The Founders’ schools were set up by Bishop Owen Oglethorpe and Mrs Henrietta
Dawson as two separate organisations. After their respective deaths, each school
was supported by an Endowment from their Founder. In 1906 the two schools were
amalgamated in what was to become Tadcaster Grammar School. Initially, the
combined school was supported by these endowments, together with fees paid by
parents although, later, further financial support was provided by the then West
Riding County Council.
After the Second World War, the local authority took full responsibility for supporting
the school, leaving the Founders’ endowments as a separate fund. The body which
today administers the fund is The Oglethorpe and Dawson Educational Foundation.
The Foundation Governors use income from the Endowments to make grants for
educational requirements both to students of the school and the school itself.
In the recent past, the Foundation has donated to the Grammar School and its
students:
Prizes for the School Celebration and House Awards;
The provision of items such as additional library books, computers and other
IT-related equipment together with other Departmental requirements not
supported by grants, whatever the source;
Support for individual students to assist in special circumstances including out
of school activities such as field trips and other visits supporting the
curriculum together with cultural, sporting and life enhancing activities.
In all cases, grants are made (subject to qualifying criteria) dependent on the
financial circumstances of the student. However, the grant will often be for a limited
amount rather than for the total required.
A key example of the ongoing support provided by the Educational Foundation to the
school relates to its Just B initiative. This is a specialist bereavement and emotional
wellbeing support service created to help children, young people and adults across
the communities of North Yorkshire. It offers a safe space to talk about emotions
such as grief, low mood and anxiety. Thanks to the Oglethorpe and Dawson
Educational Foundation, the school is privileged to have a number of counsellors
and specialists who come into the school each week, allowing students who require
assistance over and above what is normally available through the school. This
initiative has been running for several years and is well embedded within the school