Tree-mendous Gift of £130 From PTA Funds Purchases Christmas Tree for the School

St. Francis PTA Christmas Fair 1 - British Weather 0. As Christmas Fair Raises Over £1,000

With possibly the grimmest weather to occur just prior to any of our recent Christmas Fair fears were we may have to cancel but in true determined style it was decided the show must go on. As is tradition the infants opened the Fair with a couple of beautiful songs - 'Magical Time of the Year' and 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer' which made for some tearful parents watching their 'Little Angels' in full voice. Despite one stall holder having to pull out due to an unfortunate weather related accident there was still a varied selection of stalls to choose from. There was also quite a few games including the Wii Family Ski and the buzzer game which required a steady hand.

There was some new stalls including JoMo Hand Beaded Jewellery which had a very nice stall (shown on the left) and generated a lot of interest. Derian House were again in attendance along with Usborne books. There was also some stalls ran by the teachers including the Xmas Wreaths and decorating Baubles which was of great interest. The toy stall in the centre of the hall again was very busy as many parents seized on the chance to pick up some stocking fillers and save a little money as well. There was quite a range of toys to choose from and extra tables had to be brought in to lay them all out. Year 1 had made some Christmas Angels which were a fine effort and a credit to the pupils. Last but not least the chocolate and bottle tombolas didn't disappoint with the usual queues forming for both and everything was won and nothing left for the exhausted workers to take home with them!

Sadly the weather had probably dissuaded some from attending as there was a slight drop in numbers compared to last year but this was understandable as the snow began to fall around 6pm. Despite this we still managed to raise £1,010 up on last years total. So its a great tribute to you parents, grandparents, visitors, etc who were in attendance as you have been even more generous with your purchases and donations and helped raise more funds for our children's school. We would also like to thank:

Magicsmiles Dental Studios, 483 Preston Old Road, Cherry Tree, Blackburn, BB2 5ND. http://www.magicsmiles.com/

They were kind enough to allow us to display one of our publicity banners shown at the top of the page on their premises.

Fireworks Night Goes With A Bang And Raises £236

Remember, Remember It's The 4th November for this Years St. Francis C. of E. School PTA's Annual Firework Display

Click on the image for further details.

£2,000 Donated From PTA Funds To Help Purchase New Stage

We were particularly pleased to announce we had reached one of our main objectives in the last school year which was to raise enough money to help purchase a new stage. Due to your support of PTA events and generous spending we were able to reach our target and with some money to spare as well! This impressive piece of equipment was sorely needed as the stage blocks were well over due to be retired. They had put in over twenty fives year service and were beginning to show their age. It was becoming quite a task to manoeuvre these blocks and they were limited in what they do. Now the school has a state of the art professional looking stage. It is much more versatile, easier to construct and takes up a lot less space and will be an asset for the school for many years to come.
The Juniors were the first to try out the new stage and it was well received by the actors. It is more versatile and allowed for quite a few props to be added and with the stage being higher it allowed a better view of the performance for you the audience. It also has a cat walk and full disabled access and it will be used for other events beside the two yearly plays.

First Bake of the School Year Raises £133

The first PTA Bake-Out of the school year was very well supported. In fact we think it may have been the most shop bought and home baked cakes we've seen for a long time. We even had to put out an extra table to lay them all out. As ever you parents who baked at home produced some great designs and scrumptious looking cakes.

We've featured a few of the best looking cakes that we received above. The beauty of this fund raiser is that it is easy to organise, we have 100% participation, the kids are involved and really enjoy it. Also with it being held a few times over the school year it raises a considerable amount which goes back to the school. So if you're picking up your kids on the day of a bake out pop into the school hall as we also sell to the parents and you could pick up a few bargains.

Disco Divas Raise Over £200

Another successful and well attended disco was held recently and raised a sum of £210. As ever there was two separate disco’s with the Infants first followed by the Juniors. Some great dancing was on view as well as some games of tig! Many teachers were in attendance and they also acted as judges in the statues contest. The sweet stall was popular and kept the 4 staff on duty very busy.

All the children were well behaved and had a great time and it was pleasing to see so many attending from the Reception class. There will be more disco’s to come as they a hit with the children and parent alike who get a bit of free time to themselves safe in the knowledge that their children are in safe hands and having a good time.

BBQ is BBS (Big Big Success) As Nearly £150 Is Raised

Continuing the trend we enjoyed some great weather for our last fund raiser of the school term. The signs weren’t good but on the evening there was a lovely backdrop of a typical English Summer night to the hot dogs and burgers that were on the barbecues. There was plenty to go around along with crisps, sweets and pop for the children who took advantage of the large playing fields that St. Francis is lucky to have. It allowed the adults some time to chat, eat and drink knowing their children were completely safe.
There was a great turn-out and we hope in years to come to increase the numbers as this is a really great event and with many people bringing their own refreshments (alcohol that is! Ed), enjoying some tasty food and at the same time helping raise funds.

