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Current Projects

Reading School is a state secondary school and we have to fundraise for those aspects of our work that are not covered by our Department for Education funding. Our DfE funding covers the core cost of delivering the national curriculum, including salaries, teaching resources, lighting, heating and some basic maintenance. It does not cover the cost of major upgrades to school facilities, although we are able to apply for capital funds when these are available. DfE funding is not provided for the maintenance and conservation of our Grade II listed buildings which form the central part of the school buildings.  It also does not cover the cost of our essential co-curricular programme of lunchtime and after school activities, which enables pupils to expand their range of skills and knowledge outside the classroom.

Our Current Priority Projects Are:

  1. Improving Classrooms and Facilities - £149,000 needed 
  • Improving and refurbishing class rooms, so that we continue to develop the scientists, doctors, engineers and technical innovators of the future. 
  • Our pupils numbers will increase every year to 2020, as we now have five-form entry, this delightful sign of success means that our current facilities must also expand in order to accommodate the extra pupils. 
  • With the increase in numbers this means that classroom space will be even more scarce.
  • As we push the boundaries of learning and techniques of teaching, our buildings must also evolve.
  1. Co-curricular and Leadership Opportunities - £150,000 a year
  • Co-curricular activities are an essential part of the education that we offer at Reading School. They are an important counterpoint to academic work and enable boys to develop leadership skills and to explore interests and skills that will help them to fulfil their potential. They are also key to the development of skills that are difficult to learn in the classroom alone. Attributes such as resilience, self-reliance, empathy, the ability to communicate with and to work with others are all essential to living a full and successful life in the modern world.
  • We provide over 50 co-curricular and leadership activities throughout the year but are only touching the surface at a total annual cost of £67,000.  These include clubs and discussion groups to encourage interests such as art, public speaking, philosophy, computing, science, geography, languages and enterprise; music groups, including choirs, bands, and classical ensembles; sports teams for athletics, football, rugby, lacrosse, cricket, badminton chess and bridge; Inspire Lectures and talks to broaden understanding of important issues; and service activities such as the CCF, Duke of Edinburgh and Community Service through the Future Stories Project.  
  • Help us reach our target of £150,000 so we can build on our Co-curricular offering to develop our pupils .  We want to give every boy the opportunity to challenge and surprise himself by providing opportunities to encourage creative thinking and innovation.       

To help us complete these projects, you can make a donation by contributing to the 365 Fund "Building For the Future" in the sum of £30 per month or £365 annually which equates to £1 a day. 

You can make a general donation to the School to support these projects now and in the future via our Reading School - Donate now (cafonline.org). You can also download a donation form and send it, with your gift, to the Development Office at Reading School. 

As an Academy, Reading School is an exempt charity under schedule 2 of the Charities Act 1993.  We are also recognised as charitable by HM Customs and Revenue (HMRC Reference XT35863) and can reclaim Gift Aid on donations made by a UK taxpayer, provided the donor has paid an amount of Income Tax  and / or Capital Gains Tax for the tax year in which the gift was made that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities s/he has supported will reclaim for the same period.