It was a great first day back yesterday. The children looked fantastic in their uniforms and this was matched by their enthusiastic smiles and super behaviour. There were lots of happy teachers in St Bart’s yesterday! Well done, boys and girls!

As mentioned in the newsletter which went out yesterday (this can also be accessed in the ‘News’ section of the website), the interactive whiteboards throughout the school are now over ten years old and are in urgent need of replacement. Each board costs around £2500, so there is a significant amount of money for the school to find. If you’re unsure what a Smartboard is, here’s the sort of unit we’re planning to fit on the walls of all eight classrooms:

Thrifty use of the school budget over the past two years has allowed us to purchase over £20,000 of core resources including reading books, iPads, topic materials, musical instruments and science equipment. With these resources in place, we are now in a position to devote the bulk of this year’s budget to the new interactive whiteboards. However, even the most creative use of the 2014/15 budget will not free-up sufficient funds to purchase boards for all eight classrooms, so we will need to raise an additional £5000-£6000 through fund-raising over the next six months.

The Summer Fayre kick-started our fund-raising campaign and a number of events have been organised for the coming months. The first major fund-raiser will be the annual sponsored walk on Thursday 11th September (weather permitting) and the Parent Council have also organised a karaoke night for the evening of Friday 19th September. Please support our various fundraising events as much as you possibly can; all money raised will directly benefit your child over the coming years.