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WHAT’S UP? Fundraising, exhibitions and scholarship news SCHOOL HOUSE AWARDS: THE WINNERS Meet the successful schools and learn why they stood out
TOP SCHOLAR
Beatrice Garrett from Downside School, Somerset FIRST WORD
Cheryl Giovannoni, GDST HEAD’S VIEW
Shaun Fenton from Reigate Grammar School, Surrey
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
Alice Smellie nds out how British schools are working with refugee camps to improve access to education
SHARED SPACE Peter Stanford examines the bene ts of partnerships with non-fee paying schools
BURSARIES ARE GETTING A BOOST How schools are creating more transformation funding
MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS Meet the alumni giving back CLASS ACTS Anoop Bhuller shares the experiences of bursary students STAR TURN Pietra Mello-Pitman on how she crafted a career in theatre production TRY A NEW DIRECTION AT A-LEVEL S ixth-form is a great time to apply for a bursary, says Emma Reed
Autumn has arrived as a blessed relief after a summer of wild res and oods; action on climate change has never seemed more urgent, with every global weather report.
Yet, here we are in October once again, and perhaps we can allow ourselves a moment of peace and re ection. is is the month that never ceases to bring positivity with its natural cheering palette: the stunning ochre of pumpkins, the bright crimson of a maple leaf, the golden glow of a beech hedge, the rich chocolate of a shining conker.
It is that time when being at school is to feel free. e nights are still light enough for a kickabout on the pitches before bed. e gentle morning sun doesn’t wake a sleepy head too soon. For younger ones, there are leaves to throw and puddles to explore. eir older siblings know that formal exams are a distant prospect. Friendships are settling back into balance after the long break. And, a beacon ahead, Christmas – waiting at the end of term.
At School House, we are feeling positive, too. In this issue, we are unveiling our 2023 award winners at last; from a huge postbag of entries we somehow whittled our way down to seven extraordinary examples of what independent schools are doing best in areas beyond the academic. Turn to page 12 to see if your school triumphed!
One of the most hotly contested categories was Local Partnership & Community Champion. We shouldn’t be surprised; the independents have a clear understanding and respect for their responsibilities to society at large. It’s something we’ve highlighted in Peter Stanford’s excellent article on page 24 which explores how schools are working with non-fee paying peers to expand opportunities in the arts.
We’ve also had a look at just who is picking up the bill for bursary and outreach work. You may not be surprised to learn that some of the most passionate supporters are former students who bene ted themselves from nancial support (p30).
Lastly, we’ve showcased a remarkable programme called the Alsama Project which creates opportunities for children living in the vast and overcrowded refugee camps in Lebanon. Its CEO, Meike Ziervogel, explains how her team is making partnerships with UK and international schools to allow the most disadvantaged young people the chance of a proper educatio (p20).
We may need to work harder as global citizens to protect our planet and live in peace, but the Alsama Project is a welcome reminder that education is the way we come together and it’s surprisingly easy to share.
DLD College; p40
Marlborough College; p28
Trinity School; p39
CHERYL GIOVANNONI
CEO of the Girls’ Day School Trust since 2016, Cheryl Giovannoni is a passionate supporter of women in the workplace. As the GDST turns 150, her ambition is to build on the organisation’s powerful legacy as the global leader in girls’ education, for the next 150 years and beyond. A yoga devotee and eternal optimist, Cheryl lives in London and has two daughters.
SHAUN FENTON
Headmaster of Reigate Grammar School in Surrey since September 2012, this is Shaun Fenton’s third headship. He is also a member of the UCAS Service Advisory Group and on the board at AQA. Educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School and Keble College, Oxford, his passion for education is equalled by his love of sport, drama and music. On page 19, Shaun discusses how we can make the world a better place.
Ballerina turned theatre producer, Pietra De Mello Pittman MBE was born in Rio de Janeiro. She joined the Royal Ballet Upper School in London aged 15, and the Royal Ballet Company in 2002 where she became a First Artist ballerina. On page 38, Pietra recalls her days at St Catherine’s School Bramley which she attended on an assisted place and shares her greatest achievements.
An alumna of the University of Oxford and a former newspaper journalist, Elizabeth Ivens has worked in PR and journalism for over 30 years. Elizabeth’s experience includes leading communications for the national Jeans for Genes Appeal at Great Ormond Street Hospital, national radio stations and for major UK independent schools including St Mary’s, Calne and Heath eld School, Ascot.
Before co-setting up Alsama, Meike Ziervogel ran her own publishing company, Peirene Press, in the UK for 10 years. She now runs Alsama, an education institute in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut empowering 600 students across three refugee camps as well as sponsoring its most talented students at partner secondary schools towards university. Meike has written ve novels and speaks Arabic uently.
Peter Stanford is a journalist, writer and broadcaster. He is a feature writer at e Telegraph titles. He books include biographies of Martin Luther, Cecil Day-Lewis and Lord Longford (later made into a BAFTA-winning lm with Jim Broadbent). He has also presented both radio and TV programmes, including Channel 4’s Catholics and Sex and BBC Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday.
sherborne.org
VICTORIA LAMBERT EDITOR
CAMILLA VAN PRAAGH
PUBLISHER
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR LUCY CLELAND
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MackRutherfordofSherborneSchool, becamethe youngest person to circumnavigate theglobein2022.
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SCHOOL HOUSE is a biannual magazine published with Country & Town House magazine and distributed to AB homes in Barnes, Battersea, Bayswater, Belgravia, Brook Green, Chelsea, Chiswick, Clapham, Coombe, Fulham, Hampstead, Highgate, Holland Park, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Marylebone, Mayfair, Notting Hill, Pimlico, Putney, Richmond, South Kensington, St John’s Wood, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. It is also on sale at selected WHSmith, Sainsbury’s, M&S, and Waitrose stores and independent newsagents nationwide. School House is published by Country & Town House Ltd, Studio 2, Chelsea Gate Studios, 115 Harwood Road, London SW6 4QL (tel: 020 7384 9011). Registered number 576850 England and Wales. Printed in the UK by William Gibbons and Sons Ltd, West Midlands. Paper supplied by Gerald Judd. Distribution by Letterbox.
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ATSHERBORNE, ANYTHING ISPOSSIBLE
Talented young women from all backgrounds are now developing the skills needed to create a truly sustainable future.
FHS Sloane Square is committed to driving this change through our transformational bursary programme for girls who show the promise to be the leaders, designers, innovators and engineers of tomorrow, regardless of their background.
Yet we cannot stand still. We intend to double our bursary provision by 2032, so that we can unearth more girls with the promise to be the game-changers of tomorrow.
What’s more, environmentalsustainabilityisattheheartof schoollifeand t t t at t a t a a a a een uswin several e ta awards, aswellassponsoringthe “FriendoftheEarth”Award at thisyear'sBelgraviaAwards.
If you would like to learn more about the Promise Campaign, please scan here:
If you are interested in entry to Francis Holland School at 4+, 11+ or 16+, please scan here:
Downside has just welcomed Beatrice Garrett, 17, as its new Head of School – and it would be hard to nd a more suitable candidate. Beatrice was granted a place at Downside thanks to a means-tested bursary, and was awarded a sports, academic and drama scholarship.
Studying hard for A-levels in Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Classical Greek, she intends to study medicine and is looking at Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester universities. At Downside, she is lucky to have opportunities to explore the skills necessary whether through the school’s MedSoc – which arranges virtual work experience, lectures from Doctors Live, plus real-life work at a local surgery via the alumnae network or the NHS hospital in Bath.
Beatrice, one of six siblings, lives close to the school site and says that one of the bene ts of Downside is the way boarders and day pupils are well integrated. ‘Everyone mixes – day and boarding pupils,’ she explains, ‘and
between years, too. You make deep connections.’ Outside lessons, Beatrice is Chair of the Abingdon Debating Society. eir mock trial team had a notable victory at a national competition in Southampton earlier this year. As a drama scholar she helped out with the junior play – Around the World in 80 Days – and took part in the seniors’ version of Chicago. ‘Singing is my biggest weakness,’ she laughs.
One of the things Beatrice likes most about Downside is its Christian ethos. Although you are not expected to be Catholic – 61 percent are practising Roman Catholics – she says its open-minded views on faith and charity are hugely signi cant. ‘From the moment you get here, it is clear to see how the Benedictine ethos is at the centre of our community and encourages us all to be kind, and to become involved in acts of service.’
She points out that students are not embarrassed to say that faith is strong to them. ‘People are allowed to be who they want to be here.’
Portrait by Edward Lloyd OwenIt’s time to announce the victorious schools in this year’s awards. From a host of worthy entries, whittled down to three for each shortlist, these incredible schools stood out as exceptional in their categories. So it is an absolute pleasure to open the traditional gold envelope and reveal which ones are our winners at last, says VICTORIA LAMBERT
VICTORIA LAMBERT
Editor, School House
Victoria Lambert is Editor of School House. She is firmly in favour of a rounded education which brings out the best in every child.
JULIA MARTIN
Chief Executive, ISEB
Julia Martin has extensive experience in the education and assessment sectors and is a strong believer in championing student wellbeing and creativity.
DR EMEKA
OKOROCHA
NHS Doctor and author
Dr Emeka is a NHS doctor who is passionate about sharing information and has presented shows for kids on BBC Teach.
Editor in Chief, Country & Town House
Lucy Cleland has worked in the magazine industry for more than 20 years and is driving Country & Town House’s sustainability agenda.
ANNA
Specialist
environmental author
Oxford biology graduate, Anna Turns writes on sustainability and our connection with nature. She is a host on BBC’s Costing the Earth
A huge postbag of entries was sifted to reveal ACS, Cobham, Surrey, Wellington School, Somerset and Canford School, Dorset. And the ultimate winners were impossible to separate – which is not to say the judges didn’t think highly of Wellington School either for its brilliant drama and dance outreach programme. Julia Martin says she was impressed with the list of joint ventures at Canford: ‘I really could see how that would have a positive impact. is shows an example of a relationship between an independent school and an Academy that is thriving.’ ACS displayed an enormous range of ways the school was involved in the wider community and a seriousness of intent in how it harnessed data to increase accountability. Victoria Lambert liked the school’s bespoke impact monitoring tool (acspartnershipsimpact.com) which logged 60K hours of ACS involvement with the community, 21K sta hours dedicated to public bene t, and 610,358 hours of external student interaction. Phew.
