EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
The Head is asking interesting questions of the sector, including areas like privilege and responsibility, which go beyond the usual platitudes. It’s a really interesting school in a tough market, trying to not just survive but actually make something different for the children and families they’re working with
Welcome to this review of St Dunstan’s Charity, Community and Partnerships work for 2021-2022.
St Dunstan’s today is an educational charity whose purpose is to offer more to its Lewisham community than an independent education for those with the means to access it. As a valuesrooted organisation, St Dunstan’s believes in a broader educational purpose that supports the ongoing aspirations for the betterment of Lewisham and its residents. Furthermore, we believe that as an educational charity, our pupils, staff and parents benefit from such work, and that it aligns with our forward-thinking approach to education in seeking to promote high achievement without arrogance, and as a consequence of the values-driven, broad and liberal education we proudly offer.
It is therefore with great pleasure that I present this summary of our community and partnerships work for the past year. I hope you enjoy reading through all that has been achieved. We are keen to embrace lively and imaginative partnerships that provide mutual benefit to all parties and we would be delighted to hear from you over future collaborations that align with our objectives.
Mr Nick Hewlett Head
Aschool has been associated with the parish of St Dunstan’s in the East as far back as 1446. As far as we can tell, this school ran, intermittingly, until the early 16th century, and provided an education for girls and boys aged 7-11, in heart of the City of London.
In the Victorian period, and amidst the opportunities of the Industrial Revolution, the church parishioners of St Dunstan’s in the East were confident that they could re-establish a school that would meet the highest educational standards of the day. In 1867, the St Dunstan’s Educational Foundation was established by the parishioners ‘to provide an education to boys and girls in south-east London’ and to create a school capable of accommodating 400 pupils.
From its opening in 1888, St Dunstan’s College set itself apart from other independent schools, both by its innovative technical curriculum and by the determination to be an accessible school, supporting families from a range of different backgrounds and incomes.
£
Bursaries provided through our bursary programme
The St Dunstan’s Benevolent Fund supported families through hardship, giving more than £59612
,
£792,000
61
families received bursary assistance of some kind
THE ROCHESTER BRIDGE TRUST HAVE KINDLY DONATED THE FUNDS TO BUY APPARATUS WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF BEING LOANED (FREE OF CHARGE) TO LOCAL STATE SCHOOLS.
The Discover Science Boxes include: MINI RIPPLE TANK AND VISUALISER SIGNAL GENERATOR AND LOUDSPEAKER 6 SPECTROSCOPES
For practical of relating wavespeed = frequency x wavelength For range of human hearing To see spectrums of visible light
BEESPI V LIGHT GATES MICRO VOLTMETER NARIKA GENECON GENERATOR MODULES
Easy to use, records speed of object passing through, used in any motion practical To demonstrate induction To demonstrate power usage in parallel and series
To borrow a box, please email our Physics Technician, Simona Masna smasna@stdunstans.org.uk, with the box/dates you’d like to borrow. More boxes are being added soon, plus videos of how to use and in-person training events. Loans will last for three weeks.
The Discover Science Boxes will need to be collected and returned to St Dunstan’s College, Stanstead Road, SE6 4TY.
boxes on loan to local schools, including apparatus such as ripple tanks, signal generators and spectroscopes
The Physics Department hosted online knowledge and pedagogy CPD 65 for
teachers from the United Learning Academy
“I have really enjoyed working closely with St Dunstan’s, and hope that this partnership will continue to grow and flourish. Over the past couple of years it has evolved, and we are very privileged to be invited to a wealth of experiences, from careers conventions to school performances, and everything in between Rebecca Hill, Year 11 Progress Mentor, Bonus Pastor
“
The Maths Department hosted a
with local primary schools taking part
Collaboration with local schools welcoming students for regular
masterclasses and performances
Our swimming pool was made accessible to support Rathfern Primary School’s
Local schools were given
free use of our Great Hall and Theatre for their Christmas celebrations
In 2021, St Dunstan’s College announced a new ground-breaking partnership with Lewisham Council and Westside Young Leaders Academy to establish the Lewisham Young Leaders Academy (LYLA).
The Academy was established in response to research and evidence showing disparities in attainment and outcomes for Black Caribbean and dual heritage (Black Caribbean/White) children and young people, not just in Lewisham, but throughout London and the UK.
Through weekend classes, Lewisham Young Leaders Academy provides additional support to young people from across Lewisham through transformative teaching in life skills, including leadership, teamwork, presentation skills and CV building.
The programme is designed to develop 12 traits of leadership in the young people attending: bearing, courage, decisiveness, enthusiasm, initiative, integrity, judgement, knowledge, loyalty, perseverance, responsibility and unselfishness.
Whilst the Academy benefits from using St Dunstan’s facilities, including our halls and STEM classrooms, staff from the school have also led some of the weekend sessions giving up their own time to lead workshops on climbing and martial arts.
