PTA Newsletter - Easter 2026

Snack‑size summary

• The new Junior Playground is now open thanks to nearly £30,000 raised! • £5,500 raised since the New Year across all events.• Bake Sales, Flip-a-thon, Discos and Quiz Night were big successes.• Polefest (4^th July) buy your early-bird tickets now — headline act Natalie Gray.• Dates for the Diary:

o    Blue Class bake Sale (17/04) – Bake or Volunteer

o    Year 4 Bake Sale (24/04) Bake or Volunteer

o    Bag2School (07/05) Have a clear-out, support the school

o    1k Your Way (14/05), Sponsor a child & Volunteer

Dear Parents and Carers

Another term has whizzed by, and once again our amazing volunteers and wonderfully generous parents have outdone themselves. After the high of the Christmas Fair, I thought we might be in for a quieter spell… but with Quiz Nights, Discos, and the brilliant Flip‑a‑Thon, it’s been anything but! We’ve enjoyed some fantastic events, and Polefest planning is now well underway.

The standout moment, of course, has been the opening of the Junior Playground – a monumental achievement made possible by your generosity and the tireless work of the PTA. Since our last newsletter, we’ve raised an incredible £5,500, and you can read all about those events below.

You’ll also spot our fundraising tracker: our £25,000 target for the Infant Playground was certainly ambitious, but with a few events still to come, we’re hopeful we can raise enough to start the work this summer. We really can’t thank you enough for your ongoing support. Read on to find out more!

The Junior Playground is OPEN!

We’re thrilled to share that the new Junior Playground is officially open! After raising nearly £30,000 over the past few years—across the 22/23 and 24/25 school years—the PTA has been able to fully fund this fantastic new space for our children. Polly, Laura and Cat from the PTA team joined staff for the opening, and we’re sure you’ll agree it’s a brilliant addition that the children will enjoy for years to come.

We also received some wonderful words from Simon Rance, Head of Facilities, who summed up the moment perfectly:

“All around a great outcome and a massive thank you to the PTA and everyone involved — it wouldn’t be possible to do these amazing things across the two schools without you. Over the past couple of years, we’ve benefited from more than £50,000 from the PTA in projects alone.” He went on to highlight just a few of those:

New Junior library computer system

New AV for Juniors

New AV for Infants

Blue Class investment

Junior Playground project

“What an incredible set of parents, volunteers and helpers you really are!”

I’ve omitted the multiple smiley emojis to keep the newsletter short, but what wonderful feedback. A huge thank you to every parent who has supported our fundraising, and to the entire PTA team for making this happen. It’s a truly incredible achievement.

Bake Sales

The bake sales continue to be a fantastic success — and the perfect sweet treat for a Friday afternoon! Year 3’s streak of bad luck with the weather carried on this year, but despite the rain the team still turned out in force and made the most of it. The fundraising league is fast becoming a one‑horse race thanks to the incredible efforts of Year 5, though who knows — Blue Class and Year 4 could still pull it out of the bag!

A reminder that all bake sale funds go directly to the class hosting them, which means every biscuit bought or brownie baked goes straight back into resources and experiences that benefit your child’s day‑to‑day school life. A huge thank you to all our volunteer bakers, stall runners and enthusiastic customers — your support keeps this lovely tradition going and makes a real, immediate difference for the children.

Class	Bake Sales	Total Profit
Year 5	2	£488.00
Year 1	2	£434.00
Year 6	2	£387.50
Year 2	2	£373.00
Year 3	2	£366.00
Year 4	1	£253.90
Blue	1	£169.00

Flip-a-thon

One of our favourite events of the year! The Infant children showed some seriously impressive pancake‑flipping skills while raising money. It’s such a lovely, joy‑filled event — made possible once again by volunteers from our incredible parent community, who we’ve listed below. Thank you! A special shout‑out goes to Roxana Redondo for coordinating and organising the whole thing with her usual magic. And of course, huge congratulations to the winners of both the sponsorship and flipping competitions — we hope you enjoyed your prizes!

