The Governors attach great importance to providing financial assistance to individuals of ability who cannot afford the fees and also to the School’s relationship and involvement with the local community. Our wider charitable obligations are well recognised. Beside financial benefits, and whilst not yet back to full pre-pandemic levels, our facilities are used for public benefit by outside organisations, local maintained schools and the local community.

The School values and promotes the ethos of service and staff and pupils alike are active members of the local community. Any consideration of the public benefit is related to our stated objectives.

The Governors have complied with the duty in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011, to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. Some of the detailed activities that contribute to the public benefit are shown below:

Grant Making Policy

This year (2023/24), the value of bursaries and scholarships made out of unrestricted funds totalled £1,617,389 (2023: £1,520,919). A further £144,565 was made out of restricted funds (2023: £128,963).  Such financial assistance helps the School maintain its ethos, academic performance and achievements. The Governors’ policy, in line with that of other independent schools, is to make scholarship awards on a wide variety of abilities including academic, art and design, sport, music and performing arts. Bursaries are advertised and are made to applicants on the basis of their financial circumstances. Such awards are means tested and reviewed annually.  Bursary awards totalled £1,253,969 (2023: £1,143,139) and were allocated to 118 pupils (2023: 121 pupils), which equates to 74.3 full fees or 5.4% of net fee income (2023: 73.5 full fees or 5.4% of net fee income).  In addition, full fee support for 9 Ukrainian refugees, totalling £147,627 was awarded from unrestricted funds.

Assistance to the Local Education Authority (LEA) and Local Maintained Schools

• The formal partnership with the Tile Cross Academy has continued and new ways to work collaboratively are part of an ongoing discussion. Another pupil was successful in the bursary programme and joined the Sixth Form in September 2023. The CCF link includes joint parades and Corps of Drums and a joint trip to Boston.  Tile Cross pupils are involved in other school activities, debates and performances.
• The link with pupils from Reynalds Cross School, Solihull, which caters for pupils with severe to profound multiple learning difficulties, has continued to flourish in the year.  Sixth Form pupils have volunteered as support workers and our musicians have played at their summer fete.  The school also raised funds for new playground equipment via a sponsored read and the Art and ICT Departments hosted successful workshops for Reynalds Cross pupils.
• The School’s Oxbridge preparation scheme now involves 13 local maintained schools. Potential candidates are given interview practice sessions and specific application preparation seminars together with a focused lecture series. A visit to Girton College Cambridge was organised in 2023/24 for 99 pupils and 9 members of staff from a number of schools.
• Donations are made to St Alphege Infant and Junior Schools, Solihull, and Sharman’s Cross Junior School, Solihull to assist in the provision of facilities for education.
• Equipment and text books no longer required by the School are donated to local schools and organisations.
• A number of staff members and governors are governors at local maintained schools.

University & Academic Links

• The School is a member of the King Edward’s Consortium for teacher training, providing low cost training for unqualified teachers considering a career in the profession.
• Members of our teaching staff are members of national and regional educational and examination committees.

The Local Community

• The School mobilises pupils to take an active part in charity and community work.  The Equity Group provides valuable materials on issues pertaining to the wider community and the Eco Group organised a litter pick in Brueton Park.
• Our music and performing arts centres, chapel, sporting and other facilities are made available to local societies including charities at generous concessional rates.
• Our extensive car parking facilities are made available to local churches, charities and societies.
• The School continued to host blood donation sessions for the NHS.
• The School organised another book, stationary, uniform and sport equipment collection to contribute to Birmingham Diocese supporting government schools in Malawi.  Other collections of items were sent to St. Chad’s in Birmingham, SIFA Fireside and Age UK, Solihull.
• Charity fundraising continued to be an important focus. The School held 5 non-school uniform days in support of local, national and international charities. The Prep School also has a focus on charity during their annual Charity Week and Megathalon. Over £50,000 was raised from these events.
• The Solihull Ultra Challenge Team featuring staff, parents and alumni, including a community wide Virtual Challenge, raised, with match funding from IHMO (USA) and Assist RR, over £120,000 for projects in Sri Lanka.
• Acorns, the local children’s charity providing specialist care services to life-limited children and their families, used the school cricket pitch for a fundraising match to raise over £10,000 for the charity.
• Volunteering in the community forms a significant aspect of the Duke of Edinburgh award with pupils at bronze, silver and gold giving their time to a variety of organisations such as park run volunteers, animal rescue centres, charity shops or training youth sport teams.
• Volunteering elsewhere includes placements at the Marie Curie hospice and for the British Legion Poppy Fund.
• Numerous school music and dance groups have performed at local settings including for the Jericho Foundation, Solihull Hospital, the Solihull BID Jazz festival and a local care home.
• Lower School pupils have completed the Diana Memorial Community Badge award which included delivering an anti-bullying assembly at Eversfield School. A group of Shell pupils have visited St Alphege Infants School to deliver a mindfulness session.
• Pupils have had their charitable endeavours recognised.  The Deputy Head (Charity) was selected to attend a West Midlands event celebrating volunteering community heroes. Two pupils fundraised and wrote a blog in support of the British Skin Foundation due for publication shortly.
• Pupils and staff have collaborated closely in 2023/24 to raise in excess of £13,000 for the Matt Gallagher Foundation. This has been achieved via various sporting, social and sponsored events. A staff team also ran in the Birmingham 10 km.
• The School has donated computer and furniture items to local charities.
• We help the Solihull Care NHS Trust with their scheme to support adults with learning difficulties into employment opportunities.
• The Chaplain is involved with many church and charity activities around Birmingham, including work in hospices, food banks and urban priority charities.  Chapel collections are in alignment with school initiatives.
• The School has been recipients of a community action award from the charity, Remembering Srebrenica, and continue to work with the charity to promote information regarding genocide.
• The local police force uses our facilities for dog training and for their young offender rehabilitation programme.
• Our minibuses are used on occasion by local community groups and clubs for transport to events.  Last year, this included the Refugee Club and the Asylum Seeker Tour.
• Donations are made to the Parish Church of St Alphege, Solihull and the Salter Street and Shirley Team Ministry, Shirley for the advancement of religion.