Community and Partnerships at Freemen's

Partnership working at Freemen's

It has been wonderful to have a more settled year this year both in terms of what we have been able to do as a School and, in particular, in terms of bringing together a fuller and more varied series of activities and engagements with our community partners.

We continue to celebrate being part of the City Family of Schools and the work that we do with our colleagues and friends in this context benefits pupils from wide-ranging backgrounds. One of the things I am most proud of at Freemen’s is the work that we do in supporting bursary awards and I am hugely grateful for the support we receive from the City connections that we are so fortunate to have, not least with Livery.

Bursary provision, partnership work and supporting the community are key strands in the School’s Mission Statement, learn, lead and make a difference, and feature significantly in our strategic intent. The principles go back to our founders’ charitable intentions for the School, and we hope this engages our students with the important concept of service and giving which will perhaps become an important part of their future profile.

I am tremendously thankful to colleagues who have given of their time and skills to enable this important work

to take place and the many pupils in the School who engage with such passion with the concept of serving others.

I am very grateful to Catherine Bennett, who has been leading on this important area of Freemen’s life and whose relentless drive for creating new alliances and projects is much appreciated. Should you wish to find out more about what we do or should you have suggestions about how we can develop new partners in the future, please do not hesitate to contact Catherine via email, Catherine.bennett@freemens.org.

Roland Martin Headmaster City of London Freemen’s School

Our Community and Partnership Work in Numbers

2.4% of Freemen’s pupils receive a means-tested bursary covering a portion of their fees.

2% of Freemen’s pupils receive a ‘significant’ bursary, i.e. covering 80% or more of their fees.

127 pupils currently in receipt of financial assistance, including bursaries, scholarships and ad-hoc funding.

Over 250 students and parents from 10 schools (including Freemen’s) attended our annual careers fair.

21 state and 20 independent schools participated in partnership activities organised by Freemen’s during 2022.

Over 110 students from 12 schools took part in our 11th annual Love Languages competition.

3,030 hours of voluntary service completed as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

4,500 hours spent by staff and governors participating in partnership and community activities.

Our Economic Impact

Total contribution to UK GDP: £29,736,380

Total contribution to the GDP of Mole Valley Local District Authority: £14,722,868

Total amount of UK Tax supported by Freemen’s activities: £8,092,034

Total number of UK jobs supported by Freemen’s activities: 331

Source: ISC Economic Impact Assessment Tool

“Every child flourishing, in every school, in every community, underpins the City of London’s vision for education. Harnessing our collective responsibility to help all our learners is vital in achieving, regardless of where they come from or what school they attend. As can be seen from this report, there is splendid work happening within all our schools to support collaborations across schools and to improve outcomes for all children and young people.

Partnerships improve student achievement, engagement and wellbeing. Teachers also benefit through such collaborations, as teachers become part of a wider learning community – a place where teachers can deepen their knowledge, reflect on their practices, and work together to address shared challenges. By unleashing the combined knowledge and unique strengths of all schools in every sector, we can provide every pupil with the knowledge, capabilities and attitudes that will enable them to flourish throughout their lives.”

Professor Anne Bamford OBE Strategic Director of Education and Culture, City of London Corporation

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

Trustee from the Sue Thomson Foundation

“It is a privilege to be able to give a talented and motivated young person the opportunity to thrive, excel and be happy at a school that provides a rigorous academic structure and extensive super curricular activities, alongside consistent support and kindness.”

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 and Eastside Young Leaders Academy, to identify students who would benefit from a full-boarding education at Freemen’s.

Each year, current bursary students return to Eastside Young Leaders Academy, to talk to their Year 10 and 11 students about life as a boarder at Freemen’s.

One of our current bursary students explains what a bursary has meant to them. “It quite honestly changes your life. The bursaries are given to people from deprived backgrounds with academic potential. Receiving the Freemen’s bursary has provided an environment that encourages a high academic standard, whilst being given numerous opportunities that I would never have received.”

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

City of London Corporation

Individual donors, including donations for music bursaries (piano and guitar)

Bhargava Award

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

Bursary Support

Freemen’s staff fundraiser

A group of staff from Freemen’s undertook a mid-winter trek in the Cambrian mountains in Wales, walking the equivalent of a Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition, to raise money for the school Bursary Fund.

Our intrepid explorers walked for four days through wild and remote territory, carrying with them everything they needed to survive; sleeping in tents, sourcing water from streams and reservoirs and even digging their own toilets!

