ISSUE 1 | NOVEMBER 2012
FUNDRAISINGNEWS
Welcome to our first fundraising newsletter. We hope to update you on all the School’s current fundraising efforts and ways of giving, as well as outlining where the money raised to date has been spent. It is probably true to say that fundraising began in earnest at Arnold House during Nicholas Allen’s time as Headmaster. Historically, the School has always been able to rely on strong support from current and former parents, old boys and friends to help fund major building projects. The creation of a new post however, that of Director of Development, placed fundraising at the centre of the School’s activities so that strategic aims could be planned for and realised. At the turn of the century a significant amount was raised to enable Nos 1, 2 and 3 Loudoun Road to be reconfigured into ‘one school’ rather than three separate buildings. By 2007 enough had been donated to support the redevelopment of the playing fields and pavilion at Canons Park into a multipurpose activity centre; complete with theatre, field-work rooms and enlarged all-
weather surface to facilitate greater participation in hockey and tennis to complement the major sports of rugby and cricket. More recently Arnold House, along with other independent schools which are charitable trusts, has been obliged by law to demonstrate that its educational activities are beneficial to the public. For that to be the case, schools must do what they can to forge links with other groups and institutions in their communities and where possible, to widen access to families on limited means through the award of bursary places. For the foreseeable future, therefore, there is a real need to establish a sizeable bursary fund and this will be our fundraising priority. In the first three years we have surpassed the £250,000 mark; remarkably generous support in view of the harsher economic climate of recent years. With continued support in
the years to come we must hope to establish an endowment fund of £3 million to secure the bursary scheme in perpetuity. A tall order indeed but one which will establish Arnold House as one of the first prep schools in the country to follow in the footsteps of the great public schools, such as Eton, Rugby, St. Paul’s and Harrow, where bursaries have been commonplace for generations. We are particularly encouraged by the recent announcement in the national press of the formation of the Springboard Bursary Foundation – a charity which hopes to secure funding from private and business sponsors to support 2,000 bursary pupils to the leading boarding schools by 2023. This will undoubtedly heighten the public’s awareness of bursaries in the independent school sector and we will no doubt be asked to play our part.
FUNDRAISING STRUCTURE There are a number of committees involved in both friend-raising and fundraising at AH. Volunteers to these groups include governors, parents, old boys and current and former members of staff. In addition, the Arnold House Parents’ Association works closely with the School on a number of fundraising projects on a biennial basis.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Chairman of Governors
Headmaster
Vice Chairman of Governors
Bursar
Chairman of the Board of Friends
Director of Development
BOARD OF FRIENDS Anastassis Fafalios Chairman of the Board of Friends, Governor
David Burr
Secretary of the ‘42 Club
Candice Cresswell Current Parent
Janet Lear
Chair of the Parents’ Association
John Prosser
Ex Deputy Headmaster
Liz Tudball
Current Parent
BURSARY AMBASSADORS Current Parents
Vivian Thomas Headmaster
Richard Fletcher Bursar
Stephanie Miller
Director of Development
Deborah Adler
Paola De Carolis
Juliet Sampson
Daniel Austin
Claire Lipman
Cecile Williams
Parita Bagheri
Tanuja Pandit
Year 2 Year 2
Years 6 & 8
LEGACIES In 1966, after 27 years as Headmaster, George Smart established Arnold House as a Charitable Educational Trust. In recognition of his contribution and to honour his memory, the School founded The George Smart Society for those who wish to leave a gift to Arnold House in their will. The April 2011 Budget introduced some major changes to legacy giving which are very beneficial to the donor. If you leave
10% or more of your estate to charity, you will now only pay 36% Inheritance Tax on the taxable remainder of your estate (compared with the main IHT rate of 40%). For more information on how to leave a legacy and join the George Smart Society please contact Stephanie Miller at smiller@arnoldhouse.co.uk or on 020 7266 6989
A NEW WAY OF GIVING Making a donation is much easier with the launch of our online service. Donors now have the option of making a donation by credit or debit card and the ability to set up a direct debit. Visit www.arnoldhouse.co.uk/ development/donateonline Our online donation system is operated by the Charities Aid Foundation.
