Who's excited for our upcoming Disco Party? In this newsletter, you'll find everything you need to know about our Non-Scary Halloween Disco Party, upcoming parties and updates on our fundraising efforts. Lastly, a summary of our Annual General Meeting held in September. See how much we are doing in a very small group and imagine how much we can achieve with your support.
Invite to New Committee Members
We are actively seeking volunteers to join the committee and help with organising our events. With Mike and Heidi stepping down, we simply cannot continue the PTA's work without additional support. They’ve built an incredible foundation, creating a network that has elevated our efforts and made a significant difference for the school. However, without new members stepping in, it will be impossible for us to keep the PTA going. It would be such a shame to let it go, especially after all the progress we’ve made together. Please reach out and get involved. Let's continue making a positive impact for our children and their school.
Email: committee@yardleypta.co.uk Social Media: instagram <link> and Facebook <link>
Save the date: 13/12/24 - End of the year celebration!
If you would like to have a stall, please contact the committee.
Non-Scary Halloween Disco Party
Parents and guardians, you’re more than welcome to wear non-scary costumes and join the celebration. Please remember, no masks or scary makeup—let’s keep it fun for everyone!
We would like to thank all donations made by the parents/guardians. The event is sold-out!
Food vendors like King Pizza, Bana’s Grill, Mexican food, Cake Crumble, and Fox & Bear will be there selling delicious food and donating a portion of their profits to our school. A great reason to enjoy a meal and skip cooking for the night! If you are not joining the party, consider buying a dinner and support our school as we will get a donation from our partners.
Event Details:
The PTA will set up a stand from 3:00 pm. All ticket holders for the Halloween Disco Party must collect their wristbands for entry from 3:00 to 4:00 PM.
Please note: only ticket holders will have access to the hall where the event is being held.
Important to remember - PLEASE READ:
The event at the hall is for ticket holders and for Yardley students only. Attention to the age group in each session and the reminders below. Please read it carefully.
First Session: 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Only) Parents/guardians must still collect their child from school as usual time and drop them off at 4:00 PM to the Disco Party. An unaccompanied child is not allowed in the first session.
For the first session a child should be accompanied by an adult all the time. We understand this can be challenging, especially for working parents/guardians and those with children in different groups, so we encourage you to use your WhatsApp class groups to arrange for one adult to be responsible for a small group of children. Keep in mind that we have limited capacity and we have families that could not get ticket for their little ones.
If you’ve booked a ticket for a child only, we assume you’ve already arranged for someone who has an adult ticket to be responsible for them.
Second Session: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Exclusive party for Year 3 to Year 6). Children in Years 3-6 may attend the party unaccompanied. However, parents/guardians must still collect their child from school at usual time and drop them off at 5:00 PM for the Disco Party. An authorisation letter must be completed and signed for any unaccompanied child. Parents must collect their child at 6:00 PM promptly. Complete and sign the form and bring it with you on the day of the event. Please do not email us or the office.
Attention:
Please pack your child's costume, and the teachers will help them get ready for the party before pick up time! Don't miss out on the fun—feel free to dress up and join in as well!
ATTENTION TO THE WRISTBAND COLOURS:
You will be responsible for placing the wristbands on children for the event. Please pay close attention to the colour scheme outlined below, especially for parents/guardians who have children attending both sessions. Only the wristband designated for each specific session will be allowed for entry.
Be sure to use the correct wristband for the session your child is attending.
Session One: Pink (light and dark), Purple and Blue ONLY
Session Two: Yellow, Green, Purple and Orange ONLY
Children Session One Children Session Two
Light and dark pink. Yellow and Green
Adults
Purple - for Adult attending both sessions only Blue - Adults Session 1
Orange - Adults Session 2 Children Attending After-School-Club (ASC)
For children attending the After School Club - ASC, Mrs. Vundum's team will drop them off and collect them. Please provide the ticket information to the ASC Team and we give them the wristband and party bag.
NEON GLOW
We’re excited to offer a free UV neon glow body/face paint stand at the event! Please note that the use of the body paint is at your own risk, as it may cause allergies, especially for those with sensitive skin. We recommend performing a patch test before applying. The PTA will not be responsible for any reactions or discomfort resulting from the use of the body/face paint.
Outdoor Gathering - Free for All! The entire Yardley Community is invited!
Weather permitting, we’re thrilled to invite you to an outdoor gathering around the Juniors Playground! The outdoor gathering is confirmed! PTA will be selling mulled wine, beer, pastries, and sweet treats.
Our fantastic partners are available and Fox and Bear will be serving coffee and hot drinks from their coffee truck, and you can enjoy delicious meals from the Mexican Food Truck, Banna's and Grill, King's Pizza and treats from Cake and Crumble. Plus, the PTA will have a stand offering alcoholic drinks, and snacks. Best of all, every vendor is supporting our school by donating part of their profits to the PTA—a perfect excuse to skip cooking on Thursday!
Volunteers Needed!
As you know, we can't run an event without support. We are looking for 15-20 volunteers to help with the set up (from 2pm), run the PTA stand (3:00 pm-6:00pm), support during the event and after the event (clean up). Please inform your class representative via WhatsApp or email Dilan at committee@yardleypta.co.uk. Without volunteers we can't run the event.
