PTA
Welcome to your Tubbenden Friends Association! The TFA is the PTA of Tubbenden Primary School, and is made up of parents/carers and teachers at the school. As soon as your child joins the school, you will automatically become a member!
What does the PTA do?
The TFA is at the heart of the school community, bringing parents, carers and teachers together to fundraise for the school whilst having fun at the same time. The TFA raises funds for projects that are not covered by the funding the school receives from government sources. These include regular school events and one-off projects, and all are designed to improve the school for the benefit of all children. Typically the hard work of the TFA, teachers and parent volunteers provides the school with over £10,000 of funding. In 2021/22 we have been able to provide funding for the school for
• Musical projects such as Djembe drumming and recorder lessons
• Books to support the literacy curriculum
• Special presentation books for all new Reception starters
• Diversity resources across the school
Most of the fundraising is done through a programme of events that run throughout the academic year. We run a varied events calendar with something for everyone, including fireworks night, family discos, Christmas Fair and quiz nights. We also have a pre-loved uniform “shop” that normally opens about once a month.
How does it all work?
As mentioned, every parent and carer is automatically a member of the TFA and we invite you to get involved in whatever way you can!
The TFA is run by the TFA Committee, who plan the events and manage the funds. The committee is led by Katie Spreadbury. Katie leads an enthusiastic and driven team of dedicated parents and teachers to deliver the events and support the community. If you would like to be part of it, you can find out more about joining the committee by speaking to any of the members or by attending the AGM, held towards the end of each academic year (see events calendar for this year’s date).
Sounds great! How can I get involved?
Go shopping! No, really. We all purchase goods online at some point during the year. Did you know that by shopping online you can generate donations for the TFA at no extra cost to yourself? This sort of fundraising is going to be more important than ever this year – here’s how you can do it:
- If you shop with amazon, type in https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ instead of www. You can then select “Tubbenden Friends Association” as your nominated charity.
- For other online retailers head over to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and nominate “Tubbenden Friends Association” as your charity
- Or if you need name labels for your child’s/children’s uniform etc head over to https://www.mynametags.com/affiliate?id=20750 – using that link will automatically generate a sizeable donation to the TFA (use code 20750 at checkout if prompted).
Volunteering: Parent volunteers are the lifeblood of the TFA and we would not get anywhere near the astounding levels of success we have if it weren’t for you. So firstly, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has volunteered in the past, and everyone who is considering it for the future. We need volunteers to help run all the events on our calendar (see below), running stalls, checking tickets at the door, helping set up and helping clean up.
If you have any skills you think would be helpful to us please also let us know, for example perhaps you are a skilled artist or graphic designer and could help design posters for our events, or maybe you work somewhere such as a printers or wholesalers and could help get us discounts to minimise our costs? Whatever your contribution it will be extremely valuable, so if you would like to volunteer your time, please contact Katie Spreadbury at chair@tubbendenfriends.org.uk.
Become a class rep: We aim to have an allocated representative for all classes across the school. Class reps are instrumental in helping to communicate key dates and reminders for those dress down charity days and generally keep our social communication going! You would also be responsible for organising class meet ups to help parents get to know each other better outside of the school gates. We aim to recruit class reps by the end of the first month of the academic year. If you would like to know more about becoming a class rep, please speak to Katie Spreadbury or email chair@tubbendenfriends.org.uk.
Matched Funding: If the company you work for kindly offers matched funding for any fundraising events you have been involved in at the school, please contact our treasurer Anne Dwyer at treasurer@tubbendenfriends.org.uk to discuss further.
Donate your used uniform: We all know how expensive it can get to purchase school uniform, especially if you have multiple children at school. To help raise further funds and save you some money, please consider donating any uniform in good condition for our uniform sales via to Blue Bins just inside the Sandy Bury gates. Clean uniform in a good condition only please and no white shirts.
Our Fundraising successes
As mentioned, our TFA has raised a huge amount of money this year with your help. This money goes straight back into the school, providing for all pupils. As well as agreeing to fund regular items for the school (reception books, Year 2 recorder lessons and Year 6 first aid training), at the end of each academic year the committee agree with the Governors fundraising targets for specific projects. We are very proud to have provided grants to the school for the following projects for the 2019/2020 academic year!
Project – 2021/22 Academic Year Amount
Reception Books 435
Literacy Tree Class Books 4,000
Recorders and Recorder lessons 1,230
Charanga curriculum 354
BYMT hub membership 225
Djembe Tuition 1,200
Year 6 leavers book 750
Diversity resources 500
TOTAL £8,654
We have high aims for providing support to the School over the next academic year.
Our Events!
Please see below for a list of our upcoming events for the 2023/2024 academic year. These are subject to change and we will keep you informed via our half-termly newsletter, regular communication on email and via your class reps.
Date Event
03/11/2023 Fireworks
30/11/2023 Wreath Making Workshop
01/12/2023 Christmas Concert
10/12/2023 Christmas Fair