Friends of Claverdon | Well that's a Wrap!

2 days ago
9 min read

What We've Been Up To This Term

🎁 Father's Day Gift Shop

Our Father's Day Gift Shop was delightful and it was lovely to see the children so excited about choosing something special for their dads all by themselves. Thank you to everyone who helped source gifts and run the shop on the day!

A quick housekeeping note — a couple of "IOUs" were left this time round. If that's you, please could you drop off your IOU at the office, or get in touch and we can sort out a transfer if that's easier. Every penny helps keep the shop running for next year. 💛

🍦 Freezer Fridays

Freezer Friday was definitely a hit this term, with ice creams and lollies sold in the playground after school on sunny afternoons — always a treat to end the week on! Over the summer term, Freezer Fridays raised £324. You can catch the fun on our Instagram: Freezer Friday reel. We'll keep our eyes on the weather forecast next year and hope to repeat this again!

🌈 Crazy Hair Day

Wild, wacky and wonderful hairstyles were out in force for Crazy Hair Day on Friday 10th July! Thank you to everyone who got creative and made a voluntary donation to Friends of Claverdon — donations totalled more than £300, and with Gift Aid claimed on top, we'll have raised around £400 from the day. Every little helps! Watch the highlights here: Crazy Hair Day reel

🗓️ FCPS Meeting

You’ve seen the reminders pop up on WhatsApp that a FCPS/PTA meeting is about to happen and you’ve thought, “I don’t even know what that’s about.”

Well, it’s drinks and sweet potato fries in the sunshine. It’s lightbulb moments and dirty laughter. It’s utilising the background, skills and knowledge of parents from a whole spectrum of fields in order to raise funds that benefit our children’s education.

Because whilst there is a chairperson for the Friends of Claverdon, no one here is a professional PTA-er. If you’ve ever laboured under the misapprehension that the PTA is a “hobby for parents who have nothing better to do” we can assure you that’s not what this is. Sitting around the table last night we had medical practitioners, business managers, marketing executives, veterinary professionals, accountants, teachers (ours and external) and small business owners.

This is the hive mind in action. It’s people dashing in from late meetings, squeezing it in between kids clubs, offering a helpline on specialist topics whilst trying to get the online shop done. We never ask anyone to commit to anything they don’t have capacity for, but dropping in to sense-check what Friends of Claverdon have got planned or bringing a new idea to the table or suggesting something you’ve seen work well in other settings will always be welcome.

Huge thanks to the gang who came out for the final Friends of Claverdon meeting of the 2025/26 year. It looks like next year is going to be a big one with big targets to hit, and we hope to take you all along for the ride. Take a look: Meeting reel

What is the money being spent on?

We'd previously talked about contributing towards new laptops or Chromebooks this summer. However, school have asked us to delay this by 12 months, allowing a wider gap since the last order and making the replacement cycle more sustainable in the long term. This contribution will now be made in Spring/Summer 2027.

This term, school asked for funds to go towards a number of other projects instead, including new age-appropriate books for each classroom — with titles chosen from recommended reading lists — as well as frames for artwork. The idea behind the frames is lovely: each child will have their own, so they can choose a piece of their own work to put on display. These have already been ordered, and will be a great project to get started on when pupils return in September.

To see what Friends of Claverdon have supported in the past - see our impact gallery here. Those who attended the budget meeting will know funds are tight and there are some big projects ahead that we can be involved in! Watch this space for future plans...

☀️ Solar Panels Making a Real Difference

Comparing this June to last, the school has used around 2,560 fewer units of electricity — cutting the bill by more than half (56%), even though unit prices actually went up over the same period. That's money the school can now put towards other things, thanks entirely to the impact of the solar panels. It's brilliant to see such a real, tangible impact — it really does make all the fundraising effort worthwhile. ☀️

🏃Plans for Next Term 26/27 📅

It'll be upon us before we know it! After a summer of fun in the sun, we've got plenty to look forward to when we're back in September — here's what's on the horizon.

Claverdon Fun Run 2026

The Fun Run is back, and this year it's bigger than ever! Put Sunday 27th September 2026 in your diaries and head to the event page for all the details: Claverdon Fun Run 2026

200m, 1km, 3km and 5km distances are all available, with medals for every finisher and food and refreshments on the day. We've already got 64 runners signed up — sign up early to help us with planning numbers, marshalling and catering! Book your place

A massive thank you to this year's event sponsors, without whom the Fun Run simply wouldn't happen. Please do show them some love and support their businesses:

The Fun Run wouldn't be possible without our brilliant volunteers, and we're already busy working on a rota! Whether you'd like to marshal the route, help at registration, or support in another way on the day, we'd love to have you involved. If you're interested, please get in touch at pta-claverdonschool@outlook.com or complete our volunteer form here:

https://www.friendsofclaverdon.org/volunteer

🎄 Cauliflower Cards

Keep an eye out for our Cauliflower Christmas Cards activity in early September — the children will be busy creating their own Christmas designs while the sun's still shining! Cards and gifts featuring their artwork will then be available to order in good time for Christmas. Find out more here: Cauliflower Cards

These dates are provisional and we'll confirm them next term:

w/c 21st September — artwork comes home from school
Tuesday 29th September — deadline for returning artwork to school

When the artwork comes home, please make sure you complete the details and return it to school so it can be ordered in time for your Christmas cards and gifts!

