Dear Parents/Staff and Students,

Welcome to the Summer Edition of our newsletter. You may have thought that it has been all quiet on the PTA front since the Fashion Show in March, but behind the scenes the Committee has been planning ahead for the next big event, which is the Craft Fair in October. But before we tell you of our plans for this event we just want to bring you up to date with our activities over the last term.

Fashion Show

This raised the fantastic sum of £530 so a big thank you to all those who turned up to support the event and to those who helped to organise it. Judging by the number of people who came on the night this was a very popular event so we are hoping to hold another one next Spring. Look out for details nearer the time.

50/50 Club

This is our school lottery that was launched last year. Anyone connected with the school can take part for £1.00 a month. The monthly jackpot is shared between the winner and the school. The more members we have the higher the jackpot will be and the more money we will raise for school. Be in it to win it. For more details contact Sue Lewindon on 9602576 or Lorna Hollands on 9553858.

Projects Funded

During this past term we have had requests for money from the Minibeast Club to buy some new minibeasts and from the Music Department to hire a lighting rig for the Monster Gig Night. We have been happy to donate £200 to each to support their activities.

The largest donation by far was £3,000 which we gave towards the cost of the new minibus which will be used jointly by school and the DofE group. We are hoping that this will prove to be much more reliable than the old one (!) and that it will be used by many school departments for the benefit of a large number of students.

Looking Ahead

This coming October sees the 25th anniversary of the annual Craft Fair which is held at Lower School. This is a two day event, this year taking place on Sat 13th/Sun 14th October, from 10am to 4pm both days. To mark this silver jubilee we are planning a two-day Extravaganza with additional activities and events taking place in and around school during that weekend including, of course, the Craft and Gift Fair.

We are hoping that there will be displays, performances, entertainment and activities for all the family. plus refreshments available throughout both days.

Vernon Coaker MP, a former teacher at the school, has agreed to come along and he will be trying to spot himself in our ‘Memory Lane’ room that will have lots of old school photos and memorabilia from the school’s archives. If you are a past pupil you can do the same. We are hoping to be able to offer copies of photos for sale, too. There will be a bouncy castle, a pamper room, a clairvoyant, art displays, music and drama performances and sideshows - all this in addition to a large number of quality craft and gift stalls offering a wide selection of traditional and contemporary crafts.

There will be a commemorative programme for the event, funded by local advertisers, so if you run a local business and would like to place an advert in the programme which will go out to everyone attending over the weekend, please do get in touch with Sue Lewindon on 9602576.

There will be a Grand Raffle with fantastic prizes and a very special Art Raffle with a chance to win a framed limited edition painting of Goose Fair, worth £150, painted by a local artist and kindly donated by Labeaux Art Gallery in Mapperley.(It’s currently on display in the window!) Numbered postcards of the painting are now on sale for £1 and the draw will take place at the end of the Craft Fair on Sun 14th October. The more postcards we sell the more money we will raise for school, so if you would like to help us to sell them from now until October then please do phone Jane Armour on 9609076.

We hope we have given you a flavour of what’s in store for that special weekend. As you will know, an event on this scale takes a huge amount of organising, beforehand and on the day, so we are looking for an army of volunteers to help us! Do please phone Ann Mitchell on 8401526 if you can spare a little bit of time to help make this event a huge success.

Who we are

The PTA Committee is a small group of about 10 parents who would love to be joined by some new faces to help us out. We meet once every six weeks, or so, to plan fundraising events. The more people we can get involved the more events we can organise and therefore the more money we can raise for school. Even if you can’t make the meetings, but would be happy to help out at events we would love to hear from you - phone Ann Mitchell on 8401526.