Putney High School GDST, London, Pembridge Hall School, London and Bryanston School, Dorset were our nalists and demonstrated huge ambition in how they approached an area of health which is critical. Dr Emeka, School House’s own doctor, and one of the judges, said he was impressed by how seriously all three schools took the issue of mental health. In the end, though, he was won over by Bryanston’s innovative approach. Dr Emeka was a fan, too, of the way the school understood that nutrition was an important part of keeping students mentally t, and he liked the tutor/buddy system the school operates as well as the way it worked alongside health professionals. Nor does the school sit on its laurels: Bryanston’s approach to emotional health and wellbeing is constantly evolving, it says, to re ect new priorities and the impact of emerging technologies and external in uences as well direct feedback from sta , parents and the pupils themselves.
Naturally, choosing the winner in each category was difficult, time consuming and caused much debate. So how did the judges reach their decisions?TURNS
e three nalists in this category were Truro School, Cornwall; James Allen Girls School (JAGS), London and Royal Hospital School (RHS), Su olk. Judge Anna Turns says she admired JAGS’ creative and comprehensive approach. ‘Leaders have chosen to take this seriously by employing a dedicated sustainability lead to focus on ve pillars but their e orts go way beyond this. So much goes on behind the scenes of course. e magic lies in how this is seeping into the students’ education on a daily basis. Just the very act of only reusing costumes and materials for the drama production or baking for regular climate café meetings is a breath of fresh air. Sta are leading by example but also giving plenty of space for young people to make a di erence through the repair club for example, and develop their own voices and sense of agency. JAGS has a strong strategy with tangible goals.’
Looking to divide the rosettes in this category were Saint Ronan’s, Kent, e Elms, Herefordshire and Repton, Derbyshire. All demonstrated a real understanding of the way animals can be used in an educational setting – from o ering emotional support to teaching biology. But Saint Ronan’s edged ahead with its extraordinary range and number of animals. Judge Anoop Bhuller explains: ‘Its submission demonstrated a commitment to providing a fun and hand-on-approach to learning for their students. ey have a range of animals, big and small, even rescue hedgehogs. Children are given responsibility for the animals, taught about reproduction and conservation, as well as taking part in shows. ere is an awareness of protecting the environment too’. Dr Emeka adds he was entranced by the idea of the school donkeys watching matches from the sidelines.
is was a hard-fought category with Mill eld School, Somerset, vying with Claremont Fan Court School, Surrey and Stonyhurst College, Lancashire for top honours. In the end, Stonyhurst pipped the others to the top spot. Julia Martin was bowled over by Stonyhurst’s ‘impressive’ list of works and Victoria Lambert admired the example of how its integral, holistic approach to charity results in pupils like 17-year-old Head Boy Dilip. During his school career – which coincided with Covid, Dilip has volunteered at local charities, become a trustee at local charity Maundy Relief, even completing a 500-mile walk from Accrington to John O’ Groats with his fellow trustees. All this while recovering from a life-threatening heart transplant. Dilip says: ‘Stonyhurst has been integral in cultivating me into the young man I am today.’
e three nalists in this categoryReigate Grammar, Surrey; Bassett House, London and Sherborne Girls’, Dorset – all impressed with their innovative ways to enhance pastoral care from engaging technology to peer support. In the end, Bassett House impressed with the bespoke nature of its vision. Julia Martin explains: ‘I felt Bassett House had put initiatives into place that were individual to that school and worked.’ Children can record how they feel about a range of areas throughout the school, feelings and personal targets and discuss these with their form teacher and the Pastoral lead to ensure the correct support is given. A pupil pastoral audit is completed at end of each term. e school says: ‘We understand a child’s happiness is key; their wellbeing is of utmost importance.’
e three to watch here were Saint Ronan’s, Kent, Casterton, Sedbergh, Cumbria and Godolphin Senior, Wiltshire. And the winner? A very happy Saint Ronan’s, pulling in its second award – a huge achievement for a small school. Julia Martin says, ‘ e heart of the school really came across in this submission, it was charming.’ How do they do it? ‘Fun is in our bone structure,’ says the school. ‘Each class has a name not a number. Go to assemblies in the Great Space, French in the Bear Garden, or Maths in the Bogey Hole. Our outdoor play area is called Treetops and was opened by sta dressed as monkeys chasing other sta dressed as bananas.’ e school landrover is called Boris, a converted horse box dishes out ’grub/tuck’ and a Butcher’s Bike delivers prizes to children.
The prize winners have all been informed and will be receiving commemorative plaques and a selection of books thanks to the sponsorship of ISEB. And for those who just missed out? It’s time to start planning next year’s entry – more details in our Spring Summer 2024 issue.
Sustainability Champion JAGS, LONDON
Animal Support Champion SAINT RONAN’S, KENT
Charity Champion STONYHURST
Pastoral Care Champion BASSETT HOUSE
Kindness Champion SAINT RONAN’S
Access and social mobility have been at the heart of our purpose at the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) since our foundation 150 years ago. roughout our 150th anniversary year, we have been paying tribute to the four pioneering women who founded the GDST with a vision that all girls would have the same educational opportunities as their brothers.
eir passionate belief in gender equity continues to motivate and inspire us at every level of our organisation today, across all 23 of our independent schools and our two academies.
We have always been deeply invested in reaching as many girls as possible through our bursary programmes. We are therefore thrilled to be growing our bursary provision even further, as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations, creating an additional 150 full, life-changing awards over the next four years, for pupils joining our schools in Year 7 from September 2023. In addition to this hugely ambitious fundraising target, 435 students across our family of schools have received a 100% bursary and 844 more are receiving a bursary of more than 50 percent.
T he GDST is in the business of educating tomorrow’s thinkers and leaders who can respond to the complex challenges we face and then go on to help design a brighter, more equal and more inclusive future for all. We are also in the truly humbling position of being able to observe, rst-hand, the diverse range of opportunities that our bursaries o er to bright and ambitious girls who would otherwise not be able to bene t from being a member of the GDST family.
Last year, Lene, an outstanding bursary student and recent She eld Girls’ alumna, decided to pursue a career in teaching after she was inspired by her experiences at school. She had thrown herself into volunteering and community work, including two partnership programmes with local primary
schools since joining the school. Lene’s passion for mentoring younger students who have similar backgrounds to hers, coupled with the bene ts of learning in the empowering environment provided by her school, leaves me in no doubt that she is well on her way to becoming a change maker of the future.
Since I have touched on the broader topic of giving back, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the important role that our donors, partners and supporters play in expanding our bursary provision. Much of the GDST’s philanthropic success would not have been achieved without their un agging belief in what we do, and the energy with which they get behind our initiatives.
Since 1998, our donors have helped us to educate over 6,600 pupils at our schools by helping fund bursary places, and in any single year, they will be supporting more than 1,000 students. From making nancial donations, giving their time to support pupils and alumnae across our family of schools, they help us realise our overall ambition to reach as many girls as possible. We could never thank them enough for the role they play in helping us create a more equal world where more girls can learn without limits, and go on to lead lives without limits, making the world a better place for us all.
W hile our longterm goal is to make the presence of women in boardrooms, research laboratories and space capsules the norm rather than the exception, I firmly believe that as educators of girls and young women, we can accelerate the pace of change by improving access and social mobility whenever possible. By backing talented girls from all walks of life to ful l their potential, we believe the possibilities are limitless.
Cheryl Giovannoni is Chief Executive, Girls’ Day School Trust (
GDST ).
‘The GDST is in the business of educating tomorrow’s thinkers and leaders who can respond to the complex challenges we face’
Financial provision creates a more equal world for all, says Cheryl Giovannoni
St Swithun’s School ended the last day of Spring term with fundraising activities to raise money for four charities. ese included Hart, Planned Parenthood, Kids for Kids and the Bramston Bursary Fund. Activities on o er consisted of a soak the teacher stall, a rodeo bull and a clothing sale. In total, the school raised £2,660.
e Goodwood Education Trust is based on the outskirts of Chichester and is an independent charity established in 1976. ey work with children, young people and increasingly adults, to welcome people who might face barriers to spending time in nature, or who could bene t from spending time outside. Funding is available for some groups in certain circumstances.
Roedean School has always chosen Rockinghorse Children’s Charity as their Year 7 charity – this year was no different. Seventy-five students from Year 7 raised £5,199 between September and July. Students participated in a sponsored silence, collected Easter egg donations, held a bake sales and a cakedesigning competition.
Support Engagement Manager at Rockinghorse Children’s Charity, Emma Cuncliffe, said: ‘Their donations will help us to continue supporting sick babies, children and young people throughout
Haileybury fosters social responsibility, and supports its pupils to become civic leaders by providing a purposeful and holistic education in harmony with initiatives including our 2030 carbon-neutral commitment, Model UN programme and charitable outreach.
This year’s Service Day at Dulwich College saw more than 800 pupils from various year groups participating in 39 different locations. The day aims to immerse pupils in projects that address societal and environmental challenges. The volunteering opportunities were divided into three categories: environmental projects and social and educational initiatives. A highlight project was when pupils were given the opportunity to explore and contribute to their local environment, learning about the importance of sustainability and conservation first-hand from a Parks Officer at Belair Park.
e Marlborough Di erence Campaign for life changing bursaries launched at the College with a special Launch Day that raised a remarkable £1.3m from over 1,000 donors. Pupils, led by the Charity Committee and House teams, ran a jam-packed afternoon of activities. is included a human fruit machine, an in atable goal, chess and a coconut shy. House Tug-of-War was the centrepiece of the afternoon and the day ended with an Asian Food Festival in Norwood Hall.
St George’s School Windsor Castle has become the rst standalone prep school in the UK to be authorised to o er the International Baccalaureate (IB). e IB helps to teach pupils study skills, encourages them to take personal ownership of their learning and develop skills that will be in high demand in the workplace. Deputy Head and Head of Pre-Prep, Emma Adriano, said: ‘ is approach develops exceptionally well-rounded students.’
Christ’s Hospital School has announced that Year 13 student, Oliver McAuli e, has been awarded an Army Scholarship. McAuli e is currently studying A-levels in Chemistry, Maths and Geography. He is also the CCF Senior Cadet holding the rank of Warrant O cer Class 2. e Army Scholarship encourages its students to complete their education to degree level, and McAuli e intends to pursue a degree in engineering after completing his A-levels next summer.
September 2023 marks the 150th anniversary of Notting Hill & Ealing High School. The school has launched a bursary campaign to provide at least three new transformational bursaries, two of which will be available to students in the senior school and one for a Sixth-Form pupil.
