As I understand it, the notion of public benefit speaks to the very essence of education as a charitable purpose, rooted in English statute since 1601. Elizabethan lawmakers identified various charitable works of the age, including:
“… the relief of aged, impotent, and poor people; the maintenance of sick and maimed soldiers and mariners; schools of learning; free schools and scholars in universities; the repair of bridges, ports, havens, causeways, churches, sea banks, and highways; the education and preferment of orphans; the relief, stock, or maintenance of houses of correction; marriages of poor maids; support, aid, and help of young tradesmen, handicraftsmen and persons decayed…”
The 1601 Act was repealed by Lord Macnaghten in 1888, although the notion of the advancement of education as a charitable endeavour was preserved. It won’t surprise anyone to hear that ‘ports’ and ‘sea banks’ are scarce in West Yorkshire, but we do have schools, of which Bradford Grammar is one.
Bradford Grammar School, or BGS for short, has, over the course of its long history, aspired to play an impactful role on the civic scene; to be a good neighbour. Young lives over generations have been transformed by, for example, the Direct Grant and Assisted Places schemes of former governments, continued now by the school’s own bursary programme and our vision to double the proportion of children receiving means tested support to 20% under the auspices of our new 1662 Fund.
Additionally, school values, of which ‘service’ is one, recognise ‘that we have a responsibility to share our time and talents and make a difference to the lives of others. We strive to play our role locally and nationally. We understand that by giving to others we enrich our own lives’. Accordingly, we are very much interconnected with our home city and collaboration is a natural behaviour. The pandemic has admittedly put a stopper in much BGS outreach and partnership activity, but it hasn’t stopped us in our tracks entirely. Chemistry teacher and BGS alumnus, Dr Matthew Tate was one of those colleagues who generously shared resources during recent bouts of lockdown learning. Dr Tate’s YouTube clips have proved to be very popular, circumnavigating the globe in a short time, and finding favour in more familiar postcodes.
As COVID restrictions ease, we are excited about resuming our traditional partnership work. Our latest project, with Tim Rogers, a driving force behind Bradford Tech Week amongst other educational programmes, will provide local primary and secondary pupils with a fascinating insight into hi-tech space industries in Yorkshire (who would have known?), while also launching rockets from the neatly clipped Governors’ Lawn (please don’t tell them!). Meanwhile, we are thrilled to be working once again with longstanding partners like St Walburga’s Primary School. We give thanks for our relationship with St Walburga’s and the many benefits all parties have enjoyed, our staff and children alike. Head of School, Mrs Liz Fearnley and Acting Assistant Head, Mrs Fiona Hahn kindly shared the following:
“We are grateful for all the generous support that Bradford Grammar School has provided to us over the years: from the early days of our children visiting the BGS Junior School, Clock House, to work in a DT lab and access tools and machinery that would normally be unavailable to them, to our current involvement in PE outreach which the children absolutely adore. Our children, staff and parents are grateful for the time and sharing of expertise which has subsequently impacted on our subject planning and the delivery of lessons. Children have been able to experience high level teaching by specialists, visit and compete at BGS’s state of the art sports facilities, which has been a real privilege for them. We look forward to the partnership continuing to flourish in the future”.
At BGS we remain characteristically optimistic about what the future holds. Talk of partnerships is growing. For us, building and sustaining relationships remains part of our heritage and behaviour, bound to our identity and place within inner-city Bradford. But we are not complacent. Increased cooperation between educators, community groups and businesses can only be good for our city as elsewhere. Now more than ever in our nation there is an obligation on us all to work together for the benefit of the young: the more diverse the partnerships, the greater the reach.
Through partnerships and widening access, BGS seeks to be a good neighbour in Bradford for generations to come.
“For us, building and sustaining relationships remains part of our heritage and behaviour, bound to our identity and place within inner-city Bradford.”
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