Introducing FoLD – a Parent, Teacher and Friends Association
We changed our name from ‘Lord Deramore’s PTA’ to ‘Friends of Lord Deramore’s Primary School’ (FoLD) after a school-wide poll held in Autumn 2019. We hope to show in our name that we’re inclusive; you don’t need to be a parent or a teacher to join in – siblings, grandparents and neighbours are very welcome too!
Anyone who has a connection with Lord Deramore’s Primary School (e.g. has a child at Lord Deramore’s) and supports us is a friend. We hope all new parents and carers feel welcome at Lord Deramore’s.
If you’d like to become more involved with FoLD, besides attending or participating in our activities, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email!
What does FoLD do?
FoLD meet a couple of times each term to plan our fundraising events, and are always keen to have new members join our group of volunteers! Our AGM is held in January of each year.
Over the year, we host events such as the Halloween disco, Christmas Fair, the Summer Disco, the Summer Fair, and we support the school at events such as International Day and the Meet & Greet sessions for Early Years parents. The funds we raise help the school community by providing resources for classrooms, PE and Forest School, paying for coaches on trips such as the pantomime, and this year donating funds towards OPAL.
Our wonderful Uniform Sales are held by a dedicated team, who sell donated school uniform, and generate valuable funds for FoLD. Last year Team Uniform raised over £600!
FoLD news and upcoming events are put in the school weekly updates, or you can email us on friendsoflordderamores@gmail.
What are we up to?
Do keep an eye open for information about upcoming FoLD events which is regularly included the weekly updates from school.
Please see the attached letter about the Bag 2 School initiative where we will be taking part in a clothes collection on Thursday October 22nd. Donated items will be weighed, and school then receives payment for them.
You can keep up to date with our latest news by following FoLD on Facebook and Twitter – click the logos to find us on social media. And don’t forget to look for news and updates from FoLD in the weekly update!
Who are we?
FoLD consists of:
- Supporters: Those with links to Lord Deramore’s who attend and support our events and activities
- Willing volunteers: Offering practical, hands-on help at events and/or specialised know-how (catering, crafts and PR to name a few!)
- FoLD Event Planners WhatsApp group: Thinking/planning activities, providing advice, providing practical help and/or forwarding messages on to their year group(s).
- The Committee: Those happy to be official Committee members – elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and holding office until the next AGM. The minimum number of committee members is two, a Chair and a Treasurer and ideally the committee will also have a Secretary/Communications Officer. The links below provide more information about the various roles:
What do we do to raise money for school?
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We organise annual events such as Halloween disco, Christmas Fayre and Summer disco. We also frequently host other events throughout the year (bake sales, etc).
We also have regular second hand uniform sales. These happen the second week after each half term outside the Reception area, but days and times depend on the weather and volunteer availability. Please check our Twitter or Facebook sites for updates.
What have we achieved with the money raised so far?
We regularly help with school trip costs. We have also bought items for school, such as fiction and non-fiction books, PE and forest school equipment, and the sound system in the hall.
How can you help us?
- Join our team: We are a team with some roles that need to be filled each year. If you’re interested in joining us, please look out for role vacancies and information in our Annual General Meetings (AGM).
- Volunteer your time: We can’t make any of these wonderful events happen without parents and carers’ help. We have a WhatsApp group to organise events, or you can help on the day.
- Donate second hand uniforms: Our popular second hand uniform sales depend on people donating clothes children grow out of. We accept donations of good quality and clean uniform trousers, pinafore dresses, skirts, polos, cardigans, jumpers, fleeces, etc, with or without the school logo. We also accept good quality, clean wellies and shoes. Please leave your donations in the FoLD shed outside the school hall.
Past Events
Last year…
…in the Autumn term we had the PTA Halloween Disco and Pumpkin Competition, and once again raised funds whilst doing our bit for the environment with the Bags 2 School campaign. We helped to fund the children’s trip to the Pantomime (Oh, yes we did!) and then held a very successful Christmas Fair – thank you to everyone who helped and who came! January brought a well-attended AGM on Zoom, and later in the year there were some old favourites like our fabulous Summer Fair and a chance for everyone to show off their moves at the Summer Disco. A huge thank you to each and every one who has donated outgrown school uniforms in the last year and, in turn, has purchased the next size up. Together we have raised £564 from the uniform sales for the school!
It’s beginning to look a lot like…. Christmas!
The FoLD Christmas Fair took place on Friday 6th December. We are very grateful for all the donations, raffle ticket purchases and the support on the day – thank you for helping us make this fair as magical as in previous years!
Bags To School
Thank you to everyone who supported us when we took part in the ‘Bag 2 School’ in October – donated items are weighed and school then receives payment for them.
October also brought us the Halloween disco and the fantastic pumpkin competition – you can see pictures of the winners on our Facebook page!
Bingo Night News!
A big thank you to the families who attended the Bingo event in the summer term, it was lovely to see everyone having fun. Your support for the event raised a fantastic £228.76! Thank you to the staff and volunteers that helped make the event a success. A special thanks goes to Lord Deramore’s resident Bingo caller Mr Rourke!