PTA Update

Welcome (back) to Chiswick School, to all our families. It’s been another exciting and busy half term.

Thank you to all the new parents who have already got involved in the parent/carer community at Chiswick - we focus on two main charitable aims, fostering community and fundraising to support enrichment activities and resources for all the students. Our main fundraising activity is our monthly car boot sale, which raises over £100,000 per year for the school, and benefits every single student at Chiswick. We also support the majority of school events by selling refreshments, and share news via our regular newsletters, and social media platforms, as well as moderating and forwarding information on the parents’ WhatsApp groups.

If you would like to join your child’s year group WhatsApp group, please email us and we will send you the link to your year group. We are also on Instagram and X (twitter) and try to update these regularly. Please follow us if you use these platforms.

Get in touch:

pta@chiswickschool.org

info@chiswickcarbootsale.com (For car boot volunteers)

Chiswick Car Boot Sales Smash Records This Autumn

A huge thank you to all the parents, carers, teachers, and students who supported the August, September, and October Car Boot Sales — together, they raised an incredible £37,100!

We were thrilled to welcome so many new volunteers across all shifts, as well as new students joining the paid clear-up teams. Every sale is a major operation, powered by an extraordinary community effort and hundreds of volunteer hours — from early setup days, putting up banners and posting on social media, to preparing floats, signage and flyers, charging walkie-talkies and glow wands, and manning the site through the night until the very last seller departs and every piece of rubbish is cleared.

The work is epic, but so too is the impact. These funds support school trips, equipment, workshops, and much more. Just last week, the brand-new school minibus arrived — made possible through PTA funding.

Thank you to everyone who helps make the Car Boot Sales such a success, including our patient neighbours and our incredible site team.

If you can help at future sales, and would like to join the volunteers list, please ping us an email! To learn more about the car boot, especially as a seller or buyer, visit our website. Or follow us on instagram for up to date announcements and updates.

Upcoming PTA Bids and Annual General Meeting

On Thursday 6th November, we are hosting our Autumn Bids’ Meeting, in the School Library, from 6pm until 7.30pm. This is an opportunity to have your say on how the PTA funds are spent. We discuss the bids that have been submitted in this round, and vote (along with other parents, teachers and Senior Leaders) on all the bids over £500.

We would like to give notice of this year’s PTA AGM and Parents’ Forum, on Monday 17th November, from 6pm - 8pm, in the School Canteen. This will be a short round up of the funds that have been raised in the last year (2024/2025) and how they have been spent, as well as a chance to hear from, and ask questions of, members of the Senior leadership team. The PTA will be running a refreshments bar, and everyone is welcome.

Time Givers Year 7 and Community Litter Pick

On Saturday 13th September, in the bright morning sunshine, as part of the Mayor's weekend, the wonderful local charity Time Givers organised a local litter pick for our new Year 7 Chiswick School students and their families, as a fun and informal way to meet others in a relaxed setting, whilst helping to keep our local area looking beautiful! The PTA supported with spreading the word, but it was all thanks to the brilliant Kate and her team that the event was such a success! HUGE thank you to all the Chiswick families who came along - we are already planning the next one!

New Year 7 Parent Event - 25th September

On Thursday 25th September, the PTA supported the Year 7 Meet the Tutor evening where new families were able to meet up, share a meal prepared by the catering team, and hear about our wonderful school from Ms Ellener, Ms Emmett and Mr Gill.

It was the largest ever turnout so a big thank you to the PTA volunteers who helped run what turned out to be a very busy bar - raising £255 for the PTA. Thanks also to all the very engaged and enthusiastic Year 7 parents and carers who signed up to the volunteers’ WhatsApp group and Car Boot sale mailing list at the end of the evening - we have really enjoyed getting to know so many new faces already.

PTA Refreshment Bars

Thank you so much to everyone who has volunteered this half term to help set up, serve and sell refreshments.

All profits raised from these events go back to supporting the students and enriching their educational experience. The funds raised are allocated to the department who is running the event (eg. Music, Performing Arts, Sport, Art), or for PTA run events, into the main PTA pot for all departments and year groups to access. Over the last few weeks, we have run bars for two music events - Soul Cage’s Hallos Eve, and Britpop Night - and the Performing Arts’ Gothic Dance Show. These have raised over £1100 combined!

Second Hand Uniform Donations Please!

We would like to host our first pre-loved uniform sale of the academic year as soon as possible, but are currently very low on stock, after a record breaking July sale, which raised over £1500!!

We need donations of clean, good quality uniform in all sizes, especially blazers, logo items and PE kits, please. Please leave all donations in the School Reception for the PTA. THANK YOU!

AND don't forget to label all your child's uniform, and kit, so it doesn't get lost. Finding an unnamed item in a school this size can be like finding a needle in a haystack…

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.

Easy Fundraising - Sign Up Now!

The easiest way to support Chiswick School - without any effort OR COST - is by signing up to support Chiswick School through Easyfundraising. You can sign up here - it takes just a few minutes - and the impact is HUGE. With just 310 members, we have already raised £7,715.52!! Please note our name on this platform is Chiswick Community School. Add the EasyFundraising browser extension to your computer or use the app on your phone, and you will be automatically connected to raise free funds every time you shop -

It’s THAT easy. Thank you so much to all of the new sign ups we have had since the start of the year. Please spread the word to friends and family too!