Christmas Fayre

Many thanks to all who helped at the Christmas Fayre on 4th December! There was a good number of stalls, with parents helping pupils to decorate baubles ready for the Christmas tree and decorate gingerbread trees ready to eat! Mrs Wapples sold some beautiful cushions, pyjama cases and Christmas decorations and Tracey Townend sold PartyLite candles, with Pam providing gorgeous bespoke jewellery. In addition, there was a visit from Santa and an opportunity to win luxury beauty and food hampers as well as a helicopter, jar of sweets and cuddly toys!

About £500 was raised from the fayre; photos to follow soon!

Updates

The Bag2School Recycling Day raised £42, so many thanks to all who brought in items for that.

Please note that the Christmas Fayre has been re-scheduled and will now be on Friday 4th December from 3 p.m. until 4.30 p.m. Come along to peruse the stalls, join in different games and listen to the Juniors sing Christmas carols! Refreshments will be on sale.

To make this event its usual resounding success, we need YOUR help! Please send in hamper items and bottles for the Lucky Dip bottle stall and don't forget we need your home baking for the Bake 'n' Take stall.

Coming soon....

The Bag2School Recycling Day will be this coming Tuesday (17th November.) Bags have gone out this week, so please have a good clear through your clothes, shoes and bags and bring them into school at 9 a.m. to raise money for the school! Please note that we can't accept towels, bedding or curtains.

The Christmas Fayre will be on Friday 27th November, starting at 3 p.m. and ending at 4.30 p.m. There will be a variety of stalls selling items (craft items, cards, jewellery, candles, sweets etc.) at the Fayre and there will also be a range of home baking on sale as well as competitions, face painting and games for everyone as well as Santa’s Grotto to visit. The Café will be open and serving hot pulled pork sandwiches and refreshments.

As usual, we will be running Hamper competitions, so if you can contribute items for the food/beauty hamper or the bottle stall we would be most grateful. Please send these in as soon as possible. We need to know the value of the items being donated for the hampers, as the competition is to guess the overall value of each hamper.

We will also need home baking for the cake stall, so please bring in these items that morning.

Pupils from Y7 upwards can help with running the stalls, but permission must be given by parents as the Fayre doesn't end until 4.30 p.m.

What's happening...

Quite a few changes are happening with FHHS. At the recent AGM, a new committee was formed:

• Chair           Jane Hen
• Secretary    Mike Stead
• Treasurer    Julie Stead

If you want to contact any of the committee or suggest new ideas, please contact Mike Stead at the school office (tel: 01226 211011)

The recent Bake 'n' Take was very successful and the next major event is the Christmas Fayre, which will be held on Friday 27th November from 3-4.30 p.m. Items for the food hamper and beauty hamper are required in school now, along with bottles for the 'Lucky Dip' stall.

If you would like to be involved in helping at the Christmas Fayre or just want to know more about FHHS, why not come along to the next planning meeting on Monday 9th November at 7.30 p.m. in school?

New year ahead!

Schools in the UK operate on the principle that the new year starts in September... and so it's not long until the start of the new academic year 2015-2016. Today (20th August) has seen GCSE results published; that really is the end of the old academic year! In just a few weeks' time, pupils will be gathering for a fresh start!

Last year was busy from so many points of view. Of particular note was the way that pupils rallied round the Pupil Enterprise Scheme, raising £494.19 through their creative schemes. Over the summer, benches and other furniture for the outdoor play area have been purchased and we look forward to seeing them installed for the new year. 

Other highlights of last year included Bake 'n' Takes (where people's skill and ingenuity in creating amazing food leaves us in awe and profit), a Christmas Fayre, a spring ceilidh and Easter Egg tombola. We hope to see new ideas and new faces as we start afresh in September, so we hope many of you will come to the Annual General Meeting on Monday 21st September at 7.30 p.m. to plan for the year ahead.

Coming soon...!

We are about to start the final half-term of the 2014-2015 academic year and as always, it's hard to believe that another school year is almost over. During this year, we have been involved in numerous Bake 'n' Takes, a Christmas Fair, Bag2School recycling days and other ways of fund-raising including the really successful Pupil Enterprise Scheme. As always, however, we need new blood and new ideas if we are to find creative ways of fund-raising that really help the pupils at Hope House School.

If you have any ideas, please do come along to the next Planning meeting on Monday 15th June at 7.30 p.m. at school.

Our final Bake 'n' Take of the year will be on Monday 22nd June at 3 p.m. and as well as selling our usual delicious home baking provided by parents and friends of the school, we hope to sell strawberries and cream to celebrate the tennis season! We hope you'll be able to provide lots of lovely baking for this event.

Dates for the diary

After an interesting planning meeting last night, we have some more 'dates for the diary'!

