Cumbrian school forging ahead after turbulent year

I have been connected to Hunter Hall School for most of my adult life. My children grew up here.

I know this school the way you can only know a place when it has shaped the people you love most: when you have stood in the playground watching them run towards their friends, when you have sat in parents’ evenings listening to teachers who genuinely know and want the best for your child.

When my youngest left in 2021, I was already chair of governors, having previously been a governor for many years and I could have walked away.

Instead, I stayed in a role which enables me to give something back to a school that had given so much to my family.

Despite facing rising costs for over a year, the leadership team was dedicated to finding further efficiencies wherever possible, all without compromising the high-quality education we are known for.

So when we sat down last autumn for an extraordinary governors meeting, I understood what was at stake in a way that went beyond governance and finance. It was personal.

Significant cost-saving measures implemented over the previous 12 months, including negotiated rent reductions and staff voluntarily accepting a 7.5% salary reduction, several anticipated savings had not materialised.

As a result, the school was facing a larger than expected deficit for the 2025-2026 financial year.

Hunter Hall launched an urgent appeal in November after it revealed it needed to raise £180,000 by December 3 – or close its doors for good before Christmas.

The community rallied round and saved the school.

Hunter Hall is unlike any school you have ever seen.

Tucked into 19th century farm buildings in the Eden Valley, just outside Penrith in Cumbria, it is home to just 80 children, from pre-school through to 11.

A small school that achieves outstanding results.

During the summer months of last year, we did something bold.

Under our headmaster, Paul Borrows, the school launched a new strategy, Tomorrow Starts Here, built on a conviction that education is not merely preparation for the future, it is the beginning of it.

Far from a school adrift, we were building towards something.