Friends of Charles Darwin

We are the Friends of Charles Darwin committee. We are parents who have children at the school and with the support of staff, students and families closely linked to the school, alongside local businesses, we run events and raise money for the school community.

Chairperson - Steph Buisst

I joined the PTA in October 2023 and have one child at the school in Year 4. I also work in Charles Darwin Nursery as a Nursery Assistant.

Vice Chairperson - Caroline Aziz

I have two children at the school and have been on the PTA for three years.

Secretary - Sarah Buckenham

I have two children at the school (in Year 6 and 4). I'm currently the secretary of the Friends of Charles Darwin and have been a member of the group for over five years.

Treasurer - Jason Berry

I am the treasurer of the PTA and have one child in Year 5 along with my eldest who was in the first graduating class in Charles Darwin.

Useful Links

Joining (or supporting) the Friends of Charles Darwin

If you would like to join the Friends of Charles Darwin Group (ie attend meeting and helping organising events and fundraisers) or our volunteer phone list (to be contacted to help support running of events) , please fill in the online form: https://forms.office.com/r/hZtYCuBk3F

Lost Property and Name Label Scheme

Lost property has been a huge issue in the school and we are sad to see hundreds of pounds of unclaimed items go to waste each year, which must be having a financial impact on our families! We will be taking lost property out on to the school playground with our second hand uniform sale, every last Wednesday of the month, however, labelling your Children’s clothing could save both money and waste.

We know this can be time consuming so we have joined an exciting scheme to make this both easier for parents and also raise extra money for the school!

MyNametags.com offers personalisable sticker tags and iron on labels which are both easy to use and affordable, and one purchase could possibly last you most of your child's time at school. Children can design their own label, lots of choices available including MrMen and Hello Kitty, and postage is free of charge.

Labels costs the following:

• Iron on and sticker labels 56 for £15.95
• Maxi sticker set £15.95
• Mini sticker set 175 for £15.95

As an extra bonus, If you use the link or codes below to make your purchase, the school will receive 24% of every purchase back to add to their yearly fundraising which goes towards equipment and events for children.

Link: https://www.mynametags.com/affiliate?id=108846 

Website: www.MyNametags.com and code 108846.

Did you know you can also get personalised name bands for water bottles?! These are available at lots of different online retailers and tend to cost around £8, just google ‘personalised bottle bands’.

If you are able to, please join us in trying to reduce lost property this school year. We appreciate your support.

Thank you

Calling all online shoppers

Did you know if you regularly shop online there is a quick and easy way to raise extra money for the  school at no extra cost!

We are signed up to the ‘Easy fundraising’ scheme and would really appreciate your support in raising extra money for equipment and events for the children. It doesn’t take long to get started.

• First go to the following website: ‘https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/

Or download the ‘Easyfundraising’ app from your app store onto your smartphone.

• Once you have clicked ‘sign up’ (as above) it will ask you to search for a cause, just search for ‘Charles Darwin Primary School’ and create an account. It will not ask you for any personal details apart from your name and email address.
• When your account has been created you are ready to shop!

 If shopping on a web browser you can set up a reminder to sign in to your easyfunding dashboard before shopping or if shopping on a smartphone just open the app first. Whichever way you shop you will just need to search for a retailer from the ‘easyfundraising’ dashboard and shop as usual

Once you have completed your shopping, each retailer offers cash back which will go back into the school's account. Please be reassured that your bank details or shopping habits will never be shared with us!

This is a fantastic initiative to help support the school.  If you are able to, we greatly appreciate you signing up to this scheme!

Many Thanks

Events

If you have any ideas for fundraising or suggestions for events that your children may enjoy, please email Friendsofcharlesdarwin@outlook.com

Each month we will be holding a second-hand uniform sale at the back of the playground at pick-up time, this will usually be the last Wednesday of every month but we will post confirmed dates below. All funds raised go back to the school. Please note that lost property will also be displayed to be collected alongside this sale.

Dates for your Diary

Tuesday 17th September 9.00 am- First Friends of Charles Darwin Meeting, everyone Welcome! (please arrive and check in at reception before this time.

Wednesday 25th September (Pick up times)- Second-hand uniform sale and lost property. (Find us at the back of the main school playground).