Policy on Charitable Donations in Schools

Summary

A request was made to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture regarding a central policy on charitable donations in schools following an incident at St Ninians High School. The authority responded that no such central policy is held, though they provided a link to a related Tynwald written question response.

Key Facts

• The Department of Education, Sport and Culture does not hold a central policy relating to charitable donations in schools.
• The request was prompted by an incident at St Ninians High School involving public humiliation of students for not donating £1 for dress down days.
• The authority provided a link to a Tynwald written question response regarding charity donations for dress down days as advice.
• The request was formally closed on 14 March 2025.
• Applicants have the right to request an internal review or appeal to the Information Commissioner if dissatisfied.

Data Disclosed

• 4461933
• 2025-02-20
• 2025-03-14
• £1
• St Ninians High School
• IM4 3AS
• 01624 685808

Original Request

Dear Sir/Madam Following the recent incident at St Ninians High School regarding the public humiliation of students for not bringing in £1 for dress down days, does the department have a policy on Charitable Donations in schools? Many thanks

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Policy, Strategy and Governance Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Thie Slieau Whallian Foxdale Road St Johns IM4 3AS

Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im

Our ref: 4461933 14 March 2025

Dear ###,

We write further to your request received 20 February 2025, which states:

"Dear Sir/Madam

Following the recent incident at St Ninians High School regarding the public humiliation of students for not bringing in £1 for dress down days, does the department have a policy on Charitable Donations in schools?

Many thanks"

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. The reason for this is the Department does not hold a central policy relating to Charitable donations in schools.

By way of advice and assistance please find a link to a recent Tynwald written question response in relation to Department’s policy on charity donations for dress down days:
https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/BusinessHansardIndex2126/W- 202501-1476.pdf

Please quote the reference number 4461933 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are

dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.