Reigate Grammar School
Overview
Reigate Grammar School (RGS) was the winner of the ‘School/College of the Year’ award at the UK Social Mobility Awards 2021.
Founded in 1675, as a school for poor children, RGS School and Foundation did great work to widen access to the school and support its local community in 2020-21 during the pandemic. They introduced a range of initiatives to ensure that they supported all their students in this difficult time, especially those from less-advantaged backgrounds.
These initiatives included:
Reigate Grammar School and their 2021 trophy
The #RGSWeCare project – this project brought together the whole school community as it incorporated the many different activities set up to provide support to those most in need. This included setting up a drive-through food bank, bespoke weekly newsletters to the community, donating laptops for use across the community, and so much more.
- The Nightingale Fund – the RGS Foundation established their Nightingale Fund which consists of 10 new bursaries, worth up to 100% of fees, to children of low-paid NHS workers, as well as sixth-form bursaries for pupils from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds who are looking to have a career in medicine.
As well as the brilliant initiatives that RGS have brought in because of the pandemic, they have also seen success from the RGS Foundation’s Award-winning Changing Lives campaign, a philanthropic initiative, which has been running since 2014. This scheme helps to provide bursaries for students from families who cannot afford the RGS fees, and during 2020-21, it supported another 42 students (on top of the 10 Nightingale Fund students).
RGS students.
When talking about why the advancement of social mobility is an important investment to the school and community, RGS Headmaster Shaun Fenton OBE, stated that “social mobility needs to be at the heart of any school’s purpose. We need to help children be well educated, not just well qualified.”
To read Reigate Grammar School’s full Case Study, click here.
To read the full Case Study Report for the SOMO 2021 winners, click here.
Follow the UK Social Mobility Awards on social media for all the latest news and updates.