82 people donated a total of £3,020 towards the Bursary Fund, as a result of the staff fundraising trek.

Student entrepreneurs raise money for Bursary Fund at Christmas Fair

Teams of students across the year groups Upper 4 (Year 9) through to Lower 6 (Year 12) collectively made a profit of £450 at the School Christmas Fair, following weeks of planning and learning how to set up their own business as part of the Success in Business co-curricular club.

With a maximum of £10 per person start-up capital, the students were given the opportunity to run their own business with the aim of creating a product to sell at the Christmas Fair with all profits to be given to the school Bursary Fund.

Each week the students were introduced to a new set of skills; from financing a business, finding gaps in the market to the merchandising and selling of their products.

All Craft & Co focused on sustainable craft and created a wide range of Christmas craft products from draught excluders to candle holders. Under the supervision of a teacher, the students were able to produce a number of their products in the Design Technology department during their lunchtimes in November.

Bursary Fundraising at Christmas Fair

Lockd Memories were a team of Lower 6 (Year 12) students who gave customers the opportunity to have photos taken with a Christmas backdrop and then have them converted to key rings.

A team of Upper 5 (Year 11) students kept to the sustainable theme with Loose Leaf. They selected high-quality tea leaves and packaged them in tea caddies, which customers were able to decorate and personalise for family members. The caddies proved to be very popular and were sold out early on in the day.

Channel created their own logo branded street wear.

All the teams showed they had the necessary skills to succeed in business, demonstrating hard work, determination, teamwork, leadership and resilience. Well done to all those involved!

Partnership Projects

Ski clothing collection for Ukrainian refugees

One of our Sixth Form students launched an appeal for warm clothing, having heard there was a particular need to support a collection started by skiers from the Alps, who were at the Polish border helping coordinate assistance for families crossing the border from Ukraine. The response from the Freemen’s community was overwhelming, the quality and quantity of the donated clothes was truly heartwarming.

Over 70 boxes of clothes were dispatched from school, but given the incredible amount of donations, the cost of transport exceeded what was originally budgeted for. A number of parents kindly offered to contribute towards the cost of transport and a crowdfunding page was set up, receiving over £1,400 in donations towards transport.

Clothing not suitable for Ukraine was taken to a local charity shop supporting Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People.

Partnership Projects

Future Pathways Careers Fair

In November each year, Freemen’s holds a careers and university fair, involving over 20 companies and 25 universities, along with a number of organisations specialising in gap years abroad. This year, we had over 250 students and parents from 10 local schools (including Freemen’s) attend the fair.

Attendees could listen to talks given by the Admissions Department from the University of Bath and also a talk about apprenticeships as an alternative to university, given by a representative from ALPS Partnership Limited.

Careers talks

Careers talks are a regular feature throughout the year in the Freemen’s Upper School calendar. All talks are now shared via Microsoft Teams to enable our partner schools to watch the presentations and also take part in the Question and Answer session afterwards. Recordings of the talks are shared with all City of London schools and our local partner schools.

Freemen’s alumni regularly return to school to give presentations to current students about their career and/or the course they studied at university. Over the past year, alumni have talked about a variety of undergraduate courses including Law, Product Design and Engineering, as well as a diverse range of careers such as a professional Photographer, Architect, Leadership Consultant and the Secretary General of the United Nations representative in Albania!

A number of female alumni joined us for a panel discussion as part of our International Women’s Day celebrations. Panellists discussed the obstacles and gender biases they have faced in reaching their career goals and shared advice about finding a career path that allows you to pursue your passion.

Model United Nations Conference

45 students from three local state schools joined together with students from Freemen’s to debate a wide range of topics such as “The question of economic inclusion of refugees”, “The question of removal of individual state armies” and “The question of sweatshops”.

Over 20 Freemen’s students from Upper 4 (Year 9) to Lower 6 (Year 12) Chaired and Co-chaired the committees, including teaching younger pupils how to participate in a conference. The L6 students were involved in the organisation of the conference, as part of their Free Minds programme. Three alumni returned to help with the conference, beginning with short presentations at the start of the day about their memories of previous MUN conferences at Freemen’s and the skills they gained as a result.

Primary school Science Day

A science teacher from Freemen’s, who is also a Governor at one of the local state Infant Schools, organised and ran a Science Day for all pupils at the Infant School, with support from other staff at Freemen’s. All pupils had the opportunity to take part in three sessions, Exploring Magnets, Electrical Circuits and Chromatography.

