PTA Update

END OF TERM CHARITY MUSIC GIG

Once again, the end of term festive music fundraiser saw a packed house, enjoying a host of Christmas classics. Congratulations to Harry R, Y11, for overseeing and coordinating the event and bringing (forcing?!) together an incredible lineup of musicians (including a “big” band which came together just for the night),made up of Chiswick School students, teachers, parents and friends to raise money for two wonderful charities.

Huge thanks to Mr Moxon and Mr Banks for sacrificing their end of term party (and all lunch breaks in the last week) to rehearse for the event (despite the end of term exhaustion): Mr Banks on bass and Mr Moxon on trumpet (for the first time in years and dusted off for the occasion!).

It was glorious to welcome back so many Chiswick alumni who played, sung and supported - special thanks to Xing who stepped in to play the piano at the last minute.

It was a mega team effort and raised a whopping £355 (£405 including Gift Aid) for two wonderful causes, one local and one national, both supporting the homeless: The Upper Room and Centrepoint Uk. Thank you to Max at George and Devonshire for letting us use the fabulous space and feeding the masses. T’was a night to remember - and a great way to wrap up a hugely successful 2024.

Thank you so so much to everyone who made the 2024 festive fundraiser a mega success.

TEACHER MESSAGES AND DONATIONS

Thank you so much to everyone who sent a lovely message to our incredible teachers and staff, or donated towards the “teachers’ gift”. The collection raised an incredible £2005! £361 was spent on the end of term staff party, and the rest will go towards the staff wellbeing and staffroom enrichment fund - we are gathering ideas from the staff for what they would like the most, and what would bring joy!

Laura Ellener shared these lovely words of thanks to parents, “Thank you so much to the parents. We had a really lovely time and the staff appreciated everything so much. They were amazed by the messages and incredible gift! We are lucky to have such amazing parents.”

CAR BOOT THANK YOU SOCIAL

In January, we held our annual thank you event for the 2024 car boot sale volunteers, made up of current and alumni parents, many of whom have been volunteering at the sales for decades and whose children are now adults, but who continue to support our school community. It was lovely to thank the whole team of regular car boot and event volunteers, in person. Special thanks to the Car Boot Committee (led by PTA trustee, current and alumni parent, Leigh-Ann), who organised this event, and led every car boot sale. In 2024, with 11 sales, the Car Boot Sales raised a staggering £103,000 for the Chiswick School PTA charity!

This year, we hosted the event at D Grande, the fabulous Mexican restaurant, on Chiswick High Road. We were delighted to support this local Chiswick School family-run business by having the event there. Thank you to Richard (pictured) and Ashley (Y7 parents) for hosting the event - the food and drinks were exceptional.

UNIFORM SALE RAISED £481.57!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped at the uniform sale last week. We trialled allowing only students in for the first ten minutes, which worked really well, allowing them to find the items they needed with assistance from PTA volunteers.

The sale was really well attended and most left what they needed! We received a large number of emails asking for individual items, during the sale. We apologise we haven’t yet been able to reply to you all. Unfortunately, we are not able to reserve items for individuals but do strongly encourage students to attend the sales to find items, and we offer support with this. Moving forward, if stock allows, we may be able to find items for parents outside of sale times, via email; we will update here in due course.

We are always in need of good quality uniform donations - please drop these to the school office at any time, marked for the PTA. Thank you so much.

FEBRUARY CHISWICK CAR BOOT SALE

Next Sale March 2nd, 6.30 - 12.30pm

Despite the field being unusable, and having to turn away huge numbers of sellers, the first Car Boot of 2025 last Sunday was beautifully sunny and extremely well attended: and it raised £5300 for Chiswick School PTA.

Thank you so very much to all of our incredible volunteers who make these sales possible. Hundreds of volunteer hours go into each sale and it doesn't go unnoticed by students, staff and the local community. Without you, the sales cannot go ahead. In 2024, the Car Boot Sales raised a staggering £103,000 for the Chiswick School PTA, every penny of which goes back to the school to fund a huge range of projects and resources. You can also support the car boot sales by coming along as a buyer or a seller. For all the information you need, visit our website. Or follow us on Instagram for up to date announcements and updates.

PTA REFRESHMENT BARS

Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered at the Orchestral concert, the Musketeers Gig and the Senior Recital, selling tickets and selling drinks and snacks. Thank you to all the parents who supported the events, and bought a drink or snack, which raised a fantastic £375 for the Music department, to be spent on invaluable music resources.

JOIN THE VOLUNTEERS GROUP

The PTA runs/supports a huge number of events each term, and we always need additional helpers - we say a massive YES PLEASE to all offers of support! All the profits raised from these events go straight back into the School. Thank you for your support. To join the volunteers’ WhatsApp group (used only for event call outs), please ping us an email on pta@chiswickschool.org.

STAY CONNECTED

WhatsApp Groups:

If you would like to join your child’s year WhatsApp group, please email us and we will send you the link to your year group. These are managed and moderated by PTA reps, and are used to share dates of PTA and community events, and forward on relevant school news/ information. Please take a moment to look at the guidelines for appropriate usage of these groups. For ALL school matters, especially individual concerns or safeguarding matters, please contact school directly: enquiries@chiswickschool.org

Social Media:

We are on Instagram and X (twitter) and try to update these regularly - do follow us if you use these platforms.

Get in touch: pta@chiswickschool.org

info@chiswickcarbootsale.com (For car boot volunteers)

EASY FUNDRAISING AND STIKINS

Support Chiswick School - without any effort or cost - through Easyfundraising. You can sign up here - it takes just a few minutes. With just over 200 members, we have already raised £6797.57! Please note our name on this platform is Chiswick Community School.Order stick-on name labels from Stikins and Chiswick School will receive 25% commission, when you use reference number 36482 at the checkout. They are dispatched on the same day and usually arrive the next business day. They can be used on care labels for clothes, water bottles, bags, etc.