Friends of Beaconsfield High
Beaconsfield High has an active Parents' Association (the FoBHS). All parents and carers are automatically members. We work closely with the Head and her Senior Leadership Team ensuring our priorities are aligned with the needs of the school. Through social events, we connect parents/ carers whilst raising much needed funds to enrich and enhance the school environment.
Since 2014 FoBHS has raised over £220K! Funds raised in the past have been used to refurbish the toilets and school cafeteria, purchase SmartBoards, new covered seating and refurbish the main hall. If you would like to speak to us directly, please email us here!
What do we do?
- Host the sell-out quiz nights, the Year 7 - 8 Discos and the annual Christmas Fair.
- Run the Beaconsfield High School Lottery.
- Run the Second-Hand Uniform Shop (open on Friday lunchtimes).
- Run the bars at school events.
- Maintain BHS Classlist (a connection tool for BHS parents).
- Organisation of the Form Reps.
Why we need you
You can contribute by attending one of our events as a guest or by joining the team who organises them. Everyone is welcome and every offer of help is gratefully received. In a school community with over 900 families, even an hour or two of your time across the school year is significant.
What support looks like
As much or as little as you can offer! We have a great team spirit, and it’s fantastic to be part of a team making a difference to your child’s time at school. Here are just some of the ways YOU can help:
- An hour helping run the bar, helping on a stall at the Christmas Fair or at the Year 7-8 Disco.
- Two hours a month running the Second-Hand Uniform Shop.
- Coming to FoBHS Committee meetings (held once a term and 60 minutes in length) to hear updates and help plan future events.
- Joining the committee and bringing your own experience of PTAs or the workplace to support our activities.
- Joining a dedicated team organising an event (the Christmas Fair, disco or quiz night).
- Help organise one-off events (webinars, expert speakers).
If you would like further information, please contact us here. We’ve got a list with details for all roles in the team, so you can see exactly what to expect!
Form Reps
FoBHS (and often the school too) use Form Reps as one of the ways of communicating with parents/ carers. The Form Rep WhatsApp group is updated each year with the nominated Form Reps for that academic year.
What is a Form Rep?
A parent/ carer who is responsible for passing on information to parents/ carers in their form group and representing their form at events like Coffee with the Head. Often the role is shared between 2-4 parents in a form. Form Reps can change every year, or they can remain the same from Year 7 – 11. There should be at least one rep per form, and we should be informed of any changes.
Why do it?
It’s a great way of connecting with other parents/ carers in your form and getting to know parents in other form groups (if you want to)! It’s not time-consuming, but it makes a huge difference to FoBHS. You also get an early heads-up on information such as the release of tickets for the Year 7 – 8 Disco!
What is involved, and how much time does it take?
As much or as little as you want! At a minimum, it’s passing on info via WhatsApp (sometimes Classlist) to your form group, which averages one communication/ week in the school term.
In addition, you may choose to organise gifts for teachers at the end of the academic year or organise parent/ student out-of-school socials (before you start Year 7 and at the end of the Autumn term pre-Christmas). This is completely up to you/your Form group.
Form Reps will be invited to meet with Ms Bond, our Headteacher and the Chair of FoBHS at the start of the academic year and Year 7 parents support the organisation of the Christmas Fair in December, guided by the previous year’s team.
Becky High Lottery
The Beaconsfield High School Lottery is part of the Your School Lottery. Tickets are £1 each, and you can buy as little or as many as you like. You can even set up a monthly Direct Debit or recurring card payment to buy them. 40p of every ticket goes to Friends, 30p goes to the BHS prize fund and 6p goes to the jackpot. Every week, a draw for the BHS prize fund takes place (like a raffle) and a BHS ticket holder will win. The £25000 jackpot is an odds-based lottery where six numbers need to be matched in a row. You can buy your tickets by clicking the image above and the more tickets sold, the greater the amount of money raised for FoBHS (for example, 100 people/tickets for a year = £2080).
Upcoming Social Events
From Year 7 - 8 Discos to Quiz Nights and BBQs. When the tickets go on sale, they can be purchased here!
Meet the current team
Chair - Paula Harrison (Mum to Lola)
Paula has a daughter in Year 10 and works full-time for a global IT company delivering training for all new hires across EMEA. Family time, walking the dogs and a love of cooking for friends fills the time left.
I would love to see more parents get involved, have their say and shape the events that we plan. Raising money is not the only goal, but having a social community for all parents as well.
Treasurer - Gabrielle Smith (Mum to Elodie and Daisy)
Having studied Chemistry and Law at Exeter University, Gabby qualified as a Chartered Accountant, training in an accountancy firm that specialises in charities and schools. After qualification, she worked as Finance Manager and Head of Finance at a number of charities and is currently Director of Finance for two charities, one that focusses on the rehabilitation of offenders and the other that awards grants to support the delivery of adult vocational skills through digital technology. In her free time, she likes reading, walking, spending time in Devon with her family, and cooking.
I have daughters in Year 9 and Year 10 at Becky High so this is the perfect time for me to get more involved. By volunteering as Treasurer, I hope to not only help the school raise much-needed funds, but also stay connected with the school as my daughters continue their Becky High journey.
Secretary - Sarah Smith (Mum to Katie)
Sarah’s younger daughter is in Year 9, and she joined the FoBHS committee because she wanted to contribute to and support the school. Sarah works as an Executive Coach and Learning and Development Consultant, following an early career marketing chocolate for Cadbury! Outside working and parenting, you will find Sarah enjoying good food – cooking and eating it! – staying fit, running and doing yoga/ HIT classes, reading in the sun, hanging out with friends and making espresso martinis.
Becoming the FoBHS secretary has enabled me to feel more involved in and connected to BHS and to get to know the school. It’s great to be part of a really positive team who value what I bring and I can use my experience from work and other schools (I have a daughter in yr 10 at a different school) to make a difference. It can feel quite daunting getting involved and I haven’t been a PTA secretary before but it’s been easy, rewarding and fun.