Community and Partnerships 2023

Community and Partnerships

2023-2024

A Message from the Headmaster

'Community' is one of the words you hear most when you ask pupils, staff or parents to describe Freemen's and it is the work we do in and outside of the school of which we are perhaps most proud.

It is a pleasure to see the continuation of many long held partnerships between Freemen's and other local schools. Our annual Love Languages Competition is always a highlight, as is the breadth of opportunity available to all of the students attending our Future Pathways Fair.

It is exciting that in the last year, we have added a series of new events to our schedule. September's first TeachMeet enabled colleagues from a wide range of local schools to share best practice, advice and knowledge in a series of short presentations. We also launched the first in a series of online inclusivity talks, where two Sixth Form students led keynote speeches on “How the rise in populism in politics has led to an increase in racism across Europe and the UK”.

Many of the successes we have enjoyed and document in this booklet would not have been possible without the support we receive from our City connections and we continue to remain hugely grateful for their support, not least the Livery companies.

I am, as ever, in awe of the staff and how they manage to support so many important causes outside of the school.

As ever,

Roland Martin Headmaster

City of London Freemen’s School

City of London Family of Schools

The City of London Corporation has one maintained primary school, eight sponsored academies as part of the City of London Academies Trust, and two co-sponsored academies in neighbouring boroughs. It also supports four independent schools, one of which is City of London Freemen’s School.

In its pursuit of educational excellence, the City Corporation has drawn these schools together, collectively known as ‘the City of London Family of Schools’.

Our family of schools include:

The Aldgate School

Galleywall Primary, City of London Academy

Redriff Primary, City of London Academy

City of London Primary Academy, Islington

City of London Academy, Highbury Grove

City of London Academy, Highgate Hill

City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park

City of London Academy, Southwark

Newham Collegiate Sixth Form, City of London Academy

The City Academy, Hackney

The City of London Academy, Islington

City of London Freemen’s School

City Junior School

City of London School

City of London School for Girls

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Freemen's have worked so hard to ensure they are giving opportunities to a diverse range of young people from all over the country. They take great time, care and consideration when looking to find suitable students and give them the opportunity to experience the school first hand before decisions and made. This approach is commendable and it is a pleasure to work with such a committed organisation.

"Susannah Holliman, Chair of Trustees Sue Thomson Foundation

Bursary Support

City of London Freemen’s School was established in 1854 to look after the orphaned children of Freemen of the City. When Freemen’s moved from Brixton it continued to maintain it’s charitable origins and founding ethos, with an increasing number of students benefitting from financial assistance.

With a focus on social mobility and raising aspirations, we work closely with a number of partner organisations,

including the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, Eastside Young Leaders Academy and Star Academies, to identify students who would benefit from a full-boarding education at Freemen’s.

2.1% of students currently receive a significant bursary. Our ambition is to improve progressively our financial support to lower income families with the aim of 10% of the school community to be in receipt of Bursary provision by 2030.

We are grateful to the organisations and individuals who generously support our bursary fund, including:

• City of London Corporation

• Bhargava Award

• Individual donors for piano and guitar awards

• Freemen's School Association,

• The Mitchell City Of London Charity and Educational Foundation

• The Sue Thomson Foundation

• The Worshipful Company of Carmen

• The Worshipful Company of Carpenters

• The Worshipful Company of Grocers

• The Guild of Freemen of the City of London

• The Worshipful Company of Horners

• The Worshipful Company of Masons

• The Worshipful Company of Needlemakers

• The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers

Headmaster walks The Pilgrims' Way

In March, the Headmaster set himself the ambitious target of raising £5,000 for the School’s Bursary Fund by walking 106 miles of The Pilgrim’s Way from Southwark Cathedral to Canterbury.

“Funding bursary places is something very close to my heart as someone who directly benefitted from that support myself,” he explains. “Funding places for children from disadvantaged backgrounds is central to Freemen’s founding ethos as well as to our mission today.”

The challenge took six gruelling days of trekking through mud, mud and more mud, up hills, through towns and across vast fields following the route Pilgrims took to the shrine of Thomas Becket, following his murder inside Canterbury Cathedral.

“I found myself thinking of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer and the demise of Thomas Becket in the quieter moments. There are so many nods to each along The Pilgrim’s Way and it provided a real opportunity for me to reflect as I went.”

Mr Martin continued to work while walking.

“The weather, phone connection and sheer tiredness all conspired to make my (very) remote working all the more difficult. But I was still able to chair my usual meetings, answer emails and take calls as I went, as well as dialling in to my English classes.

