For forthcoming events, including committee meetings, please see the Calendar of Events.
Summer Social 2024
Come along to the school field for and evening (hopefully bathed in sunshine) of food, drinks and tunes. A chance to meet or catch up with other parents and carers and their offspring and a great opportunity for the September Year 7s to get familiar with the school surroundings.
Friday 12 July, 6-8.30pm. £2 for adults (prebooked includes a voucher for a drink at the bar), children go free. Tickets: https://go.rallyup.com/summersocial24/
or on the door.
Buy a raffle ticket for the chance to win fabulous prizes from local food and drink producers, including Abyss, Beacon Down, Henners, Barcombe Nurseries and Old Tree Brewery.
No unaccompanied children, please – parents are responsible for their children at all times.
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
Friends of Priory was pleased to provide funds for staff training to enable the Year 10s to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. As well as volunteering and learning new skills, the 42-strong group have completed two overnight expeditions in Sussex, accompanied by teachers and external company Bright Expeditions. DofE offers great opportunities for young people, boosting confidence and encouraging problem solving and teamwork and we hope to continue to support the scheme at Priory for future year groups.
Mix Tape Club Night
The popular Mix Tape club nights, held as a joint fundraiser with Wallands school since last year, returned for a third outing at The Con Club with more music to dance to: rave, funk, house, jungle, hip-hop, ska and more. The Mix Tape events have raised nearly £1000 for the school so far.
Edward Reeves Photography Talk
We welcomed back Tom Reeves from Edward Reeves – the world's longest-established photographic studio – back to Priory School to give a talk at one of our favourite events of the year. Featuring newly researched material from the archives, it was a fascinating evening exploring the history of the people and places of Lewes that was enjoyed by a packed hall and raised over £500.
New LED Lighting Equipment
One of the Friends of Priory's most recent purchases for the school was an LED lighting rig to enhance the children's learning experiences in Drama and Dance. The new system was put through its paces for the fabulous school production, Alice, in March.
New Basketball Hoops
Fundraising for sports equipment is an important part of Friends of Priory's work. This year, your generous donations have paid for new permanent basketball hoops on the school courts that are already getting a lot of use.
Symposium Wine Tasting
The lecture theatre played host to Robert Poole of local vintners Symposium Wine Emporium for an evening of wine tasting. The group of parents, carers and friends tasted eight unusual wines, starting with a French Cremant and travelling further afield to take in bottles from Italy, Lebanon, Australia and more, accompanied by cheese and olives. This fun (and educational) evening raised about £400 for the school - not bad for Friday night drinks.
New Autism Facility Outdoor Space
Friends of Priory have helped to fund a new outdoor space for the Oak Centre, thank to your generous support of the raffle and other fundraising activities. The facility is now finished and ready for the young people to enjoy.
'Many, many thanks to everyone involved in supporting us in creating our outside space. It is secure, private and provides our students with a much needed sensory outlet. We are currently using the space in order to offer an outside sensory circuit , a private space for PE lessons and a safe environment for break and lunchtime.
Teresa Russell – Autism Lead Teacher
New Science Labs
£15,000 of funds from Friends of Priory (alongside £3,000 from The Fonthill Foundation and £1,000 from The Armourers and Brasiers Gauntlet Trust £1,000, plus £3,000 from the sale of the old furniture) waw spent on refurbishing three science labs. Officially opened on 18 October 2019, the brand new facilities, include equipment such as the mobile fume cupboard with docking stations which allows it to be used in different labs so that more students benefit.
Tesco Community Grants
We are delighted to let you know that following the Tesco Community Grant vote in our local Tesco stores, our project came First and has been chosen by Tesco Customers to receive a grant award of £1,500! The grant will be used to support those students who are financially disadvantaged to buy their dt practical food ingredients.
Voting was held at Tesco stores between Saturday 1st January and Thursday 31st March and proved to be very successful with millions of votes being cast by Tesco Customers across the UK.
Priory Christmas Market 2023
The second Priory Artists & Makers Christmas Market was another huge success with students, teachers, parents and friends of the school all selling their wares in the canteen on the evening of the Christmas concert. The mulled wine and mince pies went down a storm and the raffle raised £1500 for the school, with over 50 prizes generously donated by local businesses.
Committed to Giving
Over the past 7.5 years, we have raised an amazing £68,000 from monthly contributions to the school since we launched this Committed to Giving campaign. If you would like to know more, please see the Donate page.