In a diamond school, children are educated in co-educational classes up to the age of 11 and again at sixth form. From 11–16 years old, children are taught in single-sex classes.

For the new academic year, the family of independent schools in Wales will offer a fully co-educational Monmouth Prep School for children aged 3–11, followed by Monmouth School for Boys and Monmouth School for Girls for children aged 11–16, and Monmouth Schools Sixth Form for pupils aged 16–18.

This means that the single-sex Monmouth School Boys’ Prep and Monmouth School Girls’ Prep will be dropped.

There are currently 240 boys and girls enrolled at Monmouth Prep School for September.

Principal at Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools, James Murphy-O’Connor, said: “Through an innovative system of education, known as the Monmouth Model, Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools’ new diamond structure will provide the perfect balance of single-sex and co-education for children aged 3-18 at the optimum stages of their academic and personal development in the heart of the inspirational Wye Valley.”

Prep school pupils will receive subject-specialist teaching delivered across two sites. Neil Shaw, the current head of Monmouth School Boys’ Prep, will become the head of Monmouth Prep School.

Shaw said: “We will focus on developing enthusiastic, inquisitive, resilient girls and boys with high aspirations. Children will be motivated to learn with a sense of fun, enjoyment and excitement, both in and out of the classroom.”

“Girls and boys can immerse can themselves in a breadth and range of educational opportunities, trips and expeditions, social and co-curricular events and shared community projects. Pupils will make the most of the outstanding facilities for science, languages, music, culture, sports and dance on offer across our family of schools.”

The post Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools to move to diamond education model appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The independent day and boarding school will open St Mary’s Preschool in September following demand from parents, who expressed their interest in an early years option for the younger sisters of current pupils.

The preschool, which will educate three and four year olds, will be based in the current junior school building located on Chaucer Road. The coach house is being reconfigured to create an early years centre that includes space for preschool pupils, as well as reception and year one pupils.

There will initially be space for 10 preschool pupils.

Jo Christian, head of juniors at St Mary’s School, said: “We are delighted to announce the opening of our new preschool in September. Creating an early years centre on site, that includes the provision of a preschool, will ensure an even smoother transition into the junior school for our girls.”

She continued: “Our pupils learn free from gender stereotypes, in an educational environment that helps develop their independence, initiative, creativity and problem-solving skills.”

The early years centre will consist of a large room for free-flow activities for all early years children, which will also act as a base for preschool aged pupils; a smaller room for structured teaching and reception class activities; and a year one classroom. There will also be an outdoor learning area with a stage and sandpit.

The school said preschool pupils will follow an individualised learning programme tailored to each child’s own developmental needs, with learning predominantly based on experiential play.

You might also like: Bryanston to merge with Knighton House from September

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The ‘SOMOs’, now in their fifth year, were established to recognise and encourage action that promotes and increases social mobility within Britain’s companies and institutions.

Bolton School, Christ’s Hospital and Reigate Grammar School are all in the running to win the title of School/College of the Year, as well as Tile Cross Academy, Sedgefield Community College and Reading School from the state sector.

The winners will be determined by an independent judging panel made up of leading figures from business, charity and the public sector, and chaired by Sir Ken Olisa OBE.

A statement from Bolton School read: “Providing social mobility is intertwined with Bolton School’s history and it was Lord Leverhulme’s vision to offer an education for all capable children when he re-endowed the school in 1915.

“Last summer, 42 pupils from the class of 2020 left having received bursarial assistance for their education. Thirty-eight went on to university, 32 of whom secured places on courses at prestigious Russell Group institutions. Nineteen went on to study subjects in the medical sciences, including 12 pupils now studying medicine.”

In the same academic year, £672,000 was raised for the school’s bursary fund for the next intake of students. This enabled 54 year seven pupils to join in September. Overall, the school spent £2.89m on means-tested bursaries, supporting 350 girls and boys.

Olisa said: “The war against Covid-19 has shown just how strong our nation is when we pull together. It has also shown how ‘we’ means people from every walk of life, heritage and ability. There can be no greater proof of the power of social mobility. Now that its value is beyond dispute ‘we’ must pull out all of the stops to make social mobility a reality – even in peacetime.”

The winners will be announced at a gala on 14 October 2021.

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The new facility will open in Cambridge in September 2022. CSFC will become the third member of the Dukes Education group to open in the city, following St Andrew’s College and Sancton Wood School.

