Development Office Update

May 2013

In September of 2011 Wycombe High School launched a three phase ‘Play Your Part’ capital campaign to improve the Performing Arts facilities for our students and the wider community.  Phase One focused on the development of a new Music Centre; Phase Two on refurbishment to The Hall and Phase Three on the refurbishment of the old Music Block into new Dance and Drama studios.

Through generous donations from parents, friends, staff, former students and suppliers and through careful management of funds from government and private foundations we have met our Phase One target of £1.25m required to build the new Music Centre!  We held a Ground Breaking Ceremony on Monday 20 May (more on this later) and will begin building the week of 28 May!

Over the Easter holidays we installed new windows in the Hall improving the acoustics and insulation for heat retention funded by grants from the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund as part of Phase Two and we raised the final £250K needed to reach our £1.25 million target following a successful application to the Department of Education for a school improvement grant.  The DfE provided us with almost £0.5 million:  enough for the new Music Centre and also money for Phase Three of the campaign to refurbish the old Music Building to provide drama / dance facilities.

We have raised the £1.25 million for Phase One of the campaign in just over 1.5 years – an incredible achievement.  We have accessed government grants, other trusts and funds, hosted musical events and concerts, and parents, friends, students and staff (past and present) have given generously – indeed parents have contributed over £356k representing 27% of funds raised.

Our thanks go to you for your support and help throughout this campaign.  We couldn’t have done it with you!  But it’s not over yet…   Although this is fantastic news we do need to keep up the excellent fundraising work: we have yet to ‘kit out’ the new Music Centre, Dance and Drama Studios.  And we have more we want to do for example in the Hall.  We will be launching a 'Buy a...' campaign in the near future and welcome your continued support.  Stay tuned for more information.

If you would like to help us 'kit out' the new Music Centre, Dance and Drama Studios please complete the ‘Play Your Part’ Gift Form in this edition of High Flyer and return it to the Development Office.

Ground Breaking Ceremony

Mrs Sheila Cornall, former Director of Music for 17 years and Lead Teacher on Play Your Part, held the honours of digging the first piece of turf along with winners of the Ground Breaking Ceremony Competition.  We asked extra-curricular music students to submit a short written task describing what differences the new Music Centre will make to the musical life of the school and how they hope to benefit from the new facilities.  The winning contributors - Catriona McTavish Y7, N2; Alice Martin Y7, B2 and Becky Howitt Y8 P10 - assisted Mrs Cornall in the ground breaking ceremony.  Members of the school’s Music Department, Governing Body, Leadership Group, Play Your Part Development Board, Development Office Volunteers, PAFA Committee, School Shop Volunteers, students and staff looked on as Mrs Cornall, Catriona, Alice and Becky broke the ground which will form the foundation of the new Music Centre.  A Bucks Free Press photographer was on hand to take photos which we hope will be appearing in the next edition of the newspaper and ofcourse High Flyer.

British Record Industry Trust

In order to apply for a grant we need a music industry contact to support the application.  Do any of you have such a contact and if so would they be willing to put their name on an application seeking funds for the recording studio?  If so, please get in touch on 01494 523961 or email dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.

John Lewis Partnership Community Matters Scheme

A huge thank you to those that picked up a green token and put it in the Wycombe High School box.  We received £150 gift voucher which is going towards a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Tablet for the PAFA Crystal Ball Raffle.

The Hunters Essay Competition

Don’t forget this new and exciting competition open to the whole school!  Please encourage your daughters to write an essay from a range of subject titles available on Moodle.  Essays must be no fewer than 1000 and no more than 2000 words long.  They must show flair, passion and enthusiasm as well as having a logical structure and a rigorous argument.  Full rules and regulations are also available on Moodle.   Essays will initially be assessed in subject areas and then one from each area will be put forward to the judging panel whose decision will be final.  The competition is sponsored through the generosity of Hunters Estate Agent who are providing £150 First and £50 Runner Up Prizes on an annual basis.  The closing date for entries will be Thursday 19 September 2013

Volunteers Needed to Host Bugsy Malone Estate Agent Signs

We are hugely grateful to Hunters Estates Agents for producing the signs promoting our events throughout the school year.  Our Lower School Musical Bugsy Malone is coming up on the 3 and 4 of July.  Once again Hunters will be producing signs to help promote ticket sales.  We are looking for volunteers to add to those who have already volunteered.  The signs will be delivered, posted and removed by Hunters.  If you would be willing to support the school in this way, please get in touch via phone 01494 523961 or email dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.

Dana Morgan

Development Director

March 2013

Sponsorship

We are very pleased to welcome Thames Graphics and Perton Signs to our family of Wycombe High School Sponsors.  Thames Graphics kindly produced two ‘Can You Help?’ Play Your Part pop up banners to use at events.  We hope these will generate some calls to the Development Office with offers of support.  Similarly, Giles Robinson, father of Jemima Year 8 of Perton Signs, donated a Play Your Part banner which we’ve installed along the fence line and is visible from the Marlow Road.

Can You Help?

If you haven’t done so already, please can you consider giving to our Play your Part Gift Aid scheme?  This really is a generous way of supporting the new building.  You can find a brochure and Gift Aid form on our website http://wycombehighschool.vancolsonline.co.uk/fundraising/performing-arts-centre which can be completed and returned to school.  However much you feel you could give would be gratefully received by the school.

Do any of you work for a company which might consider making a donation to the school? Often companies consider match funding to charities, which their employees have supported.  A listing of matched giving companies that we know of can be found here: http://wycombehighschool.vancolsonline.co.uk/fundraising.  We would be more than happy to provide you with any details which could be passed to your employer.

Would your company consider sponsoring one of the concerts and/or performance events or perhaps advertising in a programme?  We have a series of events that entertain audiences from 200 - 300 per performance.

· Piano Marathon Peripatetic Concert Sunday 28 April 2.30 PM in the Hall

· Senior Concert Tuesday 20 April 7.00 PM in the Hall

· Lower School Musical 3, 4 & 5 July 7.00 PM in the Hall

· Music Tour Concert  Date and Time TBD

We have developed sponsorship packages that include:

· Your logo on cover of programme

· Free advertising or insert in programme

· Banner placement at event

· Free advertising in High Flyer

· Sponsorship acknowledgement on website

Sponsorship packages will vary according to the needs of the performance.

Do you belong to an association which gives to local charities – Rotary, Masons, Inner Wheel?  Again would you be willing to see if that association might consider a donation to the school?

