Partnerships

We work collaboratively with 25 local state primary schools. Schools are located in Wandsworth, Lambeth and Fulham within easy reach of Emanuel School and are prioritised based on the proportion of pupils on free school meals. We undertake a range of activities including programmes such as Primary Ambitions and Ascent.

In addition, we run football and netball sports tournaments. We target year groups within our partner schools where pupils have little opportunity to represent their schools in matches or tournaments. We host 7-a-side football tournaments where mixed teams of boys and girls compete for the hotly contested Battersea Rise Trust trophy. Netball tournaments are a combination of coaching and match play.

We share our resources including our much-coveted swimming pool. Swimming is a critical life skill and is a required part of the primary school national curriculum – children should be able to swim 25 metres by the time they leave school aged 11. According to Sport England, one in three children is unable to swim the required length unaided. The numbers are higher from less affluent families. We organise coaching sessions for up to three different partner primary schools weekly during term time. We aim to provide each cohort of swimmers with 15 – 20 lessons across the year.

Our biodiversity garden is a wonderful new addition to our site. It incorporates a pond, log piles, insect hotels, a micro wild meadow and a range of habitats and plantings selected for year round sustenance for local wildlife. The garden also features a greenhouse, potting shed, a water butt, two raised beds as well as two covered areas that can be used as outdoor classrooms for our pupils and those within our community. We are planning a range of weekly visits from our partner primary schools across the year. We will provide teaching resources and equipment as needed.

Where possible, we invite pupils from partner schools to participate in enrichment activities including trips such as to Hever Castle; author visits; speaker events; a Dragons’ Den competition; and concerts as well as the opportunity to attend school plays and musicals.

Each year, Sixth Form students help out weekly at our local partner primary schools, most recently Griffin, St Faiths, Langford, Christ Church and Allfarthing primaries, leading projects in subjects including English, Art and Drama. Many of our students have gained permanent ID badges as testament to the value placed on their work with younger children.

Sixth Form volunteers have also supported our primary school partners during the school holidays. They have designed and delivered sports skills development sessions in netball, cricket and rugby as well as supported week-long summer booster sessions in literacy and mathematics.

For a number of years, we have run a series of enrichment days with one of our partners, Christ Church CE Primary School. Our Hill form pupils meet with Christ Church’s Year 6 on four occasions throughout the academic year. They undertake a variety of activities together including drama, creative writing and communications skills workshops. Children work together in cross school teams and enjoy learning new skills and making new friends. In addition, we organise joint trips to places of interest including St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament.

We launched our parent volunteer reading scheme with Christ Church and Falconbrook primary schools in 2020.

Our partner primary schools have a high percentage of children on free school meals – the average is 44% –  and an even higher proportion of children with English as a second language. For a multitude of reasons, children from the most disadvantaged families are less likely to read with their parents at home. Given class sizes and limited resources, these children have few opportunities to read at school and really benefit from our volunteers’ help. Our programme was disrupted by Covid 19-driven school closures but plans are in place to restart this high impact programme shortly.

We work collaboratively with Westminster City School and Greycoat Hospital Schools as well as local state secondary schools on projects such as public speaking, Model United Nations conferences, a number of concerts as well as art projects and film-making schemes.

We are an active member of the newly-formed Wandsworth independent and state school alliance. As part of this programme, we build mutually beneficial partnerships with state secondaries in our neighbourhood. We are excited about the opportunities this offers to our pupils and staff across a range of different areas.

Through our partnership programme, we actively engage with local community organisations as well as schools. Engagement ranges from providing much needed physical resources through to volunteers. You can support these initiatives here.

Regenerate-RISE

Regenerate-RISE’s Wandsworth centre is walking distance from Emanuel School. They provide a programme of support and care that aims to encourage older people to realise their dreams and enjoy life. They provide activities that improve the health and wellbeing of individuals through physical activity, emotional and psychological support and consider that the “feel good” factor is very important in the day to day lives of older people. Our Sixth Form volunteers visit weekly, engaging members in conversation, playing bingo and organising other popular activities. Over the past year, our Sixth Form volunteers were unable to visit due to Covid-19 restrictions. In lieu of face-to-face interaction, our volunteers telephoned members weekly.

Fulham Football Cub Foundation

Fulham FC Foundation is the award-winning charity of Fulham Football Club. Their aim is to build better lives through sport in the community. They have a thriving pan-disability football programme for young adults and children and we are pleased to host their skills-focused sessions on Monday and Friday evenings on our mini-astro. Fulham FC Foundation is involved in delivering our Battersea Rise Trust football tournaments. We are exploring ways to extend our partnership.

London Wayfarers Flyerz hockey programme

Flyerz Hockey is the name for disability inclusive hockey across the UK. It concentrates on having fun, learning new skills and making friends while promoting an active and healthy lifestyle. We are thrilled to be partnering with London Wayfarers hockey club and will host sessions for children and young pan-disability hockey players on Thursday evenings throughout the year. Weekly sessions will be supported by Emanuel volunteers. We are actively exploring ways to extend our support.

Children’s Book Project

One in four disadvantaged children across the UK has fewer than ten books of their own at home and one in eight has none. The Children’s Book Project seeks to tackle book poverty and to give every child the opportunity to own their own book. Book ownership has been directly linked with improved mental health amongst children and a greater propensity to read for pleasure, whilst reading fluency itself has a significant impact on children’s successful progression through education. By age 11, there is a 12-month language development gap between children from book-rich homes and those with fewer than ten books. The Children’s Book Project aims to tackle the attainment gap arising from low book ownership.

Given our shared aim to support disadvantaged pupils in our local community, we are launching a multi-faceted relationship including shared book drives, partner school-focused book fairs, Sixth Form and DofE volunteers, book repository and much more.

Lower Sixth pupils make an annual visit to our partnership school in Tamil Nadu, India where they can see the impact of the fundraising they have organised at school. During their three-week stay, our pupils prepare and teach English lessons every day. Learning to plan engaging lessons with large numbers of eager pupils is a real baptism of fire into the teaching profession. Our pupils make a hugely positive contribution to the life of these pupils and the school leaders in India continue to be impressed by their dedication and conduct.

Feedback from our pupils is always overwhelmingly positive – “life changing”, “inspiring” and “motivating” permeate diary entries.

“Seeing all of these wonderful children give their absolute all in every lesson, always with smiles on their faces, is so inspiring and has made us all value our own opportunities.” (Georgia)

“The spirit and attitude of these kids is what is so astonishing and seeing this has changed me as a person. It has given me a burst of motivation to work harder than ever and take advantage of the opportunities we are provided with.” (Nancy)

Given the pandemic, we have been unable to send our students to India in recent times. We look forward to relaunching the programme as soon as it is safe to do so.