Having the best education available to children in the community has always been a crucial part of Great Oakley Estate’s history and important pillar of the future it hopes to build.
The estate’s history in education began in the mid-1980s when the then steward of the estate, Hugh de Capell Brooke – late father of current steward Alexander de Capell Brooke – began to explore the possibility of bringing a new school to Corby. This was driven by a passion for good, state funded education and the huge positive effect it can have not only on children, but local communities.
He was told he would never succeed, “Corby does not need another school”, “take your ideas elsewhere”, but he dogmatically plodded on, and he knew what he thought was going to be best for the people of the area, not just Corby.
After a number of years of work The Brooke City Technology College opened in 1991 and then with the support of the Weston family, in particular Garry Weston, became The Brooke Weston City Technology College. Today that same school is known as The Brooke Weston Academy and Alexander de Capell Brooke sits on the governing body.
The partnership between the de Capell Brooke and Weston families was clearly a fruitful one. After the success of the Brooke City Technology College, the Brooke Weston Trust was established in 2007. This was done under the guidance of Sir Peter Simpson, who had been Principal at Brooke City since 1999. He became the figurehead of the Trust until his retirement in 2013.
The Brooke Weston Trust now oversees ten schools, including Corby Business Academy, Kettering Science Academy, Oakley Vale Primary School and Thomas Clarkson Academy.
You can read more about Great Oakley Estate’s work in the Education section of our website – and more specifically on the Brooke Weston Trust here and on their website.
