Sennockian 2018-2019 | Page 125

Community Partnerships Sevenoaks School’s core mission is to develop as a community school in the fullest sense, working with Kent state secondary schools, especially Knole Academy, and many primary schools in the surrounding area. Above: The Easter KAN residential at Sevenoaks. Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation Royal SpringBoard is a charity giving life-transforming opportunities to disadvantaged and vulnerable children in the UK. Working with schools they carefully identify bright young people who would benefit most from the positive impact of a boarding environment and its transformational effect. Sevenoaks School joined the scheme in 2017, and through the generosity of donors, we were able to fully fund the first Sixth Form student from 2017-19. We have been able to increase that support this year to two Sixth Form students from September 2019. Right: OS Charlie Higson with KAN students. Old Sennockian Bursary Fund Since 2018, the Kent Academies Network University Access Programme (KANUAP) has been managed by Sevenoaks School, and is fully funded by a donor to the Foundation. The scheme aims to inspire young people from Kent state schools to go to university, and gives preference to students on free school meals or receiving Pupil Premium. Students participate in the programme for five years from Year 9; they attend residential courses twice a year and meet-up days, work with an assigned undergraduate mentor and have access to online platforms for mentoring and to research destination options. Two years ago we launched an Old Sennockian-led initiative for a bursary fund collectively supported by Sevenoaks School’s alumni. OS have contributed a total of £25,000, with further pledges of £10,000, enabling the first Year 7 recipient of the OS Bursary from a local primary school to join the school in September. These are all remarkable achievements by the school community and have given us the confidence to deliver the buildings and bursary programmes of the future. We seek to foster the continued support of parents and alumni and their commitment to making a difference as we move into the next phase of the school’s development plan, Horizon 2032. Michael Joyce, Executive Director of Advancement SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2018-2019 119