(Registered Charity No. 1034918)

Who are we?

The Canonbury School Foundation is a charity linked to Canonbury Primary School and was founded in 1994.  It is run by a committee of parents and staff but membership of the charity automatically includes every parent and guardian of pupils attending the school. We work in partnership with Matt Britt, the PTA and the governors to help with projects which help enrich the lives of the children while they are at school.  Matt Britt, Julie Horten (Chair of Governors) and Angela Bhardwaj (Chair of the PTA) are automatically trustees by virtue of their office.  In addition there are currently 5 parent trustees namely Kate Buchanan (Chair of the Foundation), Tim Howarth (the current Treasurer but who will shortly be replaced by Kaori O’Sullivan), Katharine Edwards, Michael Mamorsky and David Pallister.

Since it was founded, the Foundation has raised thousands of pounds to support the children and teachers at the school.  Mainly we apply for funds from grant-making institutions and other charities but we also encourage regular or one-off donations from parents and administer “Gift Aid” in order to benefit from this tax break (25p for every pound you give us). 

What do we do?

We helped to raise over £100,000 for the school in 2003 to build the Morris Artspace, a separate extension at the back of the school which is used for hosting Breakfast Club, Playcentre (which takes place after school) and various PTA social events (as well as for teaching creative arts during the day).  We also helped to raise about £45,000 in 2006 to help the school create a Learning Resource and Reading Room, equipped with new computers, interactive whiteboards, furniture, modern shelving and books. 

In the summer of 2008, in order to celebrate creative writing at school, a competition was held and 35 stories written by children in Years 2 to 6 were published in a book called “Canonbury Stories”.  The cover was designed by Hana Sanei (a pupil at the school) and the collection was edited by the Foundation (which also met the publishing costs).  Enough books were produced for all the children who entered the competition to have a free copy.

Between 2008 and 2010 we raised £47,000 to put towards the redevelopment of the main school playground through the creation of various zones, including the Meadow Zone, the Organic Garden Zone and the Football Zone which have proved extremely popular with the children. Click on this link for photos of the Football Zone which was officially opened by Nick Hornby on 7 July 2010).  Funds for the Football Zone were donated by Awards for All, Islington Community Chest and KPMG.

Since September 2010 we have raised £10,000 from donations given by the Morris Charitable Trust, the Ward Blenkinsop Trust, Area Committee Grants in Islington and also from parents themselves – many thanks to all of you who contributed to this project.  These funds will be used, together with a grant of £12,000 from CEA, to make significant changes to the nursery playground.  The work is expected to be completed before Christmas and the result will be a stimulating and exciting area in which the nursery children can play and learn and will be a vast improvement to the existing facilities in the nursery playground.  The school will host an opening ceremony in the spring term.

We are currently trying to raise funds for the pilot project whereby Year 5 children will be spending a week working on a farm in Wales in January 2011. This link will take you to the charity’s own website which contains further details. This charity was set up by children’s writer Michael Morpurgo and his wife in 1976 and the farm that the children will be visiting is Treginnis Isaf, the most westerly farm in Wales.  The week will be a rich and unforgettable experience for the Year 5 children who will be rising early and working hard at mucking out stables, feeding the animals and helping with the lambing.  

What can you do?

•           Think about joining our regular giving scheme, by which we 

             can also benefit through gift aid.

•           Let us know if your employer has a charity giving programme

•           If you are aware of any grants we may be able to apply for,

            please let us know

If you would like to contact us, please either leave a message in the school office or email Kate at kate_buchanan27@hotmail.com.