To celebrate Belhaven Hill School’s centenary, it has launched a Centenary Campaign. A Centenary Awards programme will help raise funds for bursaries for new pupils and a Centenary Projects fund to invest in new facilities for the school. The celebrations included a Centenary Ball, held in the height of summer, where 600 guests celebrated 100 years of the school.
Cobham Hall celebrated their GCSE results this summer, which included Ukrainian refugees who left with superb grades. For example, Yuliia joined the school in September 2022 after having to ee the war in Ukraine. She achieved an incredible six grade 9s and two grade 8s. Yuliia is one of four Ukrainian refugees who were o ered fully supported places at Cobham Hall last year. Yuliia said: ‘I can’t express how much gratitude I have.’
High eld and Brookham School have raised £18,000 from hosting an art exhibition which will go towards its bursary funds. Including art from 29 artists and four galleries, 84 pupils also had their work showcased. Every artist agreed that 25 percent of their sales would be donated to the fund, while the art scholars agreed to donate 50 percent.
Marc Broughton has been announced as the new Head at Belmont School in Surrey. Mr Broughton was previously Pastoral Deputy Head at Dunnotar School in Reigate.
Malvern St James Girls’ School has appointed its first ever male Head, Dr Gareth Lloyd. He will start his new role in January 2024. Dr Lloyd has a range of academic disciplines including Music and Foreign Languages.
Christ’s Hospital: The leading independent boarding school for fee assisted places
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Education has long been recognized as a powerful tool for transforming societies. As Nelson Mandela aptly said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon with which to change the world.’ At Reigate Grammar School, this sentiment resonates deeply with our sense of moral purpose. As the Headmaster, I rmly believe in our responsibility to instil in our students a commitment to making the world a better place after they leave school, as eloquently stated by Winston Churchill: ‘What is the purpose of living if not to make the world a better place?’
Established in 1675 with the noble purpose of educating ‘12 poor children of the parish,’ Reigate Grammar School has come a long way in our e orts to provide better educational opportunities. Today, we strive to do more by o ering bursaries to over 170 children, many of them on full scholarships. We are proud of our commitment to helping children from diverse backgrounds and aim to continue expanding these opportunities further.
Our contribution to society extends beyond providing bursaries. As an integral part of the community, we actively engage in various initiatives. We provide employment to over 450 local individuals and maintain contracts with more than 400 local businesses, thus making a significant contribution to the local economy. Additionally, our sta and students actively volunteer approximately 15,000 hours, serving as school governors, supporting environmental initiatives, assisting local charities, and volunteering at care homes. We take our community responsibilities seriously.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we recognized the debt of gratitude owed to frontline and NHS workers. As our contribution, we established the Nightingale bursaries. rough fundraising e orts within our Reigatian community, we o er up to 10 full bursaries each year to children from lower-income NHS or frontline worker families, based on means testing. We are grateful for the overwhelming support from our community to make this a success.
To address challenging or crisis situations where children and families may require assistance, we recently launched the #RGSWeCare Response Fund. is enables us to support those in need, such as o ering bursaries to children from Ukraine, considering refugee families from Afghanistan, and helping local families facing unforeseen hardships, whether economic or health-related. We are dedicated to being a part of a caring community. e Gershon Scholarships, generously supported by alumnus Sir Peter Gershon, aim to assist students on their pathway to a career in Engineering. ese scholarships provide nancial aid and also valuable mentoring and work experience opportunities. We believe in nurturing students’ passions and preparing them for successful futures.
As we approach our 350th anniversary in 2025, we are preparing for a decade of philanthropic celebration, extending to our 360th anniversary in 2035. We are committed to supporting 350 charities, undertaking 350 environmental projects, and establishing 350 volunteering partnerships. We will also forge education partnerships both locally and globally, working alongside our international partners to cultivate global citizenship among today’s students. e spirit of social mobility will remain a priority. To support our ambitious goals, our fundraising campaign aims to secure £20 million for the Changing Lives and Building Futures campaign. R eigate Grammar School, and other leading schools in the state and independent sectors, empower students to change the world through academic excellence, social responsibility, and philanthropy. We are deeply committed to expanding access to education through bursaries, actively contributing to our community, and preparing students for a future that transcends borders. With our decade of philanthropic celebration ahead, we are determined to make an even greater impact, creating pathways to a great education. Together, we can shape a brighter future.
Shaun Fenton
PHOTO: REIGATE GRAMMAR SCHOOL
‘Scholarships provide mentoring and work experience. We believe in nurturing students’ passions and preparing them for successful futures’
School days are just the starting point for making the world a better place, says Shaun Fenton, Headmaster of Reigate Grammar School
British schools are pairing with refugee camps to broaden children’s education, says
MEIKE ZIERVOGEL, CEO of the Alsama Project
Three years ago, 16-year-old Maram was illiterate. Aged just seven, her city was besieged by Isis, and she and her family ed to Shatila camp in Lebanon. Here, she was about to become a child bride and, in her words, a ‘girl without value’. But following three years at the Alsama Project School, which I co-founded in 2020 with my friend and partner Syrian Kadria Hussein, Maram has been o ered a scholarship to Padworth College in the UK. is is an extraordinary achievement. She has learned not only to read and write her own language, but also to speak uent English, in an environment where there are no certainties, where entire families live in one room without proper electricity, and where street crime and child marriage are part of the everyday.
A lsama means ‘sky’ in Arabic, and the word refers to the new horizons we’re trying to create for young refugees. e project came about not because I was inspired by the children (of course I was, but that makes it sound as though I acted from pure charity), but because the children themselves demanded that they needed an education to improve the potential for their futures.
To those of us in the UK whose children are automatically taught to read and write, the idea of young people having no access to education is inconceivable. But for the tens of thousands of teenagers living in slum conditions in the vast and overcrowded camps in Lebanon, this is their reality.
Running schools isn’t a career swap I had ever envisaged from the safety of my publishing company in the UK. But in 2018, our youngest son nished school, and my husband and I took a gap year. Because I speak Arabic, we decided to volunteer at a camp outside Beirut – intending to stay for a year.
Nothing can prepare you for the reality of the camps, especially in contrast to the cushioned lives that we have led. Shatila camp was created in 1948 for 3,000 Palestinian refugees. Now, there are up to 40,000 people living there – most of them having ed war in Syria. It’s incredibly overcrowded, like a vast slum area, and people live well below the poverty line, with extended families in cramped and damp rooms.
W hen we arrived in 2018, I was helping refugee women to create a business and my husband set up a cricket hub. en Kadria and I started a small empowerment centre, with the aim of helping girls avoid entering early marriage – teaching awareness and reminding them that they had the right to refuse. ese girls asked us to teach them to read, write and learn to budget. at’s how the schools started.
We began in Shatila camp. Now we have three small schools of 200 pupils each in two camps; Shatila and Bourj el Barajneh. We teach 44 weeks a year, with ve days at school and two devoted to cricket, which most students play, and boys and girls can learn together. Cricket teaches discipline and focus; you can tell the students who play and those who don’t.
Our pupils don’t want to return to their homes at the end of the school day. We have developed our own curriculum, which allows students to make up for the lost years in just six years and with the children grouped by ability rather than age. It’s like a refugee International Baccalaureate, aiming to take them from illiterate to university level. In three years’ time we believe that we will have 12 students ready for university. It’s a re-de ning of education – and one that needs to be internationally embraced. We don’t have a refugee crisis – this is the state of the world. In 2021-2022, the refugee population expanded by 50 percent.
One of our di culties is in persuading parents to allow their children to attend, especially those who see no reason to educate girls. However, they rapidly understand the bene ts of their children’s education as their sons and daughters begin to ll in online forms and help negotiate prices at the market. Gradually, the fear that education is negative, fades away. Students often come from a culture where marriage age 13 or 14 is the norm. It’s what’s expected of them, and it’s what they expect from life. One of the rst things we do is teach children – of both sexes – that they can say no. We explain to them that child marriage is against the law and that it brings many problems, such as the dangers of domestic violence and having children at far too young an age. Imagine your Year 3 daughter marrying and having babies before her GCSEs. at’s the reality for some of these girls.
Most refugees simply want to return home, and what we are doing is giving our teenagers the tools to improve their communities and hopefully help to rebuild their war-torn country one day. It might be easy to dismiss these children as being tragic. Yet, from their incredibly di cult and hopeless beginning, they are propelling themselves forwards. I look at them and think wow, not just in terms of the speed at which they are learning, but also how much they can contribute to the world with their unique qualities and understanding. We have two students with scholarships at schools in Dubai and those who have trained with us are now learning to teach others cricket, yoga and literacy.
We currently have a waiting list of more than 1,500 illiterate teenagers. To educate one of them at an Alsama school costs only £55 a month per student. Even a commitment of £10 a month is a welcome contribution.
If you close your eyes and listen to the joyful sounds of boys and girls playing cricket on the waste ground around the camps, they could be anywhere in the world. ey are ordinary children in an unjust situation. We’ve promised our students that whenever we open a school, we will stay open. ey are owed that much support at the very least.
alsamaproject.com
‘Imagine your daughter marrying and having babies before her GCSEs. That’s the reality for some of these girls. One of the first things we do is teach children they can say no’
Eaton House Schools are proud to have provided an exceptional education to our pupils since 1897
Based on two large sites in Belgravia and Clapham, our single sex schools for boys and girls are non-selective,* yet achieve outstanding results. We feed into Westminster, Eton, St Paul’s, Wycombe Abbey, St Paul’s Girls’ School, Winchester and other fine schools, winning many scholarships, awards and prizes each year.
The Eaton House Foundation, an independent charitable trust jointly conceived between parents and the schools, aims to make an ‘Eaton House education’ available to bright seven-year-olds with potential, who may not otherwise have such an opportunity. There are three bursaries available to children for entry into Year 3 at age 7+, free of charge.
The new initiative is Eaton House Schools’ first bursary scheme covering 100 per cent of school fees, as well as uniform. The bursaries are available to individuals from the local community and individual incomes and circumstances will be taken into account. Candidates in Year 2 state primary schools are encouraged to apply.
Children receiving an education at Eaton House Schools will follow in the footsteps of former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, actors Laurence Olivier and Eddie Redmayne, adventurer Bear Grylls and writer Philip Pullman. However, our most important legacy continues to be the many happy children who have discovered a love of learning at Eaton House, and who pass on their knowledge to future generations.
New partnerships with non-fee paying schools are having dynamic results, finds
Once it was a Victorian-era swimming pool in the grounds of St Edward’s School in Oxford. en a newer facility was built elsewhere on the campus, and it languished as a storeroom and cut a lonely sight. But in 2007, the independent, co-educational boarding and day school – known to many as Teddies – came up with a radical idea to repurpose the pool to the bene t of both its pupils and the local community in Somertown.
