A large donation from a company has helped raise the funds needed to keep a summer programme alive for a needy school.

XL Insurance's XL Foundation yesterday presented a cheque for $30,000 to Victor Scott Primary School half of the summer programme's cost.

Principal Valerie Williams thanked the community members and businesses which have already given their support to the programme but said the XL donation "put them over the top". Teachers appealed for financial assistance for the programme through this newspaper last week after discovering a $60,000 budget shortfall.

The scheme helps students with learning disabilities prepare for the next school year.

Teachers pledged to start this week as planned. Their hope was that with community support they would reach their monetary goal by summer's end.

Now, with the help of the XL foundation, the summer programme's future is secured and the 42 students enrolled will get the help they need.

"This is for students who may have fallen behind or may not be making the right amount of progress at their grade level," Mrs. Williams said. "With the extra time, teachers will introduce students to the Cambridge Curriculum to make the transition easier for them when the school adopts the curriculum in September."

XL Foundation executive director Amanda Outerbridge said seeing the programme going forward is a wonderful accomplishment for the school and the community.

"We hoped to use this gift as a challenge to the community to raise the other half," she said. "We offered half of what the school said it needed and the rest has been a really wonderful community effort."