My Lower 6 English class on the Wednesday morning seemed to enjoy the spectacle of me dialling in via Teams to talk Chaucer. It’s not every day you get to deliver an A Level class in a baseball cap while trying to find shelter from the drizzle.”

The Headmaster beat his target and to date has raised £7,485 for Freemen’s bursaries. The school’s relationship with The City of London Corporation means that every pound raised for the bursary fund is match-funded, meaning the amount to be donated is £14,970.

Three former pupils shared their stories on the impact that receiving a bursary had made on their lives in our new Bursary video.

Gary was Head Boy in 1992, but was only able to stay at Freemen's when his parents got a divorce because of a bursary. Gary's happiest times at Freemen's were in the Sixth Form, where he says he "came out of his shell".

Irene, class of 2022, is thankful for the unique opportunities she would not have had the chance to experience without a bursary.

Zayan felt welcomed by the whole Freemen's community when he arrived, which made it easy for him to settle in.

To watch their stories, go to www.freemens.org/bursaries

Partnership Projects

Freemen's partners with Star Academy Schools

Freemen's launched an exciting new partnership in January 2023 with two Star Academy Schools in the north west of England, Bay Leadership Academy and The Valley Leadership Academy. Star Academy School’s Aspire Programme aims to support more pupils to secure aspirational post16 opportunities at world-renowned educational institutions like Freemen’s.

Year 10 students in both schools were given the opportunity to attend our careers talk, and a targeted group of Year 10 students attended a residential visit at Freemen's in the Summer, with four taking part in the Freemen’s Summer School.

Two students have accepted places to join Freemen's in September 2024.

GCSE Revision Programme

Once again, during the Easter holidays, Freemen’s hosted 40 students and nine teachers from four City of London Academies for a three-day residential course. The course was funded through the City Partnerships Grant. Students benefitted from booster sessions in GCSE maths and English, as well as extra-curricular activities in the evenings. Students working at a Grade

6/7 level are selected by their teachers to attend the course each year, with the aim of boosting their grades up to a Grade 8/9 or above, thereby supporting each school’s ‘Progress 8’ measure. The course also exposes Year 11 students to residential education with a view to university applications and future experiences.

Refugee Club

In January 2023, City of London Freemen’s School launched our inaugural Refugee Buddy Club in conjunction with Epsom and Ewell Refugee Network (EERN).

20 Refugee families, predominantly from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria, who live in the local area, joined the club to improve their English and to find out more about their community. Each young person was paired with one or two Freemen’s students. The buddies met every Tuesday after school and had a chat or played games together.

24 Freemen’s students participated in the Club, and Freemen’s teachers also provided language support for the parents of the refugee families who attended. Activities included: a music workshop led by Surrey Arts; a fun tie-dye session where the buddies decorated t-shirts for each other; and a farewell party where each family

brought in a traditional dish from their home country.

"The whole programme is simply wonderful! It has such a fantastic feel about it. All the children look relaxed and happy. There are all sorts of activities going on from homework, chess and card games, garden boules outside, and plenty of talking, smiles and laughter,” said one support worker from EERN.

Freemen’s students also benefitted from the experience and learned more about refugee families living in the UK. We surveyed the students before and after the Club and the average score for 'Feeling confident about yourself' increased by 21%, the 'Ability to think creatively' rose by 17% and 'Ability to solve problems' increased by 24%.

This academic year, more than 40 Freemen’s students have volunteered to help.

City of London Virtual School Oracy Programme

We hosted a group of young asylum seekers who are currently living in or around the London area, to the very first ‘Oracy Day’ in June. The workshop was dedicated to enhancing pupils' oracy skills, boosting their confidence when speaking English, and shaping their future educational outcomes. The workshop focused on the unique approach of teaching English speaking skills through the captivating mediums of drama and performing arts.

At its core, Oracy is all about nurturing the ability to articulate ideas, fostering understanding, and actively engaging with others through spoken language.

Working in partnership with City of London Virtual School, utilising funding from the City Partnerships Grant, this workshop brought together expertise and resources from both institutions. Through this collaborative effort, we were able to create a nurturing and inclusive environment where our young people could develop their speaking skills with increased confidence and clarity. It was incredible to witness their growth and see them become more assertive in the value of their own opinions, as well as gaining the ability to express themselves eloquently to others.

All attendees reported increased levels of confidence when speaking English and their vocabulary had also been extended as a result of the workshop.

