Happy summer, everyone!
This is the Friends of Harris Primary ED signing off for the summer. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us this year, in particular those who came to our biggest event yet - Saturday’s Tropical Beach Party. We were thrilled to see so many of you there, and are grateful for your resolute good spirits in the face of what we’re now fondly remembering as “intermittent tropical showers”!
400 people joined us to toss hoops around flamingos, bowl pineapples, sip cocktails or mocktails, snaffle burgers, hotdogs, and delicious pulled pork from the Firefly BBQ, and compete in hula hooping, tropical dancing, and inflatable limbo! Check out our gallery for a glimpse of the fun.
Over 30 lucky winners took home one of our awesome raffle prizes - and the winning numbers are listed at the bottom of this post.
The highlights are too many to name, but seeing a picture of our star raffle prize winner, a grandparent from Chestnut class, looking utterly delighted with her new diamond ring from Lila’s Jewels in one hand, and a pineapple in the other totally made our day. And our very own Harris Hoff so charismatically leading the activities - That outfit! That tan! - and then a conga line around the playground was a most excellent grand finale!
As always, what made Saturday truly special was the way that everyone came together, across year groups and classes, giving time and effort not only on the day, but for all of the epic planning and organising too... and in the process making new friends and connections; knitting our school community that bit closer. To every one of the army of volunteers, we say a big, tropical "Cheers"!
That said, we’d like to send an extra special shout out to a couple of folks who really went above and beyond:
To the teachers who came to join in the fun on the day - we spotted Ms Stark, Miss Callus, Miss Farmer - but especially to Ms Conduit and Mrs Wisnia who not only were the first and last on site, helping to decorate stalls and judge fancy dress competitions, but they have also been alongside us for every step of the way in terms of planning and logistics - we are so grateful for your support.
To Year 1 mum Katie, for her generous donations of tropical accessories and not-so-tropical-but-still-amazing mini fidget spinners, and to Reception mum Mayoni, who not only ran the raffle and contributed a generous prize, but also paid for the printing of the tickets!
To Year 2 / Reception dad Angus, owner of brand new local business Firefly London, who sponsored our delicious BBQ and corralled a team of smartly-Tshirted fire maestros to feed the hungry crowds. Angus also did a huge amount of prep, not only for the BBQ but also in organising and collecting the sound system, hiring a van at his own cost to ensure we could get the lowest price for the kit. Big thanks, Angus! If you haven’t popped into his new shop at 325 Underhill, you really should - whether you’re after a firepit for summer or a beautiful wood-burner for winter - they are a real gem in the heart of East Dulwich.
And finally to Year 2 mum Sophie, owner of AJ Farmer, for her bunting-slinging, money-changing, prop-providing, cable-tie-having, ladder-borrowing help - not only did she seem to be able to lay her hands on everything we’d forgotten on the day, but she also good-naturedly ran back and forth between her shop and the school about a million times over the course of Saturday. Furthermore, AJ Farmer were hugely generous in their supply of so many of the tropical decorations and accessories. The event literally would have been only half as colourful had it not been for Sophie’s kindness and hard work - Sophie, you are a superstar and we are so grateful!
We’d also like to extend huge gratitude to our headline sponsor Daisy Lets and Sales, our neighbours on the lane, through whom we have raised a very generous £1,700 in sponsorship money - thank you to everyone who hosted a Daisy board outside their home.
Whilst costs are still being finalised, total net funds raised from the Beach Party will be somewhere between £3,400 and £3,700, which is an amazing achievement of which everyone can feel proud. As well as paying for new school equipment (an outdoor classroom, and three new cooking stations for the practical room are top of our list), the PTA is also going to be funding a bursary scheme to ensure that all children can participate in paid-for enrichment activities that the school is planning. Inclusivity is right at the heart of the PTA’s aims, so this feels like a very worthwhile use of funds.
The Tropical Beach Party was our first big summer event on our permanent site so we’d massively appreciate your thoughts on what we got right, what we got wrong, and where we could improve. If you have a few mins, please do share your thoughts in this short survey.
So that it’s, folks, for another year. We’ll be back with a vengeance in the autumn term, kicking off with our legendary pub quiz. In the meantime, we wish you a relaxing and fun-filled summer.
Amber, Caroline, Cath & Ruth x
The Winning Tickets:
An 18 carat white gold ring featuring a 0.14ct diamond from Lila's Jewels! 599 A portrait hand drawn by artist Hannah Rae Alton worth £250 430 Lunch for 2 at Marcus Wareing's Tredwells, Covent Garden 852 Designer beach kaftan from Heidi Klein worth £260 265 The Lordship Lane Bundle: Gourmet Burger Kitchen voucher, £25 Odonno's voucher, £20 to spend at ED, and £10 voucher from the Fresh Flower Co 713 Half case of wine from Louis Latour Agencies 1166 £50 Amazon vouchers from our headline sponsor Daisy Lets & Sales 990 A blowdry at Myla & Davis worth £42 422 £40 Cheese voucher from Mons cheesemongers and set of cheese knives 787 A day at Nimble Arts Holiday Club 291 £50 voucher for The Clinic by Dr Mayoni 1178 A pair of Rooftop Film Club tickets and dinner for 2 at Oi Spaghetti 947 A toy hamper from Just William 120 A bottle of hand-blended whisky and a set of Normann Copenhagen whisky glasses 436 The Honor Oak Park Bundle: Dinner for 2 at Hattush and £10 to spend at Jellybean 903 A designer pure new wool blanket and candle from Firefly London 1028 £30 voucher for Spinach 534 £25 Oddono's voucher 1 498 £25 Oddono's voucher 2 570 £25 Oddono's voucher 3 567 A pair of tickets for the East Dulwich Picture House 966 45 minute special occasion make up lesson at Dr Boo 481 A coffee table book from Roullier White 373 a voucher from William Rose 177 Smoked Salmon from Moxons 305 A one to one Pilates lesson 299 £20 to spend at House of Tippler 1035 2 bottles of Prosecco 610 A £25 babysitting voucher from new app Bubble 371 A treatment voucher from Life Massage 1096 A potted plant from Pearspring 794