Love Languages annual competition

Over 110 students from 12 schools (including Freemen’s), took part in Freemen’s 11th annual Love Languages competition. Students sang, danced and recited poetry, with an array of colourful costumes and inventive props on display, all based on the theme, ‘Nature and the environment’.

Partnership Projects

Freemen’s Global enrichment workshops

Since the start of the academic year, Freemen’s Global has been conducting fortnightly enrichment sessions covering a variety of topics, involving students from the British International School in Ukraine, St Constantine’s International School in Tanzania, International School of Bremen, British Education Korea and the International School of Florence.

The workshops are delivered via state-of-the-art technology initially developed for Harvard University. The Enrichment Programme has covered topics such as preparing for employment, the impact on job prospects of your global footprint, community leadership and academic skills development.

One workshop focussed on the importance of celebrating ‘Light’ in every culture. The session, conducted by Head of Freemen’s Global, David Boddy, examined the different forms of Light, including the ‘light of speech’. Young Ukrainians told a series of deeply moving stories about how they had kept their spirits high as their homes were attacked. Students from Tanzania told fellow students they found incredible inspiration from the stories, filling them with gratitude for their own situation.

Commenting on the session, David Boddy said, “Our Global classroom, using the most sophisticated technology to link young people together from all over the world, is bringing a depth of understanding, tolerance and compassion to our next generation, which I think the world sorely needs.”

Primary school mini-athletics competition

A number of local state primary schools participated in a mini-athletics tournament, organised and run by Freemen’s Sports department. Pupils took part in a carousel of activities, including throwing, sprinting, long jump, relay races and an obstacle course.

A group of students from Freemen’s provided support throughout the afternoon. Awards were presented to pupils from each school who demonstrated ‘learn, lead and make a difference’.

Volunteering, Community Service and Fundraising

Jubilee celebrations

Lower 3 (Year 6) pupils created Jubilee themed decorations for a local charity who support people with learning disabilities. The decorations were delivered by the pupils ahead of the charity’s Platinum Jubilee Garden Party.

Junior School sponsored silence

A pupil in Lower 4 (Year 8) put forward the idea of a Junior School sponsored silence, to raise money for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine fund. The majority of students took part, raising a total of £1,179 for the DEC Ukraine fund.

Junior School connection to local Care Home

Our Form 1 (Year 3) pupils have had a relationship with a local care home for many years and 2022 was no exception. Early in the year, pupils wrote letters and sent bookmarks to residents; during the summer term, pupils entertained residents in their communal garden and in December, pupils spent an afternoon singing carols, followed by a visit from Santa!

Random Acts of Kindness day

Ahead of Random Acts of Kindness Day, the Junior School Council met to discuss how Junior School pupils could make a positive difference in the local community. Of the many thoughtful and creative ideas put forward, the Council decided pupils would have the opportunity to produce and decorate bookmarks, to be given to older members of the local church community and also pupils at the local infant school. Boarding students also decided to commemorate the day by decorating pebbles with positive messages, which were given to local elderly parishioners.

Volunteering, Community Service and Fundraising

Enrichment

All students at Freemen’s take part in an Enrichment session on a weekly basis. Some activities take place on the school site, whilst others involve students going out into the local community. Here are a couple of examples of partnership work in the local community.

Visits to local Care Home

Food bank collection

The annual request for our Harvest collection in aid of the local food bank received a fantastic response from the Freemen’s community, with over 351kg of food being donated – equivalent to 292 meals! Due to the huge amount of interest, food bank collections will now take place on a termly basis.

Junior School sponsored walk

All pupils in the Junior School took part in a sponsored walk to raise money for one of their nominated charities, Great Ormond Street Hospital. A total of £2,347 was raised as a result of the walk.

As part of our weekly Enrichment programme, groups of Lower 6 (Year 12) students have been visiting a local Care Home for over ten years, including a visit at the end of the autumn term for a highly competitive Christmas Quiz!

Primary School language classes

Also undertaken during the weekly Enrichment lessons, a group of Lower 6 (Year 12) students visit a local primary school to conduct French lessons with pupils. Another great example of ‘learn, lead and make a difference’.

Duke of Edinburgh

Many students at Freemen’s decide to undertake one or more Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards, with a total of 141 pupils achieving their awards during 2022, either directly through the School or via the Combined Cadet Force. 97 students gained a Bronze award, 36 Silver and 8 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.

