The Parents, Teachers and Friends Association
The school is incredibly grateful to all those who donate their time, money and other resources to help make the school such a wonderful learning environment.
Making a donation to the PTFA
For those who are able to donate money to the school (which is collected by the PTFA), the following methods are available:
| Just Giving | A monthly or one off donation via JustGiving is a brilliant way to donate to the school: It is easy to keep track of your donations and Gift Aid is completed by JustGiving (adding 25% to your donation) so makes it the most efficient way to raise money. The money is then automatically transferred into the PTFA bank account. |
| Payroll Giving and Matched Funding | http://www.payrollgiving.co.uk – Deducts your donations at source, i.e. the donor does not pay income tax on these donations and reduces his/her marginal rate of tax – This means that for every 60p donated by a higher rate tax payer, the PTFA receives £1 – For every 80p donated by a basic rate tax payer, the PTFA receives £1 – Many companies that offer payroll giving also offer matched funding, i.e. where your employer matches your donations, doubling the amount received by the PTFA. |
| CAF accounts | https://www.cafonline.org – To give via CAF, you open a charity account with CAF from which you allocate amounts to the various charities you support – You only need to complete one gift aid declaration to gift aid to all the charities you support – Easy to use for either regular or one-off donations – If you run your own company, CAF giving allows your company to donate to a charity. |
What is the PTFA and what does it do?
The Parents, Teachers and Friends Association – the PTFA – is a long-standing home-school association. It is made up of parents whose children attend the school and others who would like to support us. All parents and carers automatically join this body when their child joins the school.
The organisation has two principal aims:
- to raise additional funds for the school, to supplement the school budget and provide more for the children
- to strengthen the school community by organising events where all members of the community can meet and socialise
All money raised goes directly towards providing resources for the children. It helps us to finance immediate and longer-term goals. We are most grateful for the support of the Friends and hope that their interest and generosity will continue in the future. The money this body raise makes a significant difference to the provision the children receive.
The PTFA doesn’t have a chairperson; a team of parents co-ordinate events. Regular meetings are held which all members of the school community are welcome to attend. Each class has a parent representative who assists in the organisation of termly events. Our principal fundraising events are:
- Autumn Term – The Barn Dance; The Christmas Fair
- Spring Term – Quiz Night and Auction
- Summer Term – Midsummer Barbecue
- Sometimes we have new, special events
For example the PTFA has contributed towards:
- a major redevelopment of the reception outdoor learning area and the Key Stage 1 playground
- the creation of a new Art Studio
- subsidised swimming for children from families in more challenging financial circumstances
- developing the school’s ICT infrastructure and ensuring that children benefit from the opportunities modern technology offers to enhance their learning
- extending the school’s range of reading material so that children at Barnes have the chance to read the very best books
Other ways to raise funds for the PTFA
- Why not join the FreeCycle App. Donations are made via JustGiving.
- Use Amazon Smile when shopping: smile.amazon.co.uk Select us as your preferred charity and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases.
- Use EasyFundraising when shopping at places like John Lewis, Marks & Spencer: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/support-a-good-cause/step-1/?char=24992
- The PTFA have created an account at www.stickerscape.co.uk which means for every order placed – using our school number 70085 when ordering – the school will receive cashback.
- We are excited to launch a new fundraising campaign with Chestertons. For any sale or rental completed through our school community Chestertons will donate £500 (sale) and £200 (rental) to the school. Please be sure to mention Barnes Primary at the point of instructing to activate. See the flyer here for details. Any questions or queries do contact gittinsjade@gmail.com.
How can you get involved?
Every first Thursday of the month, the PTFA holds an open meeting at 9.05am in the Key Stage 1 staffroom to share fundraising ideas and discuss the general organisation of fundraising events taking place throughout the year. Everyone is welcome to come. If you are unable to attend, the PTFA can be contacted via your class representative, or via the school office or by emailing gittinsjade@gmail.com
What is a Class Representative?
A class representative is a parent (or parents) who volunteer to help with the coordination of social and fundraising events and run cake stalls to raise money exclusively for their year group. If you are unsure of who your class rep is, just ask your class teacher.
The continued success of the PTFA depends on the support of the parents, so please come along to the meetings: not only will you be helping to make a real difference to your children’s education, but it is also a good opportunity to get to know the school and other parents.