Friends of Little Kingshill School (FOLKS)

Welcome to Friends of Little Kingshill School (FOLKS) - Your Parent Teacher Association

What is FOLKS about?

FOLKS is Little Kingshill Combined School’s parent teacher association (PTA). As a charity, our key aim is to advance the education of the pupils at our school. We do this by raising money and strengthening the sense of community within the school. 

Who are we?

FOLKS is made up of a core committee of parents and teachers. The current core committee is:

• Susan Morton – Chair
• Tania Taylor – Treasurer
• Kelly Kettlewell – Secretary
• Jo Knill – Committee member
• Arlene Lindsay - Committee member
• Jack Pounder – Committee member and school teacher

We are supported by wonderful class reps and brilliant volunteers without whom we would not be able to function. 

What do we do?

The primary way we support the school is by raising money. We mainly do this by putting together a calendar of events and fundraising activities throughout the school year. This has included quiz nights, movie nights, school discos, Easter trails, fundraising Fridays, bake sales, mufti days, trips to the Panto and to Legoland, and the big summer extravaganza; Festival on the Field!

How does the money we raise help the school?

In the main, PTA funds are for the ‘extras’ not provided by the school budget, to make the learning experiences of the children across the whole school more fulfilling and exciting. As a PTA we want to make sure that what we prioritise our funding on things that are likely to have the biggest educational benefit for the most amount of pupils.

Examples of the sorts of things we have funded include:

• school workshops (e.g. drumming workshops, theatre workshops)
• installing the new kitchen
• extending the Reception outdoor area
• contributions towards the cost of school trips

FOLKS needs you!

FOLKS can only exist if we have volunteers. Our committee is very small and we rely entirely on the help of others to get involved in running events and activities. We are always looking for an extra pair of hands, whether that be to run a cake stall after school one evening, man the bar at an event, chaperone a school film night, or help to sort our second hand uniform!

If you think that you might be able to support any of our activities (even if you can only give an hour to help set up an event), please contact us at folkspta@outlook.com and we can add you to our obligation-free WhatsApp group for parent volunteers. Through this group we put out requests for support, and you can volunteer as and when you are able.

You can also like our Facebook page “Friends of Little Kingshill School’, where you can keep up to date on what we’re up to.

Other ways to support FOLKS

You don’t have to attend events or volunteer your time to support FOLKS. There are a range of quick and easy ways you can help us to raise money for the school:  

• Sign up for Your School Lottery
  • Join for a chance to win a weekly jackpot prize of £25,000, or a local prize (based on the number of tickets bought that week within the school)
  • Tickets cost £1 and can be purchased at https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/little-kingshill-combined-school
• Do your online shopping through Easyfundraising
  • Help the school earn money when you shop online (at no cost to you!)
  • Download the Easyfundraising app on your phone and search for ‘Friends of Little Kingshill’ OR log onto website https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/folks
• Donate and buy Pre-loved uniform
  • We hold a huge stock of pre-loved school uniform items. If you need a school jumper or cardigan then visit https://app.uniformd.co.uk/items/54 where you can order online, or for any other item (shorts, trousers, skirts, shoes and summer dresses) email folkspta-uniform@outlook.com, telling us what you want and we can see if we have it in stock.
  • You can also donate stock by taking it to the school office. Please only donate good quality items.
• Drop off your old clothes at the school Textile bank
  • Drop your old clothes, linen, paired shoes and handbags in the blue bank outside the school gates.
• Buy your child’s name labels from Stikins or Stamptastic
  • Since you need to label all school items anyway, why not choose a company that provides a commission to the school! Order through Stikins or Stamptastic and Folks will receive a commission in return for your order. Use the codes below:
  • Go to www.stikins.co.uk and use fundraising number 12078
  • Go to www.stamptastic.co.uk and use code HP160DZ (Deluxe bundle only)
• Donate raffle prizes or utilise company match funding schemes
  • Let us know if your company match fundraising efforts or offer books, gifts, grants or anything else to schools
  • Similarly we are always on the look out for ace raffle prizes, so if you can donate we are super grateful.