to discuss subjects appropriate to the Association and organise future social events for the members. Minutes will be taken at all meetings. A resolution signed by all Committee members shall be considered to be passed as if it had been made at a meeting. In the event of there being a need to call an Extraordinary General Meeting, (EGM) this must be agreed by at least three Officers of the Association. Committee Members must be given a minimum of four-weeks notice of such an EGM.
8) Finances: The Association’s bankers shall be HSBC or such other bank as agreed by the Committee and the Honorary Treasurer will be responsible for operating the account(s) on behalf of the Association. All cheques drawn on the account above £300 in value shall be attested by the joint signatures of the Honorary Treasurer and one other Committee member to be appointed by the Committee. A statement showing the financial activities of the Association during the year shall be examined and presented by the Honorary Treasurer to the AGM each year. The independent examiner must be approved at the AGM each year. A small expenses payment will be given to the independent examiner each year, the amount to be determined by the Committee.
9) Amendments to the Constitution: Revisions to the Constitution that are proposed by the Association’s Committee must be approved by at least two-thirds of those members present at the next AGM. All members will be informed of the proposed changes via a letter and on the Association’s website. Any member(s) seeking clarification or declaring an objection must do so in writing to the Chairman at least two weeks prior to the next AGM. Their comments will be shared at the AGM prior to any vote being taken.
10) Dissolution: As indicated in section (4) Membership, if the membership were to drop to fewer than 30 members then at an EGM or the next AGM the Committee would inform those present that the Association was no longer viable and their proposed method of distributing any remaining assets. At that point, all bank accounts held by the Association would be closed.