22nd May 2023
Dear Parents,
Supporting Our Wonderful School
Hello everyone, I am so pleased to contact you with another update from the PTFA. This will be one of my final communications as I will be stepping down from the role as Chair at the end of this term. I would like to say a special thank you to all the parents, staff and committee for all their support whilst I have had the privilege to be part of the PFTA.
I am really pleased to announce that the committee have appointed a new chair, Mr Biswa Malla. We are working together over this term to ensure a smooth handover.
In the meantime, there is a huge amount going on over the next few weeks. Please can all parents kindly look through the list below and think about how you can help with any of these areas.
£2 Coronation Mufti Day Donation on Friday 26th May 2023
Please support the PTFA mufti day on Friday 26th May 2023. This mufti day is open to all year groups apart from Year 11 and Year 13 who are sitting Public Exams. Pupils are welcome to wear their own clothes and make a £2 donation. Pupils are invited to wear any items of clothing which are Red, Blue or Gold to represent the month of the Kings Coronation. The money raised will go towards various projects in school and we will also be making a donation to the Lourdes Pilgrimage.
Please Urgently Donate Your Old School Uniform
We are going to offer a uniform recycle service for new and existing parents. The priority is to make this uniform available to new Year 7 parents on their Induction Day. We will also provide uniform to other parents at the Christmas Fair later in the year. If you are an existing parent, who would like items from the recycled uniform stock before next term starts, the only way we can offer this to you is if you sign up to be a helper at the Year 7 Induction Day (see details below).
Donating second hand/unwanted uniform is a wonderful idea which helps other parents and is also beneficial for the environment. So please can parents gather old uniform items and send these into the School Office by Friday, 23rd June 2023 as follows:
Uniform
St Bernard’s School Blazer for Girls and Boys
St Bernard’s school Tie
Dark charcoal grey trousers
Navy blue, knee length skirts
PE Kit
Navy blue sports shorts
Navy blue jogging/tracksuit bottoms
Uniform sports bag
Please note it will be a huge task for the PTFA to organise the donations and sell them to parents. So please help us with making sure all uniform donations are in reusable good condition and are sent in washed/ironed and neatly bagged up. Please also note that this service is only limited to the items outlined above. Please DO NOT send it any other items like books, shirts, blouses, socks, tights, footwear, shin pads, or any other PE items not listed above.
Please also note that we are only asking for items which are usable with the new Uniform rules announced by the school which will come into effect from September 2023 - Uniform Sept 2023. Finally, please note that I have contacted School Days Direct about the embroidery service on PE items. They state that parents can easily unpick any existing embroidery initials and the shop will be happy to provide their normal initial embroidery service, at a cost, to go over any old, removed embroidery area on the clothing.
Volunteer at the PTFA Uniform Recycle Stall on 4th July 2023 - Year 7 Parents Induction Event
We will need parents to come in and sort through all the donations on the morning of this event from 8.00am onwards. The actual event starts at 9am and the new parents will be able to visit the stall around 10.30am. We will need volunteers to lay the items out, help the new Year 7 parents with any queries, take the money and put unsold items away. I estimate volunteers will be needed until 12noon. All items will be sold for either £1 or £2 and all proceeds will go the PTFA. If you would like to be a volunteer for the whole morning or any part of the morning, please urgently get in touch via the contact details shown below.
Help out on Cultural Celebration Day during lunchtime on 20th July 2023
The school are organising a Cultural Day on 20th July 2023 and the PTFA will be organising food and drinks during the lunch time period whilst pupils and staff will be enjoying a picnic. We need volunteers between the times of 12noon to 3pm who can set up the stalls, sell items and clear up afterwards. If you would like to be a volunteer for the whole period or any part of the timings, please urgently get in touch via the contact details shown below.
Please use ParentPay to sign up for the 400 Club
I definitely need more help from all parents please regarding 400 Club. The 400 Club has been running for many years and pays for the running costs and the uptake of the St Bernard's minibus. However, we are falling short of the annual revenues needed to pay for the bus which comes to about £5000 per year.
Please can I ask all parents who have not yet done so to purchase their annual 400 Club ticket. The price is £15.50 inclusive of a 50p admin charge. You can buy your ticket every year via ParentPay. Please note that if you usually purchase your ticket via ParentPay, these do not renew automatically. You need to continue to purchase these annually via ParentPay.
How does 400 Club work?
- 400 Club has been running for many years and pays for the running costs and the uptake of the St Bernard's minibus. It is called the 400 Club as 400 shares were thought to be the optimum per year for running the bus.
- Parents/Staff and Friends buy shares for £15 each and each annual £15 purchase gives entry into three annual Draws.
- The prizes per draw equate to £450 per annum therefore £150 per draw. 1st Prize: £75, 2nd Prize £50, 3rd Prize £25.
- There are two ways to buy shares: Direct Debit payments into 400 Club bank account or through entry set up via Parentpay.
- We have set up a new efficient process to select winners and winners are selected each September. We use the banking information to list everyone who bought a ticket between 1st Sept to 31st August. The PTFA Treasurer then uses an excel automated selection tool to choose the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winner for each of the three draws.
- The prize winners are contacted via email to arrange payment.
Joining the PTFA Planning Committee
Thank you to all the parents who have got in touch with me to offer their help and support to the PTFA. For any new parents looking to get involved please do email me urgently if you would specifically like to be part of the planning Committee. The committee members will take on the following responsibilities:
- Meet on a regular basis (typically every couple of months via online meetings)
- Contribute ideas and agree the focus of PTFA activities to be organised throughout the year
- Own specific projects arising from PTFA planning activities
Please be assured if you don’t want to be part of the committee but would just prefer to just help out on an ad-hoc basis that is absolutely fine.
Please use Easy Fundraising.
When doing your online shopping please use Easy Fundraising using the link:
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stbernardsptfasl/
Thank you for reading this letter. Please remember to look through the list simple ideas I have put forward and choose a couple where you can support the PTFA.
If you would like further information about joining us or have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. My contact details are as follows:
Tel: 0758 4492733
Email: ptfa@st-bernards.slough.sch.uk
Warm regards,
Neelam Sharma
Chair of St Bernard’s PTFA
Tel: 07584 492733
Email: ptfa@st-bernards.slough.sch.uk