Friends of Dringhouses Primary school is the name of our PTA (parent teacher association) which is a registered charity (RCN: 1095280). The committee can be contacted via their email address: friends@dringhouses.co.uk or approached in person at school.
The Friends are an active group of parents, teachers and community members. All parents/carers of children in school are automatically members and the association is managed by a committee of elected parents/carers and teachers. Any number of parents/carers can be elected on to the committee and any parent can join in FODS activities. There is no joining fee or membership card. FODS organises a variety of educational and social functions during the year, as well as fundraising for extra items for the school.
Parents and teachers can approach the committee to request funding (or partial funding) for any project that will be of direct benefit to the students. More information is available from our FODS Funding Criteria document.
The Committee
The current committee as of 6.12.21 is as follows:
Chair – Chia Suan Chong
Secretary: Jenny Buckland, with co-secretary Allyson Lister to support
Treasurer: Jen Goforth
Ordinary Members: Kate Newman, Amy Stones, Rachel Corry
Teacher Representative: Lizi Backhouse
Patron
Patron is an honorary title that has no constitutional responsibilities, meaning they can not
vote at Committee meetings. However, they may be invited to address members or to represent the Association on formal occasions or when seeking public support.
Patron: Ben Sutton
FODS Meetings
Our last meeting was on 29th September 2022 at 7:30pm at the school.
Refreshments are provided (for in-person meetings) and new ideas are always welcome! If you have any great ideas but are unable to attend the meeting please do pass them on to any of the committee members, or email friends@dringhouses.co.uk.
Easy Ways to Fundraise!
How you can get involved
Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings which are held half termly to discuss the fundraising events for the following term. You can be involved as much or as little as you like; from volunteering to help at a stall for one of our successful Christmas or Summer Fairs, to organising a one-off event, or perhaps a social event for parents.
If you’re unable to attend a meeting but would like to be involved, please talk to a committee member or email us at friends@dringhouses.co.uk.
If you’ve volunteered to help run a FODS project, then our handy Project How-To document will help you get started.
FODS Newsletters
A leaflet for the Autumn 2019 term has been created by FODS. You can download it or pick up a copy next at the office. It provides a summary of FODS’ role in the school, information about fundraising activities, and how you can get involved.
In addition, during the school year 2018/19, FODS created a newsletter to update you on what we were up to.
Our Project Leaders
FODS relies on a large number of generous parents, staff, carers and friends to help make our events possible. They donate time, funds, and expertise to help all sorts of projects succeed, for the benefit of the entire school. This section lists those people who are currently running FODS projects. If you see them, feel free to give them a pat on the back for all their hard work!
Available Projects
We are always happy to have help running a project. So, if you’d like to run or join a project, just contact us at friends@dringhouses.co.uk, find us in the playground, or come to our meetings to find out more.
If you’ve volunteered to help run a FODS project, then our handy Project How-To document will help you get started.
Abby and Megan baked cakes for the kitchen team! And made a 'printed using nature' card for them to say Thank You! #dringkind #dringcreative https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci92lHRoH6y/?igshid=YTgzYjQ4ZTY=
Dringy's Got Talent #dringconfident #dringcreative https://www.instagram.com/p/CgUMJQlNLbR/?igshid=YTgzYjQ4ZTY=
EY Sports Day! Seriously styled-out staff skipping, and INTENSE family races. #dringconfident #dringraces https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf_5i-ztTJR/?igshid=YTgzYjQ4ZTY=
Key Stage 2 are officially Internet Legends!
We had a visit from Jez and Paulette from Google today who were very impressed with our knowledge about e-safety. We brushed up on our skills for keeping ourselves safe and reminded ourselves of the Be Internet Legends Pledge!