SOUTHWARK SCHOOLS’ LEARNING PARTNERSHIP The SSLP was established as a DFES London Challenge project in 2003, and 20 years later it is still recognised as a national model of good practice for independent state school partnerships, writes Local Partnerships Coordinator Katie Barretta
THE UGANDA SCHOOL PROJECT (TUSP) In September 2022, TUSP was made the College’s Lower School Charity of the year, and it will become the Senior School Charity 2023–24. Lower School charity representatives, Fausto Garcia-Armero Rivas (Year 8) and Max Mortby (Year 8), interviewed one of TUSP’s founders, Sean Richardson OA
T he Master has been the co-director of the South- wark Schools’ Learning Partnership (SSLP) repre- senting independent schools since the founding director, Marion Gibbs, retired in 2015. He was joined this year by Marcus Huntley, Principal of Compass School Southwark; he succeeds Catherine May, Grainne Grabowski and Irene Bishop, who were the previous co-directors representing state schools. Now with 18 sec- ondary school members from Southwark and neighbour- ing boroughs (including 14 state schools), the SSLP pools resources and expertise to offer over 50 exclusive learning opportunities over the course of the academic year. The emphasis on partnership at the SSLP means that stu- dents and staff members are often organisers and guests at the same event given the collaborative nature of the learning experiences. The SSLP has three stated aims: to connect schools, to connect staff and to connect students. Connecting schools During lockdown our Director of Free Learning har- nessed the power of Zoom to overcome the obstacle of geography that can prevent schools from attending after-school talks by guest speakers. Since May 2020 we have welcomed David Lammy MP, Dharshini David, Elif Shafak, Baroness Floella Benjamin, Jeremy Deller OA, Lord John Browne, Sir Nick Partridge (with special guest Russell T Davies), Lord Peter Hain of Neath, Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, and many others to our webinar series Thinking About. Students in Year 10 and above gather together, virtually, at 5pm on a Tuesday to learn about our guest’s chosen topic. Schools take it in turns to host, with their students welcoming the guest and fielding questions from the audience. Last year there were 17 Thinking
H arry Bucknell left Dulwich in 2005, and Sean Richardson in 2007. Both found themselves in corporate jobs (insurance and property manage- ment respectively) that left them unfulfilled. Life came into even sharper focus for Harry when on a trip to Uganda he was involved in a potentially fatal car accident. For Sean, a family bereavement at the same time that the family business was sold caused him to reevaluate his life. Both wanted a change in direction to something that was more meaningful. A chance discussion at an Old Alleynian football training session was the start of a relationship that led, in 2016, to the creation of The Uganda School Pro- ject: a charity which supports educational development in rural Uganda. The first school that TUSP supported was Bumakenya Primary School in the village of Makenya in the Namisind- wa District of Eastern Uganda. Over the last six years the project has resulted in far-reaching educational and infra- structural outcomes in one of the most breathtakingly at- tractive parts of Uganda but one whose isolation has over
Abouts, hosted by a total of 50 students and reaching 677 viewers from 22 different schools. Following the success of this virtual programme, we’ve also been running a careers-based webinar series for younger students called So You Want To Be. This runs once per half term on a Thursday lunchtime with students joining in supervised groups in their own schools. Connecting staff The Dulwich College Staff Tutor has established a popular staff development series for SSLP called Aspiring Leaders, co-funded by Alleyn’s and JAGS. Guest trainers have met with aspiring middle leaders, senior leaders and, this year, pastoral leaders. Eighty-nine members of staff registered for the series this year, which included talk by Amy-May Forrester, Sonia Lupien and Bradley Busch. Connecting students Jointly funded by the Department for Education and a current Dulwich College parent, the SSLP’s student voice project is now in its third year. Each year students select a topic on which to focus, this year’s topics being racism, mental health and sustainability. Dulwich College students are currently working with those from Harris Boys Acade- my East Dulwich, with input from two other local schools, to produce the materials for a sustainable cookery club that could be introduced to all schools next year. A further element of the student voice project is to establish debating in as many schools as possible. The Worshipful Company of International Bankers has funded this for three years, with Debate Mate workshops run in 12 schools and an annual competition open to all schools with a novice team. ◎
many years resulted in a lack of access to services such as healthcare and education. UNICEF has estimated that 32% of children in Uganda who enroll in primary school are likely to drop out before finishing the prescribed seven years. The statistics are worse for girls and for children with any sort of disability. FAUSTO GARCIA-ARMERO RIVAS & MAX MORTBY: How did your vision for TUSP start in the first place? SEAN RICHARDSON: My life was at a crossroads and I was drifting before that. And lots of events happened in my life which really brought into focus what it was that I wanted to do and what direction I wanted my life to go. I decided that, amongst other things, it was all going to be about service to others. And so I had conversations with Harry and decided to pursue the opportunity to work as a volunteer with TUSP. This then grew into a career. I haven’t looked back since. FGR & MM: Was it practically difficult to start the charity in Uganda and what were some of the key hurdles? SR: Yes, it was very difficult to start the charity, particularly with the bureaucracy involved in registering and obtaining approval from all levels of government, from sub-coun- ty officials to the Ministry of Education. It also proved challenging to gather building materials, money, and find trusted engineers who were familiar with the ecosystem of Uganda. Gaining the trust of the community was also a hurdle due to its size. Additionally, operational challenges such as poor infrastructure and weather conditions during the rainy season made it necessary to be strategic when transporting materials and finding reliable drivers. FGR & MM: What is your longer-term vision for TUSP? SR: Our longer-term vision is to raise the average edu- cational outcomes in the district to the national average, specifically in terms of Primary Leaving Examination
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