Cornwall school fundraised to hire a second teacher

The Guardian has reported that a very small school in Cornwall has successfully fundraised to hire a second teacher.

They report that Lerryn Church of England Primary School, near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, was told by its academy trust at the end of the last academic year that lack of funding would mean they had to scale down to only one class. This would have left one teacher juggling the education of children from reception age up to year 6 in the 17 pupil school.

Village residents then raised more than £30,000 to hire a second teacher to keep their school open. They raised enough money to hire a NQT teacher, for one year and are now starting again to pay her salary for next year, after which they hope the school will have enough pupils to be sustainable.

Tanya Ovenden-Hope, Dean and Professor of Education at Plymouth Marjon University, who researches rural deprivation, has said “Small schools in these rural and sparsely populated areas tend to be the lifeline of the community. Once they are gone, along with the pub, everything becomes more challenging.”

Is your school looking at ways of finding additional funding?  Have a look at the DAG Busy Governors Guide to Raising Additional Funds.