Impact of partnership work done in 2024 (ISC annual Census 2025)

• 4 state schools involved
• 51-100 state school pupils involved
• 15 staff hours given

Impact Statement

Saint Ronan’s is committed to developing the role it plays in the community and is of the belief that the personal development of the pupils is enhanced by their involvement with local communities.

For one full day a term, Year 2 from a Local Primary School visits our Forest School. We collect them and give them, using our teaching staff a Forest School morning before exploring the ways that the wood changes with the seasons in the afternoon.

The Saint Ronan’s Forest School is used as a regional training centre for Forest School teachers.

Local Primary Schools make use of our minibuses, with a driver supplied by us, to take their pupils (90+) to and from regular swimming sessions or to local events.

Due to timetable constraints at at a local Junior School we have had to suspend our Gifted and Talented/Enrichment programme in which Year 5 and 6 pupils were collected by Saint Ronan’s from Sandhurst Primary School to participate in Games and Art sessions on Friday afternoons. However,
to be more flexible we are developing an outreach/enrichment book by which a Primary School can choose a session given by a member of our staff (from academic to maintenance) to help enrich the education or running of their school. Arising directly from this initiative we have been hosting weekly master Art classes for a different local Junior School’s enrichment programme, as well as hosting an art and DT class day for all those in year 5 from that school. 75 local children regularly benefit from the Forest School and Art and DT partnerships.

The local Council, together with Saint Ronan’s, has developed a scheme whereby different schools may study a book or topic and then watch the related film at the local cinema, as part of the village Film and Photography week. This is organised by a Saint Ronan’s staff member who, as Schools’ Coordinator, sits on the steering committee. The role includes communication with, and if necessary, visits to all of the independent and state schools in the area, with the express intention of promoting literacy, film and photography. Saint Ronan’s also provides the vehicles for the event, transporting over 300 children to and from the cinema, as well as coordinating the ‘school’ part of the photographic competition.

School equipment eg minibuses and  educational resources are regularly lent to other local educational establishments.

Public Benefit

To satisfy its public benefit obligations the School will:

- Provide means tested bursary and scholarship places to assist children from lower income or otherwise disadvantaged families to benefit from the School’s activities
- To continue to develop collaborative working arrangements with appropriate charities and other educational bodies to provide access to School facilities for those who are unable to attend the School itself as fee paying pupils.

The School actively promotes links with local charities and state schools which also helps the pupils at Saint Ronan’s to understand the social context of their education. Tom Elliott, Head of Community Engagement, coordinates the School’s activities with the local community.

Grant Making

In the year ending 31st July 2023 the School gave the following financial support to the families of children attending Saint Ronan’s:

Discount

The Stanley Harris Scholarship is a non means tested award given, on entry, for excellence in either academic ability, sport, art or music. 

Means tested awards are determined by the Scholarship & Bursary Sub-Committee (Headmaster, Bursar and Chairman of Governors) following an examination of means and a home visit by an independent assessor.  In the Summer Term of 2023 there were 33 children receiving such awards, attending the School when they would otherwise have been unable.

In order to preserve continuity of education, means tested awards may be granted in cases of hardship. Fee assistance, which is funded entirely from fee income, accounted for 2.7% of the School’s total fee income.

To widen public access to the School further in cases where the School was unable to help financially, families were/are advised of other Educational Trusts that might be able to help fund their children’s education. 

Teaching Staff with children at the School also benefited from fee support which further reduced gross annual fee income by £271,864 (2021-22: £222,999). The total cost of such grant making by the School was £580,686 (2021-22: £513,200) in reduced fee income.

Economic Benefit

Saint Ronan’s School also had a significant impact on the local economy. As measured by the Independent Schools’ Council Economic Impact Tool the School:

Supported 201 jobs both within the School and in the School’s supply chain Generated £1.4 million of tax payments to the Exchequer