Please Dana Morgan at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk or 01494 523961 if you would like to discuss any of the sponsorship options above.

Development Leadership Roles Recruitment 2013-2014

We are in the midst of recruiting for a number of student leadership requiring creative, dedicated and self-motivated students who are interested in publishing, writing, graphic design, marketing, public relations, advertising, fundraising, sales and/or alumnae relations.  These roles provide fantastic work experience.  What will your daughter(s) get out of it? Community service hours; UCAS personal statement/reference; new skills and experience for their CVs. In addition all successful applicants will be awarded a badge for day-to-day wear and recognition.

Years 7, 8 and 11 

We are now recruiting 12 new Development Ambassadors for next year.  Job Descriptions and Posters can be found on Moodle in the Development Course, in the Christie letter racks and on the Christie Bridge.

Years 8, 9, 10 and 11   

We are now recruiting 12 new WHS News Crew Members for next year.  Job Descriptions and Posters are on Moodle in the News Crew Course, in the Christie letter racks and on the Christie Bridge. 

Year 12 

We are now recruiting for 1 Head of Development, 1 Head of WHS News Crew and 2 Heads of Guild.  Job Descriptions and Posters are on Moodle in the Development, News Crew and Archive/Guild Courses and in the Christie letter racks and on the Christie Bridge.

All letters of applications are due Friday 19 April.  Please encourage your daughters to apply as soon as possible by sending their letters to Mrs Morgan by hand to Room C306 or email to dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.  We wish them the best of luck!

Play Your Part Peripatetic Concerts 

Following the success of last terms Vocal concert organised by Mrs Bowers which raised over £300, we were treated to a hugely enjoyable afternoon of string performances in the Learning Centre organised Mrs Vanryne on Sunday 3 March.  Again we are pleased to report that over £300 pounds was donated by friends and family of the performers.  Our next event is being organised by Mrs Ashford and Mrs Lucas and calls on all piano players to play their part by participating in an Afternoon Piano Marathon Sunday 28 April 2.30 to 5.00 PM in the Hall.  Please come and play and bring your friends to support fellow pianists to raise the much needed funds for the new Music Centre.

John Lewis Partnership Community Matters Scheme  

We have through the month of April to take advantage of the John Lewis Community Matters Scheme which uses tokens to enable customers to decide how much of a monthly or quarterly total is given to three charities or community groups, nominated by customers and selected by Partners.  Wycombe High School has been chosen as one of four schools for the February to April programme.  So, please don’t forget to pick up a green token from ‘The Place To Eat’ tills and put it in the Wycombe High School box to vote for Wycombe High School .  At the end of the period we will get a percentage of £1,000 set aside for the schools chosen.  Every green token counts, so please spread the word to friends, family and neighbours to ‘vote’ for Wycombe High School.

Hunters Estate Agent Sponsorship 

We are very grateful to Hunters Estate Agent for sponsoring Mr Church’s Quiz first, second and third prizes and producing the signs to help promote our school performances.  We would like to thank the parent  volunteers who have agreed to host Hunters Estate Agent sign sin their front gardens.  We would love more volunteers to host signs for future performances and encourage you to get in touch with me at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk or 01494 523961.  The signs will be delivered, posted and removed by the company.

We are very pleased to announce The Hunters Essay Competition.  This is a new and exciting competition open to the whole school to write an essay from a range of subject titles available on Moodle.  Essays must be no fewer than 1000 and no more than 2000 words long.  They must show flair, passion and enthusiasm as well as having a logical structure and a rigorous argument.  Full rules and regulations are available on Moodle.  Essays will initially be assessed in subject areas and then one from each area will be put forward to the judging panel whose decision will be final.  The competition is sponsored through the generosity of Hunters Estate Agent who are providing £150 First and £50 Runner Up Prizes on an annual basis.

Westmount Music Rewards Programme, Marlow Bottom 

Westmount Music Shop’s reward programme is free to join.  With every £1 spent, members are given 1 point for themselves and 1 point for their nominated school.  The points have a monetary value of 5% of the purchase price and are redeemable within the shop.  Wycombe High School currently has 14 subscribers signed up to the loyalty programme.  Thanks to these families and individuals we have acquired 2500 points which amounts to £125 for the school which can be put towards the purchase of anything musical including new instruments, equipment, sheet music and rentals. Ideally Westmount Music needs at least 20-30 members to make an account viable.  You can sign up online on their  website by sending Westmount Music an email via the Contact Us page and they’ll issue you with an accound and card.  So please consider shopping at Westmount Music (Unit 4, Brucewood Parade, Marlow Bottom;), calling them on 01628 481510 or visiting their new website at : www.westmount-music.co.uk  and joining the rewards programme for the benefit of the Music Department and all musicians at Wycombe High School.                                                                                                             

Dana Morgan, Development Director

February 2013

We are now into our fourth year of the Performing Arts Capital Campaign Development Plan.   Year three consisted of launching the Play Your Part campaign focusing on Phase One – raising £1M for a the Music Centre building.  Our financial target was to acquire 100% of funding for Phase One.  As of February 2013 we have raised a total of £848,452 representing 85% of our target.  Given the challenging economic climate, reduced government funding and rising educational costs we are hugely grateful to the parents, friends, present and former students and staff, governors and local companies for helping us achieve this result.  The table below shows the remarkable support for the campaign encompassing the entire Wycombe High School Community.  This type of evidence is incredibly important to document in our applications for funding to grants, trusts and funds.


Year four focuses on raising the shortfall of funds for the building as well as sourcing funds for the music technology suite; ICT, AV and Lighting for Performance Space; state-of-the-art recording studio and landscaping.  To this end we have developed a Fundraising Plan targeting specific grants, trusts and funds for each of the aforementioned projects.  Working with Mrs Cornall we have submitted an application to the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and have two applications in development for Garfield Weston and CHK Charities Limited.  We are thrilled to report we have recently been assisted by Mrs Rooke, a parent volunteer, with a proven track record of raising $000s for charities via grants.  Mrs Rook has reiterated that personal networks and connections can mean the difference to a successful application.  If you have personal and/or business connections with wealthy philanthropists, corporations seeking sponsorship and/or board members  of trusts we would be grateful if you would contact the Development Office at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.

Play Your Part Peripatetic Concerts

Following the success of last terms Clarinet concert organised by Mrs and Mrs Foster which raised over £300, we were treated to a hugely enjoyable afternoon of vocal performances organised Mrs Bowers on Sunday 3 February.  Again we are pleased to report that another £300 pounds was donated by friends and family of the performers.  Our next concert is on Sunday 3 March at 2.30 pm when our string players will entertain us in the Learning Centre.  Please come and bring your friends to support our musicians and help raise the much needed funds for the new Music Centre.