Fundraising Initiatives
We’re committed to enhancing the school’s facilities, ensuring that our children have an exceptional learning environment. To achieve this, we need to raise a significant amount of funds. We’re using every available resource to make it easier for our community and local businesses to contribute. We invite you to explore our initiatives and share it with your friends and family—it’s a chance to directly benefit your child’s school experience. If you’re not familiar with our current projects, please visit the Projects page on our website and get involved! <link>
CROWDFUNDING Campaign
We are excited to launch a Crowdfunding Campaign to help fund the PTA Projects. Our top priority is raising funds for the library renovation and creating a sensory area for the Early Years playground. But, we are working hard to deliver a new outdoor space and Kitchen Garden Club. To make this vision a reality, we're aiming to raise approximately £185 per child. Every little bit helps—even if everyone donates £1, it will make a difference! Please share our link with family, friends, and on social media or WhatsApp groups. Let's come together as a community to support this cause. Donate whatever you can and help make it happen!
You can also create can create Fundraiser page using your social media for Yardley PTA.
Access our page and click on "Fundraise for this charity".
Set up a Fundraiser page in minutes.
You don't need any ID or bank details.
Money goes directly to your cause.
Zero platform fees, so more of what you raise goes directly to charity.
Become Friends of the Yardley PTA Campaign.
We're reaching out to former students and our local community to support our school through donations. You can contribute any amount, as often as you like. It’s easy and impactful! Please share with friends, family, and neighbours and help us grow stronger together!
Scan to Donate
Use can use the QR code to scan and donate any amount, as often as you'd like!
Tap to Donate
At the School Office, you will find our little card reader. Select £5 or £10 and simply tap your card—it's that easy. Just note, our card read is for DONATIONS only. You can't pay for uniforms or anything related to the school. We are different entities.
Business Support.
We have emailed more than 200 companies around Chingford so far to let them know opportunities to sponsor and contribute with our projects. After the emails, we are trying to call them to reach the right person. Our amazing volunteer Danielle is supporting us with the calls, but we need more volunteers helping with the fundraising initiatives. Remember that all funds will improve the school experience of our children and we can make it happen. Please email us if you can even only make one call a week.
Grants Application
Foyle Foundation Grant
After several months of gathering documents and completing the detailed application process, we have officially submitted our bid to the Foyle Foundation, requesting £10,000 to enhance our library. We expect to hear back by the end of the year. A big thank you to Mr. Evans for his unwavering support throughout this journey.
Love4Books Grant
We have applied for £5,000 to purchase new books and are eagerly awaiting the results.
Tesco Strong Starts
We’re awaiting the official results from Tesco Strong Starts and will share the news as soon as we have an update.
Local School Nature Grants Scheme
We’ve applied for £500 worth of products for the Early Years Playground, along with a Climate Curriculum Pack valued at £150, which includes teacher training. Results are pending.
Woodland Trust
We’re excited to announce that we will receive 15 new trees donated by the Woodland Trust to enhance our school’s outdoor space. With the Woodland Trust advice, we selected the Urban Trees Pack (saplings measuring 65 x 25 x 13cm) as they are easy to manage and it is designed for residential areas. They will send a mix of three native species chosen to thrive in urban environment (species: crab apple, rowan, hazel).
Passive Income: Easyfundraising & ASDA Reward App
Have you downloaded the Easy Fundraising and ASDA Reward apps and selected Yardley Primary School as your charity? It’s a simple way to donate without spending any extra! Click the link below to get started and support our cause.
Sign up now and help us reaching 300 supporters.
Gift Aid
We are a registered charity and elegible for gift aid. Keep Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows charities to claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated by a UK taxpayer. This means that donations can increase in value by 25%.
Gift Aid doesn't cost you anything extra because you've already paid tax on the money you're donating. HMRC returns the tax you originally paid to top up the donation. To qualify for Gift Aid, you must:
Be a UK taxpayer
Have paid or expect to pay enough income or capital gains tax in the tax year your gift was received
Make a Gift Aid declaration
Summary of the General Meeting
Our General Meeting was held at the Children’s Building Centre on 17/09 from 9:00-10:00 am, though attendance was low. If you couldn’t attend and have any questions, feel free to reach out, and we’ll be happy to provide more details.
During the meeting, we presented a comprehensive financial report. The PTA has supported the school in a variety of activities, including funding for the pantomime show, sports kits, Christmas crackers, chocolates for every pupil (Christmas and Easter). We invested in new gazebos and a popcorn machine. We also outlined our administrative expenses, covering fees for banking, SumUp, website maintenance, and event licenses. As a next step, we are setting up a savings account to earn interest on our funds. We have updated our bank mandate to require two trustee approvals for payments. Heidi will remain involved as our external auditor, which will benefit future grant applications. And Roger Obianyo has been appointed as the new PTA Treasurer.
We have increased the budget for the Early Years playground by £500, per the head of department’s request. Additionally, we’re enhancing the library project by adding wood panelling to reduce noise and creating a calming mural inspired by Epping Forest. We are also in talks with OrganicLea to develop a Kitchen Garden Club. This project is still in its early stages, but we’ll provide updates soon.
Unfortunately, we may need to discontinue the Amazon Affiliate Program unless we find a volunteer to manage it. This initiative has the potential to bring in up to 12.5% in commissions, but we need someone to dedicate 1-2 hours a week to start it.
New Members Needed
We urgently need volunteers to join the committee and support our events. Without new members, we will have no choice but to scale down our activities. Please don’t let that happen—get in touch with us as soon as possible to keep the PTA thriving. Our email is committee@yardleypta.co.uk
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Cristina Tosta PTA Chair.
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