The Sheringdale School Association
Who are we?
Everybody in the school. And we're always pleased to see new faces. We're a small school and we all have busy lives, so when it comes to organising, every little helps. The SSA organises fund-raising to support activities and resources seen as desirable but not catered for in the school budget. We generally raise between £5,000 and £10,000 each year. It's a fair bit of work but good fun too; and our children get all the benefit.
How does it work?
We hold an Annual General Meeting each October to elect a committee and choose reps for each class, and get everybody's views on what events we should put on, and how we wish to spend the money we raise. The committee and reps then fix the year's calendar and arrange further meetings to discuss each major event.
The main areas of responsibility for the committee are: publicity, co-ordinating crafts, mail-order purchasing, booking things like bouncy castles, the Cash and Carry run, co-ordinating catering, and care of the cupboard. If you want to know more about how much time it all takes, do speak to any of the committee – their names are at the bottom of this page.
How do we spend what we raise?
Our principle in spending the money we raise is that we try to enhance the school environment and concentrate on things that are fun for the children. We are guided by Fiona and the staff, though we always invite parents to make suggestions.
We have a standing commitment to fund extra educational day trips for the children, and treats at Sports Day and Christmas parties. Over the past few years we have put a lot of money into the gardens and playgrounds – the adventure area behind the hall was a major SSA project.
We regularly fund extra support for the Christmas production, especially extra dance teaching, and we support the themed curriculum "weeks" – Art Week, Science Week, Book Week etc – that the school arranges from time to time.
We put on one or two events every term, keeping the balance between fund-raising and general enjoyment. The principal fund-raising events are the Christmas Fayre towards the end of the Autumn Term and the Summer Fayre in June or July. These are augmented throughout the year by cake sales, sponsored activities, promise auctions, car boot sales and the like.
And last but not least (well, opinions vary) there is this website, organised by a special SSA SWOT group (Sheringdale Website Organising Team) over a number of boozy brainstorming evenings in 2000/2001 and launched in June 2001.