John Lewis Partnership Community Matters Scheme

John Lewis Community Matters Scheme uses tokens to enable customers to decide how much of a monthly or quarterly total is given to three charities or community groups, nominated by customers and selected by Partners.  Wycombe High School has been chosen as one of four schools for the February to April programme.  So, during the months of February to April don’t forget to pick up a green token from ‘The Place To Eat’ tills and put it in the Wycombe High School box to vote for Wycombe High School .  At the end of the period we will get a percentage of £1,000 set aside for the schools chosen.  Every green token counts, so please spread the word to friends, family and neighbours to ‘vote’ for Wycombe High School.

Volunteers Needed to Host Estate Agent Signs

Highlights - A Dance and Gymnastics production featuring 150+ students from Years 7 to 13 showcasing their exceptional talents is coming up 20, 21, 22 March at 7.30 PM.  We would be very grateful for volunteers to have a Hunters Estate Agent sign in their front gardens to help us promote Highlights.  We would be very grateful for your support and encourage you to get in touch with me at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk or 01494 523961.  The signs will be delivered, posted and removed by the company.

Westmount Music Rewards Programme, Marlow Bottom

Westmount Music Shop’s reward programme is free to join.  With every £1 spent, members are given 1 point for themselves and 1 point for their nominated school.  The points have a monetary value of 5% of the purchase price and are redeemable within the shop.  Wycombe High School currently has 14 subscribers signed up to the loyalty programme.  Thanks to these families and individuals we have acquired 2500 points which amounts to £125 for the school which can be put towards the purchase of anything musical including new instruments, equipment, sheet music and rentals. Ideally Westmount Music needs at least 20-30 members to make an account viable.  To encourage you all to become members Westmount are offering any new sign ups double points worth 10% until the end of February.  So please consider shopping at Westmount Music (Unit 4, Brucewood Parade, Marlow Bottom;), calling them on 01628 481510 or visiting their new website at www.westmount-music.com and joining the rewards programme for the benefit of all musicians at Wycombe High School.

Dana Morgan Development Director                                          

December 2012

We have a new Performing Arts Logo based on the original design by Lydia Bone (B2) which was further adapted by Sasha-Marie Mayo (T10).  The new logo encompasses Music, Drama and Dance and will be used to promote our fundraising efforts for the three phases of our ‘Play Your Part’ campaign.

Phase One – New Music Centre
State-of-the-art Recording Studio
Music Technology Suite
Lots of Practise Rooms
Plenty of Storage
Two Large Teaching, Recital and Performances Spaces
Office Space
Kitchen

Phase Two – Upgrades to the School Hall
Staging
Seating
Lighting
Acoustics

Phase Three – Refurbishment of the Old Music Block
Drama Classrooms
Dance Classrooms
Sixth Form Classrooms

Thanks to the generous donation of parents, governors and friends of Wycombe High School we have had a wonderful beginning to the school year having raised nearly £55K through a combination of one off gifts generated from productions and concerts, Future Fund and Play Your Part Pledges.

With funds raised now totalling £800K we need another £200K to meet our target of £1M.  We need more families to contribute to make our plans a reality.  If you are already contributing, we thank you.  If not, we encourage you to donate.  In simple terms if another 800 parents each gave £250, we would reach our target.

Performing Arts Events 2012-2013

Everyone needs to play their part in order for this campaign to be a success.  We have a series of plays, concerts and dance performances this year.  Last year we raised nearly £10K averaging over £1k per concert in donations.  This year we have already raised nearly £3K from one off donations from the Servant of Two Masters play, the Autumn Concert and Melanie & Jeremy Foster’s Perpatetic Concert featuring their students.  We would greatly appreciate it if you would attend and promote the following events to family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

Christmas at Hughenden Manor Sunday 9 December 1.00 PM

Service of Nine Lessons and Carols Tuesday 18 December 7.00 PM - All Saints Church, High Wycombe

Highlights 20, 21, 22 March 7.30 PM - A Dance and Gymnastics production featuring 150+ students from Years 7 to 13 showcasing their exceptional talents.

Baillie Murphy Music Festival Friday 16 March 9.00 AM to 3.30 PM - WHS Hall

Lower School Concert - Best of British Tuesday 26 March 7.00 PM - Featuring Wind Band, Orchestra, Choir and winners from solo sections of the Baillie Murphy Music Festival.

Senior Concert Tuesday 30 April 7.00 PM - Featuring Senior Orchestra, Concert and Jazz Bands, Chamber Choir and winners from the senior sections of the Baillie Murphy Music Festival.

Lower School Musical 3 & 4 July 7.00 PM - ‘Bugsy Malone’ featuring and all-star cast and crew.

Very special thanks to the families of Wycombe High School students who volunteered to have Hunters Estate Agents signs in their front gardens to help us promote our events.   We are very grateful for your support.  If any more volunteers would be willing to host such a sign, please get in touch with me at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk or 01494 523961.  The signs will be delivered, posted and removed by the company.

Grants, Trusts, Funds, Major & Corporate Donors

This year is all about focusing on raising large sums of money from Grants, Trust, Funds, Major and Corporate Donors.  Personal networks and connections can mean the difference.  If you have personal and/or business connections with the above mentioned we would be grateful if you would contact the Development Office at the numbers above.

John Lewis Partnership Community Matters Scheme

John Lewis Community Matters scheme uses tokens to enable customers to decide how much of a monthly or quarterly total is given to three charities or community groups, nominated by customers and selected by Partners.  Wycombe High School has been chosen as one of four schools for the February to April programme.  So, during the months of February to April don’t forget to pick up a green token at any till, take it to ‘The Place To Eat’ and put it in the Wycombe High School box.  At the end of the period we will get a percentage of £1,000 set aside for the schools chosen.  Every green token counts, so please spread the word to friends, family and neighbours to ‘vote’ for Wycombe High School.

