Diocese of Lancaster
We are proud to be part of the Diocese of Lancaster, led by our faithful Bishop, Paul Swarbrick.
What makes up the Diocese of Lancaster?
Our parishes, schools, and other central ministries are all important and vital elements of the Diocese of Lancaster. Besides those ministries and departments that directly support the good works of the Church, there are nearly 40 related Catholic entities, which also serve the local Catholic community. But it is our people, our clergy, religious, deacons, and lay members, working together in a shared commitment to follow Jesus Christ that defines who and what we are as a Catholic community.
The Diocese is situated in the Northwest in England – all of Cumbria and Lancashire north of the River Ribble. The Mother church of the Diocese is St Peter’s Cathedral, Lancaster. This is the Bishop’s Church where the Bishop presides over the Liturgy for major diocesan occasions and feasts. The Pastoral Centre, which since 2004, houses the central administration, is to be found beside the Cathedral on Balmoral Road. This has allowed the Diocese to bring various departments and ministries stretched across the nine Deaneries into one building to better serve parishes, schools, and other communities.
School Building Levy
As a Catholic school, we have ‘voluntary aided’ status. This gives us the freedom to provide the Catholic education which you have chosen for your child, but this comes at a price. To access the funding provided by the Department for Education the Diocese have to find 10% of the cost of repairing, maintaining and improving all school buildings themselves – other LA controlled schools do not have to do this. In order to meet these costs the Diocese initiated a Levy Scheme on its schools. However we simply do not have enough money to cover the cost of the Levy, therefore we invite parents to make a contribution towards these costs by making a donation to the Diocesan Levy Scheme. This contribution is requested each year following a review of the situation by the Governors and can be paid online using your parent pay account. UK tax payers can take advantage of the fund's charitable status and Gift Aid their donations which will increase the contribution by 25%.
Our school has taken advantage of the scheme to access in excess of £500,000 in grant funding in the past. This has enabled the school to:
♦ Extend and refurbish classrooms
♦ Re-roof all the flat roofs
♦ Update the Entrance Area
♦ Update new desk top computers for teachers
♦ Update new desktop computers for the office
♦ Two new IT screens for classrooms
♦ Class set of iPads
♦ Upgrade central heating system
In addition it has enabled us to maintain the buildings with regard to redecoration and other general maintenance.
We hope to continue to maintain and improve the school environment for the children and staff, but for our aims to be realised, we must once again rely on your generous help. Please log on to your Parent Pay account to make a payment, if you are a tax payer please first complete the Gift Aid Declaration by clicking on Your Info at the top of the page then on Gift Aid, complete the form ticking the box to Gift Aid your donations. Paper copies will be sent home for your signature.
Thank you for your support of our school.