We are the Friends of The Spinney - a registered charity which supports our school by hosting fundraising and social occasions throughout the year. We are all parents of children at the school and raise money for those 'little extras' that help enrich life in school.

We do this by running a programme of events each year, including the traditional Summer and Winter Fairs, quiz nights, board games evenings, pupil discos, Frozen Fridays and cake sales. Once a term we fund the Stay & Create activities in school as well as the Easter Egg hunt, Christmas crackers for the special Christmas lunch and a Christmas treat such as a virtual pantomime for the children at the end of the Autumn term. In the past we have also purchased welly racks for the EYFS area, empathy books, computers, a new set of books for Key Stage 1 readers, classroom mascots and gardening equipment.

We are currently fundraising specifically to help the school upgrade the playground area and outside space. This project aims to provide the children with the safe, exciting and fun outside play area that they deserve, encouraging them to enjoy the outdoor environment and keep active. We have an ambitious target and hope to be able to raise enough money through our activities at school, alongside grant applications and working with local business sponsors, for work to commence in Spring 2024.

The more people who become involved, the more we can achieve! Everyone is welcome to come along to the events we organise and to our regular meetings where activities are planned and discussed. We are all working parents and we know how busy life is. Even if you only have a small amount of time to volunteer, this would be a great help. 'Many hands make light work'.

We have an email group for interested and supportive parents. We use this to inform you of meeting dates, what we are working on and what help we are looking for in terms of volunteers. We hope you will join this group - there is no further obligation, this is just to keep you up to date with our plans. To join the mailing list, please email friendsofspinney@gmail.com

Friends of The Spinney Committee

Katie Dent – Chair

Amy Butterworth – Co-Chair

Fiona Echalier – Treasurer

Justin Pinkney – Vice-Treasurer

Jigna Gosal – Secretary

Cassie Fox – Communications

Daniela Bagaglia – Fundraising

Penelope Garmini – Committee Member

Andrew Morton - Committee Member

Carrie Symington - Committee Member

Friends of Spinney Events Autumn 2023

December 3rd Winter Fair

Our contact details can be found at the bottom of this page, or you can also contact us via the school office. 

Donate to The Friends of the Spinney

You can donate directly to support The Friends of the Spinney through our Just Giving page. We are currently working with the school to raise money for the playground redevelopment project. You can make a one-off donation or set up a regular monthly donation – any amount is hugely appreciated and will take us a step closer to succeeding in the project.

Did you know that whenever you buy anything online from your weekly shop to your annual holiday you could be raising a free donation for The Friends of The Spinney? There are nearly 3,000 retailers on board ready to make a donation, including Amazon, John Lewis, Aviva, thetrainline and Sainsbury's. It doesn't cost you a penny extra! It's really simple, all you have to do is:

1. Join. Head to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/fospinneyprimary/ and sign up for free.
2. Shop. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first, pick the retailer you want and start shopping.
3. Raise. After you've checked out, that retailer will make a donation to your good cause for no extra cost whatsoever! There are no catches or hidden charges and we would be really grateful for your donations.

Thank you for your support.

Second hand school uniform can be purchased via www.oldschooluniform.co.uk The Friends are looking for any clean, washed items in good condition (no stains or holes please), logoed items such as book bags, fleeces and other standard uniform. Please only donate logoed polo shirts and t-shirts. If you have child-sized coat hangers they would also be gratefully received.

We would appreciate it if you could remove any name labels, and please note that we will not be selling tights, socks or underwear. Items can be handed into the school office. Thank you!

Being a member of The Friends

As a Spinney parent we hope that you already see yourself as a supporter of the school and that you will want to get involved in Friends' activities! All talents are welcome, there are opportunities to help as little or as much as you can. For example, helping out at discos, running stalls at fairs and recruiting prizes for raffles.

The Friends of the Spinney have a planning committee. We always welcome new members and value fresh ideas.

If you are interested in joining our happy team, please contact us on the emails below, or you can also contact us via the school office.  We are available on the school playground at the beginning and end of each day so please grab us for a chat.

• Katie Dent (Chair of the committee) - katiedent07@gmail.com
• Amy Butterworth (Vice Chair) - abutterworthconsulting@gmail.com

Please see below the minutes of our recent meetings;