STAHS DONOR REPORT 2018-2020

2018 2020 DONOR REPORT

St Albans High School was established on the principle that schools could be ‘places not only of instruction, but of education in the true sense of the word, and a training of the individual girl by the development of her mental and moral faculties, to understand the relation in which she stands to the physical world around her and to her fellow beings’1.

To this day, STAHS remains true to its roots; we pride ourselves on the development and support of every one of our students as an individual. They leave STAHS fully equipped to understand the impact they can have on their local community and on the world.

They are movers and shakers, undaunted by the obstacles that have stood in the way of the women who came before them.

We believe that the empowering education offered at STAHS should be available to as many young people as possible, regardless of background or circumstance. Through regular gifts, one-off donations and legacy funds, we will be able to ensure that a

1. Maria Grey, British Educationalist

STAHS education and experience is available to exceptional and bright young women, particularly those in Hertfordshire, for years to come.

It only remains for me to say thank you.

Thank you to every individual and organisation who has given their support and generosity over the past two years. All gifts, large and small, of time, money and expertise, go directly to supporting young people achieve their dreams through transformational education.

We are extremely grateful and look forward to welcoming you back to our remarkable school soon.

Amber Waite Head

WHY DO WE FUNDRAISE? Fundraising allows us to do more and be more. Through philanthropic gifts, we can support those whose family circumstances might make a STAHS education impossible, provide greater educational opportunities to our current pupils, and do more with our partners and the local community.

We are a school without an endowment fund – this means that everything that is paid for comes directly from fees and from philanthropic support. In 2019/20,

114 pupils – around 10% of the School – received some form of bursary support, and 83 of these received an annual bursary.

We are delighted that we can help so many individuals, but we are just at the start of our fundraising journey and want to do more.

Girls who apply for bursaries with us are academically excellent and would do well at any school. But with us, they could soar.

To make a STAHS education a reality for more girls, we are actively increasing our

fundraising to allow us to offer more bursary places.

Similarly, we want to ensure that our pupils – and those that visit our school through our partnership and outreach activities – can learn using the best and most up-to-date equipment. However, even through careful planning and budgeting, resources are finite and we cannot buy everything we want to.

Between 2018 and 2020, the following initiatives were supported through generous donations: • Bursaries • Furniture for the fantastic new Dining Hall and Sixth Form centre • Coding equipment for Prep pupils • Prizes for Senior School pupils • Hardship support for those affected

by COVID-19 • Refurbishment of the Prep IT suite.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? Alumna Sofia received a bursary a few years after joining STAHS – she went on to study Geography at Cambridge. She is now a Marketing Manager and was named a ‘Rising Star’ for the BIMA Hot 100, the industry body that recognises the most influential people in digital each year.

GIVING TO STAHS...

I was incredibly grateful to be chosen [to receive a bursary], as I loved my time at the High School. It meant I could continue indulging my love of studying all the humanities – I did ten GCSEs and four A levels – and take advantage of all else the High School offered, from Geography field trips and the Holocaust Educational Trust, to singing in choirs, running a creative writing club and debating.

My biggest ambition was to study Geography at the University of Cambridge. I will always be grateful to the High School’s Geography Department for introducing me to how fascinating the subject is and supporting me.

My school, university and college experience shaped who I am today.

83

OVER

IN 2019/20

£14,000

was generously donated by parents towards support for those struggling to pay school fees as a result of COVID-19.

The donations were added to the funds allocated by the School from its resources and in total 37 awards for hardship due to COVID-19 were made in Trinity term 2020.

annual bursary awards were made. 45% of these were for 100% of fees.

OVER

£23,000

RAISED IN 2018/19, WHICH ROSE TO OVER

£37,000 IN 2019/20

OVER

40

donors supported the school financially between 2018 and 2020 – including parents, former parents, alumni, former staff members and wider members of the STAHS community. 16 of these were regular supporters.

IN 2019

THE 1889

SOCIETY

launched – allowing us to thank and recognise those who have generously decided to leave a gift to the School in their will.