The new campus is slated to include staff who teach at – or are alumni from – the nearby university, with pupils set to be offered university course-specific lectures and work placements alongside their studies.

Gareth Collier, principal at CSFC since 2015, will hold the same position on the Cambridge campus. Other teachers, boarding staff and careers professionals will also work across both sites.

“I am very much looking forward to this exciting new stage in the College’s development,” said Collier.

“We have been very successful at providing the type of education top students worldwide are looking for, and we work closely with the universities to ensure that the education, skills and opportunities we provide for our students fits with what they are looking for at undergraduate level.

“Cambridge is well-known as an attractive location across the globe, so to have our second campus right in the heart of a city synonymous with academic excellence fits well with the Cardiff Sixth Form College brand.”

From the archive: Cardiff Sixth Form College student awarded Lexden Prize

The post Cardiff Sixth Form College announces plans for second campus appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The formal merger follows Bryanston’s acquisition of the land and buildings of the Knighton House campus last year, which created a 430-acre campus estate on the edge of Blandford Forum. The merger makes the Bryanston duo the independent school in Dorset with the most number of students.

Knighton House will be renamed Bryanston Knighton House from 1 September 2021.

The schools announced the appointment of a new headmaster to lead Bryanston Knighton House; Will Lockett, a former housemaster at Bryanston, returns to Dorset having left six years ago to take up the headship of Abberley Hall prep school in Worcestershire. He takes over the school just after it celebrated its 70th anniversary.

Julian Greenhill, chair of Bryanston governors, said the “logical and forward-looking step” to merge would “enable both schools to build on their respective strengths and to capitalise fully on shared resources, facilities and expertise”.

Knighton House’s co-chairs of governors, Iain Weatherby and Paul Slight, will assume responsibility while the school transitions. Bryanston governors will eventually assume responsibility for the entire portfolio, with a new governor appointed to the board to represent the prep and pre-prep school.

Bryanston headmaster Mark Mortimer said the merger would “expand the reach and visibility of Bryanston’s operations and profile through innovative partnerships, community engagement and new commercial initiatives”.

Announcing such a positive and exciting development at the end of a year that has been really challenging for everyone in the world of education gives both schools a real boost – Mark Mortimer, Bryanston headmaster

Mortimer said the school would continue to develop and strengthen its “long-standing relationships with other prep schools across the region as part of a supportive and mutually beneficial network of private and state schools”.

“Announcing such a positive and exciting development at the end of a year that has been really challenging for everyone in the world of education gives both schools a real boost,” he added.

Said Lockett: “The merger with Bryanston will accelerate our move to full coeducation and the development of a truly innovative curriculum. The collective resources and expertise within the merged schools will mean an experience for our pupils that is distinctive and modern and a rich environment for real creativity and growth.”

Read more: Bryanston School charity project supports new schools in Cambodia and Myanmar

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“School communities have experienced an exceptionally demanding year responding to the pandemic,” ISC chief executive Julie Robinson says. “Teachers, school staff, heads and governors, and pupils and their families deserve huge credit for all they have endured and overcome.”

But will the challenges of the pandemic cause longer-term issues for independent schools when it comes to enrolment, or is the sector likely to bounce back rapidly? While it’s still too early to say for certain, signs are – cautiously – promising.

Numbers challenge

One of the chief conclusions of the 2021 ISC Census was the number of students enrolled in independent schools falling for the first time in a decade. There was an overall 1.3% drop – equivalent to more than 5,000 students – during the period.

This is, of course, bad news, but should also be taken in conjunction with the fact that this figure comes at a time when the total number of students (more than 532,000) enrolled in independent schools is the third highest in ISC’s records.

“Pupil numbers did not significantly decline, contrary to some predictions, though there was inevitably a fall in the number of boarders,” says Robinson.

These numbers were borne out by the schools I spoke with. Some said that they had experienced slight declines in numbers, although others, like Heathfield School, Ascot, actually reported “an increase of over 3%” for the period covered by the census.

Pupil numbers did not significantly decline, contrary to some predictions, though there was inevitably a fall in the number of boarders – Julie Robinson, ISC

Many reported that the biggest challenge had come from overseas student populations, largely due to concerns about, or restrictions on, international travels. According to the ISC, numbers of overseas borders decreased from 29,000 to 24,000, marking a drop of 17%.

Heathfield School has around 20% of its students from overseas. Sarah Wilson, head of Heathfield, notes: “For the September 2020 start, we did find a number of new international joiners either withdraw or defer their place at the school.” However, she said that “this did not impact our numbers on roll”.

