Situations Vacant

There's definitely a frosty atmosphere here at POWSA Towers following the revelation that, due to my advancing years and ever expanding middle age spread, I will no longer be considered for the role of Elf at this years Christmas Fair.

Apparently my new found "maturity and cuddliness" make me a more suitable candidate for the role of Santa's understudy than his assistant. Which leaves us with a slight problem, who can help the main man at the fair?

The ideal candidate would be someone who is young, funny, caring, considerate, confident, gregarious and likes to dress up in loud clothes, pointy shoes and fun hats. If you have pointy ears that would be considered a bonus but those of us mere mortals with rounded appendages may still apply.

If you know anyone who would be willing to help out, full training will be provided (Open Door, smile, say hello, introduce Santa, smile some more, open door, say goodbye and then repeat).

If any of the Prince of Wales children have an older sibling who you would just love to see dressed as an elf then feel free to ask them if they would be willing to help.

Please don't send us your CV, just stop one of us POWSA people and have a chat, we could really use your help.

Right, that's enough from me for now, I have to practice for my role as understudy............ pass the mince pies Rudolph, no don't worry you can have the carrot,

T.F.I. Flapjack

Here at POWSA Towers we see that the winter festivities are closing fast as the nights are getting darker and the family calendar resembles a Jackson Pollock with random lines seeming to fill every space. Rehearsals here, parties there, clubs and activities everywhere and, yes, my handwriting is that bad.

We have the delights of Autumn Fest to look forward to (that's next Saturday in case you have missed it), a cake sale on Friday for Children in Need and then the build up to Christmas starts in earnest. This is on top of a full half term for the school, I don't know if anyone else had grumpy monkeys on Friday but we all knew they had been back to school.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog, the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that on Friday there was a small sale of carrot cake and flapjacks outside of years 1 & 2. This was the first run of Thank Friday It's Flapjack where we will be selling small snippets of cake to help fundraising. The plan is this will occur every Friday (if the school have a cake sale on the same week we will donate our profits to the schools cause) from now on until the weather becomes glorious enough for the sale of ice creams and lollies again.

The cakes are all supplied to POWSA by a local day care centre and are prepared and made freshly every Friday by the staff and the people who attend and use the services there. As we are a school that actively seeks to improve the educational offering of our own pupils within the SEND framework it is great that we can also offer adults with similar challenges an outlet for their culinary skills.

As a result of the provenance of our cakes we cannot guarantee that they will be suitable for anyone who suffers from allergies, the kitchen they are prepared in is used for a variety of culinary assignments throughout the week. If you need any advice please ask us and we will always give you any information that we have.

Right , it's time now to go and find something red, white and blue for the monkeys to wear next week, practice their spellings, encourage them to undertake their home learning and find a cupcake recipe for Friday. After that I will definitely need to sit down with a warm cuppa and a slice of cake to help me recover. TFI Flapjack indeed!

Easy Fundraising - who are you calling an oxymoron?

Here at Powsa Towers we are once again reminded that the festive season is approaching, which means it's time to crack out the old Amazon passwords, log onto help_me_im_a_man_and_i_need_a_present.com and then forget about everything until the day before when I go into a blind panic and buy whatever seems unusual (cement mixer anyone?) and proves impossible to wrap discreetly.

I am assured that other people do not experience life in the same way, rather they plan ahead and start their buying weeks, if not months, in advance. Whilst this is clearly n alien concept it does seem that the time is right to remind you all of Easy Fundraising, the online portal that allows you to help the school whilst shopping with your preferred partners.

What's even more amazing is it's easy, I set up an account in less than 5 minutes and I'm a bit of a techno-phobe.

To login and set up just read below;

PC or laptop users follow this link https://new.easyfundraising.org.uk and raise a donation for us every time you shop online this Christmas

Shop on your mobile or tablet? Get the free easyfundraising app and raise a donation for us every time you shop online this Christmas http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/raise-more/easyfundraising-app

6937?

No, don't worry it's not the entry code to the off street parking here at POWSA towers and nor is it the first three numbers to be drawn in this Fridays EuroMillions draw (that would be freaky if it did happen though. 6, 9, 37, you heard it here first!), it's actually the reason why I am saying THANKYOU once again.

Last year through POWSA fundraising we contributed £6,937 to the Prince of Wales School, every penny of it was donated by you in regards to your time, your generosity and your support. The money has been used to purchase so many things from books to interactive screens, some xylophones and even a giant tooth, each of which has been used in the school and will help the staff and pupils for many years to come. So THANKYOU or should I say Dankie, Qaĝaasakung, shukrān, Obrigadu, 唔該, Dĕkuji vám mnohokrát, Dank u, Dankon, Merci, Danke, धन्यवाद ,  Grazie, ありがとう, 고맙습니다, Gratias vobis ago, Dzięki, Спасибо!, Muchas gracias, Diolch or just plain and simple TA VERY MUCH.

