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Provision of Bursaries and Financial Aid

 

In 2007-08, St Columba’s College provided means-tested bursaries totalling £41,001 to 13 students whose enrolment at the College would not have been possible without substantial assistance. An additional £58,108 was given in financial aid to 27 families whose financial circumstances had deteriorated due to bereavement or loss of income.

 

In 2008 the College initiated the Coindre Bursary, given in memory of Father André Coindre, founder of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. This bursary is intended for families whose income falls below the national average and may be renewed annually upon review of the family’s financial circumstances. One bursary of £10,017 was awarded for the 2008-09 year. Four additional full-fee bursaries will be awarded for 2009-10 and each succeeding year, building to a projected bursary provision of £254,408 in the year 2013-14.

 

Twinning with St Francis Secondary School, Zambia

 

The ties between St Columba’s College and St Francis Secondary School go back to 1991, when the first Project Respond was inaugurated. A pioneering group of SCC students and teachers spent three weeks in Zambia, providing both funding and labour for school development projects. Project Respond was repeated every several years thereafter. More recently it has become a regular feature of Columban life, with groups of 5th and 6th formers volunteering annually since 2005, when the team completed a security wall to provide safer living conditions for boarders at St Francis.

 

In 2006 the Columban team replaced over 500 broken window panes in the dormitories, dining hall and kitchen. Some of these windows had remained broken for decades, as sheet glass was virtually unobtainable in northern Zambia during the apartheid-era embargo against South Africa. The 2007 Project Respond focussed on further improvements to student dormitories: repairing and painting walls and providing mosquito bed nets for over 200 boarders. This work was continued by the 2008 group. Making Project Respond an annual event has thus led to greater continuity of projects and made possible a rolling programme of improvements at our sister school.

 

Project Respond has also benefited St Francis educationally. We have provided funding and training of children and teachers in investment management, enabling St Francis to start up and continue a successful investment club. Prior to the 2008 crash in the equities market, St Francis’s portfolio of shares in Lusaka Stock Exchange listed companies had multiplied almost five times in two years. Both staff and children understand better how intellectual and financial capital can transform the fortunes of Africa – and how global economic conditions impact Zambian business both positively and adversely.

 

St Columba’s College also trained Zambian staff and students in the basics of entrepreneurship and greatly expanded St Francis School’s agricultural production unit. We have funded the cultivation of maize and other crops and the introduction of layers for egg production, with an emphasis on profit and re-investment that has not been the norm in the past.

 

In addition to Project Respond, St Columba’s College makes an annual grant its Zambian sister school. In 2007-08 the College sent £7240 to fund the renovation of two ablution blocks, providing new shower and toilet facilities for students in residence at St Francis.

 

SCC as a “hub” school for financial education and enterprise

 

SCC has an impressive record of achievement over the last 6 years in the two Financial Studies qualifications offered, CEFS (Certificate in Financial Studies) and DIPFS (Diploma in Financial Studies) which are benchmarked at AS level and A2 level respectively. On two occasions our boys have achieved the best results nationally and two of our students have won awards for best results in the country. The IFS have on several occasions referred other schools to us as a centre of excellence for help and advice in establishing courses in their schools. We have over time assisted both independent schools such as Bancroft School and Channing School, Highgate and local state schools such as Beaumont in St Albans. We are currently providing advice to Verulam School who are planning to introduce IFS School of Finance qualifications from September 08.

 

SCC is currently finalising details of a Memorandum of Understanding with Young Enterprise East of England with a view to SCC becoming the focal point of Enterprise education in Hertfordshire in the independent sector. In this role SCC will offer advice, expertise and training to schools in Hertfordshire looking to develop their enterprise curriculum. This will clearly involve state sector schools to a considerable extent. We have experience in this role as we have worked with Gladesmore School in Haringey as well as schools in the Enfield area in delivering courses in enterprise both at SCC and in other schools.

 

Collaboration with maintained schools

There are many examples of SCC working with maintained schools in addition to those already mentioned in relation to finance and enterprise. These include both sporting activities, where the College can be considered a centre of excellence, and also cultural and charitable activities.

Sport

  1. Organisation of public events at which maintained schools take part, for example the National Cross Country Event in Verulamium Park

  2. Hosting of basketball finals, rallies and coaching for Hertfordshire representative teams

  3. Athletics: hosting full Athletics fixtures for a consortium of schools

  4. Basketball table officials: venue provided for delivery of courses and training

  5. Organisation of the County U13 rugby tournament

  6. Coaching of the County U16 rugby squad

  7. Organisation and hosting of a 3 hour conference session in PE for NQTs

  8. Hosting of County basketball AGM and free 3 hour coaching session offered for local teachers
  9. Host Catholic primary School Cross-Country
  10. Invitational Athletics Match

Cultural

  1. Annual theatre productions with Loreto College. In the Loreto and St Columba’s (LASCO) events SCC pays all of the expenses.

  2. Costume lending to maintained schools e.g. Sandringham School and Essendon Primary School.

  3. SCC’s English Law Society includes Loreto students

  4. Work with Watling View, a local special needs school, with SCC students contributing in Watling View assemblies and Watling View students visiting SCC
  5. Public invited to shows and concerts