🕺 Disco Dates for Your Diary

If you were at the Spring Disco, you'll know exactly what's coming — glow sticks, conga lines, biscuit breaks and the kind of dancing that only happens when nobody's watching (except, well, everyone). It's always one of the highlights of the term, and a brilliant chance for the children to let their hair down with their friends. Mark your calendars for the next two:

Autumn Disco: Thursday 15th October 2026
Spring Disco: Thursday 13th May 2027

🎍 Wreath Making — Thursday 3rd December 2026

Save the date! Join us at Claverdon Primary School on Thursday 3rd December 2026 for an evening of festive wreath-making, with a drink to get you in the Christmas spirit. 🥂 Tickets for £45 will be on sale next term.

We're delighted to be joined by Jools from Lilac & Barrow Flowers, a local flower farm in Chadwick End, who'll be leading the workshop and showing us how to create our own beautiful seasonal wreaths. See a selection of wreaths made at her previous workshops below:

🎅 Christmas Gift Shop — date TBC

More details to follow soon — watch this space!

🤫 Operation Snowflake

Calling all parent-elves! 🎄 Operation Snowflake is our sneaky annual mission to transform the school into a Christmas wonderland while the children are away, so they arrive back to the magic already in place — twinkling lights, decorations, the lot. It's become a much-loved tradition, and it wouldn't happen without a team of volunteers.

Keep Sunday 29th November free to come and help decorate the school ready for Christmas… but don't tell the children! 🤐

🌼 Looking Ahead to Spring

It's never too early to start looking ahead, and we've already got two lovely dates lined up for your 2027 diary that we didn't want you to miss:

Spring Quiz Night — Friday 5th February 2027
Round of Golf at Leamington Golf Club — Saturday 24th April 2027

Next meetings:

AGM — Wednesday 7th October 2026, 7pm, The Fleur (handover of Chair)
Friday 27th November 2026, 1.30pm, at school
Wednesday 27th January 2027, 7pm, The Fleur
Friday 19th March 2027, 1.30pm, at school
Wednesday 12th May 2027, 7pm, The Fleur
Friday 25th June 2027, 1.30pm, at school

Everyone is very welcome — parents, carers, grandparents, neighbours, teachers - whether you're a regular or thinking of coming along for the first time. And don't forget, The Fleur offers a 10% discount on food and drinks for anyone attending FCPS meetings, so why not grab a pie and drinks!

Ongoing fundraisers

Our school Lottery - the 100 Club!

Congratulations to our June winners, and a big thank you to everyone who takes part each month.

The prizes – and the amount raised for school – both increase with every new member who joins. So if you've been thinking about joining, or know someone who might be interested, now is a great time.

One ball costs £2 a month (£24 a year), two balls £4 a month (£48 a year), and so on – each giving you a separate monthly chance to win. One first prize win and you've more than covered a full year's entry. You can sign up online at any point in the year at friendsofclaverdon.org/the-100-club.

🛍️ Easyfundraising – Shop and Raise Money for Free!

Thank you to everyone who has already registered - and have been busy shopping. Since 1st July alone, donations have totalled £107!

Don't forget - By registering your bank card in the easyfundraising app, purchases made in person at participating stores such as Tesco and John Lewis will automatically raise a donation Easy Fundraising — no clicking, no remembering, it just happens. If you haven't signed up yet, it takes just a couple of minutes — register here and start raising today!

Stikins name labels simply stick onto clothing labels (and lunch boxes/pencil cases/shoes/waterbottles…). They are simple to use and Friends of Claverdon get 30% commission on the order! All you need to do is add our unique fundraising number when you order. h ttps://www.stikins.co.uk/ Unique fundraising number: 4537

Benevity www.benevity.com

Benevity is a platform used by large companies

to manage their charitable giving, employee volunteering, and grants programmes. If your employer uses Benevity, you may be able to donate to a registered charity like ours directly through your workplace giving scheme. Check to see whether your employer is registered. We have raised thousands over the last few years through this platform!

Vacancies!

Could You Help Shape the Future of FCPS?

Friends of Claverdon is a volunteer-run organisation, and everything we do depends on the time and enthusiasm of our community. Over the years, we've been incredibly lucky to have had so many people give their time and talents so generously. We're always grateful for any support people can offer — whether that's helping at events, joining a working group, or taking on one of our named roles. https://www.friendsofclaverdon.org/about/roles

We currently have a few roles we're particularly keen to fill, and we'd love to hear from anyone who might be interested.

🌿 Garden Project

Are you green-fingered? We're looking for someone to work alongside Paul and Abbie in the school garden. Their children are moving up into Year 6, so they're looking to hand over the reins — this is a great opportunity to get involved with plenty of support during the handover. Get in touch if you'd like to find out more: pta-claverdonschool@outlook.com

🍽️ Lunchtime Supervisors

We're always on the lookout for a few extra pairs of hands to help supervise the children at lunchtime play. A number of parents already give up their time — some once a week, others most days — and it's a lovely way to get to know the children, the staff, and the wider school community. It doesn't have to be a parent, either; aunties, uncles, grandparents and family friends are all welcome too. If you could spare even a little time, however often suits you, please get in touch: pta-claverdonschool@outlook.com

🎨 Painting & Decorating Volunteers

We're looking for volunteers to help with a range of painting and decorating jobs around the school. If you've got painting or decorating skills (or just enthusiasm!) and could lend a hand, we'd love to hear from you: pta-claverdonschool@outlook.com

Interested in these roles — or want to find out more?

Please get in touch with us at pta-claverdonschool@outlook.com. We're always happy to chat through what's involved before you commit to anything. As with any project.... many hands make light work!

Before you go...

Have a lovely summer! Just before you head off, don't forget to:

🏃 Sign up for the Fun Run
🏷️ Get Stikins stickers for naming uniform
🛍️ Use easyfundraising for your shopping
🎱 Join the 100 Club
📅 Pop the autumn and spring term dates in your diary

Have a wonderful summer! ☀️