A long-term partnership between local secondary school, North Cambridge Academy (NCA), independent school group, Stephen Perse Cambridge, and major employer, Costello Medical, brokered by Cambridge 2030 CIC to help address some of the major challenges faced by the academy and its students, has won the Award for Collaboration at the Cambridge Independent Business Awards 2024.
NCA is a secondary school in Arbury, which, despite serving a community with some of the highest levels of deprivation in Cambridge city, consistently achieves above-average progress for its students. A key aim of the partnership, therefore, was to support the raising of aspirations among disadvantaged students and their families.
Julie Spence, His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Cambridge 2030 ambassador said: “Cambridge 2030 was formed to help address inequalities in Cambridge through collaborative action, and this partnership is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when organisations work together. The commitment of Stephen Perse Cambridge and Costello Medical to sharing resources and working together with NCA, its staff, students and the wider community, is to be celebrated and should be used as a model to follow by other schools and businesses.”
The collaboration, started with Stephen Perse Cambridge and NCA in 2018, and joined by Costello Medical in 2020, has enabled the sharing of expertise and resources among senior leaders of the schools and provided: tutoring support for NCA students to provide additional extra-curricular small group interventions to support more able students to achieve their best and, sometimes, access additional qualifications; fully funded Sixth Form places for students from low income households who are identified by NCA as having the potential to thrive at university; and work experience programmes tailored specifically for NCA students.
Richard Girvan, Principal of Stephen Perse Cambridge said: “At Stephen Perse we are committed to cultivating a diverse, inclusive culture, with over 40% of our senior school and sixth form students now recipients of bursaries and scholarships, ensuring that students from all backgrounds are able to benefit from an exceptional education. We recognise the primacy of education as a tool for social mobility, and embrace the challenge of providing an excellent education for the widest possible demographic; our vision is to provide truly equal opportunities and access for all.”
Since formation, Stephen Perse Cambridge’s teachers and students have provided regular support sessions to NCA students in subjects including Maths, Science, English, Modern Languages and Art; 36 NCA students have benefited from work experience weeks at Costello Medical and 47 have participated in operations focussed workshops; 20 students have attended or are currently attending Stephen Perse Cambridge Sixth Form on 100% bursaries; students enrolled in the programme have moved on to universities including Imperial College, London, Oxford Brookes, University of East Anglia and University of Bath to read subjects including Astrophysics, Chemistry, Politics & International Relations, and Physiotherapy. This year, Costello Medical also undertook to fund the Year 11 NCA prom which was left without a venue due to much-needed building works at the school, thus preventing additional costs being passed onto the students.
Sophie Costello, Chief Executive Officer of Costello Medical said: “Our work experience programme with NCA and the Stephen Perse is a wonderful initiative that our team so enjoy being involved with, This, alongside the bursaries we fund, feels a very tangible way that the company can make a positive contribution to the lives of the brilliant young people in our community. We certainly learn just as much from them as they do from us.“
Jane Driver, Principal of North Cambridge Academy said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the collaboration has been recognised this way and are really grateful to both Costello Medical and The Stephen Perse Foundation for their ongoing support in ensuring that all NCA students, regardless of their socio-economic status, have the best possible educational and life opportunities.“
NCA became part of Meridian Trust in 2014, is OFSTED rated Good and achieves GCSE results consistently above average both for disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students.
