Education sits at the heart of the Haberdashers’ Company’s work today. The Haberdashers’ family of fifteen schools collectively educates 12,000 students across the independent and maintained sector.
The Company’s purpose is to “empower young people from every background to fulfil their potential”. The Company achieves this through funding, governance and the Haberdashers’ Advantage Programme.
The programme is based on the principles of community, mutual support and shared values, with the Company using its ability to create connections, harness expertise and open doors for the benefit of students and staff. There are three interlinked strands: the Working Together programme is about professional collaboration, the Character and Futures programmes are student-facing.
Character
A programme of initiatives designed to promote confidence, broaden horizons and develop the life-skills and attributes that a Haberdasher pupil should walk away with when they leave school. The activities of this programme are based on establishing a sense of community, providing cultural capital and character development opportunities.
Activities include a trip to Haberdashers’ Hall in Year 7 to learn about the history and shared heritage. Subsequent opportunities include events in music, sport, other co-curricular activities and student leadership development. This programme seeks to recognise pupil talent and help develop it further.
Futures
Members of the Haberdashers’ Company are drawn from a wide variety of professional backgrounds. Many are at the top of their fields with an extensive network of organisational and personal contacts. The Futures programme is intended to introduce our Sixth Formers to these professional worlds, increase awareness of different career paths, build confidence and networking skills and enable students and alumni to access the broader Haberdashers’ community as they move into the wider world.
Past events have covered Law & Justice Careers, Marketing & Creative Careers, Banking & Finance Careers and Medical Careers. Meanwhile, participation in the annual Livery Academy Awards helps to stimulate business and entrepreneurial skills. Set to launch next year, Habs Aspire is an innovative mentoring programme for pupils in Year 12. Once rolled out, the intention is to be able to offer every pupil in Lower Sixth four hours of one-to-one mentoring across the academic year.
Working Together
The Company brings together staff, school leaders and governors to connect with each other, and gain the benefits of a wider educational context than any individual school group can offer. School leaders and staff meet throughout the year to troubleshoot, share ideas and best practice, innovate and develop strategies to support individual school priorities.
Alumni, both pupils and staff, are strongly encouraged to stay connected, for their own benefit and the benefit of future generations: once a Haberdashers, always a Haberdasher.
