ACCESS, ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2011

This section outlines our public engagement; not only the public benefit required of Eton College as a registered charity but also the wider benefits to our community and society which we provide.

The College's governing body (the Provost and Fellows) attaches great importance to good relations with the people and organisations in the area and seek actively to extend the College's reach still further by making its expertise and facilities available to other schools and charitable organisations to the greatest extent possible.

MAKING ETON ACCESSIBLE - SCHOLARSHIPS AND BURSARIES

Eton's central purpose is the provision of education. A significant part of the College's activities is the provision of scholarships and bursaries designed to widen access to the education that Eton provides. In this context, "scholarships" are fee reductions awarded through competition on academic or musical merit and "bursaries" are fee reductions awarded according to need. Assessments of financial need are made through detailed means tests intended to determine the amount of assistance that is needed in order to enable a pupil to come to Eton who could not otherwise do so or to stay at the school in the event of a change in circumstances.

During the year 241 boys (19%) received fee reductions; 29 of these boys paid no fees at all. The equivalent figures for the previous year were 255 and 37. However, the amount spent on fee remission increased from £3,506k to £4,257k, the average award going up from 46% to 59% of the full 2010/11 fee.

Scholarships were awarded to 127 boys. King's Scholarships are awarded on academic promise and Music Scholarships on musical promise; both provide a 10% reduction in the school fee and are supplemented by bursaries according to need up to full fees if this is necessary to let a boy take up his place. Junior Scholars, Sixth Form Scholars and New Foundation Scholars, all of whom are boys from state schools, pay only what can be afforded.

As well as those that may be added to scholarships, bursaries are available to boys who would not otherwise be able to afford to come to Eton or (if circumstances change) stay at the school. There is an increasing number of full-fee bursaries not associated with scholarships. The number of boys with bursaries (excluding those bursaries associated with scholarships) was 114.

We have a dedicated Admissions Access Adviser whose role is to identify potential scholarship candidates who have the ability, but not the financial means, to come to Eton. Our Access Adviser works hard to communicate the possibility of an Eton education to sections of society who would not previously consider it possible and liaises effectively with the state sector (particularly state secondary schools without sixth forms) to identify potential candidates.

PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT PUPILS

Beyond the considerable public benefit of providing a high-quality education to our pupils, equipping them with good academic qualifications and a sense of responsibility and service to others, the College also provided wider benefits to children and young people who are not pupils.

Engagement with the State Sector
We are proud to be a member of the Eton, Slough, Windsor and Hounslow Independent and State School Partnership with our six neighbouring state schools (two comprehensives and two academies in Slough, a comprehensive in Windsor and another in Heston (Hounslow)). As the only independent school in the partnership, Eton is expected to take the lead in developing and sustaining the partnership.

The ISSP aims to raise pupil achievement; improve pupil self-esteem; raise pupil aspirations; and, improve professional practice across the schools. Since it was founded in 2008, this partnership has provided numerous opportunities for academic collaboration (through Saturday Schools and other academic workshops and mentoring); collaboration in the arts and sports; and opportunities for teachers' professional development. The collaboration has contributed towards improved results in the state schools at GCSE level.

Particular projects initiated and sustained by Eton for the ISSP over the last three years include:

Academic:

- Running two printmaking workshops at Eton College for 15 pupils. These are facilities which the state schools do not have.

Sports:
- Sharing our cricket pitches with Langley Academy.

Social and Cultural:
- Running (jointly with All Faiths and None) Interfaith workshops for 18 sixth form students
- Participating in "Seniores" year 11 forum group for 30 students from across the schools enabling them to meet significant local professional figures to discuss local concerns and politics

Professional development:
- Sharing best practice for pastoral care through visits to our boarding houses by Head Teachers

More information can be obtained from http://www.independentstateschoolpartnership.com

We are also an active participant in the Hounslow Education Business Partnership (HEBP) and the East Berkshire Education Business Partnership (EBeBP) which both forge links between state schools, businesses and community partners operating in their respective areas. The aims of such partnerships are to raise the achievement of young people, improve their employability, develop their ability to play a positive role in society and contribute to the social and economic well-being of the community. Both the HEBP and the EbeBP have achieved the Award for Education Business Excellence.

