MD2378 Donation to the Kensington Aldridge Academy Intrepidus Trust

Grenfell Tower fire and Kensington Aldridge Academy (KAA)

Five KAA pupils lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire and over a hundred were displaced. For the 2017-18 academic year the school operated out of portacabins on Wormwood Scrubs. It moved back to its buildings next to the Tower in September 2018.

Despite the challenges in the year following Grenfell, KAA achieved outstanding A levels, with two thirds A*-B, nearly 100 per cent pass rate and two pupils accepted to Oxford.

The Trust

The Kensington Aldridge Academy Intrepidus Trust (KIT) was established in November 2017 by a group of the school’s governors. The goal of the Trust is to fund extra-curricular activities that broaden the horizons of KAA pupils.

KIT is entirely funded by private donations and grants, led by Chair Lucy Morris with five trustees and a part-time administrator. It keeps overheads low by sharing back office costs with the school. It will publish its first financial report in March 2019.

KIT has now launched an Endowment Fund with a goal of raising £2m by December 2019. A donor has agreed to match fund donations up to £500k.

Possible projects

KIT is seeking funding for the following projects:

• Music education for all

This project will increase access to individual instrumental and vocal tuition over the next three years, extending lesson duration, and providing free tuition for the most disadvantaged pupils. The long-term goal is to increase the numbers of pupils taking music at GCSE and A-level.

• Increasing participation in sport: rowing, tennis & BMX

These sport programmes are designed to keep pupils positively engaged after school and develop discipline, teamwork and leadership skills, that are transferable to other areas of their life. KIT is supporting three programmes at KAA: tennis for 860 pupils, BMX for 440 pupils and rowing for 180 pupils.

• Breakfast Club

The recent introduction of the daily Breakfast Club at KAA was of particular importance following the school’s displacement from its building in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.  With some students arriving at school hungry, KIT supported the establishment of this service which feeds up to 200 pupils each day. KIT is looking to expand the service to reach more at-risk pupils and provide a more nutritionally varied menu.

• KAA News Club

This project is a digital media and production lunchtime club. Pupils will take on the roles of producers, camera operators, editors, script writers, researchers, interviewers and presenters, and will learn how to plan, record, edit and publish a regular ‘show’ on school events.

• Sixth Form Residential at Oxford University

In the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy, two Oxford colleges offered to host 200 sixth form pupils for a week of residential learning. The trip gave pupils an insight into life and culture at university, raising ambitions and convincing them of their own potential. Subsequently two of the school’s first alumni have secured places at Oxford for September 2018. Following its success, the Trust is supporting the establishment of an annual sixth-form university residential programme.

• Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme

DofE develops students’ resilience, teamwork and communication, and is highly regarded by colleges, universities and employers.  The Trust is funding the school’s first set of DofE expeditions this summer, with further funding required to enable hundreds more young people to gain valuable transferable skills over the coming three years.

• Year 7 Outward Bound Residentials

A week-long residential trip held in September 2017 helped pupils bond with each other and the pastoral staff. KIT now wishes to build on this success and repeat this residential as a kick-off programme for new Year 7 students.

Proposal

It is proposed that the Mayor makes a donation of £50,000 to the Trust to help it reach its target of £2m. A donor will match fund the Mayor’s donation.

The proposal Mayoral donation is in line with GLA’s statutory principal purposes, particularly that purpose relating to “promoting social development in Greater London”. The outcome sought is for the young people in a community badly affected by a terrible tragedy to begin to recover and rebuild following that tragedy.

The public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 requires the Mayor to have due regard in the exercise of his functions to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act, advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it, and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Relevant protected characteristics are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Equality considerations are intrinsic to this decision. The beneficiaries of the donation are from a diverse and traumatised community in west London, and it is therefore expected that people with relevant protected characteristics will benefit from this donation.

The £50,000 donation will be met from the GLA’s corporate contingency for 2018-19.

As noted in “Objectives and expected outcomes” above, the purpose of supporting young people in a community badly affected by the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 is within the GLA’s statutory purpose of promoting social development in Greater London under section 30(2) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act).

In taking this decision, the Mayor should have due regard to the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, namely, to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act, to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it and to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Relevant protected characteristics include age and race. This decision is intended to assist young people in a diverse community.

It is intended that the donation will be made in December 2018.