PARENTS > GOVERNORS FUND
St Mary Abbots is a voluntary aided school. The lion’s share of our funding comes from Government. This gets us by, but – due to the well-publicised pressures on Government funding – it never gets us quite enough to enable us to do all the things we want to for the School & for your children.
We therefore encourage you to make regular monthly donations to the Governors’ Fund.
Like all Church of England voluntary aided schools, St Mary Abbots has financial responsibilities that we must carry out by law. The Governors’ Fund helps in that regard & it is funded entirely by parent & carer donations. (Please note that the Governors’ Fund is different to the support that you give to FOSMAS – the School’s parent teacher association – which is for specific fundraising & School community events). The Governors’ Fund is used for three main things:
How To Give
The simplest method at the moment (we plan to revise it next year to make it even easier) is for you to ask your bank to set up a monthly Standing Order to our NatWest bank account number 86057723, sort code 50-30-10. Please use your child’s first & last name as the reference.
Alternatively, for annual one-off giving, you can use the School Gateway app. Most parents & carers will already have access to the app. If not, you just need an email address & a mobile number registered with the School. Then go to www.schoolgateway.com, select the ‘new user’ tab to register & activate your School Gateway account. Once you have activated your account, you can log in, select the Governors’ Fund & make an annual payment online.
Please also remember that, if you are a UK taxpayer, we are able to claim an extra 25p for every £1 of your donation with the ‘Gift Aid’ scheme (at no extra cost to you). So please complete a Gift Aid form if you have not done so for a while – simply click here to open & fill out the form online.
How Much to Give
The Governors encourage parents & carers (who can afford it) to give £15 per child per month to the Governors’ Fund. This is the equivalent of just 49p a day – a relatively small amount for most parents & carers, but collectively a very significant amount to the School for the benefit of your children.
We appreciate that some parents & carers may not be able to afford £15 per month. Rest assured that no child of the School will be disadvantaged if their parents or carers cannot afford to make a contribution. But please also rest assured that every child of the School will be advantaged by every contribution that we receive. If you cannot afford £15 per month, please donate what you can. The giving is voluntary & remains confidential.
Similarly, we of course welcome larger one-off donations – & in that regard please do feel free to contact me if you would like confidentially to discuss a larger donation.
Thank you very much indeed for your ongoing support of our wonderful School. We have some great plans ahead of us including, in response to your & your children’s wishes (& if we can secure all the necessary permissions) the resurfacing of the school playgrounds.
We therefore encourage you to make regular monthly donations to the Governors’ Fund.
Like all Church of England voluntary aided schools, St Mary Abbots has financial responsibilities that we must carry out by law. The Governors’ Fund helps in that regard & it is funded entirely by parent & carer donations. (Please note that the Governors’ Fund is different to the support that you give to FOSMAS – the School’s parent teacher association – which is for specific fundraising & School community events). The Governors’ Fund is used for three main things:
- The Governors’ Fund is used to make contributions towards important building & maintenance works for the School (in conjunction with funds from the London Diocese Board for Schools). For example, in recent years we’ve been able to create a new ‘Studium’ room, a new technology room, we’ve refurbished the Reception & Year 3 classrooms, we’ve upgraded the dining room & kitchen & we’ve improve the toilets – the list goes on.
- The Governors’ Fund is also used to pay our annual fees to the London Diocese Board for Schools for every child in the School.
- Finally, the Governors’ Fund is used on a case-by-case basis for the benefit of the School as approved by the Governors – for example the recruitment costs of the new Headteacher & leaving gift bibles for the Year 6 children.
How To Give
The simplest method at the moment (we plan to revise it next year to make it even easier) is for you to ask your bank to set up a monthly Standing Order to our NatWest bank account number 86057723, sort code 50-30-10. Please use your child’s first & last name as the reference.
Alternatively, for annual one-off giving, you can use the School Gateway app. Most parents & carers will already have access to the app. If not, you just need an email address & a mobile number registered with the School. Then go to www.schoolgateway.com, select the ‘new user’ tab to register & activate your School Gateway account. Once you have activated your account, you can log in, select the Governors’ Fund & make an annual payment online.
Please also remember that, if you are a UK taxpayer, we are able to claim an extra 25p for every £1 of your donation with the ‘Gift Aid’ scheme (at no extra cost to you). So please complete a Gift Aid form if you have not done so for a while – simply click here to open & fill out the form online.
How Much to Give
The Governors encourage parents & carers (who can afford it) to give £15 per child per month to the Governors’ Fund. This is the equivalent of just 49p a day – a relatively small amount for most parents & carers, but collectively a very significant amount to the School for the benefit of your children.
We appreciate that some parents & carers may not be able to afford £15 per month. Rest assured that no child of the School will be disadvantaged if their parents or carers cannot afford to make a contribution. But please also rest assured that every child of the School will be advantaged by every contribution that we receive. If you cannot afford £15 per month, please donate what you can. The giving is voluntary & remains confidential.
Similarly, we of course welcome larger one-off donations – & in that regard please do feel free to contact me if you would like confidentially to discuss a larger donation.
Thank you very much indeed for your ongoing support of our wonderful School. We have some great plans ahead of us including, in response to your & your children’s wishes (& if we can secure all the necessary permissions) the resurfacing of the school playgrounds.