Westmount Music Rewards Programme, Marlow Bottom

Westmount Music Shop’s reward programme is free to join.  With every £1 spent, members are given 1 point for themselves and 1 point for their nominated school.  The points have a monetary value of 5% of the purchase price and are redeemable within the shop.  Wycombe High School currently has 14 subscribers signed up to the loyalty programme.  Thanks to these families and individuals we have acquired 2427 points which amounts to £121 for the school which can be put towards the purchase of anything musical including new instruments, equipment, sheet music and rentals.  In comparison Borlase has 88 members who have redeemed circa £825 and currently have 4255 points worth £213.  We can do better than that!  As we have been actively promoting the programme Westmount Music is offering WHS Double Points until the end of this year worth 10%. That means if one of our parents/ students was to purchase a £100 guitar, Westmount Music would add £10 onto your account (instead of the normal £5). So please consider visiting Westmount Music in Marlow Bottom or their new website at www.westmount-music.com and joining the rewards programme for the benefit of all musicians at Wycombe High School.

October 2012

We have begun a new year of fundraising at school with new targets and objectives.  In order to set the stage let us review our achievements from last year now that all the numbers are in.  We managed to raise over £180 last year thanks to the support of former and current parents, students, staff and friends of Wycombe High School.    Taking this number into account in addition to generous donations from suppliers and through careful management of funds from government, we have £750,000 of the £1,000,000 required to build the new Music Centre.  And, as Mrs Cromie has already told you we have planning permission and are looking forward to a new building emerging on the school site early in 2013!

We are so close to meeting our target. We need more families to contribute to make our plans a reality. If you are already contributing, we thank you. If not, we encourage you to donate. In simple terms if another 500 parents each gave £500, we would reach our target.

By far, our largest donations come from regular giving the majority of which are increased by 25% Gift Aid declarations.  However, all gifts – monthly, annual and one off - are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

The new plans for the Music Centre can be found in the Development Section of our Website which can be found here: http://wycombehighschool.vancolsonline.co.uk/fundraising/performing-arts-centre.

We need everyone - parents, students and staff both current and former - to ‘Play their Part!  You’ll soon be reading out about the Development Ambassadors plans for this year which we need you to support.  We have a series of events and concerts planned and we need your help to promote, participate in and attend them.  Invite your friends, family and neighbours to join you.  Every event provides an opportunity to purchase a refreshment from PAFA which contributes to the school.  Perhaps you will be inspired to purchase some Wycombe High School branded products or better yet, make a one off donation using our Gift Aid envelopes which us an additional 25%.  All proceeds from these actions go towards our ‘Play Your Part’ campaing.

We look forward to another year of meeting our financial goals and objectives, and thank you in advance for your support.

A New Sponsor for WHS

http://www.huntersnet.co.uk/offices/high-wycombe

I am pleased to announce a new sponsor for Wycombe High School.  Hunters Estate Agents have recently opened an office in High Wycombe.  Simon Randhawa, Partner, has agreed to sponsor the first, second and third prizes for all five of Mr Church’s quiz which is a staggering 120 prizes.  First prizes will be £5 gift cards.  Second and third prizes will be tasty treats.

In addition, Hunters Estates Agents have agreed to produce signs to help promote school events.  The signs will be printed, delivered, posted and removed by the company.  Signs will be posted around the perimeter of the school fence.  Additional signs will be made available for any member of staff or parent who is willing to put a sign in their garden to help promote our events.  If you would be willing to host such a sign, please get in touch with me at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk or 01494 523961.

Rewards and Rentals for Wycombe High School from Westmount Music in Marlow Bottom

Westmount Music Shop has a loyalty club that can really benefit the school.  The club is free to join and for every £1 spent, members are given 1 point for themselves and 1 point for their nominated school.  The points have a monetary value of 5% of the purchase price and are redeemable within the shop.  We set up a Wycombe High School account last year and thanks to parents and students who nominated the school, we can now accumulate points that can be put towards the purchase of new instruments, equipment and sheet music.

For the customer…  the free membership works in much the same way as a loyalty reward card, whereby customers earn points when they buy or rent – these points can be redeemed in store or on the website, or saved to redeem against a variety of ‘Reward Tickets’ such as free lessons, free rentals or further discounted products. There will also be free entries into raffles, heavily discounted products and exclusive offers made available to members only.

The scheme includes a membership card to easily add and redeem points in store and a personalised online account for customers and the school, so they can easily view their points statements, account activity and the exclusive ‘Reward Tickets’ made available to members each month.  As well as earning reward points for shopping in store, you will also earn reward points while you rent any instruments with Westmount Music.

Rentals are now available from £6.99 a month; instruments include Guitars, Keyboards and Brass & Woodwind.  If you are interested in becoming a member of the Westmount Music Club, or for further information on rentals, contact Paul or Katy at info@westmount-music.co.uk or call the shop on 01628 481510.

For the school… the best part for WHS is the shop will also put the same points their customer earns onto the school account.  This way, WHS will be able to accrue points every time one of their students or parents shops or rents with Westmount Music.  Let’s see if we can do better than Borlase in Marlow who have raised over £1500 since they launched the scheme.

WHS News Crew 2012-2013

It is with great pleasure that I announce the introduction of the Wycombe High School News Crew 2012-2013.  This group of girls lead by Emma Digby, Head of WHS News Crew, are responsible for producing the 2013 edition of the combined Wycombe High School and Guild magazine which will be distributed in March.  Based on skills sets and personal preference they have formed groups of Editorial, Design, Production, Advertising and Sales teams.

They have been hard at work devising a list of article ideas married to potential advertisers.  They have developed a series of competitions for students contribute original content including:  Diary of a Year 7 Student; Embarrassing Moments; What the Future Will Be; Accounts of the Ginger Cat and Olympic Memories.

Depending on the competition you will be asked to contribute a short story, diary and or photo.  We are also looking for original artwork in the form of graphics, textile, paintings, drawings and photopgraphy.  Winning contributors will be awarded house points and tasty prizes and will be featured in the magazine.

All submissions need to be sent via email to Mrs Morgan at dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.  The deadline for submission is Friday 30 November.  Look out for a display on the Christie Bridge explaining the various competitions and ways you can contribute to your school magazine.

July 2012

The academic year is coming to a close giving us a chance to review the financial goals and objectives for the Development Office this year. Financially we met 100% of our target raising nearly £160K thanks to the charitable support of former and current parents, students, staff and friends of Wycombe High School. With the addition of the £400k grant from Academies Capital Maintenance Fund we received earlier in the year this brings the total funds raised for Phases One of the ‘Play Your Part’ campaign to £568K. The three largest contributions came from current 2011-12 and incoming 2012-13 Year 7 parents’ contributions to the Future Fund and direct donations to the ‘Play Your Part’ campaign. These generous regular and one off gifts, the majority of which have been increased by 25% by Gift Aid Declarations, provide our largest source of income. JustGiving donations by the Grade One-a-thon campaign and those run by James Campanini and Steve Roy (President and Vice President of our ‘Play Your Part’ Development Board) have contributed nearly £15K. If you haven’t yet sponsored a Grade One-a-thoner, you still can. Just visit the site at: http://www.justgiving.com/teams/WHSgradeoneathon.

