Lively, well attended St. Francis C of E School PTA Disco Raises £232

A picture or 3 pictures can paint a thousand (or 3 thousand) words. It can be seen what a great turn out we had for our Fund Raising Disco which went towards the terrific amount we raised. It was great to see the teachers getting involved and the children really enjoying themselves. Due to the huge demand at the sweet shop we will have to go shopping and stock up on our sweets, crisps and pop for the next Disco which will be around Valentines Day.

St. Francis C. of E. School Pantomine Trip Made Possible by PTA Donation of £650

In this case it was in front of you the cheque for £650 that is presented by the St. Francis PTA to meet half the cost of the tickets for all the schools children to visit the panto. This year it was 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and it proved very popular with the children and adults alike. Despite being in a hi-tech age of Xbox 360's, Nintendo Ds's, WII's, etc live theatre can still entertain the children. This was apparent as many came back hoarse after doing so much shouting! As well as donating towards the cost of the tickets we were able to supply helpers to assist on the five coach loads of children that went to the Red Brick Theatre. The photo shown above shows Simon Bennett - PTA committee member presenting the cheque for £650 to Mrs. Thomas Headmistress of St. Francis Church of England School.

St. Francis C. of E. PTA Christmas Fair Nearly Reaches The £1,000 Mark By Raising £954

Our ever popular Christmas Fair attracted scores of parents and children alike. They weren't to be disappointed as there was an array of stalls, games, tombolas for all. The event, as is the tradition was opened with two songs sung by all the infants classes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2). They treated us to two songs 'Gloria' and 'Things about a camel' from their forthcoming nativity play 'The Camels Arms'. The funds raised from the fair will go towards purchasing stage blocks for the school which are used all year round. There's also the contribution towards the cost of school outing to 'Jack and the Beanstalk' as well as supplying helpers to assist with the outing.

This year saw a great response for donations as toys, gifts, bric -a-brac poured in and chocolate and alcohol was donated by grateful children in exchange for not having to wear their school uniform! Many of the stalls are becoming regulars including Derian House who to quote their website 'Care offered at Derian House Children’s Hospice is focused on specialist palliative respite and terminal care for children who may not live to reach adulthood.' selling their gifts, Christmas cards and calendars. Ruth Symonds of Phoenix Cards had a very impressive stall displaying a variety of goods including greetings cards, giftwrap, accessories, postcards, etc. An extra bonus was the offer if you mention St. Francis PTA when ordering online at their website: www.pheonixtrading.co.uk/web/ruthsymonds we get a 10% donation. We also had present a lovely array of wreaths from Ruth Marriner. The toys donated by St. Francis parents were on sale in the middle of the hall and some early Christmas presents were snapped up and there was bargains to be had as well. For those kids who love to read CJS Books for Kids was of interest with a fine display and plenty of different titles.

New this year was the stall selling handmade cards by Sarah Bernasconi and Shelia Wright. It drew many admirers and it was great to have something new. To emphasise the schools strong links with St. Francis Church of England Church, the St. Francis Guides were present which was popular with the children who attended. Also popular with the children was the stall manned by Miss Ryding (Year 2 teacher) and she was kept very busy. Busy was also the word to describe the chocolate and alcohol tombola as long queues formed and some were ready for a bit of chocolate or alcohol when they reached the front! Mrs Kennedy was selling staff Christmas cards and Emma and Lyn had a delicious selection of homemade muffins and cakes which had to be guarded carefully in the staff room to ensure they made it to the stall.

And if that wasn't enough there was our raffle which boasted some great prizes and helped add to the total. Father Christmas again took time out from his very busy schedule and fly in on his sleigh from Lapland to meet the children and hear what they wanted for Christmas. He was kept busy as many children went to see him in his grotto. Make sure you put Friday 3rd December 2010 in your dairies for our next Christmas fair.

Thumbs Up For PTA Non-Uniform Day

The non-uniform days we organise are a huge hit with the children juniors and infants alike. For a mere donation of a bottle (wine, spirits, bubble bath, etc) from each Junior school pupil and chocolates from the infants to our Christmas Fair tombola they were able to attend school without wearing their uniforms. Parents were pestered to ensure they took something so they could shed their 'dreaded' uniforms for the day! A selection of pupils from Year 2 posed for the cameras (see above) giving the 'thumbs up' in support (Well nearly all a couple got their thumbs upside down by accident, so they said).

The response was great and a big thank you goes out to all those parents who ensured their children arrived with a donation. We will now have a very well stocked chocolate and bottle tombola at the forthcoming Christmas Fair on Friday 5th December.

Design a Christmas Card project raises nearly £70

The arrival of pupil inspired Christmas Cards brought joy to children and parents alike and it a was great for them to see their designs become reality. Despite the limited amount of time (forced upon us due to the deadline set by the card manufacturers. Ed.) the Design a Christmas card fund-raiser had a very good response with about 50 children sending in designs to be produced as Christmas cards. There was a variety of designs and it shone through that a lot of effort had been put in and it was great to see their designs go from the ‘drawing board’ to the finished article. Plus those receiving them will really appreciate an ‘in-house’ family production! You can click on the picture above of an example of a Christmas Card design and it also shows that on the reverse side the card has raised funds for St. Francis PTA.

As with everything the PTA does it wouldn't have been possible but for the project being taken on by a committee member on this occasion it was Nicola Smith (Current PTA Treasurer) who happily took the job on again this year. It is voluntary and Nicola fitted in to her (limited) spare time. When we asked Nicola what she liked about it she said 'It's fun to do and i enjoy it especially seeing the different designs that came through. I'm already looking forward to next year and hopefully the popularity of the project will increase.' This is another enjoyable fund raising event as it involves the children and they have fun and the school benefits as well. Many thanks must go to all parents who supported the project and purchased Christmas Cards to help benefit the PTA funds by £70.