1. Tuesday 12th May will be the Bag2School Recycling Day. Please bring all unwanted clothes, towels, bags, shoes and bedding to school by 9 a.m. that day.
2. The next Bake 'n' Take will be on Monday 18th May at 3 p.m. Any help with home baking is always appreciated!
3. The next FHHS Planning Meeting will be on Monday 15th June at 7:30 p.m. at school. Everyone is welcome and we are particularly keen to welcome parents of pupils who have recently started in school. 
4. We are holding a 'Wimbledon Bake 'n' Take' on Monday 22nd June at 3 p.m. Home baking is needed for this and we are hoping to serve strawberries and cream as well!
   

Updates

Many thanks to all who supported the Bake 'n' Take before Easter and who contributed so many lovely Easter eggs to our Easter egg tombola. The combined events raised about £120 and it was great to see so much tasty home made baking and chocolate eggs!

Come along to the Friends' meeting on Monday 20th April at 7:30 p.m. to plan further events for the summer term. Don't forget the Bag2School Recycling Day which will be on Tuesday 12th May. Bags will be going out this week, so watch out for them and take the opportunity in this lovely spring weather for a good clear-out of clothes you no longer need!

Bake 'n' Take

Thanks to all who provided home baking for the Bake 'n' Take on Monday 9th February and to all who bought items! We raised just over £65 at this event.

Bake & Take 9th February

Just a reminder that the Bake 'n' Take is on Monday 9th February at 3 p.m. Don't forget to bring your home baking in on Monday morning!

Ceilidh news

Last night's ceilidh at Kexborough Social Club was an opportunity to be involved in a social event whilst raising funds (about £100 profit) for the school. It was led by Dr Tom & No Mean Feet, to whom we are very grateful for their donation of time and skills to help us:

A good number of staff and parents supported the event:

And there really was dancing!

Revised ceilidh time

Please note that the FHHS Ceilidh on Saturday 7th February will start at 7.30 p.m. and not 7.00 p.m. as previously advertised. Kexborough Social Club does not open until 7.00 p.m. and the band need time to set up before we can start!

Tickets are still available from the school office, costing £4 for adults and £3 for children under 16. Don't forget that drinks will be available from the bar.

We hope this will be a great opportunity to socialise with friends, parents, staff and pupils as well as raise funds for the school!

Bake & Take

Not only do we have the ceilidh on 7th February to look forward to, the next Bake 'n' Take is on Monday 9th February at 3 p.m. Please bring home baking in that morning for us to sell!

Get your tickets now!

Don't forget to get your tickets for the FHHS ceilidh from the school office now. Tickets cost £4 for adults and £3 for children under 16. The ceilidh is on Saturday 7th February, starting at 7 p.m. at Kexborough Social Club.

Kexborough Social Club 

Churchfield Lane

Darton

Barnsley, 
South Yorkshire 
S75 5DU.

From Barnsley town centre, you need to take West Way and head to Gawber Road, following the hospital signs.
Take the A635 (Redbrook Road, Barugh Green Road)
Follow the A637 to Bence Lane and then turn left onto Churchfield Lane. 
It takes about 15 minutes by car from school.

New year... new events!

Happy New Year! Last term was a great success in terms of fund-raising. The Christmas Fayre raised £463 and the Pupil Enterprise Scheme raised a massive £494.19 profit. The saying that from little acorns grow giant oak trees is definitely apt! We gave 24 pupils £2 each and they went out with a vast array of schemes... baking and selling buns and foods, washing cars, counting the number of sweets in a jar, helping at farmers' markets and car boot sales, devising quizzes and games... and the net result is almost £500 to spend on projects to be decided by the school's Pupil Council. Megan Withers raised over £100 and so received a prize for her great efforts, but we are truly grateful to all the pupils and their family and friends who worked so hard.

The next FHHS Planning Meeting is on Monday 19th January at 7:30 p.m. in school and all are welcome to attend this. We have two events already booked in for the spring term:

1. Dr Tom's No Mean Feat ceilidh band will be hosting a ceilidh for us at Kexborough Social Club (Churchfield Lane, Darton, Barnsley, S75 5DU) on Saturday 7th February at 7 p.m. Adult tickets cost £4 and tickets for children under 16 are £3. Tickets are available from the school office.
2. The next Bake 'n' Take will be on Monday 9th February at 3 p.m. at school.
   

Christmas Fayre

Many thanks to all who helped at and supported the Christmas Fayre held in school yesterday afternoon! The event was another resounding success, with just over £463 profit raised.

Prize winners from the competitions and games are listed below:

• ·         Body Shop hamper         Hannah Wagstaff
• ·         Beauty hamper                 Mugge family
• ·         Food hamper 1                 Joanne Armitage
• ·         Food hamper 2                 Mr Hoyle
• ·         Treasure Hunt                   Miriam Mugge

Photos will be on the blog next week, I hope, but in the meantime, our thanks go to all who contributed to making this such a successful fund-raising event:

•  The Primary pupils and staff who opened the event with their beautiful carol singing
• Jo Huddleston & her cafe volunteers who provided drinks and amazing hot turkey sandwiches all afternoon
• All the stall holders who had such lovely gifts on offer (Heather, Sam, Angie, Jane, Pam and Emily)
• Amber Roberts (former pupil) who worked so hard painting nails 
• Julie Stead & Emma Methven who kept pupils entranced with decorating baubles (and me slightly less than entranced with hoovering all that glitter up...!)
• all the pupils who helped with face-painting and serving at stalls
• Su Wood for organising the 'Lucky Dip' for children and Santa's Grotto
• all the FHHS committee who worked so hard behind the scenes organising the event and contributing to it
• all the parents and friends who donated items for the home baking and many other gifts and whose presence at the event made it so successful

We hope you enjoyed the fayre and look forward to seeing you in the New Year for more events!