Flashing Sign Campaign to be Stepped Up

Our campaign to make the journey to school for children and parents alike safer with the installation of a flashing sign like the one shown on the left to slow down the speeding motorists on Preston Old Road has received a blow as the original support from the Councillors Cottam and Hardman has not been followed through.

We have now decided to put more pressure on and demonstrate the level of support there is for the installation of a sign. We have decided to lobby the Council's Executive board and submit letters of support for this much needed safety measure. Pre-printed letters will be sent home on Monday (5th July) for parents to simply add their address and print and sign their name. Each individual letter will be noted as a show of support so we need as many as possible letters to be returned to strengthen our case. Please do your best to support our campaign by taking a couple of minutes to fill in the details on the letter and in turn this will help our chances of improving the safety of our children on the way to school.

We will also be approaching the South West Neighbourhood Board in the hope they can provide some funding so the letters will also be presented to them. The more letters we get the more chance we have of obtaining the flashing sign which will benefit the pupils for generations to come.

'Come on England' Summer Fair Raises £1,146 - The Day In Pictures

'Come On England' Summer Fair This Coming Saturday

This year our ever popular Summer Fair falls on the day England kick off their (hopefully successful) World Cup Cup campaign against USA. So in honour of this we decided to call our fair the 'Come On England' Summer Fair. It is to be held in the usual location at the School, in the hall and outdoors as well. It will be awash with St. George Flags and feel free to turn up in your England Shirt.

There will be a variety of things on offer for old and young alike. It will be officially opened after the crowning of St. Francis Church of England's Rose Queen at 1pm and will stay open until 4pm. We hope you will be able to attend as it's always an enjoyable event and there's plenty to do and see including:

* Beat The Goalie

* Pony and Trap

* Craft Stalls

* Wii Challenge

* Derian House

* Toy Stalls

* Guess the World Cup Goal Time

* Fairground Rides

* Dance Performance

* Bouncy Castle

* Grand Raffle

* and Much, Much More

This year has been a very successful fund raising year and we hope to round off the year by pushing up that total even further. So we hope to see you on Saturday and don't forget to bring your family and friends and most of all plenty of money!

Healthy Heart Bounce Manages to Raise a Staggering £1,670

The 'Healthy Heart Bounce' was declared a resounding success after the last of the money was sent in. We are delighted that an amazing £1,670 has been raised meaning we can now help the school purchase the new stage for the Nativity and Junior plays and other shows.

A fun day was had by all classes and even some teachers joined in and had a 'bounce' on the castle. All 7 years in the school participated and really got into the spirit and along with you generous parents helped make this one of our most successful fund raisers ever.

Sponsored 'Healthy Heart Bounce' - Deadline Day

Our latest fund raising initiative is creating quite a lot of interest in the School with today being deadline day for returning the sponsorship forms for our sponsored 'Healthy Heart Bounce' and many forms are being returned. The big day is tomorrow with the whole school taking part ranging from Reception Class to Year Six right throughout the day. The pupils will each take part to see how many bounces they can do in a minute on a bouncy castle. They will be sponsored for a set amount or per bounce. There is also an educational side to this as the pupils will be made aware of the benefits of exercise and that it can be something as simple as bouncing on a bouncy castle. This ties in nicely with the recent adverts and posters that are encouraging young people to take more exercise plus it is a fun event which helps to raise funds to help the school. Hopefully this will become an annual event.

PTA Bake Out Day raises £138

As ever there was a great response to the bake out from parents and five tables were covered in a selection of home made cakes and ones bought from shops. It was nice to see such a variety of home made ones (see photo above right) that were sent in and the effort put in was clear. It's not only the children who get to enjoy the bake out because if anything is left over they are sold to parents when they come to collect their children!

Nearly £90 Raised At PTA Nativity Play's Refreshment Stall and Raffle

Sometimes as well as raising funds we are able to provide a service to the parents and combine the two. This was the case with regards to the Infant Nativity Plays that are held at the school each year. There are two performances in all and on each occasion we had a fully staffed (The two volunteers Simon Bennett and Alison Felipes are shown right) tea and coffee stall which was welcomed by the mums, dads and grandparents who attended the plays. As well as serving hot drinks we offered mince pies as well which many tucked into waiting for the 'The Camels Arms' to start.

We also had a raffle at each of the two performances with an adorable teddy bear as first prize on one day and a tin of roses the next day. This also generated interest and many thanks to the parents, grandparents who entered the draw helping raise further funds to help the children and the school. All together the total amount raised over the two days was £88-60p. We also provided the same service at the Juniors Carol Service.