PTFA Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year.

Last year the PTFA raised £17,500 which is fantastic and this will go towards the Sprots Hall Appeal.  I would like to thank everybody who contributed in some way during the year.

The Grand Christmas raffle raised £2,870, so we are off to a good start for the forthcoming year.  We have decided to hold an Easter Raffle, as we are all really committed to building on the success of last year.  The top three prizes will be a Nintendo Wi, Two nights stay in London Hotel with £100 spending money and a Nintendo DS.  All great prizes and I hope this will give you the incentive to buy lots of tickets.

I would like to let you know about the forthcoming events we have lined up for you.  Mored detailed information will be issued prior to the event but it is helpful to know the dates in advance:

Quiz Night - Friday, 8th February

Year 8&9 Disco - Friday, 7th March

Car Boot & Football Tournament - Sunday, 8th March

Year 7&8 Disco - Friday, 28th March

Summer Ball & Auction - Saturday, 14th June

Our Spring Ball & Auction last year was extremely successful and this event alone raised an amazing £3,500 with just 110 guests.  This year we are holding a Summer Ball and Auction and I would very much like to improve on the number of people attending.  Just think how much we could raise if we doubled the number of guests, for what is truly an enjoyable evening.  Please think about arranging a group of friends to join you and support your school.  It may seem a long way off but we aim to advertise this event early, so we can stagger payments and secure numbers.  We are supporting the children's charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) which is a great cause.  Detailed information concerning the ball will be sent out shortly.

It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible supporting these events.  If you are unable to attend our social evenings, there are other ways in which you can help, either by donating a raffle prize or helping to set up an event, or simply by donating a dish of food fo rthe Quiz Night.  Please contact me via the school office if you are able to spare any time or you would like to hlep in some other way, all offers are much appreciated.

I would also like to request some support for the combined Car Boot and Football Tournament.  This is a long day and takes a lot of organising.  The more helpers we can recruit, the smoother the day runs.  We are in need of volunteers to referee the five-a-side matches, car marshals, BBQ chefs and people to help on the day seving drinks and collecting money etc; if you can help in any way please contact me.

One of the main difficulties the PTFA experiences is being able to reach all parents to pass on information about forthcoming events.  Communication is a key factor to the success of our events, so if you have an email address please ensure that the school office has the updated information.

We are eager to recruit some new members to the Parents, Teachers and Friends Association this year.  At present, we have a great bunch of committed members but this core group have continually attended meetings and supported events, so it would be great to see some new faces who could bring some innovative ideas which would be most welcome.  Plese dont be put off by the 'meetings' bit these evenings are informal, vocal and friendly.  Try to come along and see for yourself on the first Monday of every month.  The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, 4th February at 7.30 pm in the Careers Room.  The Easter holiday arrangements are slightly different this year so there will be two meetings in March on 4th and 31st.

Thank you for your continued support, it does make a positive difference to your children and the school.

Jane Cooper, Chairman PTFA.