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 leader the CCF unit involving a total of 143 cadets and 14 members of staff from Freemen’s and a local partner state school. One highlight from 2022 involved acting as volunteer marshalls at the Shere Hill Climb event, an annual race involving over 240 vehicles.

The awards completed during 2022 represent approximately:

• 3,030 hours of voluntary service

• 2,695 hours of physical activity

• 2,695 hours of learning new skills

• 668 days on expedition

• 40 days of other residential activities (Gold only)

Volunteering, Community Service and Fundraising

A large number of staff at Freemen’s regularly undertake voluntary work outside of school hours. Here are some of the roles fulfilled by staff:

Organised a concert to raise money for the NSPCC

Taught dance at refugee summer school

School Finance Governor Scout leader

Volunteer at homeless shelter Lead church services

Compassionate neighbour at a hospice

Provide free hot meals to local families

School SEN Governor Mentoring teachers

Taught English at refugee summer school

Running a netball club at local primary school

School Governor Parish Safeguarding Officer

Support CCF at another school Member of Royal Events Team

Distribute food to homeless people in London

Raised over £2,900 to support bereaved families

Direct church choir

Worship leader

Mentors new and aspirant headteachers

Foundation GovernorSEN and Science

School Initiatives

Diversity and Inclusion

The Freemen’s Diversity and Equality Council, set up by a group of Year 13 students in 2020, continues to go from strength-to-strength, leading assemblies and discussions about current social issues, as well as providing opportunities for students to feed ideas back to teachers.

As part of Diversity Week, Form 1 (Year 3) and Lower 2 (Year 4) pupils spent a games afternoon with a coach from Surrey Visually Impaired (VI) cricket team and two teenagers who play for Hampshire and England VI teams.

The youngest members of our community eagerly took part in a range of VI cricket games before rounding off the afternoon putting some very insightful questions to our guests. A local youth charity also ran a pop-up cake stall, which was very popular with the parents who came to watch!

National Refugee Week Ration Challenge

Three members of staff took part in the annual Ration Challenge, in aid of Concern Worldwide, eating the same amount of food for a week as a refugee living in a camp in Syria. Over £2,060 was raised, to help support families around the world who are living in refugee camps.

As part of Refugee Week, Lower 5 (Year 10) pupils took part in a session led by the local refugee network, including hearing first-hand from a Ukrainian refugee who had just moved to the UK. Pupils created resources to welcome and help Ukrainian refugees who are new to the area, including interactive maps of London and messages in both English and Ukrainian.

Sustainability: Eco-Schools Green Flag Award

Pupils at Freemen’s have been recognised for their amazing work during 2022, making the school even more environmentally friendly and raising eco-awareness with fellow pupils.

The school’s Eco-Committee was awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag with Merit by Eco-Schools, an education programme that prompts young people to explore sustainability and climate change and take action.

Pupils at Freemen’s conducted an environmental review, assessing how eco-friendly the school is. They reviewed everything from the school’s recycling practices, to waste, to how environmental themes are covered in classrooms. Building on their findings, the pupils and Eco Coordinator planned a year of activities that would raise their green credentials.

School Initiatives

Sustainability: Eco-Schools Green Flag Award (continued)

The group connected their work to three Eco-Schools topics: recycling, sustainability and waste. Activities included regular assemblies, new recycling initiatives such as a ‘pencil case clearout’ at the end of each term, with unwanted pens, felt tips, highlighters and markers sent to Terracycle for recycling. Crisp packet recycling continued, with more than 100 kilos of empty crisps being recycled, boxed and sent to Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance, to be made into park benches.

“I am incredibly proud of the commitment and enthusiasm shown by our students in ensuring we are always moving forward making Freemen’s a more sustainable and environmentally friendly school,” said Ofelia Bueno-Lopez, Head of Geography.

Eco-Schools England Manager, Adam Flint, added: “Earning an Eco-Schools Green Flag Award takes passion, commitment and a desire to make a difference. Pupils should be proud of their great work. They’re an inspiration and it makes us feel heartened and positive about the future of our planet.”

Textbooks sent to charity in Africa

Over 2,500 textbooks no longer needed by Freemen’s, have been sent to the charity Books2Africa.

Books2Africa’s mission is to promote a culture of ‘readcycling’ and improve the quality of education in Africa, through the collection, processing, shipping and distribution of quality books, computers and educational materials that equip individuals, institutions and communities to acquire knowledge and achieve their full potential in a globalised world.

