Achievements and Plans

The Science Priory

Achievements

Latest Development

Plans

Bursaries

Achievements

A great deal has been achieved since the Foundation was established and we can proudly say that the Foundation is making a real difference to current pupils at both Repton and Foremarke.

A total of just over £3 million has been donated/pledged by Old Reptonians, parents, staff and the many friends of the School. This is in addition to almost £2.5 Million which was passed across to the Foundation from School funds, mainly from the sale of surplus properties.

The list below shows some of the projects undertaken through a combination of high pupil numbers, strong school finances and the continued generous support of ORs and other friends of the School:

• Funding the complete IT network of Repton linking all departments, Houses and studies to the School’s intranet and the internet.
• Funding with the support of the Repton Pilgrims an all weather 6 lane cricket net facility at Repton.
• Assisting in the funding of two all weather water-based Astroturf pitches at Repton.
• Funding bursary grants for nine pupils whose funding ceased with the demise of the Government’s Assisted Places Scheme.
• Refurbishment of the Old Priory into a first class Library and Learning Rescource Centre.
• Redevelopment of the Old Mitre into a new English Block
• Conversion of the Old Squash Courts into New Court Gallery, this being a home for the new Textiles Department and Artists in Residence as well as a splendid gallery for both Art and Design
• Refurbishment and extension of The Priory, Latham House, Abbey House, New House and School House.
• Extension of the Biology and Maths Department.
• Improved facilities in the Design and Technology.
• The creation of the Music School in 1983 and subsequently redevelopment to incorporate a new recording studio and improved practice and concert facilities.
• The creation of a new digital learning centre for Modern Languages.
• Refurbishment of the Chapel to provide an even more inspirational setting for worship, and the refurbishment of the organ.

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Countless Reptonians have benefitted from the inspirational productions of Miek Charlesworth and Guy Levesley in 400 Hall, and the School wants to continue nurturing both the amateur and would be professional, actors, producers and directors among the pupils. The 400 Hall and precinct, built to commemorate the 400th Anniversary in 1957 has now been remodelled into a state of the art theatre, with new staging, permanent raked seating and a foyer worth of the quality of drama that the pupils are producing, while the much loved 1957 Marshall Sissons façade has been preserved.

Foremarke has continued to improve and extend its facilities and developments within the grounds have been extensive. The Hall, its outbuildings and the many new amenities provide excellent facilities. The grounds have been carefully adapted to protect the 18th Century endowment and to provide for recreation. In recent years Foremarke has benefitted from:

• The erection of a new classroom block.
• Improvements to the IT and Design and Technology Departments.
• Enhancements to the Foremarke Theatre.
• Major extension to the Pre Prep Department.
• Funding a major refurbishment of the boarding facilities.

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The next exciting phase of the 5 year development plan is the creation of a Science Priory and The Quad at Foremarke.

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Bursaries

It is more important than ever to have a fund with which to help parents of pupils who are at Repton and who meet unexpected financial hardship. Charitable interest in the education of others lies at the very heart of Repton, Sir John Port having made provision in his 1557 will for the creation of a ‘Grammer School in Etwalle or Reptone from tyme to tyme for ever.’

The good intentions of our founder have been sustained by the generosity of his successors across the centuries and have, most recently, found their expression in the work of the Repton Foundation, the name given to both the Schools’ endowment, created thanks to the donations of a wide range of ORs and other supporters, and the body established to administer them.

Historically Repton and Foremarke have never been exclusive schools, always seeking instead to find a way of including those with the academic ability and capacity to cope, but whose parents lacked the financial means to afford the fees. This has given the Schools a refreshing unpretentiousness and genuine social and economic diversity. The purpose of a Repton education is to prepare its pupils for the real world of business and enterprise, not to provide a gilded cage for affluent and the privileged, which it would swiftly become if the Schools focused solely on those who could afford the full fees.

This is why both Repton and Foremarke already offer a wide range of means tested bursaries and why a number of pupils are already benefitting from some form of financial assistance. However, the Headmasters and Governors see this as no more than a starting point. They are determined so far as possible to make a Repton education as accessible and affordable as possible to all those pupils who would benefit, regardless of financial circumstances. They believe that the more socially diverse the Schools are, the more their pupils and society as a whole stand to benefit. In effect, this means increasing the amount of means-tested funding available for boys and girls of ability very substantially.

Defining the objective is straightforward; the difficulty comes when considering how to provide the funding. Independent education in the United Kingdom is a fiercely competitive market and likely to become more so. Funding bursaries from fees, which are already high, would mean increasing them still further, thus taking them out of the reach of many parents, thereby limiting rather than enhancing access and diversity.

The Governors have therefore decided to expand the endowment for bursaries made available via the Repton Foundation, so wisely and generously established by their predecessors, with a view to meeting the needs of the Schools in the twenty-first century. The Governors and Foundation Trustees consider the provision of an Endowment Fund to be central to the ethos of both Schools, and have now set the target of raising the level of endowment held in the Foundation from its current £2.5m to £5m initially. Funds flowing from this will enable pupils who would not otherwise be able to enjoy a Repton or Foremarke education to attend the Schools, and each year the Trustees will seek to ensure that the beneficiaries include a balance of boys and girls with interests and talents in a broad range of areas.

The long term aim is to build up a bursaries endowment of at least £10m, but a sum of £5m in the first instance would make a real difference to the range and extent of means tested bursary assistance we can provide, and this is our initial objective.

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