Welcome to Keston PTA

Next event!

Keston Family BBQ
Friday 16th July from 6.30pm to 9.30pm.
Tickets £2 from school office. 

PTA News- Summer 2010

It’s hard to believe that we’re at the end of yet another school year – it sounds like a cliché but how quickly time flies by. We’ll be very sad to say good bye to our current Year 6 students and of course many of the parents who are leaving the school with them. To those without younger siblings still in school – many thanks for all the support and help you have given to the PTA over the year. Many of the Year 6 parents have been actively involved with fundraising over the years and we shall miss you all very much.

There is no need to be a stranger however, as from October 2010 at the next PTA AGM we are proposing a name change and suggest that the PTA be known as the ‘Friends of Keston School’ so ex -pupils, parents and members of the local community are still very welcome if they wish to help support fundraising activities in the future.

Round up of the year.

It’s been a fantastic year for fundraising at Keston and at the last count we have raised in excess of £14,000 for the school this year, which given the current climate is no mean feat! Your generosity has helped the school begin work on a new play area for Reception and they are in the process of purchasing new signage and colourful artwork for the infant and junior play grounds.

The committee and team of class reps and regular helpers have worked extremely hard this year and highlights include the first ever Christmas Fair which raised £2000 but more importantly was a great fun day with a lovely Santa’s grotto, children’s activities, stallholders and a Christmas Café. We had a fantastic turn out and will be planning another one in December!

The Quiz and Curry night was also a huge hit with special thanks to David Abraham’s who made an excellent quizmaster. Everyone who attended wanted us to hold another one so we are, in October – watch this space for more details as it will be a popular event!

In addition to these events we have also held the regular and very popular children’s Christmas & Easter Disco’s, a Bingo night, the Spring Ball and of course the annual Summer Fete which was an amazing event which raised a record breaking £7,200!

This week see’s the last of the PTA events for this school year with the ever-popular family BBQ taking place on Friday 16th July. At the time of writing we have sold almost 300 tickets and know that there are still many of you who will want to come along, so please get your requests into the office as a matter of urgency. As ever, this event is not meant to be fundraisers but a ‘Thank You’ to all who have supported the school over the last year. It’s a great night out for all, so we hope to see you there.


Next Year

We have already started planning events for the autumn term with a ‘New Parent Social’ evening being held on September 30th. The Quiz night scheduled for October and will run directly after the AGM. We are determined to recruit new blood onto the PTA this year especially as a number of the current committee will be standing down at the AGM.

We will are saying goodbye to Yvonne Phillips, Lisa Price and Gaynor Clark who have all worked extremely hard over the last few years but feel its time to let some new people with fresh ideas step up to the mark.

This year we were delighted that Liz Laing, Lisa Parsons, Andrea Priestley and Diana Bennett all joined the committee and that they plan to stay on for another year with Lindsey Moore, Angela Martin, Louise Banister, Elaine Drummond and Fiona Tribe. We do need some new volunteers to help them though so please, please think about taking on a role; either on the committee, as a class rep or as a regular volunteer at events. We are hoping to raise money to buy the school a mini bus next year which will be a fantastic resource for all our children and something we can all help raise funds for.

We will also be launching the Keston Business directory on our website in September. If you run a local business and have an affiliation with the school, please contact us to see how your business can benefit by advertising your services on the website.

Thank You

This year we have benefited from excellent support from the school with Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Abrahams working actively with the PTA to help ensure the smooth running of events. Our current class reps have also done a great job and so have all the teachers who have helped at events or donated time and items to help raise money. Many thanks to the Office staff, Carol, Linda and Claire who do so much to support us and also to our caretaker Paul Price.

Most of all, thank to the parents and children of Keston School who continue to do what they can to raise much needed funds. We’re still an outstanding school and we have outstanding support – so thank you everyone who has helped us this year!

Have a wonderful and safe summer, and we’ll see you in the Autumn!

Best wishes,

Yvonne Phillips, Liz Laing, Diana Bennett, Lindsey Moore, Angela Martin, Elaine Drummond, Louise Banister, Fiona Tribe, Andrea Priestley, Lisa Price, Gaynor Clark, Claire Murphy – Keston PTA Committee 2010