We are proud to present...

We need you!

Want to ensure you get exactly what you want this Christmas? Then help out at the Rosendale School Christmas Fair on December 14th. We guarantee* that Santa will be watching, and anyone who helps us gets bonus Christmas cheer, alongside all the other things on your Christmas list. Really.

We will take as much or as little time as you can offer us. And we will try to arrange it that you can do something that interests you and fits into your work/childcare schedule. If you could email back (rosendalepta@gmail.com) and let me know that you are willing and able to help, that would be great. And if you could specify whether you would rather

A)    help out in advance of the day (sometimes better when you have small children and can’t look after them and do something at the fair)

B)    help out on the day, before the fair starts

C)    help out at the fair which takes place between 3.30-6pm

We will need help sourcing food (trips in a car to Lidl), baking gingerbread men and other goodies for some of the stalls, helping wrap presents, sourcing prizes for the adult and kids’ tombola decorating classrooms and playgrounds, making kids food for the high tea. The list is endless, which is why we really need your help! Just say when you can help and what kind of things you’d prefer to do, and we will try to accommodate. This is the PTA’s big chance to make some dosh and it (along with the summer fair) is when we really need your help.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Terms & conditions apply.

Be an angel...

Roll up! Roll up!

Got a spare iPad? Fancy donating it to the school? With the Christmas Fair approaching we’re on the hunt for great gifts for the tombola and other stalls. Don’t worry if it’s not quite an iPad – if you’ve got any toys, books or DVDs which are in good condition we will gratefully receive them. Just drop them off at the school’s reception.
We have something special planned for any books we get so please bring them in ASAP. We need the toys and DVD's by Friday 7th December, so bring them in then and we’ll recycle them. In fact we’ll have pretty much anything you can give us – nice bubble bath, soaps, unopened bottles of booze will all go down a storm on the tombola. All donations are needed by the 7th December.
We’d also love food donations: mince pies, small packets of crisps, fairy cakes etc for the children’s high tea. The last date to bring those in is the morning of the Friday December 14^th, which is the morning of the fair. Do email us before (rosendalepta@gmail.com) and let us know what you're going to bring so we don't buy too much stuff.
Think of it as a wonderful chance to declutter before you get inundated with another wave of Christmas gear! All the money we raise from the Christmas Fair will go towards revamping the Key Stage One and Two Playground, and make it a more fun place for the children to have their breaks.

Film Club!

Keep Friday 23rd November free if you have a budding pirate or a scientist in the making! Film Club are showing The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (U) for Key Stage 1 at 4pm.
Not only that, there will also be popcorn! A drink! A sweet treat! Fruit! All this fun will be held in the Key Stage 1 hall and places are limited. Children's tickets cost £2, adults come free! But all children must be accompanied by an adult (max 4 kids per adult) unless they are attending after-school club when they will be supervised by a member of staff.
Ask your child's teaching assistant for a form to fill in to reserve a place as we need your contact details and signature.
Plus! Do you have any old family favourites you'd love your child to see? Wizard of Oz? Bugsy Malone? 101 Dalmations? Let us know, drop us a line at rosendalepta@gmail.com and we'll see what we can do.

To dry for: Rosendale tea towels!

This beautiful thing is a pen and ink drawing of the Victorian part of the school, built by the London Schools Board in 1899. Not only that - it's a tea towel! This multi-purpose work of art was drawn by children from the school with help from Josey Scullard, the school's artist in residence. They'll be on sale at the Christmas Fair on Friday December 14th so you can get some. Great as presents for grandparents!

Free tea and donuts!

Yes! It's true. Free tea, donuts, a nice sit down and a natter. Could it be more perfect? All in the cosy environs of the school bus library. All we ask is that you take the old stickers off the books and replace them with bar codes so they can be entered onto a computer system. This is so the library bus book system is more organised. But enough of that. Free donuts! Free tea! See you there!
Where: the bus
When: 9.30am Tuesday 20th November
and 9.30am Wednesday 21st November

Quiz & Curry!

Happy Hallowe'en! And a very merry Christmas...

We hope you and your child had as much fun as we did at the Hallowe'en fair. Everyone put in a lot of effort making sure the grub was gruesome enough, the zombie dance-off was zany enough, and the spooky cakes were tasty rather than just scary. And we did our best to ensure those little cherubs were unrecognisable beneath the fangs, the face paint and all those tattoos.  
We'd love everyone to have as much fun at our Christmas Fair on December 14th. If you are interested in lending a hand please email rosendalepta@gmail.com   or come to our meeting on November 7th at the snug in the Half Moon pub at 8pm. 

We need people to come up with ideas (and implement them!), run stalls and help out on the day.  The more people who help, the merrier the Christmas Fair will be (all that Christmas cheer isn't just down to mulled wine, you know!). 
Hope to see you there.

MOO-HA-HA-HAA!

It's nearly Hallowe'en. Help!

