Eton On The Cheap

[peteneras]

Here's an alternative and cheaper way to access the services of the great School!

"Would love to see the independent schools help the state boarding schools like Eton does. If they are to keep their charitable status then they should do much more on this front."

SirMister, Holyport College is not the only state school that Eton goes out of its way to help and you'll be surprised just how much more Eton does to help other schools, not necessarily only in the UK but also abroad.

Take this new state school in East London, The London Academy of Excellence, for example. Established only in 2012 in collaboration with seven other independent schools including Eton (which played a major part) its Oxbridge success rate in less than six years jumped from 4 to a phenomenal 22 this year! Now, this type of performance can seriously embarrass even the nation's top grammars or big name boarding schools which charge an extortionate £40K p.a.

In addition to all this, there are loads of other charitable work/contributions courtesy of Eton that go unnoticed. A quick look at this page tells you more. There are also the annual summer schools when state school pupils with Oxbridge ambitions are invited to Eton for a thorough grounding in preparation for their UCAS applications, etc. The Medical Society also organises an annual conference for potential medics from the state sector to help in their applications to medical schools.

And of course, Eton's legendary facilities are the envy of the world's educational institutions. Thanks to their benevolent nature most of these facilities are open to the general public e.g. the Olympic standard rowing lake, their theatre and recording studios, etc.

Eton's critics are saying the School is offering all this to maintain its charitable status. This may be so. But Eton is offering much, much more than most, if not all, other public schools. Its scholarship/bursary pot alone gives out more than £6 million annually - and increasing every year! But if you think Eton is offering all this just to be on the good side of the Charitable Commission, you are wrong! The former Head Master, Tony Little, was on record to say Eton would be much better off forgoing it's charitable status and run as a business instead, charging whatever it wants, and paying taxes but no contributions to charities. I think he is right.

Phenomenal 22 link here!

Senior boys at Eton - Lower and Upper Six - often volunteer to go out to the community to help their peers at the state sector in their preparations for the GCSE and A-Level exams. Numerous reports have been received that these activities have helped the beneficiary schools in their league table performances by leaps and bounds - much more so than their own school teachers can do for their state pupils! There is a case to believe that youngsters learn better with their own peers groups of around the same age than from adults who often don't speak their "language".

And it doesn't stop at the local community either. Some hand-picked senior boys from Eton are sent thousands of miles away to another continent to help with the underprivileged kids. My DS was sent to the middle of an African jungle in Tanzania for 6 weeks that involved a couple of days travel from the airport to teach kids in the jungle English and Maths. By day he had to dodge lions coming to and fro the village school and by night he had to dodge both lions and crocodiles going back to his jungle accommodation.