The Development Ambassadors contributions this year included producing events such as the very entertaining Would I Lie To You Quiz, Mr Chuch’s Half Term Quiz and the Zumba night; the dependable RagBag recycling scheme; Year 7 Movie Nights; the sale of WHS merchandise and Music CDs/DVDs; cake sales; Art Project for Schools; and the Candy Cane Project. We are very happy to report that they exceeded their target of £2.5K by raising over £3K and the school year isn’t over yet. We have the Inter-House Biscuit Sale & Competition on Sports Day 10 July and the last Year 7 Movie Night of the year on Friday 13 July. So please, continue to support their efforts to raise funds by attending events, buying their cakes/biscuits and purchasing WHS branded merchandise.

With the funds raised this year, previous parental donations and the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund Grant the school has £700k to put towards the new Music Centre, which leaves us £300k short. If we do not have the £300k by October 2012 the project will not go forward.

If you are already contributing to either the Future Fund or ‘Play Your Part’ and would like to increase your gift, or would like to consider contributing please complete the Gift Form in this edition of High Flyer. To find out more about ‘Play Your Part’ please visit our website at http://wycombehighschool.vancolsonline.co.uk/fundraising/performing-arts-centre
 

Many companies will help charities such as WHS (registered charity number 1068409) through a matched giving scheme. Some will match pound for pound, and others will even double match donations made to registered charities by its employees. If you are making a gift to WHS, please check with your Payroll or HR department whether your company operates a scheme like this as it could make your donation worth even more to us. Please visit our website to view a list of companies that we know match gifts, or have done so in the past. If your company does not appear on the list, but does match gifts made by employees, please contact Mrs Dana Morgan. Please also let us know if your company is detailed incorrectly on this list which can be found here: http://wycombehighschool.vancolsonline.co.uk/fundraising

Now more than ever the Development Office is in need of volunteers to assist with administrative support. If you would like to be part of our Development Office, for a few hours per week, we would very much like to hear from you. Competence with Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel and good organisational and communication skills would be an advantage. If you feel able to help with any of these teams / projects, please contact Mrs Dana Morgan.

Dana Morgan, Development Director

01494 523961 or dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk

May Update 2012

Eden School Challenge

Just before February Half Term we sent a ParentMail announcing Wycombe High School’s participation in the Eden School Challenge offering a chance of winning £1,000 for our school.  We asked students, parents, grandparents, friends and family to collect as many tokens as possible.  Every £5 spent in Eden Shopping Centre, High Wycombe became 1 token for WHS!  We had until 16 March to redeem tokens to win £500 worth of Eden gift cards and £500 cash to go towards the ‘Play Your Part’ campaign.  Many tokens were collected by the participating schools from High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross, Amersham an Chesham.  We are thrilled to inform you that this year’s winners are Wycombe High School winning £1,000 for our school!  Thanks to your support £500 will go directly to ‘Play Your Part’.  We have requested different denominations of the Eden Gift Cards for Development Ambassador event prizes and for PAFA’s Summer Ball Raffle.  Niamh Crowley, Marketing Manager for Eden, will be coming to school later this month to present the cheque and gift cards to Mrs Cromie in assembly.  We would not have been able to win this challenge without your support, for that we are hugely grateful.

Wycombe Orpheus MVC Bursary

Formed with just 12 members in 1923, the Wycombe Orpheus Male Voice Choir’s main objective was to deliver high quality singing entertainment for local audiences.  Today, this objective hasn’t changed, though the size of the choir – now more than six times its original size – certainly has.  In addition to performing, Wycombe Orpheus MVC promotes young musicians in the local area.  Wycombe High School has always played important part in supporting their Festival of Young Musicians which takes place in March each year.  And this year was no different with the following awards won by talented WHS students.

• The English Chamber Orchestra Senior Strings Award: Charlotte Reston - Guitar
• The Cleary Family Senior Woodwind Award: Aoife Dudley - Oboe
• The Cygnet Singers Senior Vocal Award:  Charlotte Nohavicka
• The Marsha Rae Ratcliff Senior Ensemble Award: Lucy Twine, Sophy Yeoman, Aoife Dudley, Georgia Betteridge—String Quartet

As part of its support for young musicians, The Wycombe Orpheus makes Bursary awards of up to £1000 each year. Craig Lewis, Choir Secretary, along with fellow trustees on Wycombe Opheus MVC’s  Bursary committee, are pleased to award Wycombe High School a bursary of £1000 to go towards the new Music Centre - a project that will benefit all young musicians at the school and local community.  The bursary is being award at their annual concert held at the Wycombe Swan where our very own Chloe Rooke will be accepting the award on behalf of the school.  If you are interested in joining the choir please contact Craig at Tel: 01628 528550 or Mob: 07930 240824.

Zenopa Sponsorship Renewed 

We are pleased to announce the continuation of Zenopa’s sponsorship of Wycombe High School.  Zenopa is a UK recruitment agency placing executive, marketing and sales personnel into Medical, Pharmaceutical, Veterinary, Pharmacy, Dental and Laboratory Jobs with offices in Penn, Leeds and Edinburgh.  By raising the profile of Zenopa among current and past students and their families through advertisements in High Flyer, our official WHS Facebook Group, direct mails to targeted year groups Zenopa hopes to recruit one additional member of staff per year from amongst the Wycombe High School alumnae.  Wycombe High School not only benefits financially but through our Careers and Pathways Office events as well.  Zenopa has participated in the Year 13 Future Day, the Higher Education & Careers Fair and has lectured on the topic of ‘Working Life Career’.  We are very grateful to Mark Denton, MarkManaging Director, for his continued support.

JustGiving 

Please go to Wycombe High School’s JustGiving Charity to support the Grade One-a-thon and other initiatives parents, teachers and students have planned to support Play Your Part to help us reach our £1.5m goal.  At the time of writing we have raised £720 for Steven Roy  (father of Megan 8C B3 ) who has run the Bisham Half Marathon; £2636 for James Campanini (father of Emily in 8E P4 and Vice President of the Play Your Part Development Board), who is cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats on behalf of Play Your Part; and £7663.01 for the Grade One-a-Thoners .  We won’t be able to reach our targets without your support.