“As a day and boarding school, we inevitably have a real mixture of pupils from near and far and hence our prospective pupil base is broad and robust,” says Rebecca Tear, headmistress at Badminton School, Bristol. “We have not seen a drop in enrolment from any specific region – but perhaps seeing more caution as to confirming start dates with some international students or families relocating to [the] UK for whom travel plans are not concrete.”

In some cases, the lack of student movement, at least on a local level, benefited schools. Claire Richardson, head of admissions at St. Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith, says that the school had “noticed a reduction in the number of current students submitting their notice to leave our school to attend a different one; this meant that we didn’t recruit for entry for Y8, 9 and 10”.

Freeze in fees

While the number of students in independent education has declined slightly, especially affecting those schools which rely on a large international student base, the one-two punch of the pandemic has been mounting challenges at a time when fees are staying flat.

Some schools experienced a small decline in enrolment numbers, while all experienced the need to invest in new infrastructure allowing for remote learning and similar Covid responses. Many said that they had not increased fees during the period.

“Affordability has been a strong focus in our financial planning for many years and we have tracked below many independent schools at an inflationary 2% average since 2016,” says Chris Wheeler, principal at Monkton Combe School, Bath.

“Recognising the challenges parents have faced, we delayed our fee increase for 2020–21 until the summer term and the 2021–2022 increase will only take effect in January 2022. There have been added costs as well as a need to recognise that two long periods not able to provide boarding for most pupils during lockdowns would have to be reflected in a fee response.”

Andy Johnson, head of Truro School Senior, adds: “We froze fees for the academic year 2020–21 and absorbed added costs. We also offered fee discounts for the periods of lockdown learning, passing costs saved by the not full operation of the school site back to parents where possible. Yes, there were costs incurred – including in IT – but there have also been costs saved too, allowing us to operate in this way.”

He notes that fees will increase by 2% for the 2021–2022 academic year. But he points out: “This is typical of the kind of rise that would normally happen – no more than that – so what we have not done is sought to recover the lost year of fee increase. We have absorbed it.”

Road to recovery

Ultimately, the big question is how quickly post-Covid recovery will take place and what this means for the independent schools sector as a whole. Will the UK experience a V-shaped recovery in which the world snaps back as quickly as it shut down, a more gradual U-shaped recovery, a false start-laden W-shaped recovery, or a dreaded L-shaped lack of recovery? And how, in turn, will this impact the independent education sector?

“The next steps in independent education will really vary from school to school,” says Tear. While she stressed that the challenges of lockdown had “reinforced parent confidence” in specific schools, there will also be ramifications.

She continues: “There are families whose income or businesses have been affected and have made the hard decision to make cost savings by stepping away from independent education. The geography of a school, its client base and its performance during remote provision will all certainly be in the mix as its destiny unfolds.”

Even this is unpredictable, however. As Robinson points out, one of the data points highlighted by the 2021 Census is how the number of means-tested fee assistance handed out over the past year has increased, potentially widening participation. “Some £455m of means-tested fee assistance was provided, an increase of £15m from last year,” she says.

The predicted number on roll for the September 2021 start has increased by over 16% from last year and we anticipate numbers increasing over the next few years – Sarah Wilson, Heathfield School

Many schools expressed their confidence at the promising signs of green shoots. Wilson says: “The predicted number on roll for the September 2021 start has increased by over 16% from last year and we anticipate numbers increasing over the next few years, though we have a number of year groups where we are at capacity.”

She says these numbers are in keeping with a trend at Heathfield School that has been evidenced “over the past five years and, in particular, over the past two.”

Johnson says of Truro School: “As a 3–18 school we currently have 1,056 pupils on roll. In September 2021 we expect to have 1,140 pupils – an increase of 8% in the overall pupil roll.”

Wheeler describes Monkton Combe School as “positive and upbeat” as its roll is “rapidly returning to pre-pandemic levels” where they were essentially full. He suggests that, while challenges remain, this could be the start of a noticeable upswing for the sectors – especially for schools thriving before Covid.

Enriching the lives of students

“For schools who entered the pandemic in a more precarious position, recovery will take longer as ever-more savvy parents look closely at the strength of finance in the school they are joining,” says Wheeler.

