Partnership with Lord Byron School
The Lord Byron School is a public school located in Gyumri (formerly Leninakan), founded in 1990 following the 1988 Armenian earthquake, which devastated the city. The school was built using funds provided by the British government, as well as donations raised by the British people.
The strong partnership between the schools was originally formed largely due to the influence of Fred Green, the rector of the local St. Mary Magdalene Church, where Lord Byron is buried. The initial reason for the partnership arose because of Lord Byron himself—a famous British poet who had shown an affection for Armenian culture when he was a guest of the Mekhitarist Order on Saint Lazarus Island in Venice.
A carved stone cross called a khachkar, which has been used in Armenia since the thirteenth century, was placed at The Holgate Academy on 5 November 1991 by the Armenian government in thanks for the rebuilding of the school. The ceremony was attended by Kenneth Clarke, the then Minister for Education. The original khachkar is now located at St. Mary Magdalene Church and a new stone was installed at Holgate in 2004 and takes pride of place in our school quad and serves as a subtle reminder of the symbolic relationship between the two schools.
