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Our School Fund

 


Government funding for schools is under significant pressure.  Over the past ten years, we have seen a considerable reduction in the amount of money we have to invest in the facilities we provide for our students, and our ability to enrich their experience outside the classroom.

Schools across the country have been hit by rising prices - including massive jumps to our energy bills - and increasing staff costs that have not been fully funded by the government.

More than ever, we are relying on the generous voluntary donations that parents, carers and alumnae contribute to provide the very best for our students.
 

Our School Fund empowers our school community to voluntarily support our extra-curricular enrichment programme, and to help improve our facilities further.


We consider this provision a key part of our vision to provide a holistic experience for our young people, which focuses on social, cultural, and emotional capital as well as high academic achievement.

Two of our values are courage and endeavour.   Our School Fund gives us the resources to support our students in exploring these key development areas outside of their academic studies.
 

PAST PROJECTS IT HAS FUNDED

Over the past few years, projects that our School Fund has supported (either funding in full or helping us go beyond the ‘basics’) include:

  • A major contribution to a Department for Education-funded project to significantly improve the security and safety of the school site. The School Fund contribution has enabled us to create a better pedestrian access to the front office, with more lighting and a more inclusive pathway.
     
  • An annual contribution to fund enrichment such as extra music groups and PE clubs, transport to fixtures, and to facilitate a wide range of competition entries such as the Arkwright scholarship, robotics and computing competitions and related hardware.
     
  • The replacement of the floor in the sports hall, ensuring the surface is high quality and appropriate for all different types of activities.
     
  • The decoration and fit out of the ground floor of the new teaching block, to create three new classrooms and a study area for our growing sixth form.
     
  • The refurbishment of two new science laboratories to complete our suite of thirteen science-specific teaching spaces – critical for a school like ours where chemistry, physics and biology are so popular.

FUNDING FUTURE PROJECTS

In the future, we are asking for regular voluntary donations to enable this investment in our enrichment activities to continue, as well as raise funds to support a number of new projects such as:

  • We would like to reconfigure the school reception space, to make it a more inclusive and welcoming space for students, parents, carers and other visitors.
  • We would like to create a new IT suite (or expand our laptop provision) to enable our students to continue their independent study at school beyond the school day.
     
  • We would like to refurbish our school hall to create a space with better AV equipment to support our school events.
     
  • We would like to further upgrade our school astrodome and observatory to ensure its wider use in lessons and beyond - something unique to our school. 
     
  • We would like to increase the breadth and depth of our enrichment projects, giving us the resources to employ coaches to support our students’ creativity such as visiting artists, authors, lecturers. This would also cover the costs of competitions - our students often get to regional / national finals, which are often cost-prohibitive.


Mrs Alexis Williamson-Jones
Headteacher
 

HOW MUCH TO DONATE

Obviously, how much you choose to donate is a personal decision and entirely voluntary.   Parents often ask us how much we think is reasonable.

Most parents donate £50 per month via direct debit, although some choose to donate more - it's entirely up to you.   Every pound you give us, no matter the value, helps us deliver exciting and rewarding activities for your children.

Obviously, it makes it much easier for us to plan the usage of this investment if we receive regular donations rather than one-off gifts.

WHAT IS GIFT AID?

As a member of the Girls' Learning Trust, Nonsuch High School for Girls has the same status as a charity.   Gift Aid allows UK charities to claim back the basic rate tax already paid on donations by the donor.   This means we can claim back from the government on your behalf 25p for every £1 donated, boosting the value of the donation by a quarter.

You can find out more about Gift Aid here:  www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid 

HOW TO DONATE

Donating money to the School Fund couldn't be easier.   There are three different ways depending on your preference:
 

1.   STANDING ORDER

For those who prefer to make a regular donation via standing order, we've attached the forms you'll need to complete to this information pack.

You can return these forms electronically by adding a scanned version of your signature, and then emailing this directly to us:  finance@girlslearningtrust.org 

Or you can print the forms and return them to us via the School Office - where we also have hard copies already printed if that's easier.

 

2.   ONE OFF DONATION BY DEBIT CARD

We have set up a special donation page with trusted provider ParentPay, where you can make one-off card payment.

https://app.parentpay.com/ParentPayShop/Foc/Default.aspx?shopid=15060

Please ensure you use the reference code YEAR / TUTOR GROUP / FULL NAME OF STUDENT to help us to identify it.

 

3.  BANK TRANSFER

We are also able to receive donations via bank transfer.   Please ensure you use the reference code YEAR / TUTOR GROUP / FULL NAME OF STUDENT to help us to identify it.

Account Number:     01682590

Sort Code:                    30-98-36

If you choose to donate this way, we are only able to receive Gift Aid if you complete the attached form and return it to the School Office.