School Building Fund

Most parents decide to send their children to a Catholic school because they know that their child will be educated in a Catholic environment and because they know that the school will provide an excellent education.

The quality of Catholic schools has also been recognised by the Government and they have granted many of them ‘voluntary aided’ status. What this means is that although the schools are in the state system, we can retain our traditions and organise the school on the basis of the teachings of the Church. But, in return, we are required by law to raise 10% of the cost of developing and maintaining the school buildings.

So, as a voluntary aided school, if we need to improve the school, or undertake basic repairs or add additional facilities, we need to find 10% of the cost ourselves. There is no choice in the matter. If the money is not raised, the work cannot be undertaken and the Governors therefore have to turn to the families at the school for voluntary donations to the School Building Fund so that we can continue to provide the best possible teaching and learning environment.

At St Bernadette we have been blessed with the Catholic primary school facilities that have been developed with the sacrifice, commitment and hard work of past and current families. Through the contribution of families and the generous support of parents to the School Building Fund we have together been able to provide the resources and facilities that the children now benefit from in our school.

As Governors, we are committed to providing a high standard of learning environment and there is still a lot that we would like to achieve but we do need to continue to finance additional projects and essential maintenance works. There is an ever continuing need to refurbish our existing facilities to meet the requirements of today’s education standards and improve the learning environment of the school for the benefit of all the children, staff and parents.

At present we are looking to:

  • Supply and install new hot & cold water flow and return pipework to all outlets within the school.
  • Installation of new pipework throughout the school.

These major works, along with the all the additional costs that the work incur, comes to £221,000, meaning we need to find £22,000 in order to provide the 10%.

As such we are dependent on the generous voluntary contributions and continued support from the families at St Bernadette’s and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed in the past and those who have maintained their commitment to contributing to the School Building Fund, you should be proud that your kind contributions have gone a long way to help improve the learning environment of St Bernadette’s.

Gift Aid

Most of the parents who contribute to the fund do so under the Gift Aid Scheme. Under this scheme the school can reclaim from the HMRC the basic rate tax you have already paid on your contribution. This increases the value of your contribution at no cost to you – for each £100 that we receive, the school claims back an additional £25!

The Governors would like to thank you for your continued support.