What is Friends of St Catherine’s?

We are a voluntary fundraising committee made up of parents and carers of children at the school, members of the school staff and other interested people from the community.

What do the Friends of St Catherine’s do?

We are keen to support the school by actively organising events and fundraising ideas for the benefit of all of the children at St Catherine’s C of E Primary and Nursery School. The school budget only goes so far, so the money we raise will go towards purchasing additional items and educational experiences for the children. We plan to organise events throughout the school year, such as discos, Doughnut Friday’s, Cake days, Summer ice lolly sales, Fetes and many more! Our aim throughout the year is to raise as much money as possible and have fun along the way.

We agreed the twomain purposes of our PTA is to advance the education of pupils in the school by:

• Developing effective relationships between staff, parents and others associated with the school
• Engaging in activities or providing facilities or equipment which support the school and advance the education of the pupils.

How can you help?

We will hold regular committee meetings to lead the organisation of our events. Anyone is always welcome to join us at any of our meetings. It doesn’t matter if you can’t commit to every meeting or if you don’t want to commit to a role, often we just need willing helpers to support on the day of events. We all lead busy lives so come along when you can, we love to see new faces! If you cannot make our meetings, and would like to share your thoughts or volunteer to help out, then grab one of us in the playground or leave a message in the school office. Support from parents and carers is vital to the Friends of St Catherine’s being a success. Your donations and support at our events is greatly appreciated and will really make a difference to our children!

What are cake days, doughnut Fridays and Summer ice lolly sales?

On a cake day we will ask the children from two classes to bring in cakes (home-made or shop bought). Anything goes – flapjacks, fairy cakes, rice crispy cakes, gingerbread men etc. At the beginning of the week we will send your child home with a paper plate to fill with cakes/a cake for the cake sale. This will act as a reminder but will also provide you with something to bring the cakes to school on. Should you wish to use a cake box from home please ensure that both the box and lid are clearly labelled with your child’s name so that they can be returned to you easily.

Friends of St Catherine’s members and staff/volunteers will run the cake/doughnut stalls, which will usually be held in the playground after school or in the hall if it is raining.

We will send out reminders the week before the cake day so you know when it’s your turn to donate cakes and so you can remember to bring in change to buy your family lots of yummy cakes! Cakes will be sold for 30p each or 4 for £1.

Doughnut Fridays take place on some Fridays. This proves to be a very popular after school treat. Friends of St Catherine’s will provide the doughnuts at 50p each. This will be advertised the week before and usually held in the playground after school or in the hall if it is raining.

Ice Lollies – during the summer term, Friends of St Catherine’s hold ice lolly sales on a Friday, after school in the playground. This will be advertised the week before to give you plenty of notice. Friends of St Catherine’s will provide the ice lollies at 50p each and will be held in the playground after school.

How do you find out more?

We will send out a newsletter every term to keep you up-to-date with planned events and what help we’d like for the events or what you can do to support us. We will also send out reminders for each of our meetings and everyone is welcome to attend – we’d love to see some new faces!

We now have a new Facebook page. Please search Friends of St Catherine’s Heathfield and like and follow the page to keep up to date with our events and fundraising successes! No photos of children will be posted. This is a private page and moderated by Friends of St Catherine’s.

Who do you contact for further information?

You can speak to Mrs McCaig who can put you in touch with one of us, or ask around on the playground – someone you know probably knows one of us! Please feel free to approach any of us if you’d like more information or have any questions or suggestions. At present we are a small team and would really like some new, friendly faces to help us along the way.