Newsletter - November 2008

Notes from the Chair

Following a re-shuffle of the PTA committee at the AGM on the 14th of October, I’m delighted to say that I have taken on the role of PTA Chair with immediate effect. I have been a member of the PTA committee for just over a year since my eldest child started school in September 2007. With my youngest also now at school it felt right to take on a more active role.

We have had a successful time fund raising since our last newsletter. Here is a brief overview:

• The St George’s Night celebrations went with a swing with the fantastic repertoire of songs from Munch as they belted out rock, pop and dance hits from the 1950s through to the present day. Considering they hail all the way from Merseyside and are in such high demand, we were privileged to have them come and perform for us. The night included a ploughman’s and disco and got underway at 8pm. As with our very successful Burns Night, drinking and dancing continued late into the night before the long struggle home with many a sore head in the morning!
• The day of the 6th Wickwar Fun Run arrived to the accompaniment of torrential rain. Despite this, 94 hardy souls remained undeterred and duly turned up to register. First past the post this year was 16 year old Thomas Wintle, closely followed by Alistair Lee in second place and Felix McGrath in 3rd place. This year we had a new ‘family’ category for the first family to get 3 members over the finish line.  This was won by the Baker family with great times from Louise, Claire and James. The Lee family came second.  A special mention goes to Nick Lee, who was raising money to go to the Himalayas with the scouts next year, for winning in the under-16 fancy dress category. The under-12 fancy dress category was won by Jess Haines (aged 8) dressed as a pirate.  The only adults to run in fancy dress were Annette Mackie and Lindsey Caley who looked great in their hockey outfits and won a bottle of wine for their efforts!
• After a very wet summer we all prayed for a sunny day for the 26th Annual Village Fair. Thankfully on the day the sun dared to show its face and this, together with the local residents, their extended families, PTA and other local village groups, made it a fun-filled afternoon. With a medieval theme flowing many PTA members and helpers joined in with fancy dress costumes. A fabulous bird of prey exhibition and medieval jousting were amongst the most popular activities, not to mention the never ending tombola queue! An amazing £2800 was raised for the school.

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved.

- Lisa Barry

PTA Diary Dates

New Year PTA Meeting - Thursday 9th January 2009
8pm at the school, EVERYONE WELCOME!!

Events coming up soon:

• Table Top Toy Sale - Saturday 22nd November
• Xmas Quiz - Friday 28th November
• Xmas Coffee Morning - Friday 12th December
• Children’s Xmas Disco- Monday 15th December
• Burns Night - Saturday 24th January

Further information about all these events will be posted on the school notice board (near the main gate), sent home via book bags.

Thank You Shaun!

Following our annual PTA AGM, Shaun Miller has stepped down as Chair after a very successful 2 years leading the PTA committee.

Shaun will be a tough act to follow. His motivational ability, passion for raising awareness of the PTA, together with many successfully managed profit-making events, has helped the school achieve many of its goals over the last 2 years.

In order not to lose touch completely Shaun still remains a valuable member of the PTA committee, especially in his new role as mentor to the new Chair!!

The 100 Club

There are still spaces available! We need to fill all the spaces to make this a viable fundraiser for the P.T.A. 

For very little outlay and effort you could win one of the cash prizes allocated each month that would more than pay for the cost of your subscription.

If you would like to join the club or want more information, please contact Sian Belcher on 01454 299374.

More Thank Yous

Following the annual AGM and committee re-shuffle, I want to say a huge thank you on behalf of the whole team to Jan Goodland, Caroline Baker, Germaine Bath and Sue Parkinson who have stepped down from their roles as PTA Secretary, School Uniform Coordinator, Fun Run coordinator and Raffle Organiser.

Having undertaken these roles for a number of years they  all believe it’s now time for a change and want to give somebody else the opportunity to make a contribution in these vital committee roles.

It’s not all doom and gloom though! Jan & Sue have agreed not to leave the PTA altogether and to stay on the committee for another year, and Caroline & Germaine have agreed to remain friends of the PTA which is a huge relief, as all their input and experience is invaluable.

Thank you ladies!

Our Next School Event

PTA XMAS QUIZ
FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER
7.45PM FOR AN 8PM START
AT THE SCHOOL
ONLY £3 PER HEAD
TO ENTER A TEAM (4-6)
TEL LISA – 322445/NICOLE – 319819

PTAs Work - An Update

Our ongoing aim both for the remainder of this year and moving into next year is to continue to enhance our children’s environment for play and learning.

Mr Cockle has worked successfully with Anna Millar to complete the enclosed garden and ‘under sail’ areas in the main playground. I hope you will agree that these, together with the new recycled plastic picnic tables and benches that arrived just before the summer holidays, have made a fantastic improvement to the playground as a whole.

The school has also purchased a brand new stage to replace the rather heavy and cumbersome stage they used to have. We are very pleased to have been able to make a considerable contribution towards this following our very successful village fair.

With our new Head Teacher starting in the new year, the PTA are particularly looking forward to working in close harmony with Ms Quest and the teaching staff to continue planning new events and welcoming any new ideas that they may have from any previous experience in and around other schools.

We will of course continue with our successful fund raising events, including the now famous Burns Night next January, St Georges Night in April and the Annual Village Fair at the end of the summer.

New Recruits Required!

It may not have occurred to you, but as a parent or guardian of a child at the school you are, by default, a member of the association!

To what extent you want to be involved will of course be dependent on many things, but I expect mostly time.

If you are able to be involved in any way then you will be most welcome and we will be very grateful for your time.

Our PTA meetings take place once a term at the school and as an added incentive most of them tend to end in the pub or social club!

If attending a meeting seems a little daunting then we do have a number of parents who are ‘friends of the PTA’. They don’t actually join us at our PTA meetings, but do support us when our larger events need extra help.

At the moment we are particularly short of dads and would therefore welcome any dad who wants to join us!

We are also always on the lookout for businesses to support us, either by sponsoring future events or providing donations. If you think the company you work for would be interested, or if you know of a business that would like to be involved, please let us know.

Lisa Barry – 322445
lisab@sjbconsulting.co.uk

Nicole Jones – 319819
thejonesfamily1@talktalk.net

New Look Website!

http://ahspta.co.uk is the brand new PTA website.

The site contains a list of forthcoming events, pictures from previous ones and links to contact PTA members.

It is now live and fully functional and we will endeveaour to keep it updated with all our latest news.

If you wish you can subscribe to receive our future PTA newsletters via your home PC by clicking on the website link.

Donations

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters over the last few months:

Kemp Plants - Westerleigh
For donating plants, shrubs and herbs for our sensory garden.

Oakley Green - Westerleigh
For donating plants, shrubs and herbs for our sensory garden.

The Buthay Inn

Wickwar’s Finest Pub & Restaurant...
Email: info@thebuthayinn.co.uk
Web: www.thebuthayinn.co.uk

15 High Street
Wickwar
Wotton-Under-Edge
GL12 8NE

Tel: 01454 294386

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Morning Coffee & Breakfast
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Saturday: 9.00am to 11.00am

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Take-Away Service
Let’s face it, not everybody is going to want to eat in our superb restaurant every night of the week! So now we offer a take-away service. Give us a call to place your order or pop in and have a drink whilst you wait for your food.

Evening Take-Away Service everyday 6pm to 8.30pm
Cod & Chips £5.00
Cheeseburger & Chips £4.50
Chicken Tikka Masala £5
Sausages & Chips £3.50
Scampi & Chips £5.00

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- Billy Tierney, Head Chef