Funding Futures Report 2022

FUNDING FUTURES

Our Funding Futures Programme was launched in May 2021 and seeks to enable our School to be as open and accessible as it possibly can be through the provision of bursaries as well as our partnerships and outreach projects.

Thanks to the generous support of donors to our Bursaries Endowment Fund, our Bursaries Annual Fund and our Social Impact Fund, we have been able both to fund the education of numerous children at Oundle and make an important contribution to our partnerships work with schools in the state sector. These donations have had an immediate impact; supporting children this year, as well as allowing us to continue to do so in the future.

We hope this report illuminates the difference we are able to make and the positive benefit the Funding Futures programme has on our pupils and the young people in our region. We are immeasurably grateful for your continuing support and, on behalf of all the children who have benefitted, we would like to assure you of our sincerest thanks.

SOCIAL IMPACT FUND

The newly-launched Social Impact Fund is designed to support Oundle’s outreach to state-sector pupils in our region and our partnerships with their schools. In so doing we share all of the facilities and resources with which we are blessed, optimising their usage and their impact, whilst learning as much from our partners as they do from us.

Further partnerships with tertiary level institutions allow us to draw in additional expertise, with Oundle providing a regional base and local connections for university outreach programmes. We have a unique partnership with Imperial College London and employ an Imperial College London Outreach Fellow who teaches Science both at Oundle and at our partner schools.

The fund has proved a popular option for donors since the inception of Funding Futures and it has already made a number of significant contributions. The first enabled us to fund expertise for our Midweek Maths sessions (part of our wider ExpertEd Live programme) which reaches hundreds of families online and encourages capable children and their parents to learn and discuss Maths together.

It has also provided transport for children from Corby to Oundle, enabling them to attend our Saturday STEM Potential Workshops, which are part of our partnership with Imperial College London. For many of the ten bright and eager children who have recently joined the programme, the cost of travel would have been an insurmountable barrier to participation were it not for the Social Impact Fund.

YOU GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AND EXPERIENCE THINGS THAT I WOULDN’T OTHERWISE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO AND I GREATLY APPRECIATE YOU HELPING MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.” A STEM POTENTIAL PUPIL

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been part of the Springboard journey since its inception, offering at least one fully funded bursary place each year to children facing some of the most challenging circumstances. The Head, Sarah Kerr-Dineen, is a member of the advisory board and we are also pleased to be a part of the SpringForward online mentoring scheme

12 or 13 students in care on their journey to university, for which a number of Oundle teaching staff have volunteered.

has also joined forces with the Ormiston Academies Trust to provide a jointly funded Sixth Form place at Oundle. Our first OAT Scholar gained a place at Cambridge in 2020 and our third OAT Scholar joined us in September 2022.

PUPIL STORIES

Dear Benefactor

I cannot possibly convey my gratitude for your selfless funding of my education. Without the opportunities that Oundle has presented me, I question whether I would be half the man I am today.

Throughout my time at Oundle, I have specialised and found my passion within several subject areas, Classics being that which I will continue at university. My other A levels, Philosophy and Psychology have also been vital interest areas. They have taught me constantly to question to question the value of a situation and delve deeper to a more complete and rounded understanding.

Absent of the support and quality of teaching offered to me, the prospect of higher education would be a distant hope. Thanks to your kind generosity, this hope has been realised, with university offers from all five of my choices, including Durham and King’s College London.

Further, I have had the opportunity to mature my inclination for music at Oundle, owing to the abundance of extra curricular activities, outstanding teaching, and a keen musical culture at the School. The chance to develop my group and solo skills has been crucial in this area. I have had the opportunity to take up three new instruments and achieve grade 8 ABRSM singing. Without the availability of Oundle’s Music department, I certainly wouldn’t have the aptitude nor confidence to continue my pursuit of music to university and beyond.

Your inspiring kindness has shaped me into the person I am today – both the philanthropic act itself, as well as the cognisance that it’s possible and important to help others with personal success.

Oundle will always hold a special place in my heart, with your selfless act as an integral component. I hope to replicate your actions in the future and give someone else the chance to reach their potential.”