Year 4
Year 2 Year 8
Years 4 & 6 Year 4
ANNUAL FUND The Annual Fund 2012 has been a great success with all items from the list being funded. These have included ten Kindles for the Library and Learning Support department, microscopes for the Science Lab, a drum kit and recording studio equipment for the
Music Suite, table tennis tables and a cricket score board for Canons Park. The School is most grateful to those parents and old boys who have supported these projects which directly enhance the facilities and equipment
available for teaching and learning. The Annual Fund 2013 will be launched in the spring term. In the past three years, the Annual Fund has supported projects to the tune of £38,820.
BURSARIES The total raised for the Bursary Fund during the academic year 2011-2012 was £65,343.53 which will be used to fund current bursary boys. Bursary places are generally available for boys at Year 5 entry level. There are currently three boys at Arnold House on 100% bursaries and it is hoped that this number will increase to eight in future years. The School’s first bursary boy left after completing Year 8 in 2009 and joined Rugby School for his senior years. In the summer, he took his GCSEs and we are delighted to report that he has done very well; gaining four A*s, Six As and two Bs. He is now in the Upper School studying Maths, Physics, Economics and Computing. The cost of supporting a boy on a 100% bursary based on current fee rates over the four years from years 5 to 8 is £75,600. This includes extras such as trips, activities, uniform and books. A third of this (£25,200) is covered by general School fee income, leaving £50,400 per place reliant on the generosity of others. Advertising for September 2013 bursary places has started in local newspapers, churches, libraries, youth clubs and theatres. If you know of any suitable candidates please do let us know.
ARNOLD HOUSE SCHOOL
BURSARIES FOR BOYS IN YEARS 5 TO 8 Arnold House School in St John’s Wood welcomes Bursary applications for September 2013. Such awards are intended to extend the benefits of an all-around education to boys of strong potential and good character whose families would not otherwise be able to afford the School’s fees. Interested parents should contact the Registrar, Penny Williams on 020 7266 6982 or at registrar@arnoldhouse.co.uk
For more information please visit www.arnoldhouse.co.uk
Advert placed in a number of local publications during the Autumn Term
Since its launch in 2009 Arnold House has raised £262,525 for the Bursary Fund.
CHARITY At the end of the summer term, boys in Year 6 researched a number of international charities and worked in groups to put together presentations about them as part of their Compass Course. The best four presentations were given to the whole school who then voted to choose which charity they would like the School to support for the 2012-2013 academic year. It was a close call but the Malawi based charity Landirani Trust won and just before half term we held
our first charity day. The Year 7 charity boys, Louis Cutner, Sacha McDonnell, Shaan Kotecha and Consti Haidemenos chose a green theme for the day representing the plant that makes up the Landirani Trust logo. All the boys and staff came into school wearing green and the Parents’ Association ran a green themed raffle and tuck shop. A total of £2,309 was raised - a marvellous effort. It is hoped that by the end of the year the School will have raised
enough to help build part of a new Landirani Training Village which will be used primarily as an educational site for agricultural teaching and vocational training. This autumn term has also seen AH support the British Legion Poppy Appeal and the annual Christmas Box Appeal for Fr Rob Wickham’s parish in Hackney. During the spring term, there will be a focus on supporting our local charity – the St John’s Hospice.
ARNOLD HOUSE QUIZ EVENING The Board of Friends are currently organising an Arnold House Quiz Evening in aid of the Bursary Fund. This event will take place on Thursday 7th March at the American School of London. More information will be available shortly. In the meantime, we would welcome sponsorship for the event as well as items for a small auction. Please contact Stephanie Miller for more information (smiller@arnoldhouse.co.uk or 020 7266 6989).
Arnold House School 1 Loudoun Road St. John’s Wood, London NW8 0LH Telephone: 020 7266 4840 Facsimile: 020 7266 6994 Email: office@arnoldhouse.co.uk Website: www.arnoldhouse.co.uk Arnold House School Ltd (Limited by Guarantee). Registered in London Number 889424. Educational Charitable Trust Number 312725