Hallowe'en is coming and we're scared!
We have loads of brilliant things we would like to happen, but we need a little bit of help.
In our dreams: the playground will be lit by jack'o'lantern, spooky storytelling will take place in the secret garden, ghoulish grub (nourishing and slimy) will be sold, Zombie children will freak out to Thriller and no child will be untouched by face paint.
But we need your help to make this horrifying vision a reality.
We need: spooky cakes to sell, donations of old dressing up clothes, carved pumpkins and people to help out on the night. It's all taking place on Friday October 26th. We need people to help sell cakes, trick or treat bags, fang-tastic fangs, as well as dish up grub, paint grubby little faces, whatever  your skill, we can use it! Just drop Shona a line shonarowden@gmail.com.

Autumn Events!

Celebrating Halloween – Friday 26 October 

Contact: Shona Rowden shona@jelly-design.co.uk
We are planning an afternoon of spooky fun and games, to be held after-school. Activities we hope to provide include a spooky cake sale, scary face painting and tattoos, second hand Halloween costume / fancy dress sale, scary poem competition, hanging jam donuts, ‘trick or treat’, and prizes for the best carved pumpkin. We need help setting all of this up and running the stalls.

KS1 Film Club – Friday 23 November

Contact: Vicky Bentham, vickyalmey@hotmail.com

Always a sell-out, the KS1 Film Club was launched by the PTA last year. Children nominate the films they would like to watch. This popular event also provides an opportunity for parents to get together over tea, coffee and cake! We need support on the day making up goody bags, and ushering children to their seats.

Quiz and Curry night - Friday 30 November
Contact: Kate Arneil katearneil@hotmail.com
If you thought the Olympics were competitive you haven’t attended the Rosendale Quiz night. Always a fun evening, this year we are planning a quiz and curry night to take the chill out of winter.
Do you know a local caterer who may be interested in catering for the evening? We also need help running the bar, selling tickets and promoting the event.

Second Hand Uniform Sale
Contact: Sonia Castro soniacastrobrown@googlemail.com
A second hand uniform sale will be held during the second half of this term, so parents can stock up on uniform at bargain prices. Money raised will go to the school council. We will need help washing and logging second hand uniform ready for sale.

Christmas Fair – Friday 14 December
Contact: Claire McDonald claire.m.mcdonald@hotmail.co.uk
Rosendale transforms into a winter wonderland at the Christmas Fair. From Santa’s Grotto, to the children’s tea party, the fair includes a range of seasonal stalls and activities for children and grown-ups of all ages. We need loads of help organising all elements of this!

Our aim...

An active and thriving PTA is a great benefit to all children, parents and staff at the school, feeding the sense of community and bringing people together.  Membership is open to anyone who has a child in the school, and people can be involved at whatever level they want  – whether that is in an organisational or administrative role, or as a volunteer at any of the events. If you have a bit of time and/or a bit of energy, we’d love to have you!

There are regular planning meetings with all members invited to attend although it is understood that not everyone can make every meeting. The meetings are informal and social, and we work with the spirit of fun! People tend to take on roles and responsibilities in line with their own interest and abilities, and effort is made to keep tasks shared out rather than a couple of people shouldering too much. 

The overarching objectives of the PTA are:

·        To raise funds for anything that will enhance or enrich the children’s life at school. Recent purchases include the much-loved table tennis tables, and some new dining tables. New playground equipment is high on the agenda, and there are hopes to create a Rosendale in Bloom competition between the classes.  New ideas for where to focus funds are always welcome, and we need people with the enthusiasm to get them off the ground!

·        To support communication between staff, parents and pupils. Good communication in a busy school like Rosendale needs information to be fed out in different ways, and the PTA can help with this in a number of ways. Just being aware of any parents around you who might not be picking up vital news or messages is hugely beneficial to all, keeping everyone feeling in the loop and involved. The PTA liaises with staff on a frequent basis around the creation and organisation of events at the school, helping to strengthen relationships and understanding.

·        To bring parents together. Parents and guardians at school are a pretty social bunch, and we try to put on events that cater for different tastes. The Quiz Night is extremely popular and books up very quickly  - this year with an added ‘Curry Night’ spin! There is a Burns Night Ceilidh being mooted, and we would love to do an auction of promises – this has been highly successful at other local schools so it would be great to do a Rosendale version.

·        To run events which punctuate the school year, and bring the whole school together. The Christmas and summer fairs can be magical, and the children love to see the parents and teachers all involved together. 

·        To provide a creative resource for the school – parents are diverse in careers and talents, and bringing some of this into school on MAP day can be incredibly exciting for the children, opening their eyes and expanding their horizons. On Map days parents are invited to volunteer to run a workshop session for the kids on something they specialise in - we have had everything from dancing to animation, and new ideas are always very welcome.

·        To provide refreshments at school events such as Parents’ Evenings, or a glass of wine at Parent Forums. We do not have internal catering at the school, so it is a great opportunity for parents to help out and very appreciated by the school.

In short, the PTA is what we, the parents make of it. There are no set limits as to what we can do, and every PTA is different. We aim to make ours accessible, productive and creative, so if you are interested in getting involved in any way  - whether in an organisational capacity, or as a volunteer at events then please email us at rosendalepta@gmail.com.