Letter from Pupil A

HE IS EVERYTHING AN OUNDELIAN SHOULD BE: CURIOUS, BUSY, KIND TO OTHERS AND COMMUNITYMINDED. WATCHING HIM GROW INTO THIS EXCELLENT YOUNG MAN HAS BEEN REWARDING. PUPIL A HAS COME SUCH A LONG WAY SINCE HIS BERRYSTEAD DAYS AND IS A GREAT EXAMPLE TO OTHERS OF HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES.”

PUPIL A TUTOR

Pupil A was awarded a 100% + bursary. He gained the equivalent of ABB at A level and went on to read Classics and Archaeology at Durham University.

Pupil

Pupil B

Since she arrived in Oundle she has proved herself to be determined, highly motivated and respected by her peers. Pupil B is an exceptional girl who, throughout her School career, has shown a real drive to embrace all that Oundle has to offer. She has made quite a journey and there is no doubt that she is ready to move on and take up new challenges, but she will leave a positive footprint behind her.

Pupil B is independent and self-regulating and has certainly pulled out all the stops academically. She has worked with industry and determination in order to secure her grades, in fact all her teachers comment on her Trojan work ethic which will serve her well in every stage of her life! She has been a superb contributor to Oundle life and has worked hard as a School Prefect. Pupil B has involved herself in so many areas of School life, it is difficult to highlight them all, but her contribution to the Stahl in particular has been simply outstanding. She has had a role in almost every play in the Stahl since arriving at the School and her exceptional dedication to drama, coupled with her ongoing commitment to the Choir, secured for Pupil B the award of Arts Exhibition.

She should reflect with huge satisfaction on her impressive accolades over the years and know that she has built a strong foundation from which to thrive in the adult world. It is clear that Pupil B is ready for greater independence and the next step. It was wonderful to see her at the Leavers’ Dinner so poised and adult, chattering away to all and sundry with her customary charm and enthusiasm. Pupil B has made some very special friends during her time here and I hope that she will look back on her time at Oundle fondly. She deserves to do very well indeed on results day and I know that she will go on to succeed in so many ways in the years ahead. I wish her every happiness at university and beyond and look forward to following her progress along the way.”

Excerpt from a School Report

‘NOW THAT THE DUST HAS SETTLED ON HER TIME AT OUNDLE, I WANTED TO LOOK BACK AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES SHE HAS HAD AT OUNDLE.” PUPIL B’S FAMILY

Pupil B was awarded a 100% + bursary. She gained the equivalent of A* A* A at A level and went on to read Drama and English at Royal Holloway.

A HOUSEMASTER PERSPECTIVE

As Housemaster of Laundimer for just over ten years, I was privileged to be trusted to guide my charges through the most intriguing years of their schooling. Some of the most impressive young people I met came through Oundle on a bursary award, and the only thing that generally made them stand out from their peers was their quiet ambition to seek out opportunities: that niche extension course offered at Sixth Form only; the chance to dabble in the techie elements of a play production or OSCAR Radio; to put together an application for a travel award to an unknown destination, or simply auditioning for everything on offer, regardless of their immediate talents.

All of these explorations were sought with a high degree of understatement, curiosity and joy. For me, bursary pupils are the ultimate role models for both peers and staff alike, embodying the very best qualities that we hope Oundelians will develop throughout their adult lives. I can say with absolute assurance that Laundimer was a much more interesting and culturally sophisticated place from having these superb individuals within it.”

LIFE AFTER OUNDLE

As siblings, bursaries to Oundle helped us unimaginably. Academically, Oundle catapulted us almost single-handedly to some of the best universities in the country - Oxford, Durham and Exeter. Achieving that, without the help of Oundle, seems rather inconceivable. Affrica and Milo are both beginning promising careers. Affrica is a Strategic Account Manager at a tech start-up, while Milo is a graduate accountant at Ernst Young. My career is yet to be determined!

