Friends Association

 Committee 2021-22

Jen Maher - Chair 
Christina Chan - Vice Chair/ Main Shopper!
Louise Sheehan - Treasurer
Vivien McDermott - Secretary
Becks Trouse - Publisher
Krishna Patel
​Sally Lau
Nicole Wood
Roi Petropoulou
Fauve Rowlingson
Priti Patel
Lucy Gyau-Awuah

Natalie Duke - Staff member
Angie Bailey - Deputy Headteacher
Claire Britnell - Headteacher

A big thank you to the local Co-Op. As part of their community fundraising last year, an incredible amount was raised for the GBS Friends Association. This supported our IT purchases.

We have a thriving Friends Association which has been established with the aim of:

• Arranging social events and activities for children and families
• Raising funds for equipment to enhance playtimes, learning opportunities and wider experiences for children
• Providing assistance with school projects
• Providing links with the wider community

An Annual General Meeting is held each year in October to which all parents, friends and staff are invited. We recognise that not everyone can give their time to meetings however, we encourage people to make contact and offer help for any of our events. This could be helping at an after school event such as Frozen Friday or our cake stalls; helping at our Summer Fair; shopping before an event or preparing and setting up/packing away.  Events cannot go ahead without volunteers and we urge parents to get involved and support the great work of our school. 
We know that the last two year haven't been easy with Covid restrictions in place. We are going to do our best to reinstates some of our favourites this year and have a go at some new activities and events too! 

Recent Purchases

• The trim trail - a super piece of equipment used by our Foundation and KS1 children every day at play and lunchtimes.  With the safety flooring, this totalled £20,000 and is a direct result of funds raised by our Friends Association.   

• iPads and IT equipment - supporting cross curricular learning, giving children increased opportunities to record and create film and use green screen, photographic and music software.

 

• Maths and Science resources - supporting the delivery of the curriculum.

 

• Playground seating pods/houses - a great favourite with the children!  Just the right size for a chat with friends and place to sit when eating mid-morning snacks.

 

• Playground equipment such as bats and balls, skipping ropes and construction kits which keep children involved in active play.

 
Support also goes to fund:

• The school minibus – ensuring children can be taken to and from school events and after school sports competitions and tournaments and/or the costs of loaning/hiring a minibus.
• The transportation costs for the MK pantomime attended by our Y3 children each year ​(and Y4 in December 2021) which keeps costs for parents affordable. 

The Year ahead

​This year we are focusing on reading and we would like to support the school to purchase:

• new reading material for daily use in class and for home readers
• resources and furniture to enhance reading areas in classrooms and in outside areas

 
We will also be looking to support the Foundation Stage with the development of their outside area and will continue to purchase equipment for children to use at playtimes to support teamwork, sharing and active play.  We are exploring the possibility of a daily mile track with trim trail equipment for older pupils.