 A subscription list was opened in 1868 when funds were sought "for the restoration and improvement of the building" as well as for endowments and exhibitions.This initial arrangement was formalised in the establishment of the school council in 1870.When re-opened the dormitories on the upper floors of the main building had been partitioned to form four rooms each with twenty beds, the stone flagged floors on the ground floor had been removed (to provide flooring for racquet courts) and replaced with wooden flooring and the stone staircase boxed in.