12/10/09
Dear Parents
I thought it appropriate to keep you abreast of how things are progressing with the Charity Commission. As you know the Charity Commission issued their verdict on July 14th 2009 and we passed on all aspects except the issue our bursary provision, where we were found wanting. Despite my going down to see them and asking them directly, they have still not indicated what we may have to do in order to pass this element of the assessment.
When they made their findings they gave us 3 months in which to respond. We will now do this just prior to the 14th October deadline. This will initiate a 9 month period of discussion when we will try and establish exactly what it is they want us to do and devise a plan to put this in place. This will take us up to July 2010.
The political and economic climate could change significantly before July 2010, and this may well effect how we proceed in our negotiations.
What is clear is that we are proceeding with our original plan to advertise for our fourth bursary pupil to be admitted in September 2010. As I stated in my earlier letter, we are very keen that any bursary provision should not impact upon school fee increases.
We are, however, still striving to make the bursary fund sustainable so that we can continue to award at least one bursary each year and, if possible, to achieve this out of income rather than capital. With the help of some very generous parents, we are currently planning a number of events in aid of the bursary fund. Any further initiatives or ideas you might have would be very welcome indeed.
All the best.
Simon Northcott