School begs money from neighbours

A school has sent begging letters to wealthy local residents in an unprecedented attempt to raise money.

Dozens of well-off homes have been targeted by governors in the hope this will raise more money than their pupils' parents can spare.

Avondale Park Primary School serves an impoverished housing estate in otherwise affluent Notting Hill.

The initiative aims to raise money for a range of projects at the school, including subsidising a field trip to the Isle of Wight in November, reducing the cost to parents.

It has the backing of Kensington and Chelsea council, which said the school was "fortunate to have vigorous governors" who were "energetically and intelligently" raising funds to supplement council grants.

But the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations said it was "sad" that inner-city schools were having to resort to such fundraising, despite the Government's claims to have increased education spending.

Spokesman Margaret Morrissey said she had never heard of school governors deliberately targeting wealthy local residents - many of whom are likely to send their own children to independent schools - to raise money.

The amount of money raised by parents for their own schools is rising year by year. Five years ago an NCPTA survey estimated that PTAs raised more than £75million - much of it for basics like books, equipment and repairs to school buildings.

A smaller survey for the NCPTA last year found parents groups raised an average of £4,500 for their schools, up to a maximum of around £20,000. Such sums are beyond the reach of parents living immediately around Avondale Park School. For more than half of its 400 pupils, English is a second language and many are from refugee families. More than six out of 10 come from families poor enough to qualify for social security benefits and a quarter have special educational needs.

An Ofsted report praised Avondale teaching as "very effective" but said a "high proportion of children live in economically disadvantaged circumstances".

The school's services manager, Phil Morgan, said the initiative was the idea of the school's new chair of governors, Fiona Greenwood. He added: "She thought she would write to people she knew who might be able to give some money. The emphasis is on people who live locally who are aware of the situation of this school. A lot of other schools in the area have access to much greater resources by comparison."

Local resident Damian Collins, 28, an advertising executive, welcomed the effort to redistribute some local wealth, saying: "I think it's a good thing for schools to use their initiative and try to raise money locally.

"I'm sure lots of people will respond positively. If one of these letters dropped through my letterbox, I'm sure I'd whip my cheque book out. I like to support local institutions, particularly those working with limited resources."