Annual Love Languages Competition

Year 5 to Year 8 students from 10 schools (including Freemen's) took part in Freemen's 13th Love Languages competition. Performers sang, danced and recited poetry in one or more modern foreign languages, based around the theme of ‘Holidays’. Performances were judged on quality of language, creativity & originality and quality of performance.

Volunteering and Community Service

Students and staff commemorate Epsom's forgotten residents

Students from City of London Freemen’s school have been getting creative by making and decorating ceramic flowers that will form part of The Forget Me Not, a memorial garden, at Horton Cemetery, Epsom, Surrey.

The ceramic flowers painted by the students and staff have formed part of the 1,500 flowers displayed the memorial garden which was unveiled on 10 October, to coincide with World Mental Health Day and part of the Out of Sight, Out of Mind? project.

War heroes, a Titanic survivor, and a muse for Picasso are among the 9,000 to be commemorated through a memorial garden to honour the forgotten residents of Europe’s largest cluster of psychiatric hospitals.

The poignant and moving ceremony saw local dignitaries, faith leaders, schools and members of the community came together to commemorate those buried at the site.

Theresa Kenefick, Friends of Horton Cemetery Trustee told the guests the event showed how far we had come as a society and a stark reminder that everyone had to respect human life

and be treated equally. She added the event “was to celebrate and stride forward in understanding mental health”.

“We are thrilled that the students from Freemen’s are involved in this great initiative within our local community. The students have enjoyed making the ceramic flowers, while learning the importance of ensuring that Epsom’s residents are not forgotten. We look forward to seeing them in the memorial garden at Horton Cemetery,” said Elizabeth Bowey, Head of Art.

Roland Martin, headmaster, added:

“At Freemen’s we pride ourselves in working closely with the community. Being part of the memorial garden initiative at Horton is wonderful for our students and particularly poignant as we also celebrate Mental Health Day. Wellbeing and pastoral care is fundamental to everything we do at the School. Well done to everyone involved in the project.”

Food Banks

523kg of food (equivalent to 502 meals) was donated as part of our Harvest collection for the Epsom and Ewell Foodbank. Meanwhile students are also growing crops that, on harvesting, are sent to Leatherhead Food Bank.

Care Home Carols

Form 1 pupils sang Christmas songs for the residents of Walton Heath Manor Care Home. Pupils also made things for the residents like bookmarks and Christmas decorations, and send letters.

Pupils Raising Money

Students ran a cake sale in December to raise funds for the British Red Cross' appeal to support the humanitarian crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The team raised £383.30. Pupils also raised £456 for the DEC Appeal to support those affected by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey.

Movember

A member of staff and two of the senior cadets not only grew moustaches but ran a combined total of 350km- one doing 150km with a 15kg weight vest, and the other two running 100km each, raising £1500 for the Movember charity.

Boarders Pantomime and Volleyball

Boarding students performed Aladdin and organised a staff vs. student volleyball game for their chosen charity Trussell Trust. They raised over £300.

Volunteering and Community Service

Duke of Edinburgh

Many students at Freemen’s decide to undertake one or more Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards, with a total of 154 students achieving their awards during 2023. 77 students gained a Bronze Award, 58 Silver and 19 Gold.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award involves Physical, Skills and Residential elements, along with a substantial commitment to Volunteering – from three months for a Bronze Award, up to twelve months for a Gold.

The awards completed during 2023 represent approximately:

• 3,805 hours of voluntary service

• 3,180 hours of physical activity

• 3,180 hours of learning new skills

• 808 days on expedition

• 95 days of other residential activities (Gold only)

Rag Week

Pupils raised £3,428 during Rag Week with a range of events including cake sales, dodgeball and staff performing for a special Top of the Pops. The money will be donated to Wildlife Aid, The Royal Marsden, Epsom and Ewell Refugee Network and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Combined Cadet Force

The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. The aims of the CCF are to promote self-reliance, teamwork, leadership and camaraderie in a disciplined environment.

The CCF contingent at Freemen’s started in 2013. Freemen’s employs a full-time Contingent Commander, who leads a CCF unit involving students from Freemen’s and Glyn schools, predominantly based at Freemen’s. The contingent comprises 168 cadets in total: 130 cadets and 10 members of staff from Freemen’s and 38 cadets and 4 staff members from Glyn.

Highlights from the year includes volunteering at the Shere Hill Climb event, an annual charity fundraiser involving over 320 vehicles, three weekend training exercises involving low level military tactics and representing our brigade in a national competition.