March/April 2012

We are in the midst of recruiting for 30 Student Leadership Roles that your daughter(s) may be interested in.  For all roles we are looking for creative, dedicated and self-motivated students who are interested in marketing and promotion, producing events, publications and products.

Head(s) of Development – Starting next year current Year 12 student(s) will manage 12 Development Ambassadors.  Head(s) of Development will meet weekly with Development Ambassadors to identify projects, assign roles and responsibility, delegate tasks and work on projects, as well as the Development Director to monitor progress.

Development Ambassadors – We will be appointing 12 students from current Year 7, 8 and 11 students (four from each year group) starting September 2012.  Separate from the established Charity work, Development Ambassadors will market and sell WHS branded products at school events, produce fundraising events and promotional materials to raise money for the ‘Play Your Part’ campaign to upgrade our performing arts facilities.  Separate from the established Charity work, Development Ambassadors will be focusing on marketing and fundraising for the school itself.

Head(s) of Guild – Current Year 12 student(s) will work with the Development and Careers and Pathways Offices and Guild Committee (Wycombe High School’s association for students and staff) to create stronger links between the school and ex-students starting September 2012.  Responsibilities include producing and promoting events (e.g. reunions and Guild Lectures); online communications (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Friends Reunited etc.); increasing Guild membership to current and ex-students; and contributions to Wycombe High School Guild annual magazine.

Wycombe High School News Crew – We will be appointing 16 students from current Year 9, 10, 11 and 12 students (four from each year group) starting immediately.  In 2011 we launched the Wycombe High School Magazine incorporating news from the Guild.  In 2012 and beyond securing original content, producing, editing, publishing, design and promotion of the magazine will be a student led initiative, providing first-hand experience of writing, editing, producing and marketing for students interested in the world of publishing.  If you are interested in being a part of the 2012 edition of the Wycombe High School Magazine please consider applying for the Wycombe High School News Crew.

Head(s) of Development, Development Ambassadors, Heads of Guild and WHS News Crew job descriptions can be here.  Hard copies can be found in the Christie letter racks.  The deadline for applications is Friday 20 April.  However this may be extended if necessary.  Thank you for encouraging your daughters to apply and good luck to them.

January/February 2012

We are very pleased to announce that since September we have raised almost £100k for the Play Your Part campaign to improve the performing arts facilities in the school.  Together with on-going Future Fund donations from parents and grants from the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund we have raised £500k for Phase One – a new Music Centre.  This is a great start, but will have a long way to go to reach £1.5 million.

Not only do we need you to contribute financially, we need your help to encourage other parents, family members, the community, your colleagues and employers to get involved in the campaign by:

•           contributing financially;

•           spreading the word;

•           getting others on board;

•           attending events;

•           inviting others to attend events;

•           encouraging your daughters to participate in events;

•           getting your employers to donate; and

•           celebrating our successes.

To those parents and friends who are already contributing generously, we are hugely grateful and thank you.  We know from past experience we cannot achieve our fundraising goals without the support of parents, family, friends and former students of WHS.   Everyone’s personal circumstances differ.  No matter the size, every gift is meaningful, every gift has value.  Please support us by making a regular donation to the ’Play Your Part’ campaign using the gift aid scheme by completing the ’Play Your Part’ gift form.

Final plans for the building have been signed off and can be viewed on the Performing Arts Section of our website where you will also find a Play Your Part brochure detailing why we have launched the campaign and why we need you to Play Your Part.

Play Your Part Parent Information Evenings

These evenings are continuing for all year groups providing an opportunity to meet with other parents, members of school staff and the parent led ‘Play Your Part’ campaign Development Board.   The next four evenings are taking place before the ‘Daisy Pulls It Off’ school play and the Lower and Senior Music Concerts.  Those parents who are planning to attend the school play and music

concerts will have an opportunity to come earlier to sample tasty refreshments and canapés while

being updated on our plans for the new Music Centre and upgrades to the Hall.  You will then be escorted to your reserved seats in the Hall.  Look out for a Parent Mail inviting you to attend one of the following evenings in the Wainwright Learning Centre.

Play Your Part Parent Information Evenings                 Date       Time               Location

‘Daisy Pulls It Off’                                                          1 Mar    6.15-7.00 pm         Learning Centre

‘Daisy Pulls It Off’                                                          2 Mar    6.15-7.00 pm         Learning Centre

Lower School Concert                                                   27 Mar   6.00-7.00 pm         Learning Centre

Attending Senior Concert                                               25 Apr    6.00-7.00 pm        Learning Centre

JustGiving

JustGiving is an established and well respected online fundraising tool that is proven to be more effective, efficient and easy to measure success.  To help us reach our £1.5m goal we have re-launched Wycombe High School’s JustGiving Charity website to support the Grade One-a-thon and other initiatives parents, teachers and students have planned to support Play Your Part. 

As you’ve read in the Music Grade One-a-thon article we have over 60 members of staff participating.  Each of us will be launching our individual JustGiving pages to raise funds for Play Your Part.  Mr Steven Roy (father of Megan 8C B3 and President of the Play Your Part Development Board) is running the Bisham Half Marathon and Mrs Emma Exelby (teacher of English at WHS) is running the Milton Keynes Marathon on behalf of Play Your Part.  Now any student, parent, member of staff or alumnae can fundraise for Play Your Part.  It’s up to all of us to amaze and inspire others to find ways to fundraise for Wycombe High School.

Grade-One-A-Thon

Wycombe High School Just Giving Site

December 2011

Our ‘Play Your Part’ campaign to improve the performing arts facilities in the school, including the school hall, is well underway.  We’ve had three concerts, sales of WHS merchandise, various Development Ambassadors projects and our first ‘Play Your Part’ Parent Information Evening for Year 7 Parents.  These evenings will continue for all year groups providing an opportunity to meet with other parents, members of school staff and the parent led ‘Play Your Part’ campaign Development Board.   There you will be updated on our exciting plans for the new Music Centre and upgrades to the hall, as well as sample tasty refreshments and canapés.  Look out for a Parent Mail inviting you to attend one of the following evenings at 7.00 pm in the Wainwright Learning Centre:

• Year 8 Tuesday 10 January
• Years 9/10 Parent Thursday 19 January
• Years 11/12/13 Thursday 2 February

The performing arts touch each and every student at Wycombe High School.  They might have taken part in drama productions, dance and gymnastic shows as well as music performances and other events.  They may have been a performer, or have helped back stage, with costumes and make up. They may have worked the lighting system, or the sound system. Others may have been involved in scenery construction / painting, front of house, programme designs, marketing and publicity – it takes a huge team to put on any type of performance.