“This is encouraging market consolidation, however, with valuable and effective partnerships springing up all over the place which will enhance the independent offering even further. The debate about rethinking assessment has been supercharged by the pandemic and this could see independent schools helping to lead the biggest change in education since WWII as well, which would enrich the lives of every pupil for the future.”

Robinson strikes a cautious, yet overall optimistic, note: “Of course, the pandemic is far from over and we wait to see whether the economy bounces back or not. In the meantime, heads, governors, teachers and support staff continue to do all they can to support their school communities, putting the education and wellbeing of pupils at the heart of their decision-making.”

It’s too early to draw definitive conclusions for what the end of the pandemic will mean for independent schools. However, after a dip that may not have been as severe as feared, it seems many are cautiously optimistic about a rapid return to normal – and, perhaps, even a return to the previous boom times. Signs are looking good.

You might also like: Marketing independent schools in 2021

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All schools must adapt with each new wave of modernity in order to stay relevant, a process which happens from the inside out, starting with the heart of the school and what it stands for, and ending with a well-constructed marketing strategy that clearly communicates an authentic voice.

For more established independent schools, it can be tempting to rest comfortably on marketing laurels, especially when old (or no) techniques seem to be driving pupil admissions well enough, but the schools that had already welcomed previous change with enthusiastically, if a little apprehensively, open arms will have found it slightly easier to adapt to the unique challenges of the last 15 months.

As we will see, refreshing a school’s communications approach does not have to mean a total ripping out of foundations, so that nothing of the original structure remains – schools with long or interesting histories can use them as unique features and storytelling devices to draw families in with humanity and warmth.

The situation

Molly Entrican, assistant head (pre-prep) at York House School, Hertfordshire, outlines how the pandemic is affecting education: “The impact on schools has been immense, with some established and thriving independent schools suddenly finding their numbers decreasing, while other schools have abruptly found themselves inundated with interest.”

Both families and schools have struggled financially this year, with the ISC 2021 Census reporting its first dip in pupil numbers since 2011’s post-recession low, and thanks to a lockdown-caused ‘baby bust’, independent schools are looking at a diminished market in the near future.

Some families have welcomed hardship funds and fee-freezing at a time when incomes took a hit – the census shows that pupils receiving means-tested fee assistance benefited from an increase of 5.2% compared with 2019.

However, other families had it easier. Analysis by the Bank of England found that across the UK, 8% of households experienced increased incomes and 65% were unchanged during lockdown, with many households cutting spending, even if incomes did not fall. Restrictions on travel, hospitality and entertainment gave fewer opportunities to spend.

Parents and guardians of children currently being educated in state schools have seen how adeptly many independent schools moved to online remote learning during lockdown, with cutting-edge technology to support and enhance lessons, and the means to pack timetables full. Families in comfortable financial situations post-Covid may now be more motivated than ever to spend money to ensure a high standard of education.

Young people are very well read on specific issues and they want to align with, or buy from, brands that align with their value – Ben Weston-Conway, Interactive Schools

Modern society tends to have a ‘distrust’ of traditional advertising, and instead relies heavily on social proof, from social media or word of mouth, in order to believe an organisation. But there will be families who are already mostly convinced of the benefits of independent education, whether from watching from the outside, or experiencing it first-hand – a good marketing strategy is simply icing on the cake.

Emily Richards, founder of Stickman Consultancy, says characteristics of the ‘post-Covid environment’ (increased mobility between schools, fiercer competition, reduced face-to-face interactions and a more ‘digital first’ approach) are here to stay and must be “adopted as a long-term outlook” in order for schools to have the best chance of surviving, and thriving, in the circumstances.

Even before the pandemic, the world was changing. Parents of older children, or young adults, now don’t have a monopoly over the decision of where a child is educated.

Ben Weston-Conway, global marketing manager and strategy lead at Interactive Schools (and former marketing manager at Manchester High School for Girls) expects this to filter down to the younger years too: “Universities and sixth form colleges used to be decided by parents more, whereas now it’s actually the young person themselves deciding. I think even 10–11-year-olds will start to have a bigger say in the next five to 10 years.”

The pupils themselves are changing too – Weston-Conway calls them “activist consumers” – and now expect their school to be well-informed and ready to have discussions about matters such as inclusion and discrimination. He says: “Young people are very well read on specific issues and they want to align with, or buy from, brands that align with their values.”

The solution(s)

The right marketing strategy can improve reputation, leading to higher parent satisfaction, better-quality staff recruitment, healthier school finances and improved resources for schools, and therefore better results, ultimately driving pupil admissions. But how?

