Donation of £85 from PTA funds Allows Purchase of New Play Equipment

As the measures that are being carried out by the current Government take affect more and more things are having to be cut from the school budget. This is why the money you have contributed to our recent fund raisers have prove so important as we can now step in and provide funds.

We have recently been in touch with the teachers asking them for requests and items they wish to purchase but are struggling to because of the restrictions on their budgets. We are pleased to say we will be able to help in many cases as we have raised a considerable amount lately.

Our first request was to replace the dolls for the reception class which were to put it politely showing there age. We were pleased to hand over £85 to replace the dolls and also supply outfits and accessories to go with them. It may seem a simple thing but these are used extensively in role playing and various learning activities during the school day.

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.