A huge range of student talent goes into making the performing arts at this school - a real strength of which we are all very proud.  But our facilities are in desperate need of being upgraded –not only so we can make use of them but we are also able to offer them to the community of High Wycombe providing outside organisations with better performance and rehearsal facilities too.

There are not enough practice rooms.  The acoustics are insufficient making it difficult to hear.  If you sit in certain places and it’s raining outside – you may well feel a few drips of water descending onto you and your work.  We have no room to have a recording studio – and we would really like one.

The first stage in the development will be to build a new Music block – next to the Wainwright Learning Centre.  We need more space, rehearsal and performance space, practice rooms and a recording studio.  In order to be able to carry out this building, we need to raise £1.5 million – and we need you all to Play Your Part and help us.  If we all pull together and get involved in playing our part in a huge range of events and invite family, friends and colleagues to play their part too – we hope we will reach our goal.

We have a series of events and concerts planned and we need your help to promote, participate in and attend them.  The Development Ambassadors have ambitious plans for projects this year - we need you to support them.  Let your imaginations and creativity run wild to come up with creative ideas to fundraise.  We are looking for teams of parent volunteers to help secure major donors, benefactors and sponsorship; research grants, trusts and funds; carry out parent outreach; produce events; and work with ex-students and staff.

Most of all we need you, your friends, family, colleagues and companies to donate.  We hope you feel able to support us by making a regular donation to the ’Play Your Part’ campaign using the gift aid scheme which provides our largest source of income.  Please use the ’Play Your Part’ gift form to make a regular contribution.  Thank you in advance for your anticipated support and to those parents and friends who are already contributing generously, we are hugely grateful.

Call for Volunteers

For this campaign to succeed, everyone needs to play their part.  The Development Office is in need of administrative support and teams of parents to work with the Performing Arts Centre Campaign Development Board on various committees such as:  Corporate Sponsorship (securing donations from major benefactors); Grants, Trusts and Funds (conducting research and writing grants); Events (management, promotion, logistics); Parent Outreach (hosting events, producing mailings and telephone campaigns); and Marketing (branding, communications, social media).  For more information about ‘Play Your Part’ campaign and how you can play your part, please e-mail playyourpart@whs.bucks.sch.uk.

If you would like to be part of our Development Office, for a few hours per week, we would very much like to hear from you. Competence with Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel and good organisational skills would be an advantage.  If you feel able to help with any of these teams / projects, please contact Mrs Dana Morgan on 01494 523961 or dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.

MATCHED GIVING

Many companies will help charities such as WHS (registered charity number 1068409) through a matched giving scheme. Some will match pound for pound, and others will even double match

donations made to registered charities by its employees. If you are making a gift to WHS, please check with your Payroll or HR department whether your company operates a scheme like this as it could make your donation worth even more to us. Please refer to the development section of our website for the list of companies already taking part.

WHS Branded Merchandise

We continue to sell the familiar bone china mugs, pens, Hoodie, ‘First 100 Years of WHS’, ‘History of the Guild’, Artwork and Digital Photography Notelets and Music CDs and DVDs and our NEW placemats and coasters. Order form(s) can be found on the Development Course in Moodle, on the website and the letter rack in the Christie Corridor. Orders will be returned to your form room, or posted to you. We are also looking to extend this product range and we welcome any suggestions.

November 2011

Play Your Part – Phase 1 Music Centre

 At Wycombe High School, we support the development of the whole person and we want our students to leave us qualified to take their equal place in an increasingly global society. The performing arts play a crucial role in this process helping to build the life skills of confidence and self esteem needed to be the next generation of leaders.

Over the years we have invested in our academic and sporting facilities, whilst our performing arts facilities have been ignored, despite almost every student being involved in the performing arts in some way throughout her career at Wycombe High School.  She may be a performer or a backstage hand, a technician, part of the sales and marketing team, or watching and supporting her peers at our many events.

We have launched Play Your Part - a major fundraising campaign to support the required upgrade to our performing arts facilities.  We all need this campaign to be a success.  New facilities will not only benefit your daughter, but will be an invaluable addition for the local community, providing a much needed venue for music, drama and dance rehearsals and performances. We are already a local hub for many external community organisations; this will enable us to support our wider community even further. 

The well reported challenges with school funding highlight the difficulties we face acquiring government funding to improve our school.  As a state-funded grammar school we have no fees to support us.  By raising funds through regular parental donations, we can move at pace to provide the facilities and resources that we feel are essential to support your daughter’s education here and the education of future generations.

We acknowledge that the economic climate is difficult and that we all have to prioritise expenditure. However, unless we can convince you to contribute we will not be able to raise the £1.5 million we need to build a new Music Centre.  With that in mind we hope you feel able to Play Your Part by promoting and attending the concerts we have planned for the year; tapping into your personal and professional network to target potential donors and sponsors; and most importantly we need you to make a regular donation to the Play Your Part campaign. 

I hope you will give us your wholehearted support. For Wycombe High School to remain the exceptional school that it is; for your daughter to continue to develop the skills needed for her future; we need you to donate.

 October 2011

A Crescendo is Building – Play Your Part

For many years the performing arts at Wycombe High School have been widely recognised as outstanding areas in the school.  The excellence of opportunities provided for countless numbers of students has been recognised by the hundreds of people, including parents, staff, governors, civic dignitaries and many more that have attended rehearsals and performances, both here and further afield in Europe. Our annual Music Tour receives international accolades; our school concerts, musicals, and plays are always excellent and our dance productions are held in the highest regard in the wider community.

We now wish to develop this success further.  With healthy numbers of students participating in a wide range of performing arts events, it is important to give them a really positive experience and support their endeavours by providing the facilities which will enable them to achieve their best.  Such facilities will benefit WHS students and be an invaluable addition for the local community, providing an additional venue for music, drama and dance rehearsals and performances. 

However, new facilities are very costly. We are therefore launching a major fundraising campaign to support the required building work. The first phase involves the building of a new dedicated Music Centre, boasting practice rooms, recital and performance space, rehearsal facilities, appropriate acoustics, sound proofing and a state-of-the-art recording area.  This will replace our existing facility which no longer fulfils the needs of a very busy and successful department or the talents of our students. 

We have organised many exciting concerts and events throughout this academic year in support of our fundraising which you can read more about in High Flyer or on our website by following this link Performing Arts Centre.

