St Dunstan’s Educational Foundation
FOREWORD
by Nicholas Hewlett, Headmaster
I am delighted to share with you this summary of St Dunstan’s public benefit and partnership work.
Of all the components of the College’s identity that can be traced back to its opening in 1888, the College motto – albam exorna – is the one element that remains completely unchanged. Translating as ‘Adorn the White’, this phrase is connected to the white shield that serves as three quarters of the school’s crest. The white is the blank canvas onto which will be adorned the as yet unwritten story of each St Dunstan’s pupil; each individual journey through school and life beyond.
We know that classroom learning forms only one part of this educational journey. Learning from service to others and involvement in wider communities, both local and beyond, is of equal importance in shaping compassionate and confident young people, keen to make positive choices in their pathways through life. We celebrate the opportunities afforded to us by being located in such a diverse and vibrant context and want to capitalise upon it. We also realise that we hold a privileged position as an independent school, both in terms of our facilities and the experiences and curiosity of our staff and pupils; it is vitally important to us that we can be of benefit to, and learn from, the communities that extend beyond the school gates.
This brochure summarises the various strands of our community engagement.
The enormous value of the arts is reflected in the widening use of our facilities for musical events, dance and drama productions, and our Summer Festival gets bigger every year.
We are fortunate to have extensive sports facilities in the centre of Catford which we enthusiastically offer for wider community use. The opening of our new Multi-Use Games Area will further support this partnership with local clubs, offering increased opportunities for hockey, tennis, basketball and netball, as well as cricket, football and rugby.
I am particularly proud of the involvement of our pupils in community projects and charities. They choose to support a range of charities, both through fundraising and also through giving their time and talents. In doing so, we know they give and learn in equal measure, to the benefit of both the wider community and the College. Our current pupils not only colour their journey through the College, staying true to our motto, but also continue and enhance a valuable heritage of active service and contribution in our local community.
I hope you will enjoy looking through this summary and find it as heartening as I do. It is our intention to update it on an annual basis, and we would welcome any dialogue with local charities and community groups keen to support stronger links between St Dunstan’s College and the many communities of which we are proud to be a part.
Mr Nicholas Hewlett Headmaster, St Dunstan’s College
Reaching out through
CHILDREN AND LOCAL SCHOOLS
Bursaries
The sum offered through bursaries was
20
students
visited Rathfern Primary School and helped children develop their reading skills by running weekly reading sessions.
400,163.40
Dalmain and Rathfern Primary Schools were provided with our sporting facilities for free to host their summer Sports Days.
St Dunstan's Benevolent Fund supported over 10 families through hardship, gifting more than £40,000
39
families received bursary assistance.
Rathern Primary School had free use of our facilities to host their Christmas celebrations.
A Geography subject partnership with the London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham, assisted in an enrichment programme and staff training.
£50,000 was spent supporting the London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham in their work improving social mobility through excellence in 16+ education.
Reaching out through
THE ARTS
The Jubilee Ground hosted the Catford Arts Trail, showcasing numerous local artists.
Free tickets were provided to local charities for our musical events and productions.
St Dunstan’s was a centre for the community for those children who wished to enter Associated Board Music Examinations.
Arts Festival
held numerous events at the Catford Broadway Theatre that were open to the public
St Dunstan’s hosted the community event ‘So Last Century’, a vintage fair.
Our musicians aided community worship, singing services at Southwark Cathedral, All Hallows by the Tower and St Augustine’s Church.
Reaching out through SPORT
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hours of football hire were available to the public on our synthetic sports pitches.
Our partnership with Super Camps delivered holiday activity camp spaces for over
2 500
children from the local area.
The Lewisham Schools Cricket Tournament was provided on our Jubilee Grounds with
hours a week of free football pitch hire were provided to Catford and Lewisham police units for training and fitness.
32 hours of free pitches were provided for training to Lewisham’s district football squad.
18 over 50’s regularly attended the free Walking Football sessions held weekly at the Jubilee Ground.
Lewisham’s London Youth Games football squad was given free access to train at the Jubilee Ground ahead of the event.
local schools competing for the St Dunstan’s Cup.
The Lewisham Interfaith Cricket match was supported and hosted at the Jubilee Ground.
St Dunstan’s was once again the MCC Community Cricket Hub for Lewisham, offering local children 13 weeks of free cricket coaching.
The Jubilee Ground hosted Kent Pathway Performance sessions for local cricketers.
children attended the St Dunstan’s Swim School throughout term time, learning to swim through our STA programme.
2 hours per week of swimming for our local primary school was provided for free.
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local children attended free Community Football events in partnership with Dalmain FC.
hours of public hire were made available in our sports hall.
Lewisham teachers were offered free training for Rugby coaching.
Girls Mega Fest Rugby was hosted by St Dunstan’s for the local community.
Lewisham Rugby
Girls Competitions were hosted throughout the year.
MCCF Lewisham Hub has successfully delivered 10-week programmes in 2018 at St Dunstan’s Jubilee Ground. We have received positive feedback from many players and parents on how excellent the 10-week sessions were and how it was designed to help everyone.”
SMCC Community Cricket Hub
Reaching out through COMMUNITY SERVICE AND CHARITY
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students from all year groups were involved in the Youth Volunteering Programme, in total volunteering for over 6500 hours
St Dunstan’s formalised partnerships with 11 different local organisations, including charity shops, care homes and community centres.
We also launched community projects with Catford Bridge Station and Barratt London.
students organised 3 tea parties throughout the year for care home residents. More than 50 guests attended in total.
27 students visited 2 care homes, for 45 minutes weekly, and organised games and other social activities for them.
students took part in the Arts Festival intergenerational drama project. The students worked with a local drama group and created their own production.
2 Year 10 students worked on a longterm IT project creating a website for a local community centre.
2 Year 12 students volunteered in a local antiques shop, helping the shop owner with the sorting and display of vintage goods. They also sold some of the products at the Christmas Fair and donated some of the money raised to Crisis.
2 passionate Sixth Form linguists taught Spanish to a group of beginners every week in the same community centre.
Through CatArt, the Art for Catford group, 7 students took part in a card design competition for Barratt Homes. The winning design was printed on the welcome pack given to the new residents of the Catford Green development homes.
During this year the student Charity Committee raised over £ 12,000 for charity.