St. John's School

Friends of St John's

AGM - Chairman's Report September 2005

This year (Sept 2004-Sept 2005) has been another busy year for the 'Friends'. A special thanks to those with area of responsibilities - Ruth Cooke (vice-chair), Janet Anderson (secretary), Catherine Perkins (treasurer) and Lynne Thomas (publicity) your efforts and support has been greatly appreciated by myself and the governors.

The year for us started with a Children's Fancy Dress Disco on 15th Oct. This proved a great success and Thanks to Ruth Cooke for co-ordinating this event and ensuring there was so much food available! (even the mums were fed and watered).

The Christmas Ball at the Hi-Tide was again successful socially and financially. The atmosphere was particularly good and we raised £2,303 for the school thanks to all those who contributed and/or attended. A special thanks to Helen James and Kath Jones who co-ordinated this event.

The Christmas Bazaar continues to be very successful especially the quality of items that are on sale. Thanks to all those involved in this event and especially 'Father Christmas' who gave of his time at this very busy time of the year. Well done everyone!

In February it was of course the Valentines Day Disco . This was held on 11th Feb the last Friday of term thanks to Catherine Perkins who co-ordinated this event. The girls were extremely serious about their dancing but I'm not so sure about the boys!

It was felt that we should hold another Quiz Night although not greatly supported in the past we felt it was worth trying again! . Dr Jones agreed to be the Quiz Master and he would bring along his able assistant to keep the score, many thanks to them. Thanks also to Sarah Pugh who co-ordinated this event. The teachers did extremely well not only answering the most questions but also taking away most of the chocolate! (Mrs Price)

Another new idea this year was the pre-prep Easter Egg Hunt . The idea for this was to hold a "fun" event for the pupil's in March. Thanks to the senior pupils for agreeing to hide the eggs in the field for the pre-prep to find. I know the children were sooooo excited with their Easter bonnets and baskets. It also proved to be a valuable free publicity event for the school!

The Family Barn Dance/Duck Race was another new event this year, co-ordinated by Catherine Perkins and held on 21st May. This was a great family occasion with lots of fun, food and dancing. Catherine worked extremely hard and it was a very long day for her! But we did make £863.00 well done!

Another new event for the Friends this year was the 'Teddy Bears' Picnic . Thanks goes to those pupils in the pre-prep who made games for us all to play, and those parents who contributed by donating the large variety of food. The weather was glorious and I understand all the teddies had a great afternoon.

A special thanks again goes to Patricia Rock and the 'Video Club' team, who continue week after week providing a valuable service to the pre-prep department on a Friday afternoon. I'm sure there is always room for more helpers, so if you can help or wish to be considered as part of a rota please speak to Patricia - you will be most welcome!

The 'Lucky Numbers' continue for its fourth year with a record number of participants this year - and a record number of payouts!

Again the Friends were formally invited to the School Open Evening . This gave some of us the opportunity to support the teaching staff and circulate/talk to existing and prospective parents and visitors.

The Summer B.B.Q. was soon upon us, again a successful event not only because of the sum of money raised (£2,005) but also the pleasant weather and friendly atmosphere. Thanks to all who were involved especially our local Fire Brigade who gave of their time to join us. Thanks to those dads/granddads who spent hours putting up gazebo's (with no instructions) you will be pleased to know we have invested in 6 'Pop Up' gazebo's ready for next year! Thanks also to the Cowdery family who kindly donated a Bouncy Castle. This was very popular at the B.B.Q and will avoid additional expenses for us in future years. Thank You.

At the start of the new academic year, a coffee morning for Parents was held in the dining room. This proved very popular this year and a simple but valuable event in supporting new and old parents. Thanks to all those who were involved.

So how have we spent the funds raised? This year our main funding project was for the Junior Science Lab, which included décor, equipment and books. We did also manage to donate £2,454 for the deposit of the new school mini bus, just over £1,000 towards the teacher's professional development and just over £1,000 for publicity of the school. With blinds for the new music room, a DVD player for the pre-prep, books for the senior English classes, and new dining room tables, benches, chairs and cupboard doors. None of this would have been possible without the continued enthusiasm and support of the "Friends".

At this point I would like to formally thank Dr Jones for all his support and great encouragement to both myself and the "Friends" as a group. I felt, we were made to feel that we were an essential and important part of the life of St. John's and that we made a valuable contribution. Thank you! Dr. Jones and we do wish you and Carol a very happy retirement but trust we will see you from time to time at our events! You will be most welcome.

A special 'welcome' to Mrs Carol Clint our new headmistress whom we look forward to working closely with in all we do for the school.

We continue to actively encourage as many parents and grandparents as possible to be involved in any aspect of the work of the "Friends" however great or small. Our efforts really do benefit your child/ren so keep up the good work. Without you there would be no "Friends" so Thank You!

Jenny Sanders
Chair of the Friends