“Figure out what the school would say if it had a voice. What is its personality?” says Weston-Conway.

Entrican explains how this can look in practice: “Our previous marketing manager spent many months conversing with professional teams to ensure that our website was appealing but also demonstrated our ethos. The team that completed our website were invited into school so that they could witness our day-to-day life themselves; this was vital for them to truly understand the York House character.”

Figure out what the school would say if it had a voice. What is its personality? – Ben Weston-Conway, Interactive Schools

Conversely, Weston-Conway suggests doing away with a designated marketing department, if it’s not absolutely necessary, in favour of a less fixed approach – the idea being that a school’s brand can be strong enough to speak for itself, and its staff and pupils become in-house marketers. As he puts it: “It’s everybody’s job to market the school. You could have a great website, a great Twitter account, whatever it might be, but that could be papering over the cracks.”

Listening to staff, pupils and parents (through surveys and focus groups) is key to developing a good marketing strategy, as is listening to conversations happening in society at large.

“As a sector we’re very good at celebrating our achievements and telling people how great we are. I think if we’d have spent a lot more time listening over the last five years, we wouldn’t have a lot of the problems that schools have faced around societal issues like racism,” says Weston-Conway.

As activist consumers, pupils are looking for more than lessons, they want their schools to be plugged in to the world around them and willing to move with the times, but a school cannot create a brand message to reflect this without doing the work first. In order to be believed, schools must first “believe in what they are doing”.

Brand hero vs brand guardian

Used well, social media and video can help build brand awareness, allow schools to reach specific audiences and develop a less corporate voice. Of course, there is the double-edged sword of virality to be aware of – both good and bad messages can spread like wildfire.

Whilst schools must know the potential pitfalls of viral content and online reputations, they must avoid becoming passive ‘brand guardians’. Instead of merely protecting the brand from harm, schools should actively tell the stories that make the institution unique and form its character.

Weston-Conway explains: “We need brand heroes, who are doing more proactive things to share and showcase the school’s values. If the only time we try and indicate what the school’s values are is when things go wrong, then that’s not good marketing communication. If we’re looking for positive ways to shape people’s opinions about what our school values are, we’re going to get more success.”

Power of three

We can distil all of these elements down to a three-part solution. This will give you a good start and an easy base to return to, should the strategy at times run away with itself.

● Authenticity – look inwards and find what your school stands for, what its story and message is. This could be its history, or it could be a certain value made central to the school’s ethos, but either way it must be true in order to work as a marketing tool.

● Humanity – however this ‘story’ is communicated, a human touch will often mean more than a formal, corporate attitude, but this can be done in shades without compromising existing messages or tone. Look at how your school is using social media to speak directly to your families.

● Curiosity – be willing to embrace change, both in the DNA of your school’s branding and how it is communicated, in order to not be left behind in an increasingly environment. Ask whether your institution is doing enough listening, in the right way, to the right voices.

You might also like: Marketing on a mini budget

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Social media

Of course. It’s the most effective, low- or no-budget tool for school marketers. Used right it can create some useful chatter about your school and attract the attention of a very wide audience. ‘Boosting’ (paying to spread) a social post is perhaps the cheapest form of advertising you’ll ever come across. Each social channel has its niche and even TikTok is now a place for schools to strut their stuff.

Parents

Another freebie. Why not ask families with property alongside a busy road or near a roundabout to display an open-day banner? One school we know asked every parent to put a sticker bearing the school name and logo on their car window if they wanted to access the school site. Liveried school buses are a moving advertisement for your school too.

Facilities

Hire them out to local groups and clubs or host free events to attract prospective families to the school campus – your school’s spaces can be great earners when they would otherwise be empty.

Anything digital

Avoid the astronomical cost of professional printing (and save some trees). Switch to e-newsletters, e-shots and e-prospectuses – the bespoke tailored varieties are particularly effective and there’s no wastage when they need to be updated.

Online forms are preferable to reams of paper to fill in (and you don’t have to spend hours deciphering parents’ biro). Most correspondence is by email these days so no need to splash out on luxurious embossed headed notepaper either.

Editorial coverage

Persuading an editor to run your school’s news story is like advertising, but better (because readers trust it more) – and free of charge. Add to that the excellent job of social media marketing that many publishers rely on these days to draw readers to their news sites – where the paid-for advertising is – and your news story can be shared around the globe without you parting with a penny.

