Small Sums Fund

English reading circles

9 January 2026: Many thanks to all parents and pupils who have contributed to the Book Drive fundraiser.

The Parent Council is working with the James Gillespie Trust to raise funds for pre-owned book sets for S1–S2 English reading circles. Purchasing books through the Trust allows us to claim Gift Aid on donations, increasing their value.

So far, 70 books in sets of 5 have already been purchased. Our aim is to build a collection of 160 books in total, covering 32 titles, to support reading activities in class.

Titles include Wonder by RJ Palacio; The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, by Victoria Williamson; Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian; The Call of the Wild by Jack London; One of us is Lying by Karen McManus; The Crossover by Kwame Alexander; Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys; and the Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

Any further contributions will help us continue expanding this resource and encourage a love of reading among pupils.

Donations can be made online, and there is also the option to “sponsor” a book. If you wish, donated books can include a short personal inscription.

Please donate through the Trust’s justgiving page:

JG Trust Bookdrive justgiving page

February Fundraiser

2 February 2024: As was mentioned at the PC meeting on Wednesday 31 January, the Parent Council is launching Fundraising February!

The Parent Council’s Small Sums Fund distributes funds raised by the school back to the School Community. More information about the Small Sums Fund is on our website.

Last year, the projects we supported included:

SfL: Bike repair tools
PE: Sports strips and dance leotards
Art & Design: Resources for the photography club
GME: Basketball hoop & ball for Darroch playground
Modern Studies: Anti-racist books
English: Subscription to The Week Junior
Modern languages: Pearson online textbook subscriptions
Geography/ES Digimaps subscription

This fund is made up primarily by donations by parents and carers so we are asking you all to consider supporting important educational projects at JGHS, and providing help to our pupils who need it most.

Whilst we normally request donations to the Fund around Christmas time, the Parent Council acknowledges that December is often a difficult month for families so this year we are having a Fundraising February. If you can, please consider playing a donation via Parent Pay:

Click here to visit ParentPay

Look for the “Parent Council Fundraising” button at the bottom of the list of payment items for your JGHS student(s).

All funds raised during the Fundraising February go directly to the Small Sums Fund.

Thank you!!

Small Sums Funds support for sports and classroom activities

9 September 2023: The Small Funds Fund of the JGHS Parent Council provides small grants to support and enhance the experience of youngsters in the school and in extra-curricular activities.

About the Small Sums Fund

At the start of term we heard from some of the teachers who were awarded funds last year, just how much difference the extra support has meant:

Thanks from teachers

Allocations for this year

Earlier in the summer, new applications were received from across the school – PE, Modern Studies, Science, English, Modern Languages, Art, Geography, Gaelic Medium Education and Support for Learning. A group of parents met at the end of August to assess the applications and funds have now been allocated.

This year we are delighted to be able to support a wide range of activities that will benefit many pupils across the school. For example, sports strips and gym leotards, resources for a photography club, subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, digital maps, language online textbooks and playground sports equipment.

More details are available below:

Applications Received for 2023/24 (opens as pdf)

Small Sums Fund Allocations 2023/24 (opens as pdf)

Small Sums Fund Summary 2015-2023 (opens as pdf)

Please consider donating

Please consider if you would be able to donate as little as £5 to the Small Sums Fund, or more if you can, to help the Paret Council to continue supporting these activites for all our pupils. If you would like to help, please login to ParentPay via the link below, and contribute directly through the ‘Parent Council Fundraising’ option.

ParentPay

Thank you!

JGHS girls’ sport supported by the Small Sums Fund

28 August 2023: The Parent Council heard from two of the recipients of last year’s Small Sum Fund (SSF) about the imapct the funds have had.

Girls gymnastics

Kerry Jones in the PE department received an award last year to purchase a set of matching team leotards for the about girls gymnastics team.

The team was able to attend a competition last year due to the small sums award, and the gymnasts loved their new smart leotards.
Kerry Jones, PE Department

Girls football

The award to the girls’ football teams was used to buy strips for a range of teams as the number of girls involved in JGHS continued to grow. The 2022-23 year was the school’s busiest and most successful year yet, with around 92 girls across JGHS involved in football.

The teams had the following notable achievements:

Champions of S1-3 football festival at Broughton (for beginners)
S1/2 local involvement in SPAR Cup and SSFA sevens competitions
S3/4 runners up in National SPAR Cup finals (having proceeded through local and regional rounds first)
Senior girls were Scottish Cup semi-finalists – a huge achievement and the furthest any Gillespie’s team has ever gone.

Our proudest achievements were in both our U15 and Senior sides being crowned Edinburgh league champions for their respective leagues this year. This is the first year these leagues have been introduced – having our name be the first engraved on both trophies is historic, and hopefully the beginning of something that will build and be sustained over the years.

In this respect, Gillespies are leading the way for girls’ football in Edinburgh which is testament to the passion, enthusiasm and togetherness of our students.
Frank Carstairs, PE Department

Thank you!

25 February 2023: The Parent Council would like to say a special thank to all the parents and carers who so generously donated the the 2022 Festive Fundraiser campaign in aid of our Small Sums Fund.

JGHS Festive Fundraiser 2022

In December, the total raised on ParentPay was £910, which will now all go towards funding a wide range range of staff projects. Past projects have included subscriptions to periodicals, specialist books and equipment for learners with additional support needs, specialist art equipment, and equipment for Duke of Edinburgh expeditions.

The next round of applications to the Small Sums Fund will be towards the end of this academic year.

You can find out more about the Small Sums Fund and the projects we have funded here:

JGHS Parent Council Small Sums Fund

The Parent Council will also raising money for the Small Sums Fund on the refreshment stalls at the upcoming Spring Fling concerts and other in-school events – so please look out for us!

Christmas fundraising – thank you!

15 December 2022: Many thanks to everyone who came along to the JGHS Christmas concerts this week (Tuesday 13 December) – it was fantastic to see everyone back in the school to celebrate the talents of our young people and to meet one another again.

The Parent Council took in over £400 on the refreshments stall at the fayre that ran between the concerts, and also raised over £100 at the coursing night on 6 December – we are very grateful for all these contributions, which will go towards the Small Funds Fund supporting activities in the school.

There is also still time to make a contribution to the Parent Council’s Festive Fundraiser, which is currently running on Parent Pay. Again, all the funds raised will go to the Small Funds Fund, and will be most appreciated.

Make a donation on ParentPay

Support from the Small Sums Fund enhances SfL space

2 October 2022: Every year the Parent Council’s Small Sums Fund provides additional resources to support and enhance the experience of youngsters in the school and in extra-curricular activities, in areas where funding is not provided by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The JGHS Parent Council Small Sums Fund is open to staff, pupils and anyone connected to
the school to bid for funding.

About the Small Sums Fund

Support for Learning classroom

This year we were delighted to provide support for a range of different activities, include funds to help fit out the Support for Learning classroom in Bruntsfield House.

Mr Cockcroft, Support for Learning Leader, said:

As you know, we moved into a large, empty room in Bruntsfield House last year. We spent the money on making the room more welcoming for the students who access it and bought soft furnishings, plants, cabinets to display pupils’ work and lots of picture frames.

We held a small art exhibition in July of the work of the students who access SfL and invited their parents in to see this. It was a great success and something we plan to replicate this year. Thanks again for the money we received.

Some photos of the new classroom are shown below.

Other projects

More information about projects supported by the Small Sums Fund is available at the link below