Welcome to the PTA!

Welcome to the PTA!

Who are we?

The Elham Primary PTA is a group of parents, teachers and governors who come together throughout the year to organise exciting events that help raise money for the school.  This money is then used to pay for the fun “added extras” that make the school’s curriculum even more engaging, helping to create long-lasting memories and skills for every child.

Our committee has a dual–purpose, meaning that firstly we aim to raise as much money as we can, and secondly (and most importantly) it has to be done in the most enjoyable way possible.  We feel the latter is even more critical following the last couple of years of upheaval due to Covid.

The current committee key roles are as follows:

Chair – Rachelle Basford

Treasurer – Saira Gendek

Fundraising manager – Michelle Marsh

What do we do?

2021/22:   

• Provided nearly £1,000 for coaches for the whole school to visit the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury to see the Christmas Panto production of Jack and the Beanstalk.  This was a fantastic day out, and all the children loved it!  It really got us all in the festive mood, and I think my ears are still ringing even now!
• Approx £1,000 to refurbish the main school playground.  Some of our members took time out over the 2022 summer holiday to paint the fences, jet wash the markings and Acorn play area, put up new educational signage and install the beautiful rainbow Buddy Bench and 4 additional benches generously donated by local businesses and families.  An extra special thank you to the family members who were also roped in to help but are not technically part of the PTA!
• £500 for an educational reptile and insect visit from Kids’ Critters.  It was a fantastic way for each class to get up close and personal with Ziggy the Chameleon, a variety of snakes, Poppy the enormous tortoise and George the gecko (to name a few.)  I’m not sure how some of the teachers felt, but the kids absolutely loved it!
• £400 for author visits during “Book Week,” £350 for a science magician workshop during “Science Week” and £200 for KIC Theatre workshops during “Arts Week” for the whole school.
• We also pay £200 towards the Year 6 Leavers’ Hoodies on an annual basis.

How do we do it?

• April 2022 – The children raised over £500 for the £20.22 challenge, and the winning class, Willow, was treated to £50 worth of party food.
• March 2022 – £100 was raised for the Breakfast in a Bag Mother’s Day gifts and included some delicious treats such as croissants, orange juice, coffee and tea.
• May 2022 – Our Sponsored Bounce raised over £1,000!  Each child was given a badge to congratulate them for taking part, and the girl and boy with the most bounces in each class received an additional prize.
• June 2022 – Our first school disco in two years was a huge success, and we raised over £500 in two hours!  It was immense fun, and the best part was hearing all the children singing “High Hopes” by Panic At the Disco!  Very apt!
• June 2022 – The annual Summer Fayre raised over £2,000 and was our first in a very long time.  It was fantastic to see all the children, parents, teachers, governors and people from the village come together for an afternoon of traditional British summertime games in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee.
• June 2022 – Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for Dads raised £70 and was a great way to show the men in our lives how much we love them! (If the treats made it home.)
• In the last few weeks of summer, we also sold ice creams/ice lollies in the playground after school on Fridays, and it was a welcome treat during those hot days.
• It’s worth noting that not every event we do costs money, and sometimes we try to give back to the children without expecting a donation.  For example, during the Christmas 2021 term, we gave every child a cuddly toy simply for being the wonderful kids they are and in Easter, we held a free colouring competition and winners from each class got a chocolate egg.
• Second-hand uniform shop – Rachelle Bashford runs our second-hand uniform, and while we don’t have the space on-site for a shop, she has spent a lot of time organizing and sorting everything and can be contacted at our email address below if you need anything (or would like to donate to us.)  We take and sell branded or unbranded items, and anything that cannot be sold on, she makes into bunting so nothing is wasted and we can have some great decorations for our events!

Charity status

1170927 – Charity Number.

At the end of 2016, the Elham Primary PTA was awarded charity status and was entered into the Register of Charities.  We can now apply for match funding and grants/funding, so if you know or work for a company that could assist us anyway, please get in touch!

How can I get involved?

It’s very simple! Please email: elhamprimarypta@hotmail.com

This is our dedicated email address run by the Chair, and we would love to hear from you.  Alternatively, you can chat to one of us at the school gates or let the office know you would like to get in contact.

Don’t be put off by the idea that you have to attend every meeting, must be bursting with a thousand ideas and can help out at every event.  We know that your personal life comes first and everyone’s spare time is different.  If you can help run a stall for half an hour every now and then or lend us useful items like a gazebo or tools should we need them, you are still incredibly valuable to us and we would love to have you join.  It’s also not just for women.  We are slowly getting more and more men joining us, which positively impacts the dynamic and skill set within the committee!

We hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) every year in October and it’s a great chance to meet all the members, hear a financial breakdown and recap of the previous year’s events as well as voting members into key roles. 

Every term, we also try to meet to discuss the finer details of proposed events.  These meetings are really informal and usually alternated between locations in Folkestone, Elham and Lyminge.  You don’t need to let us know if you’d like to come.  The details will be sent out ahead of schedule, and we encourage you to just turn up!

To stay up to date with our latest events, please find us on Facebook under “Elham Primary PTA”