Welcome to the Friends of Didcot Primary page- supporting the school, enriching the education of all our children.

Our last AGM (Annual General Meeting) was held on Friday 26th April. As you can see from the financial report the Friends of DPA donated £7,308 to the school for things such as picnic tables, and Sports kit. We welcome a few new faces to the committee see in the minutes the names of the core roles. If you are interested in joining the committee or getting involved with planning the events please e-mail friendsofdidcotprimaryacademy@gmail.com

Introducing the Friends of Didcot Primary....

Didcot Primary Academy is a fairly new school, but in a short space of time, we have established an active group that is becoming an integral part of the school community.

The Friends of Didcot Primary  exists to provide closer links between home and school, and is a great way to bring staff, parents and friends together socially in support of the school, ultimately enhancing our children's educational experience, working towards a common goal.  It's fun too!  Hard work at times, but mostly fun - just ask any member of the Friends Committee or helpers!  The current Friends  Committee is made up of parents and members of the school staff, the Principal, an elected Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.  Meetings are held on a monthly basis, dates are organised well in advance and promoted on the school website and Facebook page.

You don't have to attend the meetings to be part of the Friends of Didcot Primary - as much as we love welcoming new faces, it really is a case of 'many hands make light work'!  So how can you get involved?  Offering to help before events is so valuable.  It doesn't matter if you can't help on a regular basis, or even if you can't come in to school to help at the events, there are always little jobs that can be done from home, e.g wrapping gifts and preparing raffle tickets.  We really couldn't achieve what we do without the unseen 'army of help' that exists in the school.

If you would like further information, please feel free to pop us an email at friendsofdidcotprimaryacademy@gmail.com

What is our fundraising target and what have we raised so far?

It's important to remember that the budget the school gets from the Department for Education is to support the curriculum. It's not for disco’s, climbing frames or fetes. All those extra things have been provided by the Friends of DPA at some point in the past.

Our aim for the next year is to raise money towards the following:

We have recently donated towards some microphones which will provide a better experience for kids doing performances. We have also subsidised the Year 6 Leavers hoodies recently and have confirmed that we are in a position to donate towards new picnic tables for Years 3 to 6. 

The Friends of DPA have been raising over £5000 per year through various fundraising events. This has resulted in:

• A library full of high quality books that is used extensively by the school
• An outside classroom for Forest School

• The scooter and bike park at the front of the school
• Young Voices T-shirts
• Classroom resources
• Sports Team Kits

How can you help support our PTA  and help raise funds for the school?

We'd like to introduce you to the simplest ways you can support our PTA and help raise valuable funds for the school at no extra cost to you.

Firstly, we are registered with Easyfundraising, a free fundraising platform that allows you to raise money for the PTA every time you shop online with participating retailers. Thousands of well-known brands, including supermarkets, travel companies, clothing retailers and more, will donate a small percentage of your purchase to our PTA when you shop through Easyfundraising.

Getting started is quick and easy:

1. Sign up for a free Easyfundraising account at www.easyfundraising.org.uk 
2. Select Friends of Didcot Primary Academy as your chosen cause: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/friends-of-didcot-primary-academy
3. Shop online as normal via the Easyfundraising website or app.
4. The retailer makes a donation to the PTA at no additional cost to you.

We have also signed up with two companies that make name labels for clothing. These work in a similar way to Easyfundraising - simply buy your labels, and they will donate a percentage of the sale to us. 

• Stikins: Go to www.stikins.co.uk and put the code 35839 in the fundraising number box when you check out. 
• My Nametags: Go to  www.MyNametags.com and put the code 109743 in the School ID box when you check out. 

These donations help us fund resources that enrich school life for all our children.

Even small purchases can make a big difference when lots of families get involved, so we'd be incredibly grateful if you could take a few minutes to sign up and support us.

Thank you for helping us make a positive impact on our school community!