The importance of providing bursaries
Monday, 14 November 2022
I first heard about the bursary scheme for Wakefield Girls’ High School during my last couple of years at primary school. Being the daughter of a single mum, we never thought about the possibility of starting my secondary education at a private school, and automatically assumed that I would continue my education at the high school in my local catchment area. That was until a family friend told us about the bursary scheme that WGSF offers to those students whose families meet the financial criteria, and so we decided to look into it further on the school website. We found that WGSF offers up to 75% coverage of school fees, and with this information I decided to attend the WGHS ‘Open Morning’ to look around the school and meet the teachers and pupils. I absolutely loved the feel of the school and everything it had to offer and, therefore, sat the entrance exam in January 2012. Luckily, I scored high enough in the exams to be awarded a 75% bursary, and started at the school in the following September.

My time at WGHS is something I will never forget – I made life-long friends and have such special memories from the school which I will always treasure. The school offers so many opportunities to its students, whether that be the variety of subjects taught, fantastic school trips, the opportunity to try new sports, music lessons, work experience, and so on. It provided me with the confidence to go out and achieve whatever I put my mind to, and I have carried this with me since leaving in 2019. The school has remained the bedrock of my career, and I will forever be in debt to WGHS for what it has done for me.

Without the bursary scheme, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to attend the school, and I cannot thank the Foundation enough for funding part of my education. As an ‘Old Girl’, it is wonderful to see the school still offering this type of opportunity to its students, and I know that girls in the future who are awarded a bursary will be forever grateful like myself for the opportunities that come along with it. 

Harriet Kirby Brown (OG 2019)