Blazers donated to school in India

Following the introduction of a new uniform, the Eco-Committee organised a collection of blazers no longer needed by students. A student in Lower 6 (Year 12) took 85 donated blazers to a school in India, run by her family. The remaining blazers have been donated to mbora, a social enterprise in Malawi.

Big Book Swap and Donate

Junior School pupils took part in a giant recycling book event, giving them the opportunity to 'recycle' any books they no longer wanted, in the name of a good cause, whilst hopefully finding something new to read for themselves. We asked pupils to give two books away and take one to keep (or give four and take two etc.). Boxes of books left over were donated to the library of a local primary school.

Supporting a local homeless charity, Amber Foundation

When a new centre for homeless young adults opened in Dorking, Freemen’s donated a pool table, piano, desks and chairs. Staff also kindly donated unwanted DVDs, books and a television.

Beds given to local refugee families

Freemen’s was delighted to donate beds from the old Medical Centre to The Besom Charity in Ashtead. The Besom helps people make a difference and provides a bridge between those who want to give time, money, items or skills and those you are in need, ensuring what is given is used effectively. The beds were delivered to local refugee families within days of leaving Freemen’s.

The Future

It has been wonderful to see partnership work return to normal this year, following the end of restrictions due to Covid-19. Our work within the local community and beyond, has continued to grow and prosper during 2022, with partnership activities led by Freemen’s involving a total of 41 schools (21 state and 20 independent), benefitting hundreds of young people, creating opportunities for leadership, teambuilding and improving general wellbeing, to name just a few of the benefits of working with others for mutual benefit.

Partnership work with other City of London Schools has continued to increase, with Freemen’s students participating in City projects focussed on Art, Maths and Oracy, as well as music concerts and sharing teaching and learning knowledge via reciprocal visits with City of London and City of London School for Girls.

Looking ahead to 2023, there are four major partnership projects being launched in the first half of the year: a partnership with two schools in Star Academies Trust, Refugee Buddy Club, a GCSE booster course for City Academy Schools and a City Virtual School Oracy programme.

Partnership with Star Academy Schools

In January 2023, Freemen’s launched a new partnership with Bay Leadership Academy and The Valley Leadership Academy in Lancashire, who are part of Star Academies Trust. A selected group of Year 10 students in both schools will benefit from bespoke mentoring support, careers talks, visits to Freemen’s and the opportunity to apply for a full boarding bursary for Years 12 and 13. Freemen’s careers talks are now being made available to partner schools, including all City of London Schools and the two Star Academy Schools.

Refugee Buddy Club

Also in January, a group of 24 Freemen’s students took part in training sessions on coaching, safeguarding and learning more about refugee families living in the UK. In collaboration with Epsom and Ewell Refugee Network, the Club was launched to provide one-to-one support with English language skills for local refugee families from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria. A number of teachers from Freemen’s provide language support for parents whilst their children are paired up with students from Freemen’s. Transport is provided for families who wish to attend in-person each week, whilst other young people chat via Teams.

The Future

GCSE maths and English booster course for City Academy Schools

Following a successful bid for funding from the City of London Partnerships Grant, Freemen’s hosted 40 Year 11 students from four City of London Academies (COLA); namely, COLA Islington, COLA Shoreditch Park, COLA Southwark and City Academy, Hackney. Students benefitted from lessons in maths and English, as well as a workshop focussed on public speaking skills. The programme targeted students currently working at Grade 6, who have the potential to achieve Grade 7 or above, thereby supporting each School’s ‘Progress 8’ measure.

City Virtual School Oracy programme

Also using funding from the City of London Partnerships Grant, Freemen’s will be hosting a group of students from the City Virtual School over two weekends in May and June. Some students will stay overnight, whilst others will travel to Ashtead each day, ensuring the programme is accessible to as many students as possible. Freemen’s Director of Drama will lead a programme of workshops, supported by students from Freemen’s, focussing on improving oracy skills –

highlighted as an area for improvement by the Head of the Virtual School.

The breadth and depth of partnership work undertaken by the Freemen’s community continues to grow and develop each year. This booklet aims to give an insight into the range of activities which took place during 2022, as well as looking ahead to future projects.

The community at Freemen’s continues to live and breathe the School’s Mission, “to learn, to lead and to make a difference”, as we strive to provide the best possible educational outcomes for our pupils and those at our partner schools.

Catherine Bennett Development, Community & Partnerships Manager catherine.bennett@freemens.org