What Cheney Friends do
Activities over the last 5 years
It probably goes without saying that our primary aim is to raise money for the school, but we also have an important social role in the Cheney community. We provide opportunities for parents to meet (literally and virtually) through our social evenings and via the parent-to-parent forum, Classlist. We also hold twice-yearly “greening” days, with tea and doughnuts on tap, to give parents the chance to help with the ongoing maintenance of our lovely gardens and to plant new trees and flowers.
In March, we revived the tradition of the 'Curry and Quiz' night: 100 people enjoyed delicious Taste Tibet food and entertaining questions courtesy of a very game Cheney dad. We hope this will become an annual event, and are also adding in a Bingo Night in February! Eyes down, everyone...
Cheney Friends also provides refreshments at the school plays/concerts/sports awards. Wonderful as these events are (and they really are!), a glass of wine and mince pie helps the hours when one’s own child is not on stage to slip by even more pleasantly.
One of the key things to stress here is that we have a lot of fun organising these events; committee meetings are relaxed affairs; none of us really know what we’re doing, but we give things a go, laugh a lot and the results generally seem positive!
Glittering achievements
Lists of achievements can be very tedious, but we do feel some need to demonstrate the value of the Cheney Friends to the school.
Greening Cheney - our main focus since 2020
We have raised over £100,000 through a mixture of grants, income from events/2nd hand uniform - and through some wonderfully generous spontaneous gestures. This has enabled the construction of:
-
a garden with extra seating in the main courtyard
-
new planters, trees and seating in Lane Courtyard
-
creepers for the walls
-
hedging in the car park
From this...
...to this!
We have also planted fruit trees near the canteen and were rewarded with our first apple this August!
Reviving the Sixth Form area (until recently, known as Dead Pigeon Plaza) is our next task.
This 'greening' has made a huge difference to the feel of the school, as reported by both staff and – yes, really - teenagers!
Alongside Greening Cheney, we have enabled the purchase of:
-
a new piano for the music department
-
staging blocks for Drama
-
books and author talks for the library
-
new football kit for the Cheney teams
-
a photo booth for the Year 11 prom
We are currently seeking a new Chair and Treasurer as our current team step down at the end of the 2025/26 academic year. It would be wonderful if we could hand over the Cheney Friends torch next September to people who are keen on continuing to enhance the experience of our children at Cheney. If you're interested in taking on, or sharing a role, please email Communications and we'll get in touch with you!