Volunteering and Community Service

A large number of staff at Freemen’s regularly undertake voluntary work outside of school hours. Here are some of the ways that staff have helped in 2023:

• Donated 22 inches of hair to be made into wigs for children who've lost their hair due to cancer treatment

• Musical Director of Surrey's LGBTQIA+ Choir

• Referee and coach for U7s and U8s football team

• Support for accounting functions and member of the finance team for a synagogue

• Gave talks on AI to members of a Saturday youth club organisation

• Chair of London and SE Regional Management Board England Netball

• Weekly chat as a compassionate neighbour on behalf of a hospice

• Chairman Leatherhead Cricket Club

• Assist with parking, marshalling and ticketing for an event that raises money for Surrey Air Ambulance and other local charities

• SEN Governor at a local state school

• SEN and Science Governor at a local state infant school

• School Governor responsible for finance at a local state infant school

• Members of Freemen’s CCF marched 10km with weighted kit to raise money for mental health treatment for veterans

School Initiatives

TeachMeet

Speakers from a range of local state and independent schools (Therfield, Notre Dame School, St John's Leatherhead, City of London Academy Islington and St Giles C of E Infant School, joined Freemen’s staff to for our first TeachMeet in September 2023. Colleagues shared best practice, advice and support in a series of short lectures and presentations. Topics included 'Target Setting,' Academic Writing at A Level', 'The Use of Iris to Develop Teaching and Learning' and 'Outdoor Teaching'. The event went so well that the school has since launched online sessions and the 2024 TeachMeet will be broadened to include admissions and marketing staff.

Inclusivity Talks

Mrs Rosin hosted the inaugural Join the conversation: Inclusivity Talks. Two L6 students delivered inspiring keynote speeches, igniting thoughtful discussions on the topic of “How the rise in populism in politics has led to an increase in racism across Europe and the UK”. Held in our state-of-the-art X20 classroom, the event welcomed participants from around the globe, emphasising our commitment to global dialogue and understanding.

Books donated to School

Freemen's Library donated some brand new books to Leatherhead Trinity School in time for World Book Day

Mrs Bate and Mrs Evans delivered the books, which will be used in the school's newly created ‘reading spine’ which lists all of the reading books children should read in each year group allowing children to have access to wide range of different themes and topics.

Eco-Committee

Our food partner Thomas Franks have decided that we will be their flagship school for their Sustainable protocols. They are partnering with Planet Mark to attain Business certification, and are engaging with the school around all things food, specifically gas, electric and water consumption, and food waste.

Students from the school's EcoCommittee identified 3 key areas of interest in a workshop that they would like to take action on in the coming year.

These were -

• Utilising current social trends such as veganism, plant-based eating, pre-owned fashion etc. to organise events, assemblies and communications to engage a wider population of students into wider sustainability issues;

• Tracking the carbon footprint of the school and looking at projects that can reduce this (transport, food waste, packaging reduction etc);

• Moving away from eco-packaging and installing dishwashers into key areas of the school so reusable plates and utensils can be used.

Golden Boot Challenge

During RAG Week in March, the EcoCommittee ran the Golden Boot Challenge, where every morning form tutors recorded how pupils got to school. Pupils were awarded a point for each sustainable method of getting to school, The form class with the most points in their year group got a prize.

Recycling

There has been a significant amount of recycling within the school over the last year. Two students delivered nearlynew blazers to Biddupur Vaishali Village School in India.

An A4 box full of pens is recycled every six months, while three large boxes full of crisp packets have been recycled each term.

IT recycling has also been successful with the following being recycled this year:

• PCs

• AIO systems

• Laptop / tablets

• TFT screens

• Monitors

• Projectors

• Sever UPS

• Switches

The Future

100 Years in Ashtead

June 2026 marks 100 years since City of London Freemen’s School moved from Brixton to ashtead. We are planning activities to mark the centenary, working not only with our parent body, the Freemen’s School Association, and our Alumni with the Old Freemen’s Association, but also with the local Ashtead Community

TeachMeet 2024

Our TeachMeet 2024 is scheduled for September and this year, we want to broaden out the TeachMeet to include admissions staff and will separate discussions into key strands.

Our goal for the event is to share knowledge and best practice, whilst giving attendees the opportunity to network with colleagues from the state and independent sector within a relaxed and open environment.

Colleagues from Freemen's and other visiting schools will be presenting their thoughts and ideas in 5-minute slots, shared in the form of a TeachMeet.