This project has been made possible thanks to the generous donation of an alumnus to the College.
of parents said the programme had increased their child’s
YOUNG LEADERS ACADEMY
A unique partnership with Lewisham Council and Westside Young Leaders Academy
Lewisham Young Leaders Academy is kindly supported by a Dunstonian
more than
students attending each week 60
85% of parents said had helped their child develop new skills LYLA
Lewisham’s London Youth Games football squad was given free access to train ahead of major events
hours of hire was made available to the public on our synthetic sports pitches
The Jubilee Ground hosted Remark Community Deaf Junior Football Training
St Dunstan’s Jubilee Ground continued as TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC’S only football centre in south London, offering holiday development programmes with premier league standard coaching to local children
FC provided free Community Football Summer Sessions at the Jubilee Ground to local girls aged 7-12
4 HOURS
free pitch hire to XLP’s Football and Life Coaching Project supporting young persons from across the borough who may not get access to sports and support
hours a week of free pitch hire was provided to Catford and Lewisham
police units for training and fitness
Free use of our pitches for Lewisham’s district football squad
took place at the Jubilee Ground with multiple schools taking part in a variety of sports
Catford Cyphers Cricket Club were based at the Jubilee Ground for this season
St Dunstan’s renewed its annual support for the MCC Community Cricket Hub providing local children with 13 weeks of free cricket coaching and pathways
LONDON ACADEMICALS HOCKEY CLUB
used the Jubilee Ground as their home ground
hours of weekly hire were made available to local COMMUNITY CLUBS
used our facilities three times a week for their training
Raiders Netball have made this their main training venue
IQL
The pool is an IQL (Institute of Qualified Lifeguards) registered training centre
The pool was a training venue for Orpington O Jays Swimming Club, Lewisham
Water Polo Club and Nekton Sub Aqua Club
10,000+
Swimming lessons were delivered to local children through ST DUNSTAN’S SWIM SCHOOL
St Dunstan’s Festival is our annual explosion of activity that celebrates and elevates all that we are at the College. The 2021 Festival saw more than 160 events take place over 11 days including performances, exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and competitions; there was truly something for everyone.
Local schools were invited to take part in a variety of community events including our openair Music Together concert, an International Evening celebrating all cultures and races, and a Community Sings event in the Big Top, which brought together local choirs.
St Dunstan’s supported Lewisham’s Autism Awareness Week by hosting the Champions of Inclusion event
60
Christmas foodbank drive for
Lewisham Foodbank raised St Dunstan’s Sleep-out
local children attend awareness workshops at our Jubilee Ground
Street Trees for a Living
Students volunteered and raised money for new trees to be planted in Catford
Lewisham Historical Society had free use of our facilities for their monthly meetings and lectures
St Dunstan’s hosted the popular community event
So Last Century
£5,000 CENTREPOINT for
Clean up Catford
Students took part in a litter pick up as part of St Dunstan’s Festival
1,000+
Books collected for Acorn Book Club, providing books for disadvantaged families.
Catford Bridge Station Library Pop-up was maintained with new books added regularly for local people to read
£4,150
raised for DEC’s Ukraine Appeal
Junior School pupils held a cake sale and raised
£767.38
Students and staff supported Lewisham Polish Centre’s Collection with donations of clothes, blankets, gloves, sleeping bags and mats that were transported to refugees in Poland. Donations also included food and baby formula
Pupils also wrote letters welcoming refugees to the United Kingdom
Thank you to everyone at St Dunstan’s College. We are blown away by your success. This will provide much needed support for the incredible young people we work with and help fund projects they need to get back on track
Reiko Murray Participation Manager, Centrepoint
In October 2021, St Dunstan’s College was delighted to host its inaugural Youth Mental Health Summit for young people.
The summit, which was hosted in the College’s Great Hall, was attended by more than 100 students from schools across the country. Sir Anthony Seldon, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and previous Deputy Head of St Dunstan’s, opened the summit with the keynote talk, ‘Enough talk: how does one improve student mental health in practice?’
St Dunstan’s Deputy Head, Jade McLellan also led a keynote talk ‘Child and adolescent brain development,’ and Tom Telford, Head of Adventurous Activities, spoke about ‘Thriving in a stressful environment.’
Following the keynote talks, students then took part in a carousel of workshops. This included ‘Adaptability in a changing digital world’ hosted by Finalsite’s Lori Foster and Jak Blackwood; ‘Managing your stress container’ led by St Dunstan’s Head of Psychology, Lois Haddington; and ‘Understanding thought processes’ with the school’s counsellors Julia Gray and Fugen Hassan.
The summit was kindly supported by KFH and Finalsite.
Child and adolescent brain development
Thriving in a stressful environment
Understanding thought processes
Enough talk: how does one improve student mental health in practice? “ “
Led by Sir Anthony Seldon
Adaptability in a changing digital world
Students took part in a carousel of inspiring workshops
Managing your stress container
More than 100
students from visiting schools attended the Summit
The College is working with local experts RAFT
on a range of projects...
Plastic bottles no longer provided in the Refectory
The Theatre Bar introduced a plant-based only menu
VPupil workshops and future retrofit carbon reduction building works, to reduce heat loss and improve efficiency
Computers continue to switch off after working hours
New and improved
to encourage families to leave their cars at home
Native species hedgerow
has been planted in the Senior School Ecology Pond
trees added to the College site
100kg of wildflowers planted to grow and attract
1,000 bulbs planted More than
The Grounds Team have installed a poly tunnel to grow our own bedding plants to reduce costs and to remove the need for plant deliveries therefore reducing our carbon footprint
A new mini beast hotel has been added to the Junior School
New composting area to help reduce waste