Today, the red bricks of the original structure are complemented by ultra-modern timber-cladding as part of a major remodelling that has transformed the old pool building into the North Wall Arts Centre, with a exible 200-seat auditorium, art gallery, and drama and dance studios.
However, it is the basis on which the centre operates that makes it such a powerful role model in the accelerating e orts of many independent schools to immerse themselves more e ectively in their local communities. St Edward’s owns and runs the facility, which is used by its 600 pupils, but it is also a fully public facility that delivers its own programme of theatre and exhibitions to all-comers.
is far-reaching dual purpose venture – which has won endorsements from Alan Bennett, Philip Pullman and Dame Judi Dench – epitomises what the school’s warden (or headteacher), Alastair Chirnside says is its long-standing ‘spirit of inclusion and ethos of collaboration’. It has made Teddies, he adds, a ‘nexus of creativity’ in the arts world.
e centre is, adds Charlotte Laing, communications manager at the school, ‘an interface between us and the community, with open access all the year round to a well-respected regional arts venue. Most importantly it is a shared baby between the school community and the local community. It is not our baby. A lot of the time we are back-stage, playing a supporting role.’
With so many arts venues facing a crisis in capital funding in this age of rising in ation and reduced funding at national and local levels, St Edward’s provides an example of how far traditional community-directed activities in independent schools have evolved in recent times. And sharing arts and drama facilities with those around them is just one aspect of how schools are increasingly removing barriers – perceived or real – between them and those who live in their vicinity.
Canford School, a co-educational 13-18 day and boarding school ve miles from the Dorset coast near Wimborne, is another with a state-of-art theatre that is being used for the public good. Its high-spec Layard eatre, opened in 1999 by Sir Richard Eyre, former artistic director of the Royal National eatre, hosts a programme of collaborations with other local schools – Peter Pan last summer won rave reviews – as well as a festival of ideas open to everyone.
Community action and community service, explains Philippa Scudds at Canford, are a ‘core strand’ of what it seeks to deliver. ‘ ey are there in our Mission Statement – to make a di erence in our lives and those of others. It is not something we feel we ought to do, but rather it is in our DNA.’
e imperative is both practical and philosophical. ‘We don’t want to live in a beautiful bubble,’ says Scudds, of the school’s 250 acres of parkland and buildings whose origins stretch back to the Norman Conquest. ‘ ere is a big world out there that we want to be part of.’
e ways in which that commitment is expressed are various; some are familiar. Every Monday afternoon, for example, the entire sixth form takes part in community work – from getting involved in teaching younger children in local schools, visiting hospices and putting on musical concerts in care homes. More radical in its social engagement, though, is its longestablished City Reach project that links its sixth-formers with youngsters in the run-down Northam area of nearby Southampton. ‘We want our pupils to be grounded and rounded,’ says Scudds.
ere are reciprocal visits, with the Northam contingent coming to Canford to use its extensive facilities and, in the summer term, taking part in a camping weekend there, hosted by Canfordians.
‘ We have a really great bond with all of these children when we go camping and spend time with them at their youth centre,’ says one pupil of what is explicitly a two-way partnership. ‘Over the activity weekend we try and get them to push their boundaries and achieve goals they didn’t really believe were possible.’
e social and community credentials of Canford have been further underpinned since autumn 2010 when it took on the role of main sponsor of the Bourne Academy in East Howe, Bournemouth. Previously a troubled high school, its leadership team now works hand-in-hand with Canford, the two headteachers hosting joint Teaching and Learning Conferences. ere are, according to the Independent Schools Council, the non-pro t group that represents more than 1,300 private schools in the UK, around 7,000
PHOTOS: BRYANSTON SCHOOL SUMMER CONCERT BY ASH MILLS, ST EDWARD’S OXFORD Bryanston School, Dorsetpartnership initiatives, from one-o connections in particular subjects right up to full sponsorship, currently running to link pupils in independent schools with state schools in their community. In an article on the Council’s own website, Cat Davison, chair of its community group (and director of service and social impact at Sevenoaks School) has highlighted what she believes are the bene ts for her students of broader community outreach programmes.
‘Community-centred curriculums with practical service opportunities can also give [them] the skills, understanding and con dence to become part of an agenda for change. I’ve found my students have increasingly related their learning to the inequalities in the world around them… Community and political leaders are turning to consider how we can harness this for the long-term welfare of our societies. I believe that all schools can take a central role in this, ensuring their curriculums are community-centred.’
R ichard Jones, headteacher at Bryanston, a 3-18 day and boarding school in Dorset, embraces the same positive spirit. ‘It is something that has to be embraced at all levels. We are the biggest employer in our area, and that gives us really important responsibilities to the local community. All our sta have Bryanston loyalty cards that they can use if they shop in local businesses.’
e idea of service was installed into the ethos of the school when it was founded in 1928 by its rst headteacher, JG Je reys. ‘He established the pioneering programme as an alternative to Combined Cadet Force. It was all about outreach and that is what we continue to do in as many di erent ways as we can to meet particular circumstances. We can see, for example, that arts funding is not at the level it should be, so we direct our resources towards that area, with some of our arts sta going out and doing inset days in local schools, or by running sketchbook workshops at the school. It is all good and proactive and creates vital links.’
A similar approach is central to the work of e Francis Holland Schools Trust’s (FHST) which runs three independent girls’ schools in central London. Its Regents Park school has particularly strong links with nearby St Marylebone Church of England School, a high-performing state secondary, a partnership which began in 2017 and has been growing ever since.
It started with Francis Holland teachers delivering Latin lessons and a
Latin after-school club at St Marylebone to keep alive a subject that is being marginalised in state education. e teaching of Latin and Classical Greek had been cut at St Marylebone because of budget constraints. Out of that, says Emily Locke at FHST, has grown an increasingly wide programme that includes running two Classics Symposiums in 2022 and 2023 for pupils from all over London and south east, with a talk by Natalie Haynes, comedian and classicist. ere is also an architecture programme hosted by RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects, as part of FHST’s ‘Stretch & Challenge’ enrichment programme. ‘ e impact of this initiative,’ reports Locke, ‘has been truly exceptional, both for our students and St Marylebone students alike.’
Inclusion, diversity, mutual sharing and learning are at the very heart of these and other projects, be they conferences, talks, debates, festivals or hands-on programmes with hard-to-reach groups in the neighbourhood. What joins them all is the desire for playing an active role in the community to extend far beyond encounters on sports pitches.
‘Bryanston is blessed with a huge campus,’ re ects Richard Jones, ‘but it is at the end of a very long drive. Too many people in our community feel that separates them from us. Many don’t know what is at the end of it. It’s up to us to change that and show them that we are relevant to their lives.’
‘Buildings often express power, or money. What if they expressed love instead? If they embraced you like your family does? Welcomed you in, and created a feeling of community? Those are the kind of buildings I’m going to design. At school, I’ve learnt how art can make our lives better. At home in Nigeria, I was soaked in the values of family love and life. I’ll bring it all together and make buildings for a better future. Buildings like family, places of love and joy.’
Read more at www.bryanston.co.uk/visionmakers
What did you do at school today?
More than £1 billion in fee assistance has come directly from independent schools for the rst time, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC), signalling a growing commitment to widening access. Hand in hand with this, there has been a surge in assessing – or ‘means testing’ – a family’s income before making awards to ensure the right candidates bene t.
Nearly half of all current assistance provided – £494 million – is now means tested, the ISC 2023 census reports.
At Winchester College in Hampshire, a substantial £320 million investment portfolio will see £5 million committed to bursary awards this academic year (from Sept 2023) alone. With an average award of 72 percent of the full fee, the school has a target of 150 bursaries by 2024 – 1 in 5 of its 740 pupils.
‘Over the last 15 years, Winchester has supported over 500 pupils through bursary provision at a cost of nearly £36 million,’ says Bursar Paresh akrar. ‘Bursaries will range between 10 percent and 100 percent after means testing and those on a full award can e ectively receive over 100 percent as additional support for extras is provided.’
e annual sum for bursary awards is funded by an extraction of 3.5 percent from Winchester’s investment portfolio, he explained, adding: ‘We use this as income to spend on our charitable objectives – including bursaries. Over time, we aim for the portfolio to grow through a combination of investment performance, realisations and further fundraising.’
While only a handful of schools can rely on such hefty endowment pots, many have endowments which are still in their infancy. For others,
endowment funds are planned. At Sherborne Girls’ School in Dorset, its foundation was set up in 2015 ‘to formalise the fundraising arm of the school’ and ‘an endowment fund is ‘a long-term goal’ says Katherine Massey, Director of Development and Marketing. ‘We formalised the fundraising strategy to support the development of the school as well as to highlight our social responsibilities – the key one being widening access. Compared to other schools with big endowment funds, we are embryonic in this.’
Major fundraising campaigns for so-called transformational bursaries are also proving extremely successful. At Sherborne Girls’, the school has a target of one full ‘Candlelight’ bursary – re ecting the school’s motto of passing on the light of education – in each year group by its 125th anniversary next year (2024), with six already in place.
Transformational bursaries are also popular with would-be donors, says Director of Development Simon Lerwill at co-ed Marlborough College in Wiltshire, explaining: ‘We did a lot of research and a lot of speaking to potential donors – the transformational bursaries are the ones they are more interested in funding.’
e school launched its rst dedicated campaign to fund transformational bursaries – ‘the Marlborough Di erence Campaign’ - earlier this year (April 2023). It aims to fund 100 transformational bursaries by 2033, meaning approximately 1 in ten of its 1015 pupils would be on a full bursary. With an estimated cost of £1.5 million to endow a bursary in perpetuity by producing an income of around £40-50k a year, the campaign’s target is £75 million. Like many independent schools, Marlborough was founded with philanthropy
at its heart. ‘A lot of the history of independent schools starts with scholars being there for free and over time schools moved away from that but are now trying to re- nd their original roots,’ says Lerwill.
Meanwhile in London, one of the most generous bursary programmes in the UK – at co-ed Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith – ensures one in four of their new Year 7 intake have some form of fee support, an ambition for the whole school. Bursarial support has nearly tripled over the past decade from 96 pupils to over 280 thanks to the school’s trailblazing Inspiring Minds programme, launched in 2014 to secure funds to nance bursaries in perpetuity.