Flip-a-thon Superstars!
Charlotte Price	Katie Hogg	Jen Parsons	Abbie Moffatt
Corinne Weaver	Kerry Hood	Jihye Green	An Vu
Ellen Whiting	Laura Stevens	Johanna Harley	Ben Pinnington
Fumika Kariya-Jepson	Louise Rawson	Kate Lenton	Bernadette Gonelli
Gemma Gerzon	Sarah Pearce	Katey Mattey	Charlotte Henigan
Grace Langthorne

Discos

Both the Infant and Junior School discos were a huge success — the children had an absolute blast! A truly special thank you goes to Gemma Collins, who organised the Infants disco with her usual brilliance, and to Cat Hignell, who not only organised the Junior disco for the final time but also stayed on afterwards to tackle a mountain of tidying up. Cat, your dedication over the years has been nothing short of incredible — thank you for everything you’ve poured into these events.

And of course, a big thank you to all our amazing volunteers. These discos simply wouldn’t happen without your time, energy and enthusiasm.

Infant Disco Heroes		Junior Disco Champions
Charlotte Jian	Adrian Lenton	Amy Clarke	Jo McCoy
Louise Dawson	Abi Smith	Laura Farrar	Kat Howe
Rachael Reed	Jatinder Dhanoa	Polly Chandler	Estela Aguilar
Chris Cleeve	Florence Griffiths	Joanna Woodward	Diana Lascelles
An Vu	Louise Baird-Smith	Rebecca Cook	Michelle Dettman
Lorraine Griffin	Leigh-Anne Butler	An Vu	Helen Turner
Harriet Sandham	Cristina Popescu	Kat Howe	Peter Tang
Lauren Sweeney	Grace Langthorne	Louise Rawson	Iris Karabatos
Emma Couse	Sophie Yeates	Harriet Whittaker	Julie Crisp
Polly Chandler	Rosie Jahangard	Marta Paredes Losada	Chris Beresford
Lucy Hill	Tilly Miller
Special Thanks to the Teachers!
Mrs Gingell	Miss Tibbett	Mrs L Castell	Miss Heckert

Quiz Night

What a brilliant evening! Nine teams battled it out across rounds including Movies & Music, Geography & Science, and the always popular (And slightly terrifying) “What’s That?!” round. Congratulations again to ‘Carringtons bespoke Joinery for all your joinery needs’ who won almost comfortably on the night. Great fun was had by everyone. Sam Newman ran a fantastic bar, Lucy Newman and Gemma Collins helped set up and tidy – Thank you! Well done to all our teams and thank you for coming along to support! (and Mark, you owe me a beer! 😊) 

Polefest

Polefest is on the horizon, and we are excited to announce our headline act: Natalie Gray (BBC’s One to Watch). Also performing are The Mighty Triple O and Avenue. Tickets are now available with an early‑bird discount of just £5 — and kids go free! Visit the Polefest website for details.

What to book in now!

Coming up after the Easter break, we’ve got another full roster of events to look forward to. A quick note that Bag2School will be the final collection of the year, so it’s the perfect excuse for a spring clean and a good clear‑out before summer arrives!

Friday 17^th April – Blue Class Bake Sale

Friday 24^th April – Year 4 Bake Sale

Thursday 7^th May – Bag2School

Thursday 14^th May – 1K Your Way (Junior School)

Saturday 4^th July - Polefest

That’s a wrap!

Thanks for making it to the end — we hope you all have a lovely Easter break! Before you go, just two important things:

1. Everything we do is for the children. Every event, every fundraiser, every cupcake — it’s all about enriching their school experience and creating moments they’ll enjoy and benefit from.

Cont.

2. If you’ve ever thought about getting involved, now is a great time. We’re looking for extra hands for Polefest roles (from food and bar teams to entertainment and sponsorship), as well as new faces to help carry the PTA forward. Nothing is heavy‑duty — most roles are just a few hours a week — but together they create the events and experiences our children love.

Volunteering is genuinely fun, a brilliant way to meet other parents, and a chance to give something meaningful back to the school. Even one hour at an event makes a huge difference. If you’d like to join our lovely, friendly team, please get in touch.

Thank you again for all your support and have a cracking Easter!

John Hellmuth, PTA Co-Chair