An update from ACS Chairman Phil Hodkinson As ACS International Schools approaches its 50th anniversary later this year, our plans to convert to charitable status will provide a strong foundation for the continued provision of high quality education in our schools in the future.
Back in 1967, our Founders, Mr. Manos Poularas and Mr. Gordon Speed, had a vision to create an inspirational learning environment for London’s expanding global community. Fifty years on, ACS now educates more than 3,500 students, comprising 100 nationalities, across four schools, serving the needs of the local and international community.
Although Mr. Speed has retired and Mr. Poularas has sadly passed away, their spirit and legacy live on in the ongoing success of our schools, guided by their ethos and commitment to our values and community. Indeed, it was Mr. Poularas’s wish that ACS should convert to become a UK charitable entity to protect ACS’s long-term future, ensuring that we continue to:
Last year we communicated our intent to convert to charitable status and since then we’ve put in place many of the building blocks to do so in the next 18 months.
Our vision - “through learning, inspire all to make a difference” - has guided, and will continue to guide, our strategy and decision-making, and the move to charitable status will provide new and exciting possibilities to widen that vision to the benefit of our schools and the wider community.
First and foremost, we will continue to operate schools providing a high quality education within an internationally diverse context, with the highest standards of teaching, pastoral care, facilities and support for students. Charitable status in the UK will provide the opportunity to widen access to this education by providing means-tested financial assistance through bursary and scholarship funding, and by deepening relationships with local schools and communities with whom we share educational expertise.
Our school in Doha is currently constituted as a separate entity to the UK company. We are working closely with our advisors and in due course the UK Charity Commission, to determine the future entity arrangements in Qatar and how they relate to these aims.
Becoming a charity will also enable us to raise additional funds to further our educational aims, enriching our teaching and learning programmes, and enhancing our facilities. It will also formally recognise our existing approach of managing ACS on a not-for-profit, sustainable basis. It is our aim that, by becoming a UK charitable entity, we will secure all of these benefits for present and future generations.
As a key step in the transition to charitable status, in the coming months we will be appointing a number of new independent non-executive directors to the ACS Board who, together with some of our current non-executive directors, will become the trustees when we convert to being a charity. We will be encouraging alumni and their parents, and former members of staff to apply, as it is our expectation that those with a long-standing association with, and affinity for, ACS will be amongst the most committed and informed trustees.
There is still much to do before we convert to charitable status. Over the coming months we will be working closely with our advisors and the Charity Commission to complete the next steps, and we will keep you abreast of progress on a regular basis.
Phil Hodkinson Non-Executive Chair ACS International Schools Limited