Update on outdoor play area

Many thanks for all your support during the autumn term. As we are about to break up for Christmas, I thought I would update you on the outdoor play area.

Because an outdoor play area is a statutory requirement for schools, making this area fit for purpose has long been our aim. Following the inspection in October, we have been told this needs to be completed sooner rather than later and because of this, plans will have to be scaled back initially so that the first phase is completed in spring 2014. We may well then go on to develop the area further to include rendered walls and other areas, but for now, the primary objective is to ensure a safe, even floor surface on which children can play.

We had a quote from a company (run by a former pupil) which specialises in play surfaces like Aquapour, but unfortunately, this is very expensive and we could not afford this in the timescales required. We are currently therefore looking at alternative materials such as concrete, tarmac or flagstones. The disadvantages of concrete or tarmac is access to the area.

As soon as definite costings are available, we will be able to move forward with plans and hope this area will soon be available to pupils.

The next FHHS meeting will be on Monday 20th January at 7:30 p.m. and we look forward to seeing you there. Those of you with technical expertise in the building world would be particularly welcome!

Christmas fun

Friends of Hope House School exists as the fund-raising arm of the school, but that is not our only aim. One of our aims is to foster the school's family atmosphere, and judging by these photographs, both our aims were fulfilled today. Certainly, in the current economic climate, it is important that we raise funds to enable projects to go ahead, but it is also important to stress the importance of working together and fostering good relationships in everything we do.

Staff and pupils:

Our thanks go to all who helped, including the many willing pupil helpers, and to all who supported this event through their creativity and generosity. We are thrilled to announce that we also have been given a generous donation of £1000 towards the outdoor play area and so hopefully further work on this project will begin in the very near future.

More Christmas Fayre photos

The Primary department opened the Christmas Fayre in style, singing a medley of Christmas carols:

The musical theme was continued, with members of the Barnsley Youth Choir eager to sell their CD to raise money for Barnsley Hospice:

There were games and competitions:

The Pirates' treasure (a.k.a. as a box of Maltesers) was won by Vicky Davis:

Christmas decorations abounded and there was the opportunity to visit Santa in his grotto:

Jo and her fantastic team of volunteers from Hope House Cafe provided refreshments galore:

Both hampers were won by current pupils of the school. Lydia and Stuti shared the beauty hamper and Amber won the food and drinks hamper!

Christmas Fayre news

Today's Christmas Fayre was extremely successful, raising £452.69 towards the outdoor play area. Many thanks to all who contributed, either by bringing things or by helping or by attending and spending all this money!

Today's photographs were taken by this Y10 pupil (though not this one, obviously!):

Setting up beforehand:

A range of stalls on offer:

Christmas Fayre coming soon!

Just a quick reminder about the Christmas Fayre which is THIS FRIDAY (29th November). Home baking should be brought into school that morning. We still need bottles for the Lucky Dip stall; these can be brought in this week until Friday morning.

The Fayre will start at 3 p.m. with pupils from the Primary Department singing Christmas Carols. The Fayre will run until 5 p.m. Prize winners will be announced at 4.45 p.m.

There will be a number of stalls and activities to do, including:

• Guess the Value of the Food & Drink hamper competition (£1 per guess)
• Guess the Value of the Beauty Hamper competition (£1 per guess)
• Treasure Map game
• Roll-a-penny game
• Connect 4 game
• Home produce & home baking
• Christmas tree decorations to make and buy
• Face painting
• Nail painting
• Jewellery & craft stall
• Christmas candles & crockery stall
• Lucky Dip bottle stall
• Lucky Dip bran tub
• Christmas cards & crafts

Jo will be running the Hope House Cafe for us and has agreed to donate any profit from this afternoon to FHHS. Hot sandwiches and jacket potatoes will be available to eat as well as a range of drinks to buy. We ask that all food is consumed in the cafe area.

There is a rumour that Father Christmas may also be visiting us, but as yet this is unconfirmed. You will have to come along and find out for yourselves!

Looking forward to seeing lots of people on Friday and hoping we will raise a lot of money towards the outdoor play area.

Coming in November...

Don't forget the Bag2School Recycling Day this Thursday (14th November) - an ideal opportunity for that clear-out which will raise money for the school! All items (clothes, bedding, curtains, shoes, bags, belts) should be brought to school on Thursday morning.

The Christmas Fayre is coming soon! That starts at 3 p.m. on Friday 29th November with Primary pupils singing carols for us to get us into the festive spirit. There will be a whole range of stalls and activities:

* home baking & home produce
* Guess the Value of the Hamper competitions
* Lucky Dip bran tub
* Lucky Dip bottle bank
* jewellery stall
* Christmas cards & crafts
* Make a Christmas Tree decoration
* nail painting
* face painting
* visit Santa's Grotto
* fun games

Hope House Cafe will also be open serving refreshments.

We still need items donating for the hampers and for some of these stalls. Hamper items are listed below, but we also need bottles (wine & non-alcoholic drinks in particular), home produce (pickled onions, chutneys, preserves etc.) and home baking (buns, cakes, mince pies etc.) Items for the hamper need to be handed in to the School Office by Friday 22nd November. Fresh produce needs to be brought in on the morning of 29th November.

