Dear parents
 
I am sure you have heard that school budgets are under massive pressure at the moment. In fact, funding for 5-16 year-olds has been relatively protected by government but sixth form budgets have not. We calculate that our funding per student has declined by over 20% in the last five years, and we are struggling to cope.  We receive about a thousand pounds less per student than schools do for younger pupils, and this is exacerbated further by the fact that sixth form classes are smaller and that sixth form colleges cannot reclaim VAT.  It isn’t just sixth-form colleges that are suffering; sixth-forms in schools are funded the same way and it affects schools too (but they don’t pay VAT and they get funding for staff pay increases which we don’t).
 
We are trying to be as efficient as we possibly can be, and we have had to take some tough decisions over the last year or two to drop some minority subjects from the curriculum. But costs keep going up. Utilities have been going up a lot at the moment (you may have noticed) and there is an ever-increasing demand for pastoral support services such as counselling. Unlike some sixth-forms, we still provide books and other learning resources, and we allow students to print freely at College up to a certain point.
 
In 2019-20, we have set a deficit budget: we will be making an operating deficit of £160,000 this year and it could be worse if we get any long-term sickness to cover. We have tried hard to not to reduce our services to students, not to cut our extra-curricular programme and not to impact on learning resources. But it is not easy! 
 
There are two ways in which you can help. There is a budget coming up, so if we can get more pressure on our MPs, that might help. So please think about writing to your MP, drawing their attention specifically to the funding rate for sixth-form education.
 
Secondly, we would ask you to think about whether you can make a donation to the College. I know that many of you have already done so (at the beginning of your son or daughter’s first year), and I don’t like to ask, but in common with many top-performing schools we don’t have much choice.  We would welcome any amount that you felt able to give, either as a one off or as a monthly contribution.
 
Details of how to donate are below:

1) By cheque payable to Woodhouse College. Please post to the College at Woodhouse Road, London N12 9EY

2) By bank transfer:
Natwest
Woodhouse College
Sort Code 60 15 20
Account Number 5051 2188
If you are a tax payer, please download and complete the gift aid form and either post it to the College or email it to finance@woodhouse.ac.uk
 
Thank you very much for reading this, and I hope the rest of the year goes well for you and your family.
Best wishes
 
John Rubinstein
Principal
Woodhouse College