Coming soon...

• Next FHHS planning meeting is on Monday 19th January at 7:30 p.m. at school
• Next FHHS event is the ceilidh with Dr Tom & No Mean Feet at 7 p.m. at Kexborough Social Club

Coming soon...

The Christmas Fayre is only just over a week away! It will be on Friday 28th November, starting at 3 p.m. with the Primary children singing carols and will go on until 5 p.m. Refreshments will be served in the cafe area.

We have a variety of stalls and activities on offer:

• Hampers to be won
• Craft & card stalls
• Home baking
• Nail painting
• Treasure Map
• Connect 4 & roll-a-penny games
• Lucky Dip bottle stall
• Decorate a Christmas bauble
• Santa's Grotto

We are grateful for all the people who will be selling their wares at the fayre and to all the children who are getting involved. Do come along if you can!

November events

Quite a few things are happening in November!

Bag2School Recycling
This is on Tuesday 11th November and bags have been distributed this week. We are collecting clothes, bags, paired shoes (tied together) and jewellery. No towels or bedding, please. All items need to be brought into school on Tuesday morning.

Christmas Pudding Orders
Order forms for Christmas puddings need to be returned (along with payments) by Friday 14th November. We get more discount if we send in a block order and so it won't be possible to process late orders. Please make sure you send these back to me via the school office. Cheques should be made payable to 'Friends of Hope House School.'

FHHS Planning Meeting
This will now be on Monday 17th November at 7.30 p.m. (changed from 10th November). Come along and be involved in sorting out arrangements for the Christmas Fayre.

Christmas Fayre
This is on Friday 28th November from 3-5 p.m. Many thanks to all who have responded so magnificently to our appeal for hamper items. Now all we need are bottles for the Lucky Dip stall!

Senior pupils are always invited to help out with the Christmas Fayre, but because they will need to stay until 5 p.m., parental consent is required. Letters went out yesterday, so please return these as soon as possible.

Looking forward to your ongoing support.

Pupil Enterprise Scheme

Why should fund-raising be left to the adults?!

We believe that young people have loads of great ideas for fund-raising and so we have launched the Hope House School Pupil Enterprise Scheme. Based on the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30), the idea is that we give pupils who wish to be involved in this scheme £2 to invest in their own fund-raising ideas. They might use the money to buy flour, butter and eggs and bake buns to sell to their friends and family. Or they may use the money to buy a bucket and sponge and offer to wash cars for their relatives as a way of earning money. The sky is the limit as far as ideas are concerned!

Pupils who want to be involved in this scheme just need to bring the parent permission slip back to school by this Thursday (23rd October) and they will be given the £2 to invest. They need to bring the funds raised into school (along with a brief note saying what they did to raise this money) by 5th December. All we ask is that the methods used are both ethical and legal!

Pupils will have a direct say in how these funds are spent. Through the Pupil Council, suggestions will be submitted and the Pupil Council will choose the ideas they think are best and all the monies raised will go towards these ideas. FHHS promises to give every participant a certificate and there will be prizes for the most raised and the most innovative fund-raising idea.

So don't forget to return the permission slips and let's find some new ways to raise funds!

Updates

Thanks to all who baked and attended the Bake 'n' Take today. We raised £71.97 at that event.

Don't forget that if you want your child to take part in the Pupil Enterprise Scheme, you must return the permission slips by Thursday 23rd October. We hope many of the pupils will use the £2 given to them to invest in schemes to fund raise for the school. Money will be given to the pupils on Friday before half-term (hence the need for permission slips to be in by Thursday!) and their amounts raised (along with details of how they raised them) should be handed in by 5th December.

All parents should now have had their order forms for Christmas Puddings. These need to be handed in by Friday 14th November at the latest.

Other dates for the diary include the Bag2School Recycling Day on Tuesday 11th November and the Christmas Fayre on Friday 28th November. We now have enough items for the Beauty Hamper, but we still need items for the luxury food hamper. Items needed for this include:

• luxury chocolates and biscuits
• cheese biscuits
• cranberry sauce, horseradish sauce, mint sauce etc.
• turkey gravy
• mince pies
• Christmas pudding
• Christmas cake
• brandy butter
• tea
• coffee
• preserves
• chutneys & pickles
• pickled onions
• nuts
• crisps
• Christmas crackers
• champagne
• brandy
• chestnuts
• stuffing

We also need bottles bringing in to school for the Lucky Dip stall.