5 Issue 6
Artist impressions of the new science building and refectory
The Battersea Rise Trust Last year we established the Battersea Rise Trust with three aims: to increase social mobility through bursaries; to partner with and support local state primary schools; and finally, to improve the school’s facilities to the benefit of all future Emanuel pupils.
Primary Ambitions
a contemporary space for pupils and staff to come together for lunch, as well as being a large space for all manner of other events. It will also create the capacity for us to redevelop some of our existing classrooms, adding additional space and opportunities for music, drama and art. Our aim is that once construction has started, the build can be completed within two years so that current pupils and those involved in our extensive outreach programme can quickly start to benefit.
1) Transformative free places
The current economic climate has meant that we are carefully reviewing our plans. We hope, however, to achieve our aim for the benefit of pupils and staff at the school.
The importance of offering a transformative free place at Emanuel cannot be overstated. We have seen how an education at Emanuel can really change a child’s life and we believe that ensuring diversity in the school benefits the whole community, offering new perspectives and preparing pupils for life after Emanuel.
3) Community partnerships
As we look towards the school’s 430th anniversary in 2024, we have set ourselves some ambitious goals. At the heart of this campaign is our desire to transform our pupils’ futures and the school has committed to welcoming 43 children on a free place by 2024. This year an additional eight students will join us, bringing our total to 30 children on a 100% bursary. Competition for these places has never been higher and this year we saw a fourfold increase in applications for full bursaries. We hold these places for children who would otherwise never be able to attend a school like Emanuel.
2) Modern teaching facilities Over the next 12 months, we will finalise our plans for a new teaching block and refectory. At this stage, we are planning that the new building will be a hub for the sciences, including computing, robotics and coding. This additional provision is essential to offering our pupils access to modern classrooms and providing
The goal of our outreach work is to improve social mobility within the local area. Since launching Primary Ambitions, our Lower Sixth community outreach project last autumn, we have worked with 25 local primary schools and offered over 10,000 hours of education, sport or cultural opportunities to their pupils. Our state partner primary schools are chosen for their high percentage of children qualifying for free school meals, a government indicator for deprivation.
Primary Ambitions The Primary Ambitions programme involves running weekly enrichment sessions for groups of 15 Year 6 pupils from 18 different local state primary schools. Every Friday last year, we welcomed 250 pupils to Emanuel to take part in the programme. Emanuel Lower Sixth students coach and mentor in areas as wide-ranging as gymnastics, filmmaking, languages, drama, politics, maths and science. Feedback from partner primary schools and participating pupils has been overwhelmingly positive. We are extending the programme from September 2020 to include 19 different enrichment options. Initially in the Autumn
