School Development

Ludgrove School was founded in 1892 and, in 1972, passed from private ownership into a charitable trust. The objectives of the Trust are the promotion and provision of education. In 2012, the Ludgrove School Foundation was set up by the Governing Body to help the School achieve these objectives. The current board is made up of existing and past parents, including Governors and Old Ludgrovians.

Building for Future Generations

In 2019, the Foundation raised £1,250,000 towards the cost of building the Exploration Centre, one of the finest prep school scientific and creative learning environments in the country.

Building work on the £2.5million state-of-the-art building was completed at the beginning of October 2020 and, within a week, Science classes were up and running in the Centre. Coding, Art, Pottery and Woodwork were all open for business in January 2021.

In the years since its opening, hundreds of boys have benefited from the top class facilities, igniting the scientific and creative talents of the next generation of Ludgrovians.

Transformational Bursaries

Ludgrove is a community where pupils are prepared to live in a diverse world. Accordingly, the support of the Foundation is now being directed principally towards supporting the cost of Transformational Bursaries. Through bursaries, the Foundation aims to draw pupils from a broader spectrum of society to make it possible for them to benefit from a Ludgrove education. Our mission, therefore, is to make Ludgrove more accessible to talented and inspiring boys who can only take up a place here with full fee support.

Since 2018, Ludgrove has provided full bursaries to 11 deserving boys who combine genuine need with motivation and potential. ‘Need’ may mean that their current circumstances – both at school and at home – are particularly challenging. We have done this because we have seen how these awards truly ‘make a difference’, benefitting not only the individual but also the entire School community. We call these transformational bursaries Foundation Awards because, thanks to generous donors, the Ludgrove Foundation has been able to assist the School with the funding.

Foundation Award places at Ludgrove typically support boys for the critical two years (Years 7 and 8) between the end of state primary and the start of a place at an independent senior school. This means boys joining the scheme come to Ludgrove aged 11 and leave us at 13.

Most candidates are recommended by the Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation and we place a very strong emphasis on ensuring their happy assimilation at Ludgrove. Moreover, we use a buddy scheme and focused pastoral care to support the boys' development and well-being. 

During the boys’ time with us, we work extremely hard to place each of our Foundationers at a suitable senior school on a similar bursary scheme. To date, our Foundationers have gone on to enjoy great success including one King's Scholarship at Eton.

The Royal National SpringBoard Foundation

Ludgrove is proud to be an accredited Royal SpringBoard school. Our partnership with the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation is critical to the School’s strategy to widen access to the transformative experience of a boarding education. Royal SpringBoard is the UK’s largest boarding school bursary charity, following the merger in 2017 of Royal National Children's Foundation and The SpringBoard Bursary Foundation. To learn more about its inspiring work, please visit their website here.

Trustees

The Ludgrove Foundation is led by a group of Trustees comprising past and present parents, including Governors, and Old Ludgrovians who combine personal experience of Ludgrove with a wealth of business and professional acumen. 

Trustees:

Logie Fitzwilliams, Chairman, current parent and Governor, OL
Ruth den Besten KC, current parent and Governor
Jamie Carter, past parent
Peter Eckersley, OL
Tawanda Pari, current parent
Thomas van Straubenzee, OL
Lucy Winkworth, current parent

Executive members:

Simon Barber, Headmaster
Maura Brittain, Bursar

More Information and Making a Donation

We are happy to discuss the work of the Foundation with you. In the first instance please contact the Development Office.

Should you wish to make a donation to support the work of the Foundation that can be done here. Every gift of any size makes a difference to the work of the Foundation and is appreciated enormously.