The school is being supported by a parent volunteer Development Board who are assisting with the events and other fundraising initiatives.  They will be in touch to let you know how you can ‘Play Your Part’.

Call for Volunteers

For this campaign to succeed, everyone needs to play their part.  The Development Office is in need of administrative support and teams of parents to work with the Performing Arts Centre Campaign Development Board on various committees such as:  Corporate Sponsorship (securing donations from major benefactors); Grants, Trusts and Funds (conducting research and writing grants); Events (management, promotion, logistics); Parent Outreach (hosting events, producing mailings and telephone campaigns); and Marketing (branding, communications, social media).

If you would like to be part of our Development Office, for a few hours per week, we would very much like to hear from you. Competence with Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel and good organisational skills would be an advantage.  If you feel able to help with any of these teams / projects, please contact Mrs Dana Morgan on 01494 523961 or dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk.

July 2011

The academic year is coming to a close giving us a chance to review the financial goals and objectives for the Development Office this year.  Financially we met 86% of our target raising over £50, 000 for the School Development Fund thanks to the charitable support of former and current parents, students, staff and friends of Wycombe High School.  By far the largest single contributions came from Year 7 parents’ contributions to the Future Fund by generous regular and one off gifts the majority of which have been increased by 25% by Gift Aid Declarations.

We continue to depend on the generosity of past and current parents, students, staff and friends of WHS.  If you are already contributing and would like to increase your gift, or would like to consider contributing please complete the Future Fund Gift Form which can be found in the Development section of our website.  Likewise if your company would like to sponsor a project, or you would like to recommend a company, please review the Sponsorship section on our website and/or get in touch with me via email dmorgan@whs.bucks.sch.uk or tel 01494 523961.

May/June 2011

The school year is winding down. We’re into the Summer Term with more movie nights and a second annual Inter-form Sports Day Cake Sale Competition to wrap up the current Development Ambassadors fundraising efforts.

Movie Nights

17 June Year 7 Showinig ‘St Trinian’s 2 & The Legend of Fritton’s Gold’

24 June Year 8/9 Showing ‘Tangled’

1 July Year 8/9 Showing ‘Mean Girls’

8 July Year 7 Showing ‘Mean Girls’

Sports Day

12 July Interform Cake Sale Competition  

Interform Competition

As an incentive to encourage your daughters to participate in our fundraising events we are running a ‘competition’.  The Form that participates most in our events throughout the school year will win a custom party in their Form Room towards the end of Summer Term.  The contenders so far are: Form 7B/ Christmas Card Project, Form 7E/Year 7 Movie Night and Forms 8C and 9D/Year 8/9 Movie Night.   All funds raised go towards the School Development Fund so encourage your daughter’s to show up, help the school and win a custom party just for their Form!

April 2011

Wycombe High School hosted the inaugural Wycombe4C speed networking event 30 March 2011.  48 local businesses participated.  24 businesses were seated and 24 businesses moved from desk to desk over the two hour speed networking event.  Each meeting was 5 minutes with 2 ½ minutes allowed for each participant to give their presentation.  When the bell rang the participants moved on to the next meeting.

Mrs Morgan, Development Director, and Mrs Hayward, Careers and Pathways Advisor participated on behalf of Wycombe High School.  Mrs Morgan was keen to secure sponsorship for the various projects targeted this year including a new Data Logging Suite, a new Science Prep and Chemical Storage Facility room, upgrades to the Hall, and a new School Shop.  Mrs Hayward’s appeal focused on establishing relationships for potential internships, work experience, future Career Fair participation and visiting lecturers.

The feedback from the participants was very positive.  There was a buzz of excitement and fun in the air as we were encouraged by the bell to move on to the next table.  The networking continued more informally during the break when The Parents And Friends Association sold refreshments on the evening raising funds for the school.  All in all, it was a successful event and one that we hope to host again in the future.

Be sure to check out the April Business Monthly section of Bucks Free Press for a write up.

March 2011

Wycombe High School Needs You! “Many of the largest and most challenging fundraising campaigns being run in the UK today are led by a handful of dedicated volunteers who are using their influence and affluence to raise millions of

pounds.” Capital Fundraising in the UK – the Compton Way”

My second year as Development Director is all about building teams of parent volunteers to help drive a major fundraising project to upgrade our performing arts facilities in 2012. This will include new music and dance classrooms, recital spaces and improvements to our School Hall.

We take great pride in our academic achievement at the school and take particular pleasure from the success we have in music, drama and the performing and visual arts. To build on this success we urgently need to enhance our current facilities with £1 million plus upgrades.

This will only succeed with the full engagement of all parents and friends of the school. Experience tells us we cannot do this without you. To this end we are recruiting teams of volunteers to help secure major gifts and corporate sponsorship and research and acquire funds from grants, trusts, foundations and suppliers.

If you are interested in helping your daughter’s school to continue to excel, we would be pleased to meet / speak with you personally to discuss your participation as a campaign volunteer.

February 2011

‘‘2011 will be a challenging year for grammar schools in England’ - Compton Fundraising, leading fundraising consultants in the UK.

The function of the Development Office at Wycombe High School is to support the school in its aim of providing students with an exceptional educational experience.  This is achieved through promoting the school’s vision for the future and securing funding to ensure that this vision is achievable.

Wycombe High School does not have an endowment upon which to rely for its funding requirements.  It is due to the generosity of parents, alumnae and members of the wider WHS community that projects of all sizes are successfully funded, for which WHS is very grateful.

The culture of giving within the WHS community is a great asset to the school that has provided our girls with a solid preparation for their futures.  To be able to assist current and future students in unlocking and acting upon their greatest potential, WHS requires facilities that do justice to their abilities.

We have identified the 2010/2011 academic year projects that will enhance resources for teaching, learning and attaining which would otherwise not be possible without external funding.  We encourage sponsoring and co-sponsoring of these projects and welcome any recommendations for companies or individuals who would like to contribute as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

Now more than ever we urge you to consider a financial donation, if you have not already done so.  We acknowledge that the economic climate is difficult and that we all have to prioritise expenditures.  However, unless we can convince alumnae, parents, and friends of WHS to contribute we will have to scale back our plans to improve facilities.

With that in mind we hope you feel able to support us by making a regular donation to the school using the gift aid scheme which provides our largest source of income.  Please use the Future Fund Gift Form which can be found here to make a regular contribution.  Thank you in advance for your anticipated support and to those who are already contributing generously.