Kerry Wilson, Partnerships Manager at the Latymer Foundation, said the programme was the most ambitious ever launched by a UK school at that time. ‘It was set up to raise £40 million by our 400th birthday in 2024,’ Wilson says. ‘Our aim has always been the same – to open access to bright children who are academically hitting the right targets but whose families might not have the nances to come here.’ More than 5000 donors have since swelled the co ers with donations of under £100 amounting to over £1 million alone.
While schools say many bursary holders are attracted through word of mouth, dedicated partnership work also plays a signi cant role. Marlborough College is one school where work with local schools has identi ed future pupils. e
school has an innovative 20 year link-up with a state school in a deprived area of Swindon where it supports a separate lesson plan for able pupils, with 2 or 3 pupils a year coming to Marlborough on a free place as a result.
At Winchester, bright state school children can apply for a Wykeham Award, which provides a full bursary into its co-ed Sixth Form. ‘ ey are a way of reaching out to those doing GCSEs at UK state schools. In Hampshire, state schools stop at 16 so we are providing another option for those extremely academic pupils,’ commented Paresh akrar.
Meanwhile, for nearly two decades, Latymer Upper has worked with many partner schools and, since 2017, has run a Saturday morning ‘Bright Sparks’ programme for Year 5 pupils, mainly from the state sector. is year, 43 students are taking part, says Kerry Wilson, explaining: ‘Bright Sparks was set up to identify bright pupils who would bene t from an independent education. We ask local schools to send 2 or 3 pupils – they will know roughly the academic level we are looking for – and they are typically on pupil premium or free school meals. Pupils take part in fun Maths and Science lessons and are also helped with exam preparation while parents are informed about fee assistance.’
Latymer is one of 33 member schools of the London Fee Assistance Consortium who work together to highlight the availability of free and subsidised places for bright children. ‘Six pupils from last year’s programme joined the school in September,’ says Wilson. ‘Meanwhile some are going to other independent schools.’
At nearby all-girls Godolphin and Latymer, a fellow consortium member, a similar programme called e Bridge is helping 79 children from 34 state schools. e school launched the programme to target some of the most deprived schools in their area.
Head Dr Frances Ramsey explains: ‘ e Bridge is about academic enrichment as well as increasing access. It is about us sharing our expertise in teaching able children and giving them that extra advantage. e fact that we do this programme is like waving a big ag saying Godolphin and Latymer are serious about bursaries.’
e programme has also helped potential donors, some of whom help to fund the programme’s estimated £70,000 annual cost, see the di erence the school is making. ‘Bursaries can be focused on just the funding and the percentages,’ says Ramsey. ‘ rough Bridge, we have managed, I hope, to focus on the children and the opportunities that they can get.’
With many millions needed for transformational bursaries, schools have also been looking at increasingly ambitious fundraisers. Marlborough was the rst school in the UK to launch its bursary appeal with a Giving Day, involving the entire school community, parents and alumni in a series of challenges. Simon Lerwill said the day was the ‘most successful giving day any UK institution has undertaken’ raising £650,000 which matchfunded by a ‘generous donor’ meant the college almost raised enough in one day to fund one bursary in perpetuity.
‘Giving Days started in America and we thought – ‘why not use one as a campaign launch day?’. It generated tremendous excitement, awareness and fun.’
And schools are adamant that the growth in bursaries re ects a social purpose which permeates everything they do. ‘ ere is a perception that these schools are just for the elite and not very accessible to ordinary pupils,’ says Paresh akrar at Winchester. ‘ at couldn’t be further from the truth.
‘If you ask a member of sta what they are most proud of – they will say the bursary programme and those opportunities they are providing.’
Sherborne Girls’ School, Dorset Winchester College, Hampshire Godolphin and Latymer School, LondonFew support the bursary system as passionately as those who benefited themselves, learns ALICE SMELLIE
It’s an inspiring fact that bursaries support individual pupils, and also create legacies for future generations.
‘A bursary is a life journey,’ says Tim Day, Head of Alumni at Rugby School. ‘It’s a ve-year scholarship, but it reaches way beyond that time.’ Of course the fundamental aim of a bursary is to support pupils who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunities presented by the schools o ering them. But a touching and practical by-product of bursaries is that those who receive them are frequently keen to give back to the institution that o ered them such a great start in academic or sporting life. Whether this giving back is in the form of mentoring, speaking at the school or nancial donation, bursaries are also helping to pay it forward for ensuing generations.
Take Trinity School in Croydon. It’s part of the John Whitgift Foundation which is one of the largest bursary providers in the country, and whose legacy is to educate and care for the people of Croydon, one of the most socially and economically diverse London boroughs. Seventeen percent of Trinity students receive bursaries –frequently as much as 100 percent of the fees – and many of these stay in touch with the school.
‘Our student body bene ts hearing from alumni who have gone on to make their mark on the world,’ says Jason Court, Director of Development, who is a Trinity alumnus himself. ‘One of the most powerful ways of demonstrating the life-changing bene ts of a bursary is to hear rst-hand from students. We hope that telling these stories to our community will help unlock further donations to enable more young people to bene t in the future.’
e ethos of the school – for all pupils – is about appreciating their privilege. ‘We are in the centre of the Croydon community, and we want to be an engine of social mobility and diversity; our pupils leave school with a sense of gratitude.’ It maintains close links with the community. ‘If a young person comes from one of our partner primary schools, they might go back to that
school even whilst still at Trinity to o er support.’ is might be in the form of sports-related activities (often, but not always, at Trinity), volunteering to help tidy up facilities such as playgrounds, or helping out in classes, such as doing maths with Year 1 children.
One such ex-student is Paul Cleal OBE (class of 1984). After a stratospherically successful career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he is now an advisor and non-executive board member for a diverse range of organisations including the Premier League, Guy’s & omas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the Metropolitan Police.
'I grew up a couple of miles away from Trinity, with a single mother and absent African father (with whom I later became close), and went to a local primary school that wasn’t great,’ he explains. ‘When I got into Trinity, I was the only non-white kid at the time; it was completely life-changing.
‘I’ve talked about my story, done a video for the school, and I’ve agreed to put something in my will by way of a legacy. Last year I came in and talked about what I do in football, and about diversity and inclusion. People focus on exam results, but it’s socialisation that makes a di erence – the ability to cope at university and in the workplace.’
Christ’s Hospital is another school with altruism embedded into the ideology. One of the oldest schools in the country, it was founded in 1552, in Tudor England, when the young King Edward VI formed an initiative to help the homeless poor of the city. Now, the school gives free or substantially reduced places to over 630 pupils every year, providing them with stability and the opportunity to thrive and ful l their potential. It has been described as, ‘having social mobility in its DNA.’
‘Our bursary alumni give around £2.5 - £3 million a year to fund other young people’s places,’ says Hugo Middlemas, Director of Development. ‘Many of them sponsor individual pupils and act as mentors. is connection can make an incredible di erence, especially in the rst couple of years, reassuring both pupils and parents.’
It’s not simply about handing over vast sums of money. e strength of appreciation and loyalty to the school inspires alumni to – literally – go the extra mile.
One former pupil, David, whose father died when he was just four, explains the importance of giving back. ‘I realise how lucky and fortunate I have been in my life.
Paul Cleal OBE
Firstly, by gaining a place at Christ’s Hospital and then by having friends who were always there to put me on the right path. I went on to enjoy a long, happy and satisfying career at sea.
‘I realised that I wanted to give back to CH by supporting a current pupil, possibly someone who like me had lost a parent.
‘I set up a Trust Fund and entered two marathons, London and Rotterdam and, with a nal 135-mile run around Anglesey, raised over £22,000 for Christ’s Hospital.'
‘ ere’s a very strong sense of service to society within the school,’ says Hugo. 'We did some research into all former pupils; a lot give back to the school, but equally importantly, they give back to society.’ An incredible 43 percent volunteer each month (the UK average is 22 percent) and 10 percent have established a charity.
St Dunstan’s College in Catford has a pragmatic and dual approach to bursary pupils. ‘We have around 50 bursary pupils across the senior school,’ says Isabelle Blake-James, Director of Development and Alumni Relations. ‘We are on a journey, and in the last couple of years have started to engage more with current bursary students in view of how they can maintain ties with the school and support in the future. We generally instil a sense of philanthropy amongst all pupils, and remind them of the importance of trying to stay connected and giving back.’
‘By building up good relationships during school days, it is easier for the College to subsequently approach and ask for quotes and interviews from former bursary students. Most respond positively. However, I am planting seeds that I won’t see grow for 20 to 30 years. ere’s no pressure at all, but it means so much to the school to have this continuing and supportive community.’
‘Some of the children we recruit are very inspiring,’ says Tim Day, who visits schools around the country and frequently sees the context from which these young people start. Rugby’s bursary alumni, like the others to whom we’ve
spoken, frequently retain excellent and grateful relationships with the school. ‘Nobody cares about nancial background,’ says Tim. ‘ ose who come here have a good academic pro le, and frequently something else that drives them, a passion for cricket, drama or music, that gives them social kudos amongst peers, and value as part of a community.’
And these young people go forth into the world ready to give back. ‘We had a young refugee boy aged 13, who was very intelligent, but had his struggles,’ says Tim. ‘He got good grades in the pandemic, in spite of being at home with limited access to WiFi and electronics. We supported him throughout and he won a place at a leading university.’ As the young man left, Tim asked whether he’d be an ambassador and recruit others like him. ‘Now, he comes to events, to receptions, and he is mentoring a young boy. We are privileged to have these kids with us.’
‘I came from a family where nobody went to university or worked in the white collar industry,’ points out Old Rugbeian Bartek Zakrzewski, who is the managing partner of a foreign exchange company. He has always been happy to support the school; there is currently an intern from his old house gaining work experience at his company.
‘I moved from Poland at the age of 13 with little English or understanding of the UK system. As well as an excellent education, Rugby gave me a lot of opportunities to network. I’ve stayed in touch and donate regularly. It had such a big impact on me, and I’d like to think I’ve supported others to enjoy the same opportunities.’
At Alleyn’s School in southeast London, 10 percent of pupils receive transformational bursaries. The School was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn who strongly believed in giving the gift of education to those whose circumstances might other prevent that. He funded the rst 12 scholars, which very much set the tone for future pupils and is a tradition that runs strong in the school’s ethos today, says Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Frank Keenan.
‘Alleyn’s pupils go into the world curious, courageous and kind. We are always delighted to see them giving back to their communities and to the school, through, higher education and careers inspiration to current students, establishing innovative social enterprises, and also through supporting the school’s partnership and fundraising e orts which enable our strong bursary programme.’
