Fundraising


Previously, our PTA had kindly administered a bank account for parental donations, sending paper forms out to the parents of new Year 7s and asking them to complete the direct debit instruction to give monthly to the school. But this method had become outdated and the PTA no longer had time to manage the account. Hence we decided to bring the account under the main school umbrella and relaunch it as the ACHIEVE fund, mirroring our school vision and values. We researched online platforms


and decided on the CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) as it offered the most suitable fee structure and would be able to claim Gift Aid on our behalf. We also set up a new page on our website and publicised the fund on school communication channels.


October During half-term, we hosted the Maidenhead Dance Festival. This was a learning curve for myself and the site team, especially as we had, as usual, scheduled in building work during the holidays! We managed to juggle things around and all went well. It was wonderful to see the theatre full of dance schools pupils and their families enjoying our new venue.


Our revamp of the lettings


webpage has led to renewed interest and quite a few enquires. It is lovely to have regular hirers who use the school for exercise classes and children’s activities. We get to know them well, building relationships and making sure they have everything they need. We also promote their activities in our newsletter so it is a win/win. Once a regular hirer is established, there is very little to do apart from watch the regular stream of income coming in. With more lettings, there is more


chance of clashes and we’ve had a few last-minute relocations and near misses, which our patient site team have resolved! This has brought home the importance of making sure every booking is on the booking system.


November The balance on our ACHIEVE fund now totals more than £1,500, after many parents generously set up direct debits in the first couple of months. The donations will go towards projects that enhance the school experience for students. A bike shelter (right), grand piano and sports equipment have already been purchased. Our PTA ran a very successful


‘School Dayz’ quiz night (above right). Quiz goers benefitted from excellent


FundEd SPRING 2022 31


food from a giant pan catering company (above left) and a well- stocked bar. The night raised £1,300. We also hired the theatre to a


drama school for their performance of High School Musical (above far left). There were 130 children involved, so they took over quite a bit of the school. This was the first time the theatre lighting and sound had been used for a proper show and there were a few issues with the house curtains, plus an unknown alarm going off (which necessitated me rushing in to the rescue) but nothing spoilt the show. Obviously, there are going to be a few teething issues but we put things right and as they say… the show must go on!


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44