Projects
We are working with our Trustees, sponsors, partners, staff, students and the wider community to identify specific areas of focus for our Foundation – which we plan to develop and implement to ensure maximum impact where the greatest need exists.
Bursaries
Our bursary fund aims to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds by removing financial barriers that hinder their access to higher education. We have identified bursaries as a key support mechanism to ensure students from all backgrounds can thrive academically and personally.
By covering essential expenses like tuition, accommodation, and textbooks, the bursary fund enables students to focus on their studies and enhance their educational experience.
Bursaries provide crucial benefits not only for individual students but also for a college community as a whole. They help retain students who might otherwise struggle financially, leading to higher graduation rates and a more inclusive campus culture that celebrates diverse perspectives. Research supports that financial aid, such as bursaries, reduces dropout rates and encourages greater social mobility, helping to break cycles of poverty and promote educational equity.
Mentoring Programmes
Our mentorship programme will pair disadvantaged students with mentors from local businesses, community organisations, and educational settings.
These mentors will provide personalised academic and emotional support to help students set and achieve their goals. Mentorship is especially impactful for students from low socio-economic backgrounds, offering guidance and motivation. Research indicates that mentoring programmes not only improve academic and social outcomes, but also contribute to reduced crime and violence, especially when mentors are trained adults providing consistent, one-to-one support.
Through mentorship, students gain emotional support, professional connections, and crucial employability skills, supporting their academic and career progress.
Expanding Music Education
London South East Academies Trust (LSEAT) includes several schools offering specialised support for students with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs, serving pupils from ages 5-19.
Building on this extensive expertise in supporting diverse learners, we want to expand access to music education through our music service, Bexley Music. We want to make music education
accessible to all pupils across LSEAT, including those in SEND schools and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Music education offers substantial benefits beyond musical skills - including enhancing memory, attention, problem-solving abilities, and emotional expression. For students with SEMH needs, music can serve as a therapeutic outlet, helping with emotional regulation, stress reduction, and social skills development.
We are committed to widening access to music education for all young people – giving them valuable opportunities and experience which they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
Play Therapy
Play and music therapy are shown to support emotional regulation, social skills, and academic engagement in children with SEND. Through play therapy, children can express complex emotions in a natural, non-verbal way, building confidence and resilience. Music therapy offers a calming, structured environment that improves focus, social behaviour, and emotional well-being.
Currently, demand for therapy often exceeds available resources; for instance, one of our SEMH schools, Aspire Academy, offers limited weekly sessions, and Woodside Academy (ASD) can only provide intermittent access via local authorities. To bridge this gap, LASER is seeking to fund additional therapy sessions across all our schools schools, enabling more children to access these life-changing services.
Just £5,260 funds 12 additional sessions, a critical investment in helping children like Child A—who, after a year of therapy, transformed from struggling with trauma to thriving in school and social environments.