Appreciating privilege and education, and wishing to contribute to society is something we hope all our children will learn at school. e bursary system is to be fully saluted for all it’s achieving – for a long time to come.
Performing at Alleyn’s School, London St Dunstan’s School, Catford
Today’s crop of bursary students are multi-talented: from rugby-playing dancers to politics-loving basketball stars, is there anything they can’t do?
‘Without the bursary award, I would not have been able to attend Trinity and, in turn, get into Cambridge’
I am incredibly grateful for my time at Trinity – I loved every second. I had never experienced such dedicated teachers or the positive work ethic apparent in every lesson at Trinity. I had wanted to go there ever since a visit with my primary school. However, there were two main hurdles – rst, as a girl I would have to wait until the Sixth Form, and second, the cost of attending an independent school. Without the bursary I was awarded, I could not have attended Trinity and, in turn, got into Cambridge.
Attending Trinity taught me so much. Alongside my academic subjects, I could try as many extracurricular activities as I wanted in a safe environment. I loved learning to sing and joining the professional-level choirs, planning star-gazing evenings for the lower school, and being able to try squash.
My main worry before joining was the other students. I was concerned about their di erent nancial backgrounds and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to relate to them. I hadn’t realised that many students in the Sixth Form ca me from state schools and we were all just young adults with similar interests.
Everyone was so supportive and my classmates are now some of my best friends. I never felt disadvantaged by being a bursary student – it simply didn’t matter. My teachers were more than willing to help and I quickly came to love Trinity. For me, Sixth Form there was the most enjoyable and rewarding part of my education.
Wells Cathedral School, Wells
‘My hockey coaching has been excellent’
I joined Wells in Year 10 on a sports scholarship which was supported by a bursary. is meant my dream of coming to Wells became a reality. It also meant I could combine sport, music and academics altogether.
During Covid, Mr Mayes (Head of Hockey) nominated me for England Hockey U16s and with his excellent coaching, I went through and now play for the U18s. He has been extremely supportive during my time here and has gone that extra mile to help me achieve my goals. I also play the guitar in a school band so I’m usually very busy, along with studying for A-levels. I have been a prefect this year which has given me valuable leadership skills and I helped organise our pupil-led concert which raised money for the school’s charity in Sierra Leone. e opportunities have been endless and I don’t think I could have achieved this much without the school’s support. e school has given me the determination and con dence to go out there and achieve what I want, aim high and be who I want to be, which is the school’s motto Esto Quod Es (Be What You Are) and the school really believes in that. Teachers are friendly, helpful and approachable, we feel like one big family.
I’m going to carry on playing hockey at Loughborough University while studying for an English degree and I will continue to play guitar, hopefully join a band as well. I am so grateful for everything Wells has given me and I’m really going to miss it. e friends I have made will be with me for life. I couldn’t have done all this without the aid of my scholarship and bursary and I will be forever grateful.
‘I’ve played piano at an elite level’ My time at King Edward’s School, Bath is one I will never forget. From the opportunities and support the school gave me in music, to the wide range of competitions and lectures our teachers encouraged us to undertake to fuel our curiosity for the subjects we were studying. Representing the school in two Holburne Museum music concerts where I played piano, allowed me to showcase my ability at an elite level, and gave me the chance to feel con dent performing to others. I played senior rugby at 1st team level from Year 12 and feeling involved in such a prestigious sport with a great group of players beside me was challenging but most importantly extremely fun! My experiences as a bursary award holder have shaped my life as it is. Without the top quality support I have received from KES academically, pastorally and within sport I don’t even know what I’d be doing! e award has allowed me to not be held back by nances and be able to access high level education so I can make the most of my academic talent with the teaching o ered at KES.
‘Being a bursary student has been a life changer’
Attending the open day at Royal High School Bath, GDST, was a life changer for me. I went in with an inkling of hope, knowing fully well I would not be able to a ord such a school. After witnessing what the school had to o er, I knew I had to try everything to get in, and without a bursary it wouldn’t have been possible.
I joined in Year 7 and like every student I had my weaknesses and struggled with con dence. However, the nurturing atmosphere of Royal High equipped me with the skills to conquer them. is has strongly motivated me to build my aspiration of becoming a doctor. I have attended many webinars and invaluable sessions at MedSoc provided by school. ese would not have been accessible had I not been on a bursary, and they have sparked my desire for medicine more than ever.
As an enthusiastic dancer, I have had the opportunity to be a part of an incredible dance community: performing in shows, attending competitions and meeting successful dancers. A recent workshop o ered me the chance to explore my passion for dance, later allowing me to qualify for a dance scholarship.
‘I have been able to pursue all my interests from dance to rugby, hurdles to piano and singing’ I was lucky enough to attend Mill eld on a dance and athletics scholarship. I joined in Lower Sixth in 2021 due to the exceptional level of coaching I knew I would receive. I was looking for the next level up from my previous school and Mill eld ticked all the boxes. I studied A-levels in Economics, Maths and PE.
I played the prince in Mill eld’s dance show adaptation of Cinderella but also competed in the 400-meter hurdles and made the national nals, breaking the school record. I am currently ranked 5th in the UK for U20. I was a member of the 1st XV rugby team which clinched the inaugural Schools Championships at the World Schools Festival in ailand. I also feature in e Season, a documentary covering Mill eld Rugby’s 2022-23 campaign. Mill eld has allowed me to pursue all my interests. I am a self-taught pianist and this year was Captain of School. You are surrounded by like-minded people here who are determined to achieve. It creates an atmosphere of drive and passion.
Following my current assignment as Deputy Head Girl, I have been given the opportunity to make a positive impact to the GDST community and this has provided me with crucial leadership skills. My involvement in the Bath Youth Parliament (BYP) has similarly equipped me with interpersonal skills important for my future working life and led me to attain the Alumnae Networking Cup and attend the GDST 150 event – the most inspiring moment as a bursary student – where I listened to successful alumnae and stories of how they made their mark. e regular encouragement awarded to each student of the GDST truly impacts their development, not only academically, but personally too.
‘This school was supposed to be beyond boys like me’ I have heard ironic stories about the initial history that our family has with Rugby School. My greatgrandfather went to Lawrence Sheri School (a boys’ grammar school in Rugby); he had been o ered a scholarship to Rugby, but his parents said he was getting too big for his boots and wouldn’t be allowed to attend.
is theme of the school being simply beyond the reach of working-class boys in the town continued. However, my mother insisted to her friends that I would one day go to Rugby. Like my grandfather’s parents, they also sco ed and scorned, saying a boy like me ‘doesn’t go to places like that’. I am proud to say that she didn’t listen to their assessment of my future. I wouldn’t be writing this if it weren’t for the scholarships, grants and nancial support that made going to Rugby possible.
As I am a professional sportsman, people often ask if I completed a sports degree at Loughborough University and are dismayed upon hearing confessions of my twisted and jaded love for current a airs and politics. Being given a Foundation award (a bursary programme for day students living within 20 miles of Rugby School), becoming an Academic Scholar, and studying History, English Language and Economics set the stage for further study in these elds.
My grandmother paid for my scholarship exams; the Foundation award allowed me to have a robust education and experience; and my Science teacher, who was also the school’s basketball coach, bought my jersey and shorts due to the nancial constraints at home. Money should never be a barrier to progress and, given the current state of economic a airs, the generosity of donors to make funding available for the next generation is needed now more than ever.
What school did you go to and when? I moved from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where I was born, and started at St Catherine’s Prep School in 1988 until 1999 when I left the Senior School after GCSEs. What were your passions at school? I loved Arts, Drama, Music, Languages and Science, especially Biology. I was in division 2 for Maths and Mr Friend became our new teacher in the last year of GSCE studies. He brought such an amazing energy (and patience) to the subject it became my new favourite and I got an ‘A’ in my nal exams. What A-levels did you choose? While at e Royal Ballet Senior School in London I took three A-levels in French, Dance History plus Anatomy, and English Literature, and got an ‘A’ and two ‘B’s. Did you find your idea for a career at school and how? I took my rst ever ballet class at St Catherine’s Prep School and it became a hobby from that moment. In Senior School it became a very serious hobby; the school and sta were very supportive. I loved all the Arts, Music and Drama on o er at the School. Now, as a full time Creative Producer and business owner where the capacity to multitask and juggle many issues at once is required daily, I think back at the amount of extra-curricular opportunities the school encouraged and think it played a signi cant role in shaping my ability to do that.
How did your school help you with that? It was always made clear that we could and should have the ambition to achieve whatever we set our sights to and be ready to put in the work required. I found St Catherine’s such a supportive safe space during my 11 years there. I was also a bursary recipient and without that much needed support would not have had the incredible start and opportunities that have contributed to where I am today. e school’s commitment to providing nancial assistance to students such as me allowed me to pursue my passions and dreams, regardless of my nancial background. Where did you go after school? I attended the Royal Ballet Senior School in London and after two and a half years training, joined the Royal Ballet company in the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, where I performed as a First Artist for 13 years from 2002-2015 performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. I started collaborating with di erent artists while in the company and when I met Ella Spira in 2009, we co-founded Sisters Grimm. How did you develop your company? Neither of us had any formal business training but sometimes, the best way to learn is through hands-on experience and navigating challenges as they arise. Ella said she could see when we met and began working together that I was a
Mello-Pitmanproducer, but I didn’t know it could be my future career at the time. We have complementing skillsets; I focus on operational matters and overall management. We could see a gap to create new mainstream live shows of the highest artist disciplines that were feelgood memorable experiences that also celebrated cultural stories, maximised diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging – and addressed global and social concerns. We set about, conceived and produced a portfolio of ‘world shows’, all created in collaboration with the territories of each show and all with parallel social impact youth engagement programmes.
What have been your greatest achievements? In 2021, we received MBEs from King Charles III at Windsor Castle for our services to International Trade and the Creative Industries, which was largely due to the global success and high social impact of our Grammynominated show INALA, a Zulu ballet. Having navigated the challenges of the pandemic, we are thrilled to be relaunching INALA next year as a permanent show in the West End. sistersgrimm.co.uk/inala-homecoming/
INALA was born from a desire to see more diversity on stage and in the audience, and it now has an astounding track record globally as a proven, critical and box o ce success, always playing to standing ovations from diverse audiences including Royalty on multiple occasions. Eight thousand young people – 93 percent of whom had not attended West End eatre before – have bene tted from our outreach careers programme.
