FSG Voluntary Fund

Dear Parent/Carer

I hope your daughter has settled well into the new school year and, for those in Year 7 and some new Year 12 students, into her new school.

It’s wonderful to welcome the girls and staff back and see the school come to life. Already, around 350 cadets are parading on Friday nights, our first Duke of Edinburgh expedition has taken place, rehearsals for our award-winning National Theatre Connections production are under way, and we have announced this summer’s musical: Mamma Mia!

After several trips, we are also preparing to send Team Meglabyte, our robotics team, to represent Great Britain at the FIRST Challenge world championship in South Korea. Staff training is under way to add stand-up paddleboarding to our FSGBacc Adventure Education offer next summer. This is typical of life at FSG: hundreds of opportunities for girls to find their thing, find their tribe and ignite their spark, alongside another set of excellent exam results.

The School Voluntary Fund is a small but increasingly important part of the school’s financial well-being and helps to make these opportunities possible. I often compare our offer with that of the very best private schools, and believe we give them a good run for their money. However, we do not enjoy their wealth: government funding provides just over £6,500 per student, while Eton charges around £65,000.

As prices rise and budgets shrink, maintaining this breadth is increasingly difficult. Yet we remain committed to the hard currency of strong academic qualifications and the soft skills developed through enrichment, including Duke of Edinburgh, CCF, adventure education and our award-winning performing arts.

Our voluntary fund helps to make this possible for as many girls as possible, so I am asking for your support.

We politely ask for a voluntary contribution of £25 per student or £40 per family if you have more than one child at the school.

I appreciate that household budgets are also under pressure, so contributions are entirely voluntary and these amounts are only suggestions. Any donation will be put to good use; please give only what you can.

The school has already made cuts to its curriculum and co-curricular offer, staffing and departmental budgets, and I fear more may follow. If you can support us this year, your contribution will help protect what we provide for the girls.

If you can afford a little more, we will spend it wisely: on the girls, for the girls. Always. If a donation is beyond your circumstances this year, we will of course continue to do our very best.

If you wish to contribute to the School Voluntary Fund, please do so via Wisepay. Every contribution will be spent on the children, and we are grateful for any support.

Yours sincerely

Mark Lester

Principal