Last Thursday we held a groundbreaking Senior School assembly on Philanthropy, led by Mrs Tollit, our Development Manager, and supported by recent alumna and former bursary award holder, Noor Ahmed, who shared with us how much an NHEHS education meant to her, following the disabling illness of her parents.

Mrs Tollit explained the meaning of philanthropy, spoke about NHEHS’ status (as part of the GDST) as a registered charity, and told us that the GDST is one of the 20 largest charities in the UK, its primary purpose being to provide affordable day-school education for girls.

As a charity, any expenditure can only made for its charitable purpose – ‘the advancement of education’ – and for ‘public benefit’ – ie not just education for those in the higher income brackets in our society. On top of that, Mrs Tollit highlighted that one of the particular features of NHEHS is the level of importance we place on diversity: being an inclusive, grounded community is just as important to us as the results we achieve.

The school invests in both Partnerships and Bursaries, which have the same aim – to ensure our charity benefits those that are not able to afford our school fees as well as those who can and we maintain our diverse pupil body. Our Partnership work includes our BUDS Saturday school, GreenSTEM programmes. Our Bursaries work is focused on fundraising to provide financial assistance to those families who cannot afford our school fees to enable local, talented young women to join our community. 

At NHEHS, Bursaries have a long history. Today, 45 students in the Senior School receive a bursary; that is 7% of our students of our Senior School. While we are pleased that we are able to do this for 7%, the sector norm for bursary support in London independent schools is 10%, so we are using our 150th birthday as a catalyst to reinvigorate our charitable purpose and founders’ commitment to an inclusive education by fundraising for new transformational bursaries, ie 95%+ support, for low-income families. 

Mrs Tollit then welcomed back Noor Ahmed (Class of 2022), a transformational bursary award holder during her time at school. 

On joining our Sixth Form, Noor said, “class sizes were suddenly a quarter of what they used to be, teachers would take the time to learn students’ interests, not to mention knowing their names. It was like I was in a completely different arena: an arena I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see if it wasn’t for the bursary fund.”

Noor spoke about the practical benefits of coming to NHEHS but was keen to state that she thought it was “equally as important to talk about the pastoral support that was a part of being at Notting Hill. Teachers here have the capacity to take time to listen to students as people, even something as small as the termly 5 minute 1 on 1 meetings with our form tutors was something so foreign to me. I do think that it really did make a difference, knowing that I wasn’t just grades on a spreadsheet to my teachers, but a person as well.”

Noor explained that without the financial support she would not have been able to visit all the universities she was interested in and, without that, she could have found out too late that her preferences lay elsewhere. Bringing us up to date, Noor shared how much she loved studying Natural Sciences at Loughborough University and how “incredibly happy” she was there.

“I would say without a doubt that I wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for coming to Notting Hill for school, not just in the practical sense of getting the right grades, but also because of the confidence I developed during my time here. Going to university was always something I wanted but I don’t think I actually started to see it happen until I came to school here. Somehow it felt more possible. Without the confidence I gained attending school here, I wouldn’t have been able to make the most of all of the opportunities that now lie at my feet.”

“The educational aspect of Notting Hill is incredible, but that’s not all the school offers. Things that run outside the curriculum, such as the alumnae network, Parents’ Guild careers events and preparation for university applications aren’t common outside private school education, and I wouldn’t have had access to any of them if it weren’t for the bursary fund.”

Noor ended on a rousing note, urging students to support and inspire others to do the same: “You and your parents and guardians have the power to make this education accessible to students who may not otherwise have the privilege.”

Mrs Tollit then introduced our Giving Day on Tuesday July 2nd, a first for the school and for the GDST. It will be a day of action where we will strive to meet our target of creating new transformational bursaries as a legacy of our 150th Anniversary celebrations and to deepen a culture of philanthropy across our community, through a plethora of fundraising activities and fun across the Junior and Senior Schools; more details to follow!

To make a donation to our 150th Anniversary Appeal visit here

To donate your deposit (Class of 2024 and Early Leavers only) visit here 

To discuss a donation please email Molly Tollit on m.tollit@nhehs.gdst.net