Have you been back to school since? I was invited to give an End of Term talk about my career post St Catherine’s and loved going back to the school and seeing the new state-of-art facilities across all subjects but especially the incredible theatre, arts centre, and sports hall. I’ve also returned to run Dance Workshops for the girls. What advice would you give anyone interested in your field? It’s one thing to have ideas but to see them through to completion is another. I would advise people to take things step by step and surround yourself with champions who will support you and not block your ambition or knock your con dence. ings always take longer than desired or planned for, so I think bucket loads of tenacity or patience is required! And never give up.
Ex Royal Ballet Ballerina Pietra Mello-Pitman MBE set up Sisters Grimm, a theatrical production company with Grammy-nominated composer and painter Ella Spira MBE in 2009. sisters-grimm.co.uk productions/
Pietra Mello-Pitman
Our bursaries provide an outstanding education while shaping a more diverse and inclusive future
Trinity School in Croydon is an independent boys’ school with a thriving co-educational Sixth Form. It is part of the John Whitgift Foundation whose legacy was to educate and care for the people of Croydon.
As such, the Foundation is one of the largest bursary providers in the country.
Trinity has a long history of supporting talented students from all backgrounds through various free, funded and assisted places over the years. Bursary provision unlocks access to an outstanding education for families who lack the means to pay fees but whose children are at risk of not fulfilling their potential.
This is particularly relevant in Croydon, one of the most socially and economically diverse of the 32 London boroughs, where the difference in educational outcomes is stark. Only 11%* of Croydon students receive the grades to go on to a Russell Group University. Taking up a place at Trinity increases this opportunity to 93+% (*fiveyear average).
At Trinity, we are committed to disrupting the pattern of structural and social inequality through bursaries, and there are many reasons this is important: it promotes diversity in the study body, ensuring it is more reflective of the world around us, and this helps foster a culture of inclusiveness; it encourages social mobility which benefits not only the individual students, but also their families and the broader community; and it removes financial barriers ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed; when diversity increases at schools like Trinity, it can only have a positive effect on diversity in the workplace too.
In essence, the bursary programme becomes intrinsic to our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) programme, a key priority for the school.
However, there is increasing demand for our bursaries, exceeding available resources. The success of Trinity’s partnerships with local state primary schools – providing younger children with access to academic, music, sports and co-curricular activities – has made Trinity more accessible to families who may not previously have considered it an option. This is a genuine success story for Trinity, placing us at the heart of our community.
The Trinity Bursary Fund relies on the generous donations and legacies pledged by our community: alumni, parents and staff. Support for our bursary fundraising becomes critical if we are to achieve our EDI goals. Collectively, we can embody the role of agents of change in shaping a more inclusive future.
Contact Trinity on 020 8656 9541 or hmsec@trinity.croydon.sch.uk to find out more
Almost a third of privately educated pupils receive some nancial assistance in the form of a scholarship or a bursary. eir availability is something often discussed at the transition stage to senior school, but arguably less so for those entering a school at sixth form. Yet they do exist and it’s often worth asking even if it’s not immediately apparent, especially given the critical role these two years play in a pupil’s life and the choices open to them.
At Dulwich College, for example, there are 214 pupils in receipt of a bursary with 75 percent of them bene tting from a full bursary which covers 100 percent of the fees along with some extras. ere are 74 pupils who hold a bursary in the Upper School (Years 12 and 13). Of those, 59 are day pupils and 15 are boarders. Dulwich advises that there are a small number of day places available for entrance at 16 plus, and that families should indicate if they would like to be assessed for a bursary should their son be o ered a place when they make their application. ey also o er full boarding bursaries mainly through their long-term collaboration with SpringBoard (the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation). SpringBoard works with state boarding and independent schools to assist them in ensuring their fully funded places are focused on those in the community that need them the most.
‘We believe there are important di erences that bursaries can make to lives,’ says a spokesperson for Dulwich. ‘We look to equip pupils for higher education and the world of work; we look to create a diverse community of children and sta of all backgrounds to the bene t of all and we look to the positive ripple e ect on local communities.’
Arese Joe-Oshodi is in his nal year of an engineering degree at Oxford University having entered Dulwich’s sixth form as a bursary recipient. ‘If I had to use a word to describe my experience at Dulwich, it would
Sixth-form can be the ideal time to apply for a bursary to attend a prestigious school, says EMMA REED
be abundance,’ Joe-Oshodi says. ‘From travelling to Shanghai for a leadership conference, where I gained invaluable leadership skills and made lifelong friends from around the world, to studying chiaroscuro Renaissance art in liberal studies and delving into quantum physics in A-level plus, it never felt like academic performance was the be-all and end-all. Alongside my position at Oxford, none of this would be possible without my experience at Dulwich.’
e international connections mentioned by Joe-Oshodi are something that those attending DLD College London bene t from hugely. A co-educational day and boarding school in central London, it has an enviable site on the South Bank with boarding in the same building. Around 50 percent of their sixth-form intake is external. Access to an international network is something Vice Principal Dr. Sarah Watson sees as highly valuable in the modern world and of particular bene t to those who otherwise might not have access to this. ‘Our school has students from 58 countries,’ Watson says. ‘I think for domestic students, especially on bursaries, they’ve often not come from an international background and they would never have that opportunity to come out of school with an international network.’
Watson’s passion for the bene t of bursaries is borne out of her having been the recipient of one herself. ‘I was brought up in quite a lot of poverty in Liverpool,’ she says. ‘My parents pushed me to get a full bursary at school because they knew education was the way out.’ is enabled her to live and work in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Australia establishing those
international connections that are so important in today’s global society. ‘A bursary changed the course of my life,’ she adds.
DLD o ers up to 100 percent means-tested bursaries to students with a British passport. ese are funded by e Gold Standard Charitable Trust. Bursaries are also available for international students and are funded by the Alpha Plus Group. ese bursaries cover tuition fees but not boarding costs. At Hurtwood House, those who are creatively talented but who would not otherwise be able to a ord to attend, are also given opportunities in the form of a scholarship as opposed to a bursary. ere is an A-level Performing Arts Scholarship available which is reviewed at the end of the rst year. Elliott Skilton at Hurtwood outlines that there is one 100 percent scholarship, one 50 percent, two with a 25 percent fee deduction and three with a 10 percent deduction. ‘ e major scholarships are awarded to students auditioning in all three of the disciplines – acting, singing and dance,’ he says. ‘We are looking for evidence of outstanding talent and natural skills. We are hoping to nd young people who would make a positive contribution to the Hurtwood eatre during their time here.’
Boarding at Hurtwood enables students to fully participate in the life of the school. Skilton adds that it’s ‘an exceptional stepping stone to independence and post-school life such as University.’ Performing Arts Scholar Jake Pratt says, ‘I had never boarded before, but the transition couldn’t have been made easier. From the minute I arrived I felt that Hurtwood was home from home. I made so many new friends and I was constantly on stage singing and dancing in musicals, pop concerts and dance showcases.’ Callum
PHOTOS: DULWICH CIOLLEGE, DLD COLLEGE LONDONHenderson, currently featuring in Grease in the West End was also a Performing Arts Scholar and credits Hurtwood with helping him to achieve his ambition of getting into Guildford School of Acting. While there is a heavy emphasis on the performing arts at Hurtwood, a smaller number of scholarships are also available in Maths and Science.
At Francis Holland Schools Trust (FHST), which comprises two leading London independent girls’ schools: Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, and Francis Holland School, Regent’s Park, there is a huge commitment to nurturing potential in pupils at both schools, encouraging high aspirations across the board and helping girls to develop the con dence and ability to achieve their goals. ey have an ambitious Trust-wide bursary campaign.
At FHS Sloane Square, every year there are three or four students on a 100 percent sixth form bursary or part bursary. ey are provided with a school laptop and it has been possible for some students to go on trips which are also paid for. ‘Our bursary students are often very driven and recognise the opportunity they’ve been given, particularly in preparation for university.’ is involves such things as workshops with Imperial College junior doctors for medical applicants, TEDx talks and help from alumnae in securing work experience.
‘Ultimately, we want to ensure that as many girls as possible who are o ered places at either of our senior schools are able to take up their places irrespective of nancial circumstances,’ says
a spokesperson for the school. As a result, 2022 saw the launch of their Promise Campaign (yourpromise.org.uk) with the aim of building a £15 million endowment fund to double the school’s bursary provision by 2032 so that approximately 50 girls can bene t from a bursary each year.
Anne*, a recipient of a bursary now in their third year studying Medicine at Imperial College London re ects on how she has bene tted. ‘It changed my career pathway,’ Anne says. ‘I de nitely would not have chosen medicine without it. e teachers at FHS made me look at life very di erently and that has really helped me in medicine and I will take that on for the rest of my life. I want to say a huge thank you to the donors. It was an opportunity that I would not have had without their generosity, and it really has made a huge di erence to my life.’
e school also sees the bene ts of bursary provision in the sixth form. ‘We are delighted to have seen the positive impact of the bursary students who enter our sixth form in terms of their skills, leadership and outlook, as well as the bene ts for themselves.’
FHS Regent’s Park o ers two or three 100 percent bursaries each year to external candidates for academic merit in their GCSEs. ey opened a new sixth form centre, Linhope House, in September 2022, increasing sixth form space by 300 percent and allowing them to increase their sixth form intake which will help them ful l their Trust-wide aim of doubling the number of bursaries on o er.
Jane*, one of Regent’s Park bursary recipients has this to say: ‘Being awarded a scholarship has enabled me to become independent and aid in motivating me to try and achieve the best possible outcome for myself. It has also allowed me to further get involved in the subjects I love the most. I love the sixth form teachers at FHS, who clearly demonstrate a passion for their subjects, but also have huge compassion, understanding and generosity when considering my nancial and social background. I always feel comfortable talking to them about any issues I may have, and they are always understanding and willing to help, as well as very motivating and inspiring. I know they always have my best interests at heart.
‘My time at FHS has certainly helped solidify what I would like to do in the future and has helped me see that I can achieve whatever I want to.’ Bursaries at sixth form help students at a critical time in their educational career, helping them achieve their potential and providing them with opportunities for their future that may otherwise have not been available to them. It’s not only the students who bene t, schools do too. As Dr Watson notes, there are often pots of money that you don’t know exist, so it’s always worth asking.
* Some names have been changed
‘Being awarded a scholarship has enabled me to become independent and aid in motivating me to achieve the best outcome for me. I love the teachers at Francis Holland’
DLD College students
Everythings Education is now part of the GMA Group and specialises in Scholarships and Bursaries.
We deal with the whole child, put together an educational pathway for the child and SWOT analysis. This helps us to match the child with the right school and university. We have relationships with schools around the UK, USA and Canada.
