The Rowdown Inspire to Aspire Foundation has been set up to inspire New Addington children to aspire to something big, something extra and to support them in their aspirations.

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We are a registered charity that will provide funding to enable gifted and talented pupils at school in New Addington to pursue an area of talent to further their ambition and eventually give them life-enhancing opportunities as they become young adults.  Our Aims

New Addington is situated in the London Borough of Croydon and is an area with high levels of social deprivation: a survey said that all the area had at least 25% child poverty with some parts at c.50%.  The majority of children living in New Addington are either officially disadvantaged (i.e. they have or do qualify for free school meals) or come from low income families.  The Foundation recognises that many parents cannot afford the private tuition or club membership that will enable their child to chase their dreams or that hard-working parents do not have the time to organise the tuition and get their child to the lesson.  We can – and will – help with both.

We initially started helping children at Rowdown Primary School - hence our name - but have now expanded our remit to children at all six primary schools (Rowdown, Fairchildes, Applegarth, Castle Hill, Tudor and Good Shepherd).  We support gymnasts, pianists, dancers and actors.  We have arranged Art Masterclasses in two of the primary schools where a young artist goes in and teaches talented young artists about different media, techniques and skills.

We support gymnasts, pianists, dancers and actors.  We have arranged Art Masterclasses in two of the primary schools where a young artist goes in and teaches talented young artists about different media, techniques and skills.

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Over the last few years we have developed our Tuition Programme to provide the academically able of, initially, Rowdown but more lately all six New Addington primary schools, with extra lessons in Maths and English (and verbal and non-verbal reasoning) to challenge them beyond the national curriculum and, as part of this, prepare them for 11+ entrance exams for selective and semi-selective state, grammar and independent schools.

For more information on the Tuition Programme, click here.  In the first four years, we have placed 25 children in schools through entrance exams including 18 to grammar and independent schools, the latter with the necessary financial support to make it affordable to parents.

It is essential that the child already shows some special ability and has a huge enthusiasm for their chosen area of interest.  This is to ensure they will invest the time and effort to improve because otherwise the future opportunities will be limited and our support wasted.  It is also essential that their parents have the same levels of enthusiasm for their child’s ambitions.  This is non-negotiable!

Normally it will be the teachers – themselves a talented bunch of people – who will be the first to see something exceptional in the pupils and they will start to ball rolling by referring them to the Foundation.  If you are a pupil or parent and wish to be considered for some support, talk to your class teacher initially about it: they will then approach the Foundation if they feel it is appropriate.

Of course we have rules and regulations: no organisation can exist without them these days!  How it Works sets out our procedures and gives some guidelines on what we are looking for and what you need to do if you want to apply for some support from the Foundation, whether a teacher, a pupil or a parent.   By parent, we mean parent, carer or guardian, of course.

We do not receive any funding from the education authorities and will need public donations to be able to continue to expand the number of children we can support.  We currently support over 60 New Addington children EVERY WEEK, but funds are beginning to get tight.  You can donate by clicking here:

Find out all about us.  Why not contact us for more information whether to seek our support or to support us.  We are still in our early days, but go to our News page to find out what we are doing to help the children of New Addington to UNLOCK THEIR POTENTIAL.