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

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£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.