St James the Great R.C (V.A) Primary & Nursery School

AGM 2000

THE FRIENDS ASSOCIATION

The Friends Association has once again had a very successful year. This has included a variety of events throughout the year including, a race night, fashion shows, a Valentines Dinner Dance and a family barbecue which was held indoors due to inclement weather conditions, seeing the use of the marquee purchased the previous year. This event was none the less successful as a result of this format and in fact many felt it was a better "modus operandi"! The highlight of this year was undoubtedly the New Year’s Party for the Millennium. It was an unforgettable function for the 400+ people attending. The event included fireworks and a champagne breakfast.

Last summer the school took delivery of a new 17-seater mini-bus, which has been well used by all members of the St. James community plus others. This is in addition to our 52 seater coach and now enables a whole school year group to go on educational visits together. The Friends Association accept that there will be ongoing financial commitments in order to support the running of these vehicles. We are currently looking into either replacing or refurbishing the now ageing coach.

To enhance the area of Monitoring in ICT, the Friends Association purchased for the school a weather station, which will be mounted on the new roof. This will provide the viewing of live and stored information on climatic conditions in the local area and, via links with other stations, climatic conditions across the world.

Although the primary aim of the Friends Association is to raise funds to support the school, the events we run have a great social value adding to the special community spirit that has developed over the years at St James the Great School. The Friends Association have now been granted club licence facilities that will now negate the need to obtain individual licences for each event at which alcohol is served

The Friends Association Committee thanks everyone associated with the school community for their continued support.