Our main contribution is through our annual Eton College Design Challenge, launched in 2005 and now in its seventh year, in which pupils from different schools (including ourselves) in the Hounslow and East Berkshire areas are divided into mixed teams to solve the particular problem posed. The challenge in 2010 was to cap two major oil leaks on the ocean floor armed with string, sticky tape, straws, card, scissors and their own ingenuity. This is both an educational activity promoting creative thinking and ingenuity in design and technology, showing the application of design and technology/ engineering to real problems and also developing the pupils' self-confidence and teamwork.

A number of students from the Hounslow BEP have also attended our Universities Summer Schools.

We are a member of the Alliance for Curriculum Enrichment (ACE) which brings together staff and pupils from the state and independent sectors to discuss how to improve teaching and learning within schools.

We also invite our local state schools (at primary and secondary level) to make use of the Natural History Museum, College Library and Collections (for example the recent exhibition on the King James bible).

At primary school level, the Porny CofE First School enhances its curriculum through co-operation with Eton's Natural History Museum, College Library and the Design & Technology, Drama and Music Departments.

Summer Schools

In addition to educating our own pupils, we use our facilities and expertise to run summer schools during the school holidays.

We have run the Universities Summer School since 1982. This is a two week long residential summer school providing 130 Sixth Form boys and girls of high ability from state schools with a teaching and tutorial programme designed to help them towards study at top universities.

The Brent-Eton Summer School offers 39 sixth-form pupils from the London Borough of Brent a residential programme free of charge to bridge the gap between GCSE and sixth form and to encourage them to study A levels and aspire to good universities.

Rowing Instructional Courses were first established in 1994 and now provided 232 youngsters (a third from state schools) the chance to take part in the sport at the Eton-Dorney Rowing Lake.

We have run our Choral Courses since 1985. These provide seven residential week long courses for 430 singers in the Sixth Form or first year at University. As well as contributing to the choral tradition in the country, they give students from a wide variety of backgrounds the chance to sing together at a professional level.

Sharing Software and Other Experience

We have developed software to help with the learning of ancient greek grammar and vocabulary, which is available to all as a public resource through our website.

In 2010, we were one of the original contributors to O2 learn - a publicly available resource for secondary school pupils nationwide. Several of our masters were filmed delivering bite-sized lessons, which helped get the project off the ground. For more information see www.O2learn.co.uk.
 
PROVIDING BENEFITS TO OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY

Sharing our facilities

Our Chapel, School Hall, the Farrer Theatre, Games Fields, Golf Course and sports facilities are made available to local clubs and societies.

Community Activities

Our staff and pupils engage with the wider community in a number of different ways but particularly as mentors (boys) or governors (staff) of local schools, by taking food and clothing to homeless people in Slough, by visiting the elderly and by playing the organ in four local churches.

PROVIDING BENEFITS TO SOCIETY

Over the centuries Eton College has acquired a considerable heritage of fine buildings. Their preservation is regarded as fundamental for the enrichment or the education that we provide. For the same reason we conserve and augment our collections of books and works of art, using them for teaching purposes, making them available as a valuable resource to external scholars and, increasingly, mounting exhibitions which are open to the public.

Maintaining our heritage
We are responsible for the upkeep of 78 listed buildings including our Chapel. We share in the patronage of 16 parish churches and have chancel repair responsibilities for 10. The historic part of the school is shown to 19,000 visitors per year. The Museum of Eton Life (a registered museum) is open to the public.

Access to our collections
College library - one of the most important rare books collections in the country - is available to outside scholars; the library holds regular exhibitions of its material, organises specialist guided tours and runs a Book Collectors' Club.

The Myers Collection of Egyptian antiquities is one of the world's finest collections of Egyptian Art. A significant part of the Collection has now been lent  until 2025 to the University of Birmingham and to John Hopkins University, Baltimore, for exhibition, teaching and cataloguing as well as digitisation with a view to providing internet access.

Our Natural History Museum has an established outreach programme aimed at local primary schools and also runs family learning events for local families and particularly those who attend the Clewer Cluster of schools from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Charitable Fundraising

Our boys are actively encouraged to raise money for good causes. This is done through Eton Action (a separately registered charity) which holds an annual community fair and sponsorship events. The money raised is distributed to good causes.