Just craft an attention-grabbing media release, add a print-quality image and email it to editors of relevant newspapers and magazines, and soon it could be your school a lot of people are reading all about.

Small ads

That said, some advertising is well worth the price, particularly if it is a small ad and a small price. Parish and community magazines are particularly good value – advertising can cost as little as £50 but gets your school onto the doormats of families living in a precisely defined area, which is perfect if you are looking for a way to promote stops on a school bus route, for example.

These are often home-produced, content-thirsty publications, so if you’re prepared to pen a short article on a topic of educational or local interest then the editor may well like to use it to fill a page at no cost to you, but with the chance of attracting the attention of the parents of a future pupil.

Go on the road

Take part in a local event, sponsor a prize at the county show or a race at the district swimming gala. Raising the profile of the school in the local area helps to remind families of your existence and shows that your school is approachable and keen to be part of the community – all for little or no outlay.

Similarly, offering to share your facilities with local state schools, nurseries or groups, or even lend a teacher for a specialist lesson (languages or technology, for example) or session (forest school is immensely popular), is not only the right thing to do, but it raises awareness of your school, its facilities and its expertise.

Get your hands dirty

Use the skills you have rather than calling in the professionals and you could save yourself a small fortune. For example, most website content management systems work in a similar way so it’s worth learning how to add and delete pages, amend menus and change type styles, or even design new templates to tide you over.

Canva is a godsend – marketers are now designing their own decent small ads, social media graphics and snappy animations. Learning to shoot, direct and edit your own video is also a huge money-saver. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and marketing on a mini budget can be a fun challenge to cut costs using the most valuable of marketers’ commodities – cleverness and creativity.

You might also like: School marketing – the new challenges

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Horris Hill School, near Newbury, was founded on its present site in 1888 and educates boys aged from four to 13.

“This is a hugely exciting opportunity [which will] secure a bright future for the school,” said chair of governors, Marina Lund.

Forfar Education has unveiled extensive refurbishment plans for Horris Hill, including new STEM and art facilities, an adventure playground and an outdoor forest school. The sports hall, as well as boarding and staff accommodation, will also be comprehensively overhauled.

A purpose-built nursery is slated to open in 2022, plans for an indoor swimming pool are currently being studied and there is also active consideration of proposals to make Horris Hill co-educational.

One thing that will not be changing is the school’s day-to-day management, with the current team all set to remain in situ for the coming academic year.

“[Horris Hill] is and will remain one of the great preparatory schools,” said John Forsyth, founder and CEO of Forfar Education.

“[The school] will continue to build children’s confidence and ensure that they are well-positioned to access the right schools for them, be they academic, artistic or athletic,” added Forsyth.

“Its proximity to London and its regular transport to London, Marlborough and Winchester means that, for a small school, it has a truly global appeal.

“Its newly opened lower school, as well as the new nursery planned for next year, will help to ensure that Horris Hill becomes firmly rooted in the local community. Forfar aims to underpin the legacy of the founders by continuing to carry out the duty of preserving the school’s character and high educational standards. We are proud to be part of the next chapter of Horris Hill’s long history of excellence.”

The post Forfar Education acquires Horris Hill School appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The Fast Forward 50 campaign celebrates the 18^th birthday of the Arnold Foundation, which works with organisations and schools to identify children who would benefit from a boarding place at Rugby School.

There are currently 27 Foundation students at Rugby; Fast Forward 50 aims to increase that number to 40.

The Foundation is the first of its kind to offer fully funded boarding places at an independent school and has provided a Rugby education for 145 people. The model has been adopted by the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation.

“Rugby is an independent school but it is not a school of entitlement. It is a privilege to come here, and we want many more clever, talented children to do so,” said Peter Green, executive head master of Rugby School Group.

Rugby is an independent school but it is not a school of entitlement – Peter Green, Rugby School Group

“Children with determination and potential, from circumstances that would normally prohibit entry to an independent school. To give them the chance, and the support, to enjoy working hard, to try all the activities a boarding school offers, to extend their horizons and discover the direction they want to take in their lives.

“The Arnold Foundation is generously funded by donors across the world who support the programme’s philosophy that ‘where you come from is not the point; where you are going is’.

“I am grateful to those donors, and also to Patrick Derham, my predecessor, for establishing the programme. It was a revolutionary step to take and is now an integral part of the ethos of the school.”

Find out more about the Arnold Foundation and the people who have benefitted from it

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