The Friends Association
Welcome to the Friends of St. Mary's School section! We are the PTA for the school. We are a charity, run independently by parents and teachers, and we organise events to raise funds to buy equipment and other items for the school. Oh, and we have fun doing it, too!
Below you will find further details about the Friends – about what we have been doing and what we have been spending money on. You can see what events we have coming up on the website Calendar page. We would love you to get involved and help us raise even more money.
Who are The Friends of St. Mary's School?
If you have a connection with St. Mary’s School – as a parent, teacher, carer or grandparent – then you are a Friend. There is no need to join, be elected or subscribe – you already are one!
We would like as many of you as possible to become involved with the Friends. Involvement can take many forms: we need help with events, ideas for raising and spending money, practical support, donations of items for events … the list is endless. The more help we get, the more money we raise, the more our children benefit. Simple.
We would like as many of you as possible to become involved with the Friends. Involvement can take many forms: we need help with events, ideas for raising and spending money, practical support, donations of items for events … the list is endless. The more help we get, the more money we raise, the more our children benefit. Simple.
Who can join The Friends of St. Mary's School?
Anyone is most welcome to join the The Friends: parents, teachers, carers, grandparents, etc. Come to meetings, volunteer to help at events, or be elected as an officer or to the committee if you want to be more closely involved.
What sort of events are run?
We try to organise a wide range of events, including the Christmas and Summer fairs, bingo and quiz nights, raffles, second-hand uniform sales, Christmas tree sales, race nights, wine tastings, music evenings, Dragon Boat racing, craft evenings, sponsored events and Easter egg raffles. We also run the weekly new uniform shop. If that is not enough, we would like to try and organise some new events this year. For example, we have scheduled a car boot sale and family BBQ for September 2009. Do you have other good ideas? Let us know!
How much money is raised and what is it spent on?
The school is proud of the achievements of the Friends: in the year ending August 2008 we raised over £20,000.
Our main priority for expenditure in 2008/09 has been our playground: we have funded (amongst other things) the activity trimtrail, the outdoor classroom, the canopies over Reception and Year 1 patios, the wet play boxes and lunchtime staffing for red (activity) zone. In addition, we have bought computers, teaching equipment, books, microphones, sports kit, financially supported theme weeks in school such as Book Week and Big Arts week … the list goes on!
Our main priority for expenditure in 2008/09 has been our playground: we have funded (amongst other things) the activity trimtrail, the outdoor classroom, the canopies over Reception and Year 1 patios, the wet play boxes and lunchtime staffing for red (activity) zone. In addition, we have bought computers, teaching equipment, books, microphones, sports kit, financially supported theme weeks in school such as Book Week and Big Arts week … the list goes on!
What expenditure plans are there for this year?
Decisions about what money is spent on are taken at the monthly Friends meetings. We are currently planning our expenditure strategy for 2009/10: it is likely that we will commit more money to improving the playground. We have just agreed to fund improvements to the Maze and pay for new fencing along the southern boundary of the playground.
We would love to hear what you think the priorities for expenditure this year should be.
How do I find out what happens at meetings?
The best way, of course, is to come along. However, copies of the minutes from Friends meeting will be uploaded to this website, and also placed on the school notice board, alongside an agenda for the next meeting. If you register your contact details with the school you will also automatically receive update emails about Friends matters.
How can I get involved?
Who do I contact if I am interested in getting involved?
How can I get involved?
There are so many ways to get involved: come along to meetings; support our events – and offer to help us run them; email us or call us with ideas of events we can run or things we should fund; bring in donations of goods when we have collection days; collect supermarket vouchers, help to run the uniform shop on Tuesday afternoons, collect old mobile phones, sponsor your child, make refreshments at parents evening. If you have even one hour to spare, we can find a use for it!
Who do I contact if I am interested in getting involved?
We would love to hear from you! Please contact either the chair, Karen Fox (Helen (4L) and Maddie (2R)) on colin.fox90@ntlworld.com or 020 8349 2423 or the secretary, Wendy Russell Barter (Evie (2R) and Alice (Reception)) on barterfamily@talktalk.net or 020 8349 9979.