We have been successful with applications to Eton, Winchester, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Shrewsbury and many more.
Need the right school for your child? Get in touch.
07426 219991
ecwalker@everythingseducation.com www.everythingseducation.com www.elainecunninghamwalker.com
January 2024
Co-educational day and boarding school
Nursery - Pre-Prep - Prep - Senior - Sixth Form
Application deadline 1st December
https://wells.cathedral.school/scholarships
admissions@wells.cathedral.school
220 pupils at Dulwich receive a bursary. Find out more by scanning the QR code
Bursaries
Admissions O ce
Harrow School,
“I knew it was right for him when we visited the school. Something just felt right, like he belonged there.”
Harrow School.indd 1 12/09/2023 14:52 48 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.COM/SCHOOLS LONDON SCHOOLS
7+ Entry
latymerprep.org/admissions
11+ and 16+
latymer-upper.org/admissions
We offer one of the UK’s most generous fee-assistance programmes to academically able students, up to 100% fee reduction.
latymer-upper.org/admissions/bursaries
latymerprep.org
Latymer Prep School
Hammersmith, London 020 8148 4515
@LatymerPrep @LatymerPrep
latymer-upper.org
Latymer Upper School
Hammersmith, London 020 8148 4519
@LatymerUpper @LatymerUpperSchool
downside is a co-educational day & boarding school near bath. we are delighted to offer two fully-funded organ scholarships for september 2024 and future years.
Award-winning, independent, co-education for children aged 2 to 18. Situated in 100 acres of historic greenbelt in the heart of Esher, Surrey.
Book an open day on our website. www.claremontfancourt.co.uk
Scan to explore our scholarships
We
13+ BOARDING 2023: 25 November, 2024: 3 February, 2 March, 11 May 16+ (2025 ENTRY)
24 February, 8 June
It all starts with a sense of belonging, which in turn all starts in the House – a latticework of the many things that a teenage boy needs to thrive. Our Houses play the role of families, where no one will be left out. The House is the fulcrum of friendships, often between boys of very different temperaments, talents and enthusiasms. Our Houses are, indeed, diversity in action – eating three meals every day together, relaxing together, playing House sport together, singing together... the ’together’ is the key.
For more on Scholarships, Foundation Awards and Bursaries, please scan the QR code.
Arrange a visit: admissions@tonbridge-school.org tonbridge-school.co.uk
Scholarships
Academic Music
Achieve the exceptional at Cambridge’s leading co-educational boarding and day school for ages 11-18
Choral Sport
Art
STEM
Drama
47 Alleyn’s School
Townley Road, London SE22 8SU
T: 020 8557 1500 alleyns.org.uk
47 Ashbourne College
17 Old Ct Place, London W8 4PL
T: 020 7937 3858 ashbournecollege.co.uk
47 City of London School
107 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 3AL
T: 020 3680 6300 cityoflondonschool.org.uk
48 Dulwich College
Dulwich Common, London SE21 7LD
T: 020 8693 3601 dulwich.org.uk
23 Eaton House Belgravia Nursery
3-5 Eaton Gate, London SW1W 9BA
T: 020 7924 6000 eatonhouseschools.com
23 Eaton House Belgravia Prep & Pre-Prep
3–5 Eaton Gate, London SW1W 9BA
T: 020 7924 6000 eatonhouseschools.com
23 Eaton House The Manor Girls’ School 58 Clapham Common North Side, London SW4 9RU
T: 020 7924 6000 eatonhouseschools.com
23 Eaton House
The Manor Nursery 58 Clapham Common North Side, London SW4 9RU
T: 020 7924 6000 eatonhouseschools.com
23 Eaton House
The Manor Prep & Pre-Prep School
58 Clapham Common, North Side, London SW4 9RU
T: 020 7924 6000 eatonhouseschools.com
10 Francis Holland School, Sloane Square 39 Graham Terrace, London SW1W 8JF
T: 020 7730 2971 fhs-sw1.org.uk
10 Francis Holland School, Regent’s Park Ivor Place, London NW1 6XR
T: 020 7723 0176 fhs-nw1.org.uk
7 Godolphin & Latymer School
Iffley Road, London W6 0PG
T: 020 8741 1936 godolphinand latymer.com
48 Harrow School
5 High Street, Harrow HA1 3HP
T: 020 8872 8000 harrowschool.org.uk
49 Hornsby House
Hearnville Road, London SW12 8RS
T: 020 8673 7573 hornsbyhouse.org.uk
50 James Allen’s Girls’ School
144 E Dulwich Grove, London SE22 8TE
T: 020 8693 1181 jags.org.uk
52 Kew College Prep
24–26 Cumberland Road, Richmond TW9 3HQ
T: 020 8940 2039 kewcollegeprep.com
49 King’s College
Wimbledon Southside, Wimbledon Common, London SW19 4TT
T: 020 8255 5300 kcs.org.uk
51 Latymer Upper School King Street, London W6 9LR
T: 020 8629 2024 latymer-upper.org
51 Latymer Prep School 36 Upper Mall, London W6 9TA
T: 020 7993 0061 latymerprep.org
6 Merchant Taylors’ School Sandy Lodge, Northwood HA6 2HT
T: 01923 820644 mtsn.org.uk
IFC MPW London
190–92 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5AB
T: 020 7835 1355 mpw.ac.uk
51 Queens Gate School
131-133 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5LE
T: 020 7589 3587 queensgate.org.uk
33 Simply Learning Tuition & Consultancy
17 Kensington Ct Pl, London W8 5BJ
T: 020 7350 1981 simplylearningtuition. co.uk
52 St Dunstan’s College Stanstead Road, London SE6 4TY
T: 020 8516 7200 stdunstans.org.uk
50 St Philip’s School 6 Wetherby Place, South Kensington, London SW7 4NE
T: 020 7373 3944 stpschool.co.uk
39 Trinity School Shirely Park, Croydon CR9 7AT
T: 020 8656 9541 trinity-school.org
54 Badminton School Westbury Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BS9 3BA
T: 0117 905 5200 badmintonschool.co.uk
54 Berkhamsted School
Overton House, 131 High Street, Berkhamsted HP4 2DJ
T: 01442 358000 berkhamsted.com
27 Bryanston School Blandford, Dorset DT11 0PX
T: 01258 452411 bryanston.co.uk
44 Canford School Canford Magna, Wimborne BH21 3AD
T: 01202 841254 canford.com
18 Christ’s Hospital School
Horsham, West Sussex RH13 0LJ
T: 01403 211293 christs-hospital.org.uk
56 Cranleigh School Horseshoe Lane, Cranleigh, Surrey GU6 8QQ
T: 01483 273666 cranleigh.org
58 Churcher’s College
Ramshill, Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 4AS
T: 01730 263 033 churcherscollege.com
56 Claremont Fan Court School Claremont Drive Esher, Surrey KT10 9LY
T: 01372 467841 claremontfancourt. co.uk
58 d’Overbroeck’s 333 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7PL
T: 01865 688600 doverbroecks.com
55 Downside School
Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Radstock BA3 4RJ
T: 01761 235100 downside.co.uk
44 Everything Education
18-20 Dunstable Road, Luton LU1 1DY
T: 07851 090532 everythingeducation. co.uk
60 Haileybury
Haileybury, Hertford SG13 7NU
T: 01992 706200 haileybury.com
BC Hurtwood House Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NU
T: 01483 279000 hurtwoodhouse.com
58 King Edward’s School, Bath North Road, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 6HU
T: 01225 464313 kesbath.com
58 King Edward’s Witley Wormley, Godalming GU8 5SG
T: 01428 686700 kesw.org
2 Lancing College
Lancing, West Sussex
BN15 0RW
T: 01273 452213 lancingcollege.co.uk
69 The Leys School Cambridge CB2 7AD
T: 01223 508900 theleys.net
60 Marlborough College Bath Rd, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1PA
T: 01672 892200
marlboroughcollege.org
61 Millfield School
Butleigh Road, Street, Somerset BA16 0YD
T: 01458 442291 millfieldschool.com
22 Milton Abbey School Blandford Forum
DT11 0BZ
T: 01258 880484 miltonabbey.co.uk
63 Queen Ethelburga’s Thorpe Underwood Estate, York YO26 9SS
T: 01423 333300 qe.org
57 Queenswood School Shepherds Way, Brookmans Park, Hatfield AL9 6NS
T: 01707 602500 queenswood.org
62 Reed’s School Sandy Lane, Cobham KT11 2ES
T: 01932 869044 reeds.surrey.sch.uk
63 Reigate Grammar School Reigate Road, Reigate RH2 0QS
T: 01737 222231 reigategrammar.org
65 Roedean School Roedean Way, Brighton, Sussex BN2 5RQ
T: 01273 667500 roedean.co.uk
59 Royal Grammar School High St, Guildford Surrey GU1 3BB
T: 01483 880600 rgsg.co.uk
61 Royal Hospital School Holbrook, Ipswich
IP9 2RX
T: 01473 326200 royalhospitalschool.org
62 Rugby School Lawrence Sheriff St, Rugby, Warwickshire
CV22 5EH
T: 01788 556216 rugbyschool.co.uk
8 Sherborne School Abbey Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3LF
T: 01935 812249 sherborne.org
64 Shrewsbury School The Schools, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY3 7BA
T: 01743 280500 shrewsbury.org.uk
66 St Catherine’s School Station Road, Bramley, Guildford GU5 0DF
T: 01483 893363 stcatherines.info
5 St Edward’s Oxford Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 7NN
T: 01865 319204 stedwardsoxford.org
66 St Mary’s Calne Calne, Wiltshire SN11 0DF
T: 01249 857200 stmaryscalne.org
IBC Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst, Clitheroe Lancashire BB7 9PT
T: 01254 826345 stonyhurst.ac.uk
64 Stowe School Stowe, Buckingham MK18 5EH
T: 01280 818000 stowe.co.uk
68 St Peter’s School, York Clifton, York, YO30 6AB
T: 01904 527300 stpetersyork.org.uk
67 Taunton School
Taunton School, Staplegrove Road, Somerset TA2 6AD
T: 01823 703703 tauntonschool.co.uk
68 Tonbridge School High St, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1JP
T: 01732 365555 tonbridge-school.co.uk
62 Truro School
Trennick Lane, Truro TR1 1TH
T: 01872 272763 truroschool.com
45 Wells Cathedral School
15 The Liberty, Wells, Somerset BA5 2ST T: 01749 834200 wells.cathedral.school