114

BETWEEN 2018 AND 2020 OVER

individuals supported STAHS and its pupils through a range of activities including speaking about their careers and university experiences, helping with mock interviews, delivering webinars and running workshops.

PUPILS RECEIVED SOME FORM OF BURSARY SUPPORT IN 2019/20: APPROXIMATELY 10% OF STUDENTS

THE PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

IN 2019, STAHS LAUNCHED ITS

LEAVERS’ GIFT

led by Chair Dixie Stafford, has also continued its great fundraising work. The 2018 Strawberry Fair at the Prep enabled the purchase of a zip wire for Prep pupils. In 2019/20, over £14,000 was raised for the School through sales at the second-hand uniform shop, the hugely successful Comedy Night and Prep Christmas cards and mugs. The funds are going towards furniture for the new Sixth Form terrace.

where parents with departing pupils donated their deposits back to the School to the Bursary Fund or to aid with the purchase of additional equipment and kit. We were delighted with the responses in both 2019 and 2020 that culminated in over £3,500 towards the Bursary Fund.

THE ANNUAL SCHOOL BUDGET INCLUDES AN ALLOCATION OF

BURSARY AWARDS EQUIVALENT TO FULL TUITION FEES FOR

200

5%

OF PLACES

PARTICULAR THANKS TO DANNA MA AND THE BUCHANAN FOUNDATION WHO, BETWEEN 2018 AND 2020, DONATED NEARLY

£40,000 to STAHS to support the purchase of coding equipment and the refurbishment of the IT suite at the Prep, as well as the Bursary Fund.

STAHS BURSARY FUND

Our Bursary Fund is a real priority – it is at the heart of our fundraising programme and we are committed to extending it over the coming years.

We want to be able to provide as many full bursary awards as possible, ensuring that bright, talented individuals, for whom an independent education would otherwise be impossible, can benefit from the wonderful opportunities that a STAHS education can provide.

At the moment, STAHS provides approximately 10% of pupils with some form of bursary support, but we want to offer more.

Our comprehensive Bursary Fund can cover up to 100% of tuition fees. In addition to this, it can also help with uniform, transport and lunch costs. Bursary applicants are individually assessed through a third-party expert, who then recommends the level of bursary support advisable.

But this is really about the individual. We are committed to supporting as many young people as possible through developing and growing our Bursary Fund, to increase the number of individuals we can support through a STAHS education.

We look forward to sharing exciting news with the wider STAHS community about our Bursary Fund in the future.

HARDSHIP The School has a small fund available for families that fall into short-term hardship, through factors such as bereavement or redundancy. The onset of COVID-19 required a specific Hardship Fund, which was set up to ensure the continuity of STAHS education for girls with families experiencing shortterm financial difficulty.

The Governors agreed for allocated finances to be set aside to help affected families and the School also asked parents to help, if they could. The generosity of our parental community led to an additional £14,594.

Because of this, to date the School has been able to provide support to 37 families who would otherwise have had no other

option than to remove their daughter from the School due to the unexpected financial impact of the coronavirus and subsequent lockdown measures.

Many members of the STAHS community have had to make extremely difficult choices due to the upheaval that has arisen from the

COVID-19 crisis and the School is delighted that, with the support of the STAHS community, the education of their child at STAHS isn’t one of them.

HOW TO GIVE There are various ways that you can support STAHS and its pupils. If you would like more information, please complete the form with your details and send it back to us at the below address.

Name:

Email:

Address:

Mobile / phone:

Relationship with STAHS (alumna / former staff / former parent / current parent / other):

I am interested in: Receiving information about leaving a gift in my will Giving the School a regular, monthly donation Speaking to someone about a one-off gift Finding out more about the Bursary Fund Speaking to pupils about my career path or further study choices Please return your form to: Development and Alumni Office, St Albans High School for Girls, Townsend Avenue, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 3SJ

St Albans High School for Girls Townsend Avenue, St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3SJ www.stahs.org.uk