S.O.S - Supporters of Oughtibridge School

Who are S.O.S?

We are a growing group of parents who organise fundraising events to raise money to try and improve the everyday life of our children. We are always looking for new parents to try to help us increase our fundraising activities and help our children enjoy their life at their local school.

The minutes of our last meeting are here (opens in a new browser window).
Out latest newsletter is available here (opens in a new browser window).
You will need Adobe PDF reader to view these files. If you do not have this installed then a free copy is available here.

What we raised in 2009/2010

£544 - Bags to School commission
£461 - SOS Lottery
£315 - KS2 Disco
£287 - Christmas hamper raffle
£250 - KS1 Valentines Disco
£206 - Christmas puddings
£198 - Easter hamper raffle
£108 - Yellow Moon
£174 - EasyFundraising
£1170 - HSBC £ 4 £ scheme

What we did with the funds raised in 2009/2010

£1220 towards the wonderful signage around the school playgrounds.
£933 to purchase 10 “Craze of The Week” boxes which we are sure by now your children have come home and told you about. Your child may have also been lucky enough to bring home a “Craze of The Week” certificate. 3 boxes of Lego have also been purchased for the Y3/4 classes for those inevitable wet playtimes.
£319 paid for the Oughtibridge Olympians T-shirts to allow our children to wear matching t-shirts when they are representing their school in various external activities and sporting competitions.

£300 went towards the Christmas Parties and £200 paid for a coach to take the Y5/6 children to the pantomime.
£195 paid for an Oliver Twist production to be performed to the whole school. This was at a greatly discounted price due to a cancellation.
£184 went towards the School Garden funding for equipment, plants and seeds
£132 provided Easter Eggs for the winners of the egg rolling competition and Cadbury’s Creme Eggs for all children.
£750 has been put aside to contribute to the totem poles which have been designed by the children.
£500 has been pledged to pay for the 2010 Christmas parties.

Planned events for 2010/2011

Thursday 4 November – KS1 disco with a wizard and witches autumn theme.
Tuesday 9 November – a teacher from City Limits Dancentre will be coming into school for a special Ladies Night. So brush off those dancing shoes for a fun evening.
Monday 14 February – KS1 Valentine Disco.
April date (TBC) – the ever popular Fashion Show. If you’ve not attended one of these events before you are missing out on a treat. The latest fashions are modelled by teachers, parents and kids.
Friday 20 May – A Sponsored Marathon Challenge for the children to take part in, where the funds are split between Leukaemia Research and SOS.
June (date TBC) – KS2 disco
Friday 19 November & Friday 6 May - Bags 2 School, so hang onto those clothes you no longer want until the collection bags come home from school.

In between these fabulous events, there will be the usual Christmas & Chocolate puddings and Christmas, Easter & Summer hampers.

The monthly lottery draw will also continue to take place. If you’ve not got any numbers, an application form will be sent out soon.

The Yellow Moon catalogues will also be sent out in the Autumn so stock up on all your crafty essentials.

S.O.S. contacts

Our AGM is held each September and our current representatives are:

Chair Catherine Askham
Secretary Jo Eyre / Tracy Harby
Treasurer Claire Hennessey
Lottery Co-ordinator Jane Harrison

Please see the latest minutes for the date of the next meeting. Everyone is welcome to come along to any of the meetings but we would especially appreciate anybody who is interested in helping the group raise funds to come along to the AGM. New ideas are always welcome!

FREE Money
During the 2009/10 school year, we have received £1170 of funding from HSBC’s “£ 4 £” funding scheme. Please check with your company's human resources or payroll department to see whether it offers a matching gift program. Many organisations do – but you have to ask them for the information!

To be eligible for the funding you usually “claim back” for the time you have committed to a charitable organisation – namely SOS! This does not mean running an event or fundraising activity, it can be as simple as attending the meeting or putting raffle tickets in envelopes.

Recycling
SOS are collecting old mobile phones and branded inkjet cartridges (but not Epson) to recycle for cash. If you are able to donate any please send them to the school office.

For more information, see Support Your School.

EasyFundraising
Please remember to use EasyFundraising - when both booking your holidays, clothes or house and garden shopping. They list some of your favourite online stores, including Thomson, Thomas Cook, Expedia, First Choice, Next, Debenhams and John Lewis. Whenever you shop with any one of them using the links provided on the EasyFundraising site, you'll generate a free donation for us of up to 15% of the purchase price every time!

All you need to do is register for free at www.easyfundraising.org.uk/sossheffield and use EasyFundraising every time you shop online.

Dates of 2010/2011 Meetings

3 November 2010
12 January 2011
9 March 2011
4 May 2011
22 June 2011

Thank you for your continued support
The SOS Committee