Bermuda's oldest school yesterday launched a capital campaign aimed at eliminating barriers to a world class education.

Warwick Academy, which is oldest continuously operated school in the Western hemisphere, said the Funding Our Future campaign's aim is to raise $5.75 million — $2 million of which will go to scholarships and bursaries.

Director of the Warwick Academy board Vince Ingham said: "Ultimately no qualified student should ever be turned away from Warwick Academy for lack of funding.

"As we move forward into the twenty-first century, Bermuda, like the world around us, is experiencing profound change.

"Our children must prepare to enter a rapidly changing world that demands skills unheard of just decades ago. We must ensure that coming generations of children will have the skills to master what lies ahead.

"This ambitious effort is aimed at investing in the three areas most critical to the life and vitality of Warwick Academy; its students, its teachers and its property."

The Scholarship and Bursaries Endowment will, for the first time, provide financial assistance to families of children in the primary school. It will also allow Warwick Academy to increase the number and value of grants offered to secondary school students.

Norman Mastalir, co-chairman of the Warwick Academy Capital Campaign, said: "In my experience as the managing director of Fairmont — one of Bermuda's largest employers — I am keenly aware how crucial it is to invest in the education of future generations of Bermudians."

Another $2 million will be raised for the teachers development endowment and $1.75 million for the physical plant refurbishment.

The campaign has already raised $3.4 million — including a $1 million donation from Tony and Barbara Smith — in private donations and is now in its public phase.

The Bank of Bermuda Foundation, Aspen Insurance, Lancashire Insurance Company, and Flagstone Re are among those making corporate leadership donations.

Outside of the campaign, other contributions include a very substantial donation from the Nora and Walter Sharpe Family for additional scholarships and bursaries.

The Mark Byrne family has also pledged a $800,000 challenge grant that will fund a new library in the International Baccalaureate Centre to be named the Walwyn Hughes Library.