Thank you!

Dear Parent/Carer

You rarely hear or read about education/schools in the news, but you may be aware of the funding crisis looming, with pay rises awarded nationally to school staff being only partially funded by central government. Add to that, the increases to employer national insurance contributions that affect all businesses and organisations, including schools. The upshot is our staffing costs have risen very significantly with no extra income to pay for it. In simple terms it'll cost much more this year to employ exactly the same body of staff as it did last year - businesses have coped by putting their prices up. We clearly can't, although we may have to start charging for some of the opportunities we offer in the future.

I have no wish to be political, but every wish to try and protect the school and girls from feeling the brunt of a difficult financial situation. I do not want a reduced curriculum offer, reduced extra-curricular offer or reduced staffing, but we are already having to cut our cloth according to our means and I fear further, more biting cuts, may be inevitable. We have replaced computers around the site as Windows 10 became unsupported. In the last tranche of this rolling programme we replaced 150 machines with 100 machines. 50 computers gone, for affordability reasons, which will have an impact on the students. We had money saved to build a sports hall, carefully set aside over many years to complete the last piece of the jigsaw for the school site; a 4 court sports hall - a facility that the school needs. Sadly, the project is, for now, on permanent hold, and that money will likely be swallowed up covering the shortfall in funding we now face. If a member of staff leaves, we'd need to really look to see if we can ‘manage’ in another way and not replace them.

FSG’s ambitious and innovative ethos is part of us all (staff, students, parents and carers). I’d love to promise ‘no cuts, no compromises,’ but the reality is we may have to reduce our ambitions, solely due to funding. My staff and our students continue to be exceptional in their commitment and drive. Many parents say that their child’s experience at FSG is amazing. We wish for this to continue.

So, a plea for your support.

It’s a challenge to offer all that we offer. A parallel focus on the highest standards of teaching and learning, with all the extras that build character and resilience - the climbing wall, the mountain bikes, D of E, CCF, trips, clubs… Our voluntary fund helps to make our fantastic school a reality; as much as possible, as often as possible, for as many as possible!

Therefore, I politely ask for a voluntary contribution of £25.00 per student or £40.00 per family if you have more than one child at the school. I appreciate that times are tight for many and so the contributions above are only a suggestion. If you can afford more, we will spend it wisely. On the girls, for the girls.

If you can't quite afford that much, then any donation will be put to good use. If any donation is just beyond your circumstances altogether this year, then of course we will continue to do our best.

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

I can think of no other time in our recent history where our school has faced such stark financial circumstances. We run FSG incredibly efficiently; further “efficiencies” will have an impact on what we do and what we offer and so any support is much appreciated.

Yours sincerely

Mr Mark Lester

Principal