While academically-focused, Oundle is also a very social School – my five years in a boarding House produced some of the most fun and memorable times in my life to date. Oundle also has a special knack of producing grounded and well-rounded individuals; I would like to think we fit into that category too! Likewise, we have all gained life-long friends. After School we all travelled with Old Oundelians, and those friendships have continued throughout and after university. Affrica and I are currently living with some of those friends, while Milo continues to see his regularly.”

Affrica (N 13), Milo (B 15) and Archie Cook (B 18)

Jonny Hammond-Chambers, Registrar and Former Laundimer Housemaster

The Stainforth Scholarship

Sir David Newbigging (Sc 52) established The Stainforth Scholarship in 1979 to commemorate former Headmaster Graham Stainforth, with one or more appointment every other year thereafter. Thanks to the ongoing generosity of the benefactors of the Newbigging Wilksonson Foundation, the 25th Stainforth Scholar left Oundle in July, with the two current Stainforth Scholars continuing to carry the baton within the School.

I have been lucky in my career and this can be largely attributed to my time at Oundle, where I thoroughly enjoyed my five years at the School. However, of overriding importance was the wide spectrum of people and activities encountered there; I believe this gave me a balanced sense of values which has stood me in good stead since that time.

During the late forties/early fifties when I was at Oundle, the School provided me with stability which was of great help in the immediate post-war period. At that time we were adjusting as a family to a series of events resulting from the War, which resulted in some rather rapid changes in our circumstances. I was not totally aware of the implications, but in retrospect it is clear that Oundle provided both stability and opportunity and I have much to thank the School for as a result.”

Sir David Newbigging (Sc 52)

Since joining Oundle I have had the opportunity to extend and discover new interests, both academic and extra-curricular. Over the past five years of my education, I have been given the support to deepen my interests in topics that extend beyond the limitations of the syllabus of exams, for example through ‘Trivium’ courses. Moreover, living in a boarding House with thirteen other girls who come from all over the world, each with individual interests and values, has exposed me to a wide variety of individuals. Over the last five years, excluding a year of separation due to lockdown, we have all grown up together, creating incredibly strong friendships that I will forever be grateful for. I feel Oundle has offered me both the opportunity to explore my interests, as well as creating friendships that will continue far beyond our last day of School.’

Poppy Duffus, the 25th Stainforth Scholar

John Adams Scholarship

John Adams (S 48) was a generous contributor to our bursary programme throughout his life and the continued generosity of his family enables the award of four substantial awards to promising pupils through the John Adams Scholarship.

The John Adams Scholarship has had a profound effect on my life. It allowed me to go to Oundle, which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible, and therefore to take advantage of the myriad opportunities afforded by a first-rate boarding School. I will forever be grateful for the academic stretch, the sport, the arts, and the education of the whole person that Oundle gave me. I was able to play for the 1st XV while also singing in the choir, and I was never discouraged from thinking that these were incompatible either with each other, or with the very highest academic standards. In a world that seems to encourage young people to specialise earlier and earlier, such an education feels increasingly rare.

Since leaving Oundle, I’ve graduated from Cambridge and ‘Teach First’, a programme that seeks to place graduates into challenging schools. The John Adams Scholarship always made me feel very conscious of how fortunate I was to experience such a privileged education and I wanted to do what I could to extend some of that privilege to those who had less than me. I was particularly lucky to be part of a team that set up a free school in a deprived part of London. Free schools are comprehensive schools that have more autonomy than locally maintained schools, and we wanted to use those freedoms to try and bring together the best of the private and state sectors. The school - Michaela Community School - has now been running for eight years and is one of the top five schools in England for value added. I hope that, in some small way, I’ve been able to give the young people in Wembley some of the education that I was fortunate to receive at Oundle.”

Jonny Porter (C 08)

THE JOHN ADAMS SCHOLARSHIP, STARTED IN 2001 BY MY LATE HUSBAND JOHN ADAMS, WAS A SOURCE OF GREAT PLEASURE TO HIM. I FEEL PRIVILEGED TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THESE YOUNG PEOPLE, NUMBERING 20 OVER THE YEARS, AND TO SEE THEM DEVELOP AND GROW IN SO MANY WAYS WITH ALL THAT OUNDLE HAS TO OFFER.”

MRS ADAMS