Governors' Maintenance Fund

St John’s is a Church of England Voluntary Aided School. This means that we are not fully funded by the Government. In particular our school buildings are owned by the Church (through the Diocese of Southwark). 

A school such as ours is always in need of essential maintenance and improvements and it is one of the Governors’ responsibilities to plan, budget and collect the money required. There are two major outgoings to cover: building maintenance and major works and improvements.

The building maintenance works are largely paid for by the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (S.D.B.E) out of a special Maintenance Fund.  The Governors of all Southwark schools must contribute a sum of money to this fund each year.  The amount is calculated on the number of pupils in the school and is reviewed annually. Additionally, the Government have made Voluntary Aided schools, like St John’s, responsible for paying at least 10% of the cost of major building work that mainly is funded through Capital Fund. 

Recently, St John’s has benefited from new boilers and essential maintenance works to our school roof.

The Governor’s sole source of income from which to finance these essential costs is Parental Contributions. With the reduction of government funding, we now are more reliant than ever on your contributions, in order to secure a fit learning environment for your children.

Parental Contributions

To help us respond to these financial demands the Governors have set up a fund known as “The Governors’ Maintenance Fund”. Each year the governors set a suggested amount needed from the family of each child.

The contributions you are asked to make to The Governors Maintenance Fund are voluntary because, by law, education must be delivered free of charge. However, irrespective of how many parents contribute, the Governors still have to pay into the Diocesan Maintenance Fund on behalf of all the children in the school. No-one in our supportive school community minds aiding the few who genuinely cannot contribute, but without the vital contribution from the majority of parents at St John’s, we will not be able to fund all necessary improvements to our buildings.

Each you we ask families to contribute £52 annually for each child attending St John’s.  This can be done simply by setting up a standing order with your bank (see further details at the bottom of this page).  The amount we receive can be enhanced through Gift Aid.

Gift Aid

The Governors Maintenance Fund is a registered charity and so a Gift Aid Declaration allows us to claim 25p from the Government for every £1 you donate. This is ‘free’ money for the school and currently earns us about £3,600 a year which is also spent on maintenance and improvements.

We therefore encourage every contributor who is a tax-payer to complete the a Gift Aid Declaration form allowing us to reclaim this money. Although we refer throughout this letter to ’parents’, contributions can be made on behalf of the child by anybody, so if you are not a tax-payer perhaps a grandparent or other person could make the contributions instead.

Treasurer (for help and information)

Our Treasurer, Mrs Mandy Settle, administers the Fund on behalf of the Governors, and is happy to answer questions and try to resolve any queries you may have regarding this Fund. She can be contacted by letter (which will be passed on unopened), by telephone message to the School Office, or by e-mail treasurer@stjohnscofe.uk

What to do next

Set up a standing order with your bank, either to make 4 payments of £13 in October, January, April and July) or one annual payment of £52.  Once your child leaves St John's you will need to ensure that the standing order is cancelled.

The Governors' Maintenance Fund bank account details are:

• Lloyds Bank
• Sort Code 30 91 72
• Account  00622666
• Reference:  [year of entry to St Johns}{year group at St Johns} {Child's Name}
                        eg  20R  JSmith

Complete and return the Gift Aid Declaration to the school office.

If difficult financial constraints prevent you from making any donations, please let our Treasurer know in strictest confidence so that she will not cause embarrassment by sending reminders. 

On behalf of the whole Governing Body, I would like to thank you in advance for your financial contribution which is greatly appreciated and needed by the whole school.