Are you a parent or carer interested in helping support what the Friends of Harris Primary East Dulwich do, or a local business who would like to get involved in our growing community?
We'd love to hear from you!
You can always grab one of us at the gate, send us a DM on social, or email us on FoHPED@gmail.com
We've also compiled some frequently asked questions below, to give you more of an idea of what we do and how (and why) we do it.
what is the purpose of the pta?
Our primary aim is to raise additional funds to enrich and enhance school life for our children, as well as to nurture a strong, supportive and social community around our school.
how do i become part of it?
The PTA welcomes involvement from any part of the school community: Just come along to one of our meetings and find out how you can play a part and contribute - we're very friendly!
The PTA is run by an elected committee (you can find out more about our committee on our about us page). The committee positions are nominated and elected each year at our AGM.
when and where do pta meetings take place?
We schedule regular meetings (the frequency increases when we're planning a big event) and try to alternate between daytime and evening timeslots to give all who want to the best chance of being able to attend.
Our meeting times are promoted via the weekly school newsletter, via this website, and also via our Facebook & Instagram pages - just click the icon at the bottom of this page.
We also hold our AGM every Winter.
how do you raise funds?
We raise funds in many different ways, both from the parent community, the broader school community, and with the support of local businesses.
We have fundraising events running throughout the year, including cake sales, fun days, and pub quizzes. These will be promoted via the school newsletter, on the homepage of this site, and via social media pages.
We also have a number of ongoing fundraising schemes - you can read more about them on our armchair fundraising and other fundraising pages.
what is the year rep system?
One of our objectives is to establish and maintain a strong, supportive and social community around our school. Building connections between parents within year groups, and between year groups is a key part of how we seek to nurture this sense of community.
The FoHPED reps compliment the PCR (Parent Class Rep) system and send FoHPED related comms out to the Year Groups via WhatsApp. School and teacher specific messages are communicated via your class PCR.
on what do you spend the funds?
We spend funds on a variety of educational and school needs. We have supplied the school with books, periodicals, field trips, and a new piano. We have supported the green screen around the school yard and contributed to the air purifiers in each of the classrooms. We publish spends via the newsletter, social media and WhatsApp.
Whilst we exist and operate independently of the school, all PTA decisions on how our funds are spent are in tandem with the school administration and measured by need. All project spends are approved by the committee.
what does "suggested donation" mean?
If a PTA event has an entry price, this will often be called a "suggested donation" - this is to allow people the option of paying less than our suggested entry price, if they don't want, or are unable, to pay the amount suggested.
Whilst we want to raise funds, we don't want anyone to feel excluded from our events on the basis of price.
Very occasionally however, we may organise events that have set costs that will need to be recouped via a set price. We will always endeavour to make this very clear by using the wording "set price" rather than "suggested donation".
Do you like Infographics?
We certainly do! Check this one out. It answers the questions above, just slightly more colourfully.
