The Knaphill Schools PTA fundraises for particular projects each year. At the AGM the headteachers of our schools outline their priorities for funding. This year our efforts will focus on:
- A new projector for the junior school hall
- Planners for every junior school child for the 2024/25 academic year
- Books for our libraries and book corners
- Microphone headsets to go with our Chrome books
- Equipment and resources to help with fine motor skills and handwriting
- STEM resources
In addition to these priorities, we also fundraise separately for bigger specific projects. These are focused on improving the learning environment for our children. Here is a summary of the projects that we have successfully completed.
JUNIOR SCHOOL GREEN SCREEN PROJECT
After a period of consultation with our school community, 81% identified that they would like the PTA to improve green spaces /the natural environment within our schools. Our Junior School has a real lack of green spaces for our children to enjoy and our school playground backs on to the main through road to the village High Street and is one of the busiest roads in Knaphill. Therefore, we set out to raise funds to improve the environment and turn our grey space green!
In the Summer of 2024, we installed over a 100m of green screening and we think it looks fabulous! Thank you to Surrey County Council, who helped to fund this project through the Your Fund Surrey Small Community Projects fund.
GROW YOUR OWN PROJECT
Our community consultation also identified that 86% of our community want the PTA to provide more educational resources and support for pupils to grow plants and vegetables and learn more about food production. We are thrilled to announce that the PTA will be creating two very special spaces within our schools to deliver on this priority – with our very own fruit orchard and a Polytunnel.
On Saturday 30 November, we hosted a community planting morning to create our very own fruit orchard within our school grounds. With the support of The Surrey County Council’s Tree Planting and Establishment Team and TVC’s I Dig Trees Initiative, we have successfully installed a fruit orchard within our school grounds. This would not have been possible without the support of over 30 volunteers, including our headteachers, teachers, school governors, parents, local councillors, friendly neighbours and local volunteer groups (WeAct and GoodGym Woking).
We are also very excited to announce that we have been successful with a separate funding application to install a Polytunnel at our Lower School in February 2025, so watch this space!
JUNIOR SCHOOL SENSORY ROOM
In November 2024, we received the news that we would be supported by Councillor Saj Hussain with a funding application to install a fully immersive sensory room into our junior school. This will be an incredible resource for our children and we can’t wait to see the room open in the New Year! Thank you to the Your Fund Surrey Small Community Projects fund for helping to make this happen.
JUNIOR SCHOOL LIBRARY RENOVATION
In 2023, the PTA successfully secured funding to renovate the Junior School Library. We would like to give special thanks to Councillor Saj Hussain and the Your Council Community Fund for awarding us some funding to undertake the work. We were also overwhelmed by the support of local businesses Wickes, Homebase and Select Carpets who helped us to achieve our vision. The new library was officially opened on World Book Day 2024.
