We support three flagship schools: Greig City Academy in Haringey, The Halley Academy in Greenwich, and Cubitt Town Primary School on the Isle of Dogs. Our flagship schools each receive a three-year grant and are supported by a programme of non-financial giving.
Our non-financial support enables a wide range of educational activities such as STEM business mentoring, mock interviews, group and one-to-one mentoring, a ‘dragons’ den’ science competition, and various careers activities. We also provide support to governance and at least two members of the Company are associate governors at each flagship school.
Greig City Academy
Greig City Academy became our first flagship in 2013, and the Company’s continued support, particularly to STEM education, has made a significant difference. The Academy’s impressive programme of STEM activities has gone from strength to strength and includes robotics, coding and electric car racing. In 2018, the Academy was appointed a Haringey ‘STEM Innovation Hub’.
Our programme of non-financial giving includes an annual mentoring café, bespoke mentoring, and careers talks. Our team of mentors represent a wide range of careers including engineering, law, medicine and the RAF.
The Master visits the Academy every year to present awards and bursaries to students excelling in STEM subjects and award winners celebrate their success at our annual Education Awards Lunch held at the Hall in May.
In 2019, we supported a capital project which enabled a new STEM Centre to be built at the Academy. The building is used to facilitate the expanding programme of extra-curricular STEM activities, including the robotics league which supports junior schools in the local area and beyond.
The Halley Academy
Our support to The Halley Academy, a secondary and sixth form academy, began in 2016. Formerly Corelli College, the school was officially renamed the The Halley Academy in March 2018 and became part of the Leigh Academies Trust (LAT). We have worked closely with the Academy and the Trust to develop a programme of non-financial giving which is expanding rapidly. Summer 2022 saw the culmination of our joint investment with the Leigh Academy Trust to create the Tallow Chandlers’ Engineering and Design Centre at the school, which was officially opened by the Master, Mr Peter Cazalet, on 6th July 2022.
Our grant supports STEM enrichment activities, revision resources, intervention programmes (such as weekends away for intensive student tuition), as well as various workshops delivered by youth charities. The Company also participates in a STEM Business Mentoring Programme, a scheme designed to raise aspirations and guide students to successful career destinations. Members are trained as STEM mentors and assigned a student mentee to work with throughout the academic year. Some of our mentors have organised work experience days in their own workplaces, which has been invaluable for the students.
We also support different careers activities including a ‘Student Question Time’ event where members participate as panellists and are quizzed about their career journeys. In 2019, students from the Social Action Group visited the Hall to chair a meeting about their work with members of the Company, and sixth form students also visited to take part in mock interviews.
Cubitt Town Primary School
Cubitt Town Primary School on the Isle of Dogs was awarded a three-year grant by the Company in 2016. Many exciting initiatives and projects have developed since we began supporting the school.
Our grant is used to support a wide range of activities which include careers events, school trips, public speaking workshops, and the purchase of materials and prizes for STEM competitions. In 2019, we enhanced our support to the school which enabled the building of a running track around the perimeter of the school grounds. The track provides a safe area for children to take part in daily physical activity and is also being used by staff for their running club. In 2018, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London and Sir Mo Farah visited the School to take part in ‘The Daily Mile’ with pupils, an incentive which aims to make children fitter, healthier and better at concentrating in class.
The Company hosts an annual ‘Dragons’ Den’ style competition as part of the School’s science week. Pupils visit the Hall to present their science projects on a range of topics including how to purify water, solar power cars, carbon capture hot air balloons, and magnetic river recycling. The Master and members of the Company act as the ‘dragons’ and have the difficult task of awarding the bronze, silver and gold places.
