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What the Foundation Does

Every child deserves the right to love, care, hope and an education. These words ring true today as much as when our Foundation was founded in 1813 by Rev Dr Andrew Reed. As such, unlike many other educational institutions, Reed’s is a foundation with a school. The Foundation is the beating heart of Reed’s School and for over 200 years has been working with disadvantaged children to help inspire confidence and realise true potential through excellent educational provision and pastoral support.

The Foundation:

funds bursaries to provide life-changing education for vulnerable children at Reed’s School that aims to break the cycle of disadvantage and realise true potential;
funds the provision of outstanding pastoral care to support vulnerable children that aims to inspire confidence and build resilience;
works with schools from across London and Surrey to offer enrichment activities that aim to raise the aspirations of children;
works with other charities, trusts and foundations that aims to share best practice in providing the best support for vulnerable children.

Bursaries

The Foundation has a commitment to support at least 10% of the population of Reed’s School as Foundation pupils on funded bursaries. These pupils have lost the support of one or both parents and their family life is in crisis with some having sadly been exposed to a range of social issues including bereavement, domestic abuse and abandonment. In these cases, the need for strong pastoral care is as important today as it was 200 years ago when the Foundation was founded as the London Orphan School. For more information about our Foundation Bursary Application Process, click here.

Pastoral Care

Our Foundation’s core differentiation comes from the unique combination of bursaries but, also, most importantly, the pastoral structure we have in place to support vulnerable children. While every boarding school offers pastoral care, it is the holistic approach that Reed’s provides which is different as it enables our Foundation pupils to integrate into everyday school life and have opportunities to shine and flourish.

The ‘circle of support’ means that no child ‘falls through the net’. Every member of staff is empowered to take on a duty of care that complements the outstanding education on offer to ensure that the child’s time at Reed’s is as fulfilled as it can be.

Enrichment Activities

Although providing bursaries, pastoral care and education are a key part of the work of the Foundation, we are also committed to our unique outreach programme which is kindly supported by a number of other trusts and charities. The Reed’s Primary Forum works with hundreds of underprivileged children each year from some of the most deprived areas of London and the South East, offering the opportunity to take part in a wide-ranging curriculum that delivers academic, sporting and creative enrichment activities.

In addition, by building strong relationships with teachers from our Forum schools, we are able to promote the Foundation Bursary programme and help identify potential deserving candidates for Foundation places.

Best Practice

It is important - when working in the specialist field of helping vulnerable children - that best practice is shared, knowledge is exchanged, and common goals are recognised with like-minded organisations. The Reed’s Foundation is delighted to have close relationships with a number of other charities and trusts to do just this, and with over 200 years of experience under our belt, we feel we can add value to the mutual work we all strive to achieve.