Fundraising strategy

The Church Schools Initiative: 100 new schools

The Way ahead recommended the creation of 100 new Church secondary schools, in England. We have planned a campaign that encourages donors and sponsors to offer pump priming funding as an incentive to dioceses. Within this programme we are also offering opportunities for partnerships with sponsors (£1 to £2 million) to create Church of England academies as part of the Government's programme.

Meeting young people's needs in some of the most deprived areas of England

Very few of the proposed schools are extra schools. There is, in general, a surplus of school places and, even where secondary places are tight at the moment, there will be surpluses in a few years time. So the majority of the new schools will be secured by changes of category, under which existing community schools convert to aided (or very occasionally controlled) status. We are also planning a number of Church sponsored academies.

Most of the schools changing status are in Britain's most deprived areas, where low morale, poor facilities and low expectations rob young people of the vital educational opportunities available to their peers in other more affluent areas.

The Church's commitment to people in these most deprived areas provides a powerful incentive to this programme.

Creating an environment conducive to education

Where a totally new school is planned, then there are considerable capital requirements. Most schools which change category also need either major refurbishment or a complete rebuild. It is just not simply enough to transfer status then expect the school to be transformed overnight. Declining standards are, more often than not, marked by a declining environment. Physical transformation is essential.

The total costs of creating a new Church school vary considerably. A new build can cost £20 million or more and the Department for Education and Skills, together with the school governors could, if the case for a new aided school is demonstrated, fund up to 98% of this amount. Where the diocese is taking over an existing community school the capital costs may be less but governors, in many cases, will have to fund a rebuild or refurbishment. Academies require up to £2 million in donations from the Church and its partner sponsors.

We want to offer an average of £200,000 to five schools a year for at least the next five years to pump prime the costs of the building works: TOTAL - £6 million.

Strong leadership from Christian head teachers

Most of our new schools will need 'turning around' in other ways. Many will have low average attainment for their pupils, are in highly deprived communities, or have de-motivated staff.

The change of status arrangements will usually have been subject to regulations which mean that often the only new member of staff at the point of transfer is the head teacher. This imposes considerable leadership, management and motivation demands on the new head and requires considerable skilled work with an existing senior management team and with a governing body, which might itself have few new members.

We want to give each new head teacher £5,000 a year for the first two years to buy in intensive professional support during the early stages of operation: TOTAL - £1 million.

If we can achieve all this, we stand to unlock a further £2 billion in Government and local funding.

For more information please contact:
Youth Campaign Office, The National Society
00 44 20 7898 1508 or 00 44 20 7898 1518 or
yc.office@c-of-e.org.uk

Related documents:

Changing a school's category from VC to VA