The modern world we are preparing students for is as diverse, as rich and as multifaceted as one could imagine. It can only be of benefit to our community that we educate in such a similarly mixed atmosphere by offering bursaries to young people. Teacher
Bursaries: Taking positive action to transform lives at Fettes College Fettes is committed to transforming lives. We offer bursary awards to ambitious young men and women who would not ordinarily be in a position to benefit from a Fettes education. Increasing philanthropic income towards bursaries is therefore a key priority for the Fettes Foundation.
Breaking down barriers We want to break down barriers to ensure the most deserving children have access to a Fettes education. To do this, we are beginning to take a more active approach towards recruiting bursary pupils in need of fully funded places and welcoming them into our inspirational community. In 2018 Fettes’ first pupil recruited via the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, the UK’s biggest boarding school bursary charity, joined our Sixth Form. We are looking forward to welcoming two more SpringBoard pupils in 2019.
Kick-starting our ambitions Our ambitions received a fantastic boost recently when the Fettes Foundation received an anonymous gift of £1.2 million towards Fettes Kick-start, a new programme we have developed to actively recruit two 11 year old children, from low income families in Edinburgh, into First Form at the Prep School each year. This transformative donation will enable us to provide full
bursarial support for these pupils to ‘kick-start’ their Fettes education. We are working closely with six partner Primary Schools in some of the most deprived areas of Edinburgh to identify and recruit our first two Kick-start pupils to join Fettes in September 2019. We firmly believe that these children will benefit greatly from joining Fettes in the fun, caring and
nurturing environment of our Prep School. They will have two years there to acclimatise, make friends and learn new skills, standing them in excellent stead for life in the Senior School. Throughout their time at Fettes, these pupils will develop their talents in a pastoral environment that is second to none and, in time, we hope their experience will give them the confidence and tools to make their dreams come true.
I am delighted that we are able to launch our own initiative to actively recruit some of the most deserving of students from low income families in Edinburgh to Fettes, thanks to this unprecedented level of philanthropic support towards bursaries. I am deeply grateful for this donation and for donations the Foundation has received since then towards this exciting project. I am also indebted to the Head Teachers and staff at our partner schools who have worked closely with us to develop Fettes Kick-start and to select suitable candidates for consideration. Without their warm welcome and commitment to this project we would have been unable to make the significant progress we have done to date. This project is a real step-change for Fettes and everyone involved is looking forward to our first Kick-start pupils joining the Fettes family later this year. Peter Worlledge, Bursar