Dates for the diary...

Many thanks to those who attended the AGM on Monday. It's always good to welcome new faces and we are grateful to those parents who regularly attend and support our planning.

Dates for this term are:

• Bake 'n' Take on Monday 20th October at 3 p.m. (home baking gratefully received for this!)
• FHHS Planning Meeting on Monday 10th November at 7.30 p.m.
• Bag2School Recycling Day on Tuesday 11th November at 9 a.m. (all items need to be brought to school that morning... bags will be supplied shortly.)
• Christmas Fayre on Friday 28th November at 3 p.m. (We need food and drink for the hamper, beauty items for the beauty hamper and bottles for the Lucky Dip stall. Donations can be brought into the school office from now on - the sooner, the better!)

We are also hoping to be able to offer taster samples of a variety of puddings (including Christmas puddings) from the Ultimate Plum Pudding Company, which we intend to sell this term. For all parents attending the Harvest Festival on Monday 13th October, there will be an opportunity to taste these after the Harvest Festival and order forms will be supplied later this term, with school receiving a percentage of the profits from these sales.The photos below will hopefully whet your appetites! (Brandy butter, chocolate pudding, plum pudding, sticky toffee pudding, ginger pudding, zingy lemon pudding...)

New academic year

Welcome to the academic year 2014-15! We trust this will be a year of ongoing progress and opportunities and are looking forward to seeing Friends of Hope House School go from strength to strength.

For new pupils and parents, let me take this opportunity to introduce ourselves. We are a group of staff, parents and friends of the school who are involved in fund-raising in order to improve the facilities and equipment available to pupils. We also like to organise social events in order to give opportunities for us to get to know each other socially and to enhance the family spirit of the school. All are welcome to attend our planning meetings (usually held once every half-term or so) and to participate in the events we organise.

We're always open to new ideas for fund-raising. We can be contacted via the school office or by email (exams@hopehouseschool.org.uk). Further information about the Committee and meetings is on the notice board in the school foyer.

The Annual General Meeting will be on Monday 15th September at 7:30 p.m. in school and we'd love to see new faces and old friends as we plan activities and events for the year ahead.

An advance date for your diaries is Friday 28th November when we will be holding our Christmas Fayre. This will be from 3-5 p.m. at school and should be a great occasion, with a variety of stalls, games and competitions for us to enjoy.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

FHHS Meeting

Don't forget the FHHS Planning Meeting is on Monday 30th June at 7.30 p.m. at school!

June update

The Bake 'n' Take on Monday raised almost £80. Thank you to all who baked for us and all who bought the  baking!

The next FHHS Planning Meeting is on Monday 30th June at 7:30 p.m. at school, so please do come along to that meeting if you are able to.

Don't forget Sports Day is on Friday 11th July and then we have our Murder Mystery on Saturday 12th July at 7:30 p.m. This is by ticket only, so you need to purchase tickets as soon as possible, specifying if you need a vegetarian option for the pie & peas. Tickets cost £7.50 for adults, £5.00 for children with a special family ticket costing £20 and allowing admission to 2 adults and 2 children. Children from Y7-11 (ages 11-16) are welcome to attend, but due to the nature of the performance, younger children are not allowed to attend.

Who Killed The Headteacher?

You will be pleased  to know that as far as I am aware, no one is planning to murder Mr Barnes! But FHHS are putting on a murder mystery play called 'Who Killed The Headteacher?' which will be performed on Saturday 12th July at 7.30 p.m.

Tickets are now available from the school office, costing £7.50 per adult and £5.00 per child (ages 11-16 only), with family tickets available at £20.00 (allowing admission to 2 adults and 2 children.) Tickets include a pie & pea supper with tea or coffee or squash; other drinks/ glasses can be brought in by the audience. Please call in at the school office or email me at exams@hopehouseschool.org.uk for tickets.

The next Bake 'n' Take is on Monday 16th June at 3 p.m.

The next FHHS meeting is on Monday 30th June at 7.30 p.m.

May dates

Thanks to all who have already bought the FHHS tea towel. Please note that if you want to buy these, there is a limited availability as they are on a sale-or-return basis and payment must be made to the company by June. Don't delay, therefore, in buying your tea towel! These cost £6 each and are available from the school office. Please order by 23rd May at the latest.

The next FHHS Planning Meeting is on Monday 12th May at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

The next Bag2School Recycling Day is on Tuesday 20th May, so please bring in your unwanted clothes, soft toys, shoes (tied together or with an elastic band around them), belts, ties and hats by 9 a.m. on that day. Bags will be sent out this week. Please note also that bedding, curtains and towels are no longer accepted.

The tea towels have arrived!

The Hope House tea towels, featuring pictures of pupils and staff, have now arrived and can be purchased from the school office. They cost £6 and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, but once the original batch have been sold, we can re-order if demand is high.

Please fill in the reply slips on the letter which was sent out on Friday or call in at the school office. If paying by cheque, cheques should be made payable to 'Friends of Hope House School'.