Voluntary donations
Latest communications on voluntary donations
Most donations are made via direct debit. You can dowload a direct debit form below:
Direct Debit Mandate Form
For any questions on payments please contact the school business manager.
Information on voluntary donations for Akiva
Akiva is a unique school. To provide additional budget for the school, we request that parents make a voluntary donation to support our inclusive Jewish ethos and to create the best possible learning environment for our children.
The voluntary donation is voluntary. We know that not all families can afford to pay the amount requested in full. All children are treated equally irrespective of whether or how much their parents contribute.
To find out more about the real difference which the voluntary donations make, please see below.
Thank you for your continued generosity.
The Akiva School Foundation is a registered charity, number 1118164.
How your voluntary donations are spent
Parental voluntary donations are used to fund education and learning opportunities which could not be afforded based on the money we receive from the Government alone.
We are sometimes asked "what is the voluntary donation spent on". Unfortunately we cannot answer this with a direct analysis because that is not the way the system works. What we do is prepare a budget for each year to meet all of the schools requirements and compare this to the amount of money that we will receive as a grant from Barnet. The balance divided by the anticipated number of donors gives us a number for the suggested voluntary donation.
In recent financial years some 25% of all our spending was funded through voluntary donations.
Staffing
The largest part of any school budget is spent on staff. Support from voluntary donations means that Akiva enjoys generous staffing levels – with the equivalent of one teaching assistant for every class in the school, and specialist staff to support the music, ICT and PE curriculum. This is far in excess of what is provided at most primary schools.
Our unique progressive Jewish ethos
Government funding is not designed to cover our Jewish studies or Hebrew programme. Hebrew is taught as a modern foreign language, with four lessons a week, taught in classes which cater for different background levels of Hebrew. Our provision has been described as outstanding by OFSTED.
Jewish studies is taught as both a separate subject and interwoven throughout the curriculum – Jewish holidays are celebrated in style. We also actively promote and participate in interfaith activities.
Added Extras
The money provided by voluntary donations also supports the provision of many added extras which collectively could not be afforded if we relied on Government funding alone. Examples of this type include:-
- Maintenance of our exceptional facilities and resources, including the outdoor learning area, playground facilities and garden.
- A growing IT provision. We maintain laptops for use by every class teacher, 15 iPads for every year group in KS1 and every class in KS2. The school also has a set of Chrome books to support individual pupils and a class set of 32 Chrome books.
- Essential resources such as stationery, PE equipment, musical instruments and art materials.
- Increased focus on the mental health and wellbeing of pupils and staff, to support pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties such as anxiety, low self-esteem and low resilience.
- A vast number of small group interventions led by teachers and/or support staff to support children with a wide range of abilities.
- Specialist staff to teach Music, Hebrew and Shiur Torah as well as a part-time Sports Assistant and Sports Apprentice for clubs and lunchtime activities.
- Training and professional development for staff to ensure outstanding teaching.
Economic realities mean that we expect government funding for schools to remain under pressure. For further information on how to make your voluntary donation, please contact the School Business Manager. Thank you for your continued support.