Welcome to The Friends of Deighton Gates Page!

We're the school's Parent Teacher Association – now known as The Friends of Deighton Gates – and we bring together parents, carers, neighbours and staff to raise vital funds for the school and help create a strong sense of community. Everyone is welcome, whether you want to share ideas, help out, or just come along for a cuppa and a chat.

We organise fun, family-friendly events throughout the year – including our popular Summer Fair, school discos, Christmas quizzes, and year group bake sales. Thanks to generous support from local businesses, our raffles have featured amazing prizes like glamping holidays, motorhome hire, festival tickets, vouchers for local shops and signed sports memorabilia.

The success of these events has been down to the amazing support we get from parents and friends of the school.  Families have realised that these events raise money for the school and as importantly they are great fun!!

All the money we raise goes directly back into the school, helping to fund everything from a new outdoor classroom and upgraded IT suite to a refurbished sensory room, fitness track, new library books, a community-accessible defibrillator - along with many more smaller but equally important projects. We also provide every child with a book bad when they start school and a leavers’ gift when they move on to High School.

Getting involved is easy and hugely rewarding – and our events are a great way to meet other families and have some fun while supporting the school.

Big Fat Christmas Quiz 2025

🎅✨🍕 It’s nearly Christmas — you know what that means,
The kids had their disco… now it’s grown-up scenes! 🎶💃

The FoDG Big Fat Christmas Quiz is here,
Full of laughter, prizes, and festive cheer! 🎄🍻

📅 Friday 28th November — save the date,
💷 £10 a head (and Moji’s Pizza’s on your plate! 🍕)
📍 Deighton Gates School Hall’s the place,
📧 bookings@dgpta.org — secure your space!

The bar will be brimming with drinks so divine,
Including ale from The Brew Inn at Bosuns Brewery — come sip and unwind! 🍺

Expect bad jokes, baubles, and festive delight,
A quiz to remember, a cracking good night! 🎁💫

So rally your team, don your Christmas tat,
Watch the video below — and that’s that! 🎥🎅

Launch Video

Halloween Disco 2025

We hope all the kids had a great night. Thank you to everyone who supported our event.

We are delighted to announce we raised an awesome £1,041!

Special thanks to "Team Disco" for organising the event and to all who volunteered to help with setting up/selling & supervising the dancefloor/clearing it all away after - we couldn’t do it without you!

With thanks to our sponsor PFM Surveying LTD

Swimming Lessons

We’re delighted to share that this academic year, both Year 4 and Year 5 will go swimming. This means that from now on, swimming lessons at Deighton Gates will return permanently to Year 4. 🎉

Traditionally, Y4 pupils went swimming with school. However, back in 2020, lessons were cancelled due to COVID. That class had to catch up in Y5, and ever since, swimming has stayed in Y5.

After careful discussion, we strongly believe it’s time to move swimming back to Y4 – and thanks to Friends of Deighton Gates, we’re able to make this happen! The costs of transport and two full terms of lessons are significant, but FoDG are fully funding Y4 swimming this year. School have gladly accepted, and lessons will take place in the Spring Term. More details will follow from school later this term.

🌊 Why swimming is moving back to Year 4

🏊 Children build water confidence and safety skills a year sooner.

🏊 The gap between confident swimmers and non-swimmers is smaller in Y4, making it easier for swimming teachers to support everyone.

🏊 Y4 timetables allow more space for swimming compared to the demands of Y5.

🏊 Moving lessons earlier can help reduce body-confidence worries that sometimes arise further up school.

🏊 Pupils who don’t meet expectations can have another chance the following year without having to wait until Y6.

🏊 Some families choose to pause private lessons when school swimming starts, saving money and time after school.

🏊 Many schools in our area swim in Y4, keeping us aligned with local practice.

🏅 A big thank you!

This is only possible thanks to the generosity and hard work of the Friends of Deighton Gates community. Together, we’re giving our children an earlier, stronger start in swimming, water safety, and confidence.

Wow - What A Year!!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s helped out, baked, donated, attended events or just cheered us on – together we’ve raised over £14,000 for the school this year! 💛👏

We’re already looking ahead, and we want to make sure FoDG keeps going strong for years to come. Our amazing Treasurer will be stepping down next summer, so we’re looking for someone to shadow her this year with a view to taking over. If you’re organised, friendly, have a love of spreadsheets and want to get more involved, give us a shout – we promise it’s not as scary as you may think! 😊

In the meantime, have a fantastic summer – see you in September! ☀🍦🌴

– The FoDG Team

 Playground Makeover by FoDG Families

A group of Friends of Deighton Gates (FoDG) families came together to give the "well used" wooden structure in the centre of the playground a vibrant new lease of life.

Previously looking a little tired and worn, the structure has now been transformed with a fresh coat of paint – in the colours of the rainbow, just like our school logo! Children love to hide, sit and play around it, and we hope everyone agrees that it now looks brighter, happier, and more inviting.

This was the first step in our wider playground improvement project, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible volunteers who gave up their time on both Saturday and Sunday to help.

A huge thank you also goes to The Decorating Centre, Wetherby, who generously donated all the paint and brushes needed for the job – your support is very much appreciated. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to improve our school’s outdoor spaces!

Upcoming Meeting Dates

• Wednesday 22^nd October 2025

• Thursday 20^th November 2025

• Tuesday 13^th January 2026

• Wednesday 11^th February 2026

• Wednesday 18^th March 2026

• Thursday 23^rd April 2026

• Tuesday 19^th May 2026

• Wednesday 17^th June 2026

• Tuesday 14^th July 2026 (AGM)

Meetings are generally held from 8pm in the school conference room.  Online MS Teams links are also available for people to dial in.  Joining info available prior to the meeting or email us at fodg@dgpta.org. 

Free ways to help raise funds for the FODG

1. Sign up to easyfundraising 

Easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for the FoDG. Just start your online shopping first at easyfundraising, then shop as normal. Retailers will then make a small donation to say “thank you”.

Click  this link to sign up - Friends of Deighton Gates - Wetherby Fundraising | Easyfundraising

3. Co-Op Local Causes

Friends of Deighton Gates has been selected to be one of 3 "local causes" for the Co-op community fund. We will receive a minimum of £1000 but the fund runs for a year from now and the more people who select us as their nominated cause, the more money we receive.

NB- you can nominate from anywhere in the country as long as you are a co-op member (costs £1 to join) so Grandparents/friends/relations can choose to support us from afar!

Please log in and select us as your local cause. Using the link really does take seconds to do!

https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/93126

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