You Shop - The Children Benefit

Many of you out there will soon be preparing to do your Christmas shopping and if current trends are anything to go by you'll be doing your shopping from the comfort of your home. On line shopping is becoming a more convenient and in some cases a cheaper way of buying goods. Courtesy of a site called 'The Giving Machine' our funds will receive a donation every time you make a purchase with one of over 200 on line retailers which include eBay, WHSmiths, Halfords, British Airways, Currys, etc that are signed up to 'The Giving Machine'.

All you need to do is register at http://www.thegivingmachine.co.uk/ which takes seconds, only requires your name, email address and your ready to donate to the school. With one extra click whilst shopping on line our children will directly benefit. It really is easy to use (It is I've signed up. Ed) and St. Francis School is now registered so you can choose us a beneficiary and help boost our funds.

An Enjoyable Fireworks Night Raises Nearly £330

The PTA funds were given a nice boost on a cool November night and all present witnessed an excellent fireworks display made up of the fireworks donated on the night. The ever popular spud pie was again well received lovingly prepared by some of your PTA Committee members a big thank you must go to Mrs. Smalley for her help in this. When it was announced there was seconds most people didn't decline.

People tucking into the their spud pie prior to the firework display can be seen above. One little boy seen on the right particularly enjoyed his seconds! The fireworks were a variety with plenty of the ever popular rockets. Once the display was over many people warmed themselves up with Mrs. Thomas's mulled wine! Again an enjoyable night for children and parents alike and and more funds raised to help the children.

Remember, remember it's the St. Francis C. of E. PTA Fireworks Display

This coming Thursday will be the Annual St. Francis C. of E. School PTA Firework night held at the school itself. A very popular and hugely enjoyable evening in the PTA's Fund Raising calendar. A big turn out is expected and hopefully the weather will be kind to us. Last years saw a variety of fireworks and brought praise from those who attended.

The doors open @ 6pm and entrance is a donation of £2-50 and £1-50 for children and please bring along a firework or two to donate. The more fireworks that are brought the better the display will be! Please note no sparklers are allowed. There is a choice of a hot supper or hot dogs (While stocks last!) which is included in the entrance fee. We will also be serving tea, coffee and mulled wine along with soft drinks, crisps and sweets.

We sincerely hope you will join us because as well as raising funds to help the children you will enjoy a great family night out. Be assured it is a well run and safe event which we have held for many years.

Bake Out Day Raises £136

Again the Schools bake out was a hit with children and staff alike. It's another event that involves the children and we raise money for the children too. A good response was received and this time there was a lot of home made cakes and buns with some very excellent efforts many with a creepy Halloween theme. A selection of the cakes and buns sent in can be seen above with PTA volunteers Alison, Simon and Joyce.

We were also reliably informed that many of the pupils look forward to the bake out (miss a bit of lessons to eat two cakes I'd look forward to it as well. Ed.) and it is the only topic talked about in the run up to bake out day. It also has a knock on effect on pupil behaviour as well by improving it! Thanks again must go to all the parents and children who baked and sent in items to sell.

Flashing Sign Campaign Update

Progress has been made with relation to our camapign for the installation of a Slow Down/30 mph sign. I contacted all three ward councillors outlining the case for a sign and how we should lobby to make it a reality. Councillor Derek Hardman responded on behalf of the three ward councillors and said ‘we will support your request’ but did point out it was subject to funds being available in the highways budget.

We will continue to lobby for this and I will also explore other avenues that may provide funding. I will continue to chase up the councillors with regards to this and we may call on the support of the parents in helping put pressure on Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to meet our request to make our children safer when going to school.

The dangers of Preston Old Road were brought home to me when I spent some time with Tom our very own ‘Lollipop Man’ recently (picture above with a St. Francis pupil). The cars do hurtle down at some speed towards the junction and if it wasn’t for Tom it would be near impossible to get across as its such a busy road. But even he struggles to get the traffic to stop at times. Tom feels the installation of a flashing sign would in his words ‘make things 100% better’ as he pointed out the flashing amber lights and the red warning triangle on the approach have no effect whatsoever and it's as if nobody sees them. Spending time with Tom was very useful and has further underlined the need to have the installation of a flashing sign especially with the winter drawing in when mornings and late afternoons are darker.

Disco Night Raises £178

St. Francis C. of E. School hall was taken over on a Friday night (2nd October 2009) as the venue for the PTA Disco Night Fund Raiser featuring the highly acclaimed DJ Wooton (see picture on the right below). The night featured two disco's in fact one for the infants followed by a rather lively juniors disco. Both of the disco's were a huge success with the PTA getting lots of feedback from parents about how much the children enjoyed it.

Praise must be given to St. Francis C. of E. School teachers Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Embley-Peers, Mrs. Savage, Mrs Maginn, Mrs. Havard and Miss Rydding as they encouraged the infants to get dancing and really helped them to have fun. This can be seen by the photo above showing Mrs. Thomas at the front of the long conga which ended the night proceedings.

The juniors didn't need any encouragement and danced themselves dizzy or it may have been all the sweets they bought! The sweet stall was very busy with most of the drinks being purchased (thirsty work dancing) in the end very little was left. About 100 children attended the disco and ALL of them left with a smile on their faces. As well as all the fun everybody had £178 was raised towards PTA funds. After such a successful night it is planned to hold further disco's in the future.