Ellesmere College: In Partnership

Ellesmere College, as an independent school, could be seen by many to be an inward facing, isolated school with a rural location and an average number of pupils for a school its size, but in reality, this could not be further from the truth. Ellesmere has a solid history - built over many years - of its staff and pupils being proactively outward-facing and being engaged in the community around them on a local, national and global scale.

The contribution that independent schools like Ellesmere make to the broader community and beyond is invaluable to not only the communities, groups and educators we engage and collaborate with, but to the College itself, ensuring our students understand the importance of their 'giving back' role in projects, the impact they have as individuals, and that they value the communities and world they enter into as young adults.

Some of the value we bring cannot be measured - soft skills such as volunteering, mentoring - but many of them can be measured in terms of hours of volunteer time, monies raised for charities, bursarial awards to students, impact on the UK GDP, for example. The measurable impact of the engagement of independent schools in the UK that sit within the ISC (Independent Schools Council) has been issued in their April 2019 Census, with highlights detailed below in an excerpt from the report:

There are now a record 536,109 pupils at 1,364 ISC member schools, up from 529,164 in 2018.
There are 28,910 overseas pupils, equating to 5.4% of all pupils. Among the 26,370 non-British pupils whose parents live in the UK, 45% come from EEA countries, up three percentage points from last year. A further 13% come from the USA. As revealed by Oxford Economics in an impact report last year, non-British pupils at ISC schools supported around £1.8billion of gross value added in the UK, supporting 39,310 jobs and generating £550million in annual tax revenues.
Just over 84,000 pupils identified as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), equating to 15.7% of all pupils.
The majority of schools have fewer than 300 pupils. The mean school size is just under 400 while the mode is just under 170. Only 83 schools have more than 1,000 pupils.
Schools give more than twice as much means-tested fee assistance as opposed to non-means-tested, totalling over £420million and representing an increase of 6% compared with last year.
ISC schools are expanding their public benefit activities - 11,466 partnerships were recorded this year, compared with 10,553 last year. Beyond partnerships with state schools, between £10million and £15million was raised for charities at ISC schools this year and 901 ISC schools organise volunteering opportunities for their staff and/or pupils.
Despite fewer than 50% of ISC schools being academically selective, pupils significantly outperform the national and global averages academically. Nearly four times as many ISC pupils proportionately gained 40 points in the International Baccalaureate compared with the worldwide average.
The boarding landscape is changing, reflecting parental preferences. Although full boarding remains the most popular boarding pattern, the proportion of weekly and flexi-boarders has increased for three consecutive years. In 2016, 15.7% of boarders were weekly or flexi-boarders. This year that stands at 17.9%.

Please read the full 2019 Census here: ISC Census 2019

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The Impact of Independent Schools on the UK Economy

A report issued by Oxford Economics on behalf of the ISC, found that independent schools save the taxpayer £3.5 billion every year by providing places for pupils who could otherwise be expected to take up a place in the state-funded sector. In addition to the amount these schools save the taxpayer, it includes the following findings:

The 1,300-plus schools represented by the ISC's constituent associations contributed £11.6 billion to the UK economy in 2017, generating £3.5 billion of annual tax revenues (equivalent to £129 per UK household) and supporting 257,000 jobs.
Of the £11.6 billion ISC schools contributed to the economy, non-British pupils at ISC schools supported around £1.8 billion of gross value added in the UK, supporting 39,310 jobs and generating £550 million in annual tax revenues.
Independent schools also support economic growth by promoting subjects that are strategically important for the UK's skills base.
Had all independent fee-charging schools ceased to exist in the late 1940s, then UK GDP would have been £73 billion lower in 2017-a shortfall of 3.6%.

Read the full report here: Impact of Independent Schools 2018

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Ellesmere College: In Partnership

Ellesmere College has a strong history of working in partnership with many local and regional schools, sports clubs and community groups, and continues to grow from strength to strength. The College offers a broad range of resources to these group including facilities, expertise, out reach, volunteering and educational support - allowing them to benefit from a resource they would not otherwise have access to.

Some examples of the partnerships we have with these groups can be found on the Case Study page of the ISC 'Schools Together' website and fall into the following categories of partnership:

Community & Local Business

- North West Academies Trust (NWAT)

Sport

- World Class Shooting Facilities & The Community

- Ellesmere Public Swimming Pool

Music

- Music in the Community

Arts & Drama

- Drama Workshops for Local Schools

STEM

- Computing Courses for Teachers

Education & SfL