Darlington Parents & Community Association: technology

Online fundraiser count down

It's down to the last few days of the fundraiser!

We're sitting at $6,031 - which means we've raised enough for 5 desktop computers and four tablets!

There's still time to help by pledging or sharing. We would really love to raise a further $1,469 so that we'll have enough tablets for 1 per classroom.

Tablets are the cheapest type of computer ($250 each), and have additional features that allow multimedia creation including video, photos, and sound recording. Tablets will have priority use by students with special learning needs, with secondary use for class multimedia projects.

Ways to pledge:

If you can't pledge via the website & paypal (preferred), please download this Pledge Form and pay by direct deposit, cheque, or cash.

Why raising this money for new technology is so important: The new Australian Curriculum places development of student technology skills as a requirement alongside other skills such as literacy and numeracy, and the new Minister for Education has indicated an intention to make the NAPLAN an online test from next year - both these things are difficult when our school has on average only 4 aging computers per classroom.

Goals

The school identified that the first priority was to raise $5,000 for five desktop computers, and that the next technology priority is 10 tablets (one per classroom, $250 each).

The primary use of these tablets will be for students with special learning needs, with secondary use by classes for integrated learning including creation of digital works such as videos, photos, sound recordings, animation, ebooks, digital artwork.

The next priority in the school technology plan is 34 notebooks ($500 each) for a mobile computer lab - which will allow a teacher to do an integrated technology lesson to a whole class.

Spreading the word:

There's still time to spread the word, to help us get more pledges.

Whether it's talking to family and friends, or talking to local businesses, or approaching media, commenting on blog posts, letters to the editor, letter boxing flyers, asking organisations that have a mailing list or blog or social media account if they could mention the school fundraiser.

If you don't feel comfortable asking for money, that's okay, please consider asking people if they can help in other ways that are no trouble to them - such as if a cafe will let you put up a poster, or if an organisation can tweet the link. There are images, posters, and flyers available to share or download on the P&C blog

Another way to spread the word is indirectly, by talking or writing to media and bloggers about the issues related to the fundraiser - such as how the Education Minister is talking about taking NAPLAN online, but that would mean our school would need about 80 computers for year 3 & 5 students - which we simply don't have.

Other talking topics might be the new Australian Curriculum that requires development of technology (ICT) skills yet the lack of funding for computers makes it hard for teachers to teach it; the inadequacy of the new NSW model of funding public schools which is still leaving many public schools underfunded, etc. Just find a way to mention that our school is trying to work around these problems with the fundraiser - and give them the link.

Let's put in a last burst of effort over the next four days - see how much we can raise!

Online School Fundraiser

We've just launched our first online fundraiser "Help Darlo Go Digital" to raise money for computers for Darlington Public School.

Why an online school fundraiser?

An online fundraiser allows parents to share the link to family and friends who may live far away, who wouldn't be able to get involved in one of our barbeques, bake sales, or raffles.

It also makes it easier to share with organisations and people who care about getting more computers into public schools and might be able to spread the word to a bigger group of people who might be able to help. This type of fundraiser has been used to raise up to millions of dollars by tapping into people who care.

Three ways you can help us reach our goal

Visit the fundraiser online, watch the video, read the details : Link
Pledge your support. Every dollar helps! There are some great rewards for giving your support.
Share: Tell some of your friends and family about it and give them the link, whether by phone, email, social media or in person.

Spreading the word is just as important as pledging money - so even if you can't give financially please think about helping us reach our goal in other ways.

More ways you can help:

Put up a poster at your workplace, on a community noticeboard, on electricity poles, or in local cafes.
Letter box your neighbourhood with flyers
Blog about it
Ask local businesses to chip in
If you have media contacts, ask them to mention it or do a story.
Get your kids involved in saying "Thank You" to fundraiser supporters (more info below).

Saying Thank You to Supporters

The rewards being offered to supporters are mostly ways of saying "Thank You" for their help. We are getting students involved in this as we think it's important that they be part of the process. Children will participate in saying "Thank You" by either writing an email, making a card, certificate of appreciation, or video.

If your child is at Darlington Public School, please fill out a consent form and return it to the Front Desk so your child can participate.

Four ways you can help us say thank you to supporters:

Complete and return the consent form to the school:
View the "backers" list on the fundraiser, and say thank you either in the comments section, by social media, or if you know them personally by email, phone, or in-person.
Help your child make a reward for us to give to a supporter*
Help a group of kids at school to make rewards for supporters*

*Contact us to co-ordinate this.