Only 67 sleeps until Christmas

Which means that here at POWSA Towers we are preparing the grand hall for Halloween (12 sleeps), the grounds are being turned into a huge pyrotechnic delight for Bonfire night (17 sleeps) the candles and chandeliers are lit to celebrate Diwali (23 sleeps) and, most importantly, we check the post every morning to see if the tickets to this years Autumn Fest have arrived.

(The number of sleeps has not been independently verified, it was merely a whimsy to make this blog seem somehow more interesting and is in no way meant to be accurate)

Yes, that's right, Autumn Fest 2015 has now been confirmed, it's 26 sleeps until the big day and most of the afternoons activities and entertainment is in place, so here's the low down on the plan so far;

In the afternoon we have a magic show and balloon modelling, courtesy of Andy the Magic man, we have storytelling and singing, games and entertainment for all of the family. We will then have a break for an hour to allow everyone to have something to eat, before the evenings live musical entertainment kicks off and we are pleased to announce that the headliners this year will once again be Quinns Quinny. In short, for those who have missed any of our recent festivities, bring your dancing shoes, the kids dancing shoes and be prepared to enjoy an afternoon and evening where schools definitely the place where all the cool kids are.

As a special treat this year we will also have a dressing up opportunity for all you secret divas, don't worry we will let you know a little more nearer the time. It's safe to say there will be photographic evidence and, if necessary, it can be used in a court of law.

What's that I hear you cry, "When is this reasonably priced family festival of fun and entertainment?" Well that's a good question and no mistake.

The date for your diary is Saturday 14th November, and the fun starts from 2pm. There is no cost if you are under the age of 2, however for the rest of us it's £2.50 per child (under 16's) and £5 per adult. Tickets will be on sale on a first come first serve basis so look out for the letters coming home soon

We do not have a licenced bar, however, you're welcome to bring your own refreshments but please remember there will be lots of families present and you will be expected to maintain a modicum of self control.

We are also going to operate an open buffet this year, so bring along a plate of food or 2 (disposable plates please) and we will put them all out for everyone to share. There will be no prizes for the most original entries to the buffet but if everyone brings sausage rolls and crisps it may not be the most appetizing feast so go crazy and show us your buffet favourites (cheese & pineapple hedgehog, anyone?)

We will publish a complete schedule before the big day but hopefully this has been enough to wet your appetites.

What is charity?

As I sit here in POWSA Towers I ask myself this question. I know it's a big question and I suspect it's even bigger answer, so I turn to Google. According to Google, who's very clever and knows lots of things, the second most common answer is;

"the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money"

which is pretty close to the nub of it in my opinion, but it doesn't quite tell the whole story.

The reason I am thinking of this at this time is that the POWSA AGM is rapidly approaching, the annual meeting to satisfy the constitution of POWSA as a charity and elect the leaders, movers and shakers for the schools PTA for the next 12 months. Excitingly this will be the first year the whole school and pre-school have been represented by a single body so we have more opportunity to make a difference.

As a group we regularly ask you for your money, we try to make these appeals as entertaining and enlivening as possible (as anyone who's seen us cook a BBQ will be able to understand) but what do we give?

The honest answer is time, which can feel far more precious than money, but is equally available from everyone to give to the benefit of everyone. At POWSA no one is made to give their time, we all volunteer it. Helping us with 30 minutes once in a while would make a massive contribution and just as welcome would be helping at any events that we hold

What do we gain for this gift of time? I'd like to say we get access to Mr Farrington's secret cave under the school where he has super computers that can understand 8 year olds, but I would be lying. There's no computer capable of such a feat. I don't want to speak for any of the other people who regularly help out at POWSA but personally it helped me to meet people when the children started at the school. It's allowed me to make friends (not just on Facebook although you can like POWSA there), show my children that there's more to school than their own classroom / roundhouse / farm / Fairthorne experiences and be part of a group who give their time for no tangible personal benefit, which is charitable, isn't it?

So what about you? Can you spare half an hour a week (that's less time than an episode of Dr Who, the same as an episode of Corrie and it's the last series of Downton so you'll need something to fill the void). If so come along to the AGM, or just say hello and see what we do. I can't promise you the keys to POWSA towers but we do tend to have mighty fine scones which you will be welcome to try.

The AGM will be held this Thursday in the staffroom at the school, it starts at 7:45pm and all are welcome. Come along and see who we are and what we do, there's no pressure and we won't bite.

Maggie's Den + Two Little Ducks+ Doctors Orders+ Here Comes Herbie+ Kelly's Eye + Man Alive = Top Of The Shop?

So you thought that the summer was over and you could safely put the Big Bingo Blotter away until next years visit to the happy holiday camp. Well think again.....

This Friday POWSA presents Family Prize Bingo at the school, 5:30 for a 6pm start. As it's the first event of the school year we would love to welcome new & old families and give everyone a chance to meet . The kids are more than welcome as long as they promise not to win all of the games as this will only upset Grandma and she'll choke on her dentures, which is never a pretty sight.

It's £2 a book, may the odds be ever in your favour and if anyone is interested there's a full list of Bingo Lingo here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_bingo_nicknames

Let's see how many we can drop into conversation this week