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Ice cream sales after school from Monday 28th April.

Dear Parents, Carers & Pupils

Well what a day – our grand summer fete is over and I am delighted to tell you all that we have raised in the region of eleven and a half thousand pounds (yes eleven and a half thousand).  We still have some bills to pay and are waiting for “matched funding” from our two main sponsors Barclays Bank and Mercer.  Huge thanks to Andrew Cranwell and Jackie Gibbons for securing this funding.  This wonderful total will go back into the school for the benefit of all the children.

I hope you all had an enjoyable day – it was lovely to see so many past pupils there with their families catching up with friends.  There was a wonderful mix of stalls, displays and entertainment – something for everyone and this was evident by the number of people who relaxed on the field banks enjoying the sunshine, food and pleasant atmosphere.  Sadly there we were very disappointed that the children’s rides did not turn up as agreed especially as we have left that large area in front of Radio St Helier for them – nevertheless the children made full use of our three bouncy castles and the electric cars on the infant playground (many thanks to Billy Lawlor for bringing these along).

An event such as the fete would not be possible without an enormous amount of help and support from many people. The list is vast and I hope not to miss anyone but thanks go to:

• Mr Beck and all the staff at St James the Great for all the tasks and activities they helped with
• Infant & Junior Dance Festival participants
• St James the Great Gym Club
• Conor Academy of Irish Dancing
• Our International singers
• Mick Duffy (collecting and transporting tables and returning them all on Monday morning)
• Dave Goldsmith  for his endless cooking at the BBQ (including the 9am slot for early morning helpers)
• Sheila Williams for her advice and guidance on catering matters
• Mr Lessler (Ambulance Service) along with St John’s Ambulance
• Simon Kelsell (website)
• Radio St Helier; Bishop Thomas Grant School; St Joseph’s College and St Bartholomew’s Church
• Stall Sponsors & Fete Programme Advertisers
• Companies & Individuals who donated Grand Draw raffle prizes
• Richard McPherson & John Leathem – fete programme
• Pupils and staff from Year 5 for their delicious homemade biscuits
• To those parents who loaned us their microwaves and extension leads
• To those parents that did lots of tasks in the run up to the fete – you know who you are – sorting books, groceries, bottles, folding raffle tickets, washing toys and shopping
• To everyone who sent in donations (own clothes days), baked cakes, supplied plants or cooked for our fantastic International Food Hall (thanks to Mrs Mascarenhas for coordinating this ever popular stall)
• To those parents (especially dads, granddads, uncles etc) who were with us very early on Sunday morning to help set up and to many of you who were with us at the very end of the day to clear up (the worst job of all)
• To everyone who gave their time to work on stalls.  Sadly some people did not turn up for their allocated time so my sincere apologies to those of you who got stuck on a stall for longer than expected. 

Please forgive me if I have missed anyone out – so many of you supported the Fete in so many ways.

I would personally like to thank my fellow Committee members for a superb team effort.  Finally to my own two boys and my husband Alan who have totally supported me in this enormous role. 

If you have any comments, about the fete, we’d be delighted to hear them (good or bad) as this will help enormously when a new coordinator takes on the role in 2011.  The Friends Committee will be meeting shortly to have a post Fete discussion so drop us an email fete2009@stjamesthegreat.org or speak to any committee member.

Bridie Willis -
Fete Co-ordinator

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