Food/ Drink Hamper
A bottle of spirits (brandy, whiskey etc.)
Cheeses (please check dates on these!)
Tinned food
Christmas cake
Christmas crackers
Mince pies
Turkey gravy
Cranberry sauce

Many thanks for your ongoing support.

Fund-raising update

The Bake 'n' Take on Monday/ Tuesday raised £136, a fantastic amount! Thank you to all who contributed, either in sending in some wonderful baking (my husband and son can testify to the taste of the chocolate fudge cake and the chocolate cake lasted approximately one hour in the school staff room after I bought it as a leaving present!) or in buying the baking.

The bags for the Bag2School Recycling Day on 14th November have now been sent out, so maybe half-term could be a time of cleaning and clearing out unwanted items? Clothing, bedding, bags, belts and shoes are all welcome. Please bring them in to school on the morning of 14th November. Last time, we raised £70 from this, so please help us to raise further funds for the outdoor play area.

The next Planning Meeting will be on Monday 11th November at 7.30 p.m. in school. Come along and help sort out details for the Christmas Fayre on 29th November.

Updates

Many thanks to all who provided home baking for the Bake 'n' Take yesterday. We had so much provided that we will be selling again this afternoon (22nd October) at 3 p.m. Please do come along and buy the lovely cakes and buns!

Thanks to everyone who sponsored Mr Felton in the Ring O'Fire event during the summer holidays. The total raised was £295 which is a fantastic amount! Many thanks to Mr Felton, for his willingness to endure great hardship in order to raise funds (this was no ordinary 'sponsored walk'!) and for all who have given so generously.

Please note that the next Planning Meeting will now be on Monday 11th November at 7.30 p.m. (a change to the previously advertised date) and that the Bag2School Recycling Day will be on Thursday 14th November. Bags have been sent out with pupils this week and all items of clothing, bedding, curtains, belts, bags and shoes should be brought in to school on the morning of 14th November only. It's a great opportunity to have a clear-out during half-term!

Coming soon...

Forthcoming fund-raising events are:

Bake 'n' Take Monday 21st October at 3 p.m.
Please bring along your home baking on that Monday and ensure you and your child have money to spend at the end of the day!

Bag2School Recycling Day Thursday 14th November
Bags will be sent out shortly. We need unwanted clothes, bedding, curtains, bags, shoes and belts for this easy way of clearing out your stuff and raising money at the same time!

Christmas Fayre Friday 29th November 3-5 p.m.
This is our main fund-raising event for the second half of term and we need your help NOW! If you can provide items for the food & drink hamper or the toiletries hamper competitions, please send these in to the school office now (remembering to let us know the value of the hamper.) We also need bottles for the 'Lucky Dip' bottle stall.

We hope to have a range of home-made produce, home baking, cards and gifts on sale as well as competitions and games. The cafe will be open to serve refreshments, so we are hoping this will be a great afternoon. Put the date in your diary now!

Planning meeting

Just a reminder that the next FHHS Planning Meeting is on Monday 7th October at 7:30 p.m. in school. Do come along and be involved in making plans for the Christmas Fayre on 29th November.

We still need items for the bottle bank 'Lucky Dip' (any bottles of wine, beer, non-alcoholic drinks or other items that come in a bottle!) and for the two hampers (food/drink and toiletries) as well as volunteers to help with the stalls and to provide home baking. If you can help at all, please let us know at the school office.

Don't forget also that the school's new website has now gone live. You can view it here.

Maintenance Day (3)

Su, our organiser, was feeling silly by this time!


People wanted proof I actually did some work other than taking photos!

Getting there now...

We filled the skip to overflowing and took numerous bags of rubbish to the dump-it site as well:

Team spirit was high!

At the end of the day, it looked like this:

Many thanks to all who helped, and apologies that I have no photos of the afternoon shift in action. We had a veritable army of willing workers:
* Mark & Su Wood
* Paul Dunning
* Dave Wagstaff
* Julian Grummett
* Tim Clee
* Tim Allen (with thanks for his wife's brownies!)
* Tim Barker
* Tom Isherwood
* Erica Bagshaw
* Joanne Darlington
* Sarah Dodd
* Biing & Jane Hen
* Mr Sutton
* Donna Withers
* Kath Sykes

Altogether, these fantastic workers put in 44 hours 55 minutes of work. Not bad for a day's work, eh?! We were scheduled to finish at 5 p.m., but these workers worked so hard that we'd finished by just after 3 p.m. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Maintenance Day (2)

Whilst we were clearing the outdoor area, Paul Dunning was climbing high to solve a pigeon problem:

This is the plan we are working to create (not that you can see it well here!):

After two hours' work, you could finally see the ground:

As we worked, the skip was getting full!

So full, it needed compacting!

New blood arrived later in the morning:

Maintenance Day

Today was the first maintenance day for sorting out the rubble and debris in the area that will soon (we hope!) become an outdoor play area. A huge THANK YOU to all who helped out; everyone worked so hard and the difference we made to the area was incredible!

This is how it looked at the start of the day:

Here we have willing workers, digging well!

More work:

At the skip:

Yet more work: