In March 2020, immediately following the first lockdown in the UK and having shifted its preparation-for-boarding programmes online, Bishopstrow College – Padworth’s ‘sister school’ – enrolled three Syrian refugees – Hadeel, Lujain and Aseel – onto Bishopstrow Online on a pro bono basis. The girls had fled Syria joining the Civil War and had ‘settled’ in the Shatila Refugee Camp in Beirut, where they benefitted from a basic education provided by a charity called Alsama.
The girls completed their studies with Bishopstrow in June 2021. There are limited options for them to continue their secondary education in the Lebanon and we have therefore offered to have them enrol at Padworth for GCSEs and then sixth form, commencing September 2021. The offers made to Hadeel, Lujain and Aseel were based on merit, demonstrated through the progress made over 12 months at Bishopstrow. This is a very exciting step for all of us at both colleges, as hosting these students at Padworth will allow us to take an even more meaningful step forward in embracing global citizenship, which is at the core of our ethos.
The Alsama Education Institute has partnered with Bishopstrow College and now Padworth College throughout – they helped to identify these students as the most exceptionally talented in their community, a refugee camp in Lebanon; and they have been working closely with us on funding, via the Alsama Excellence Fund, which has recently been launched.
Since the families of the students are truly ‘bottom-of-pyramid’, the chance they have to join Padworth relies solely on whether they each get external funding (to the tune of £3,000 a month over the course of the next 3-4 years). Padworth and Alsama are both contributing meaningfully to sponsoring these students, but we cannot do it on our own. We are therefore exploring opportunities to secure funding.
Further details can be found here: Alsama Excellence Fund 2021
If you are interested in learning more, please get in touch with Mark Jeynes, Director at mark.jeynes@padworth.com
