PTA Newsletters

June 2010 Edition

Brighton Montessori School — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:35:36 +0000

Dear Parents

The last ever PTA meeting for this school year was on Monday, 21 June. It was a well-attended and productive meeting.

Minutes were taken at the meeting and, if you wish to have these, please email bhmontessoriparents@gmail.com to receive and I’ll happily send them to you.

Otherwise, here is a summary of what’s what and where we are:

A big thanks you!

To Boudicca and Emm’s Mum, Naomi. She has bravely stepped forward at the PTA’s new Secretary and has done a cracking job on the minutes. THANK YOU NAOMI! You are fabulous. If you want a copy, email bhmontessoriparents@gmail.com and I will forward to you.

And, once again, a big thank you to Sandy, Laurie’s Mum for organizing Springwatch at Stanmer Park. Now, before all of you go “I didn’t know about this”, only six kids could go from each school so just a small invitation was put up at each entrance. But – you can read about it here - http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/blog/brighton-hove-montessori-children-meet-david-bellamy-at-the-springwatch-festival

I wasn’t able to go, but I have heard it was a super day out.

A big, big, BIG thank you to the super Mara, Hannah’s mum for Soup and Walk. You can see pictures on http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/blog/soup-and-walk-15th-may-2010 Watch this space – Mara is planning another Soup and Walk in September as well as a Winter Fair. Looking forward to it!

Yeah for Jay, Minna’s Dad for organizing Dad’s Night Out. Check out the minimalist photos on http://www.facebook.com/brightonmontessorischool

And, last but not least, thanks for Lisa, Oscar and Alice’s Mum for organizing a stand at Blaker’s Park on behalf of Montessori School Foundation. It was a great opportunity for people outside the school to learn about Montessori education and sign the petition for the state school campaign. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/statemontessorischool/

And, yes – I have been in cheerleading mood due to the football so forgive my over enthusiasm. Just don’t ask me who I am cheering for…

Upcoming Events

So, if you haven’t been able to attend any events, here’s your chance before the school year comes to a close.

Some of you will not be staying next year and it is those parents we would really like to see at these events as it would be a nice way to close your time at the Montessori.

And – if your children are attending next year, please do come as it would be nice to get to know everyone better and maybe for some to make plans to meet over the summer holidays.

Monday, 28th June – Trash and Treasure / Swap. Noelle’s house on Cleveland Road, just by the school. Timings – 12.15 – 4. LAST ONE OF THE YEAR! So, if you haven’t attended so far, please do. Everyone who has attended has always been surprised with the Treasure they have found. More information on posters outside school. Bring clothes, toys, books, and unwanted items no matter HOW rubbish. Or – just come and take. Don’t have to bring anything except for your £5 entry fee.

Sunday, 4th July – B&H Montessori School’s 25th Anniversary Picnic in Stanmer Park from 12.00 Noon to 4 PM

We will be meeting behind Stanmer House in Stanmer Park. Daisy’s organizing, so please email info@brighton-montessori.org.uk for further details! Bring kites, games to share and a picnic.

Monday, 12 July: 1.30 – 3 PM – SPORTS DAY!!

Parents encouraged to attend. Children will be running in various races and activities. Sian, Ava’s Mum, will be running a cake sale raising funds on behalf of the PTA. If you would like to help her, please email bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com. I’m sure she’d welcome the help! It is the same drill as the Winter Cake sale – everyone bake and bring (and buy)! Look for more details to be posted at school entrances closer to the time.

Friday, 16 July, 8 PM – Parents Party (and Teacher’s, too!)

As I couldn’t bear the idea of a PTA meeting in July, I thought it would be a lot more fun for all parents (and teachers and staff) to get together for a G&T – or two.

So – come meet us at The Park View http://www.theparkviewbrighton.co.uk/ from 8 PM onwards on Friday, 16 July. Organise your babysitters now!

Informal events

If the weather is nice, quite a few parents and children gather informally in Blakers Park on Wednesdays after 12.15 pick-up. Hope to see you there.

Fun class for the kids

Thanks to Sharn, Seren’s Mum for suggesting the following:

Capoeira classes for kids!
Wednesday – Wagner Hall, St. Martins Church, Lewes Rd
3:30pm to 4:30pm – 4 to 8 year olds
4:30pm to 5:45pm – 8 to 12 year olds

Contact:
Suzie 07748 471 491

Capoeira Angola is Roots Capoeira: a unique blend of music, game, art and culture. Capoeira Angola keeps the style, the music, the moves, the mandinga, all the elements of the original Capoeira as it has been played from the slavery days in Brazil to the present day.
Drop in – no need to book!

I know Seren is going and really enjoys it. Hope to see you there!

Fundraising

Thanks to every parent for all of the fundraising we have done this year.

Our efforts have paid for:

Turfing at garden at Pandas / Particles (done!)
Turfing (to be down) at Otters
Farm trip
£200 to the teachers to pay for extra, non-Montessori equipment (thanks to Mum Francesca for this idea).
Lots of gardening and other equipment from the Sainsbury’s / Tesco drive (4500 Sainsbury’s vouchers, 1300 Tesco vouchers! Amazing considering how small the school is…. WELL DONE!! Thanks to Mum Lisa for organizing this.) Some vouchers have been carried over for next year but, in the meantime, the following has been purchased:

Sainsbury Order. Can be viewed here: http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/ActiveKids/Wishlist/WishlistDetail.aspx?ID=SCH0050044

Assorted colour bean bags - 2 sets
Coloured skipping ropes - 1 set
Deluxe hula hoops - 1 set
Measuring spoons - 3
Numbered tailball - 1
Rainbow skipping rope - 3
Rake - 3
Sequencing spots - 2
Spade - 3
Spordas super safe ball set - 1
Stampabouts - 6
Throw down arrows - 2
Trowel - 6
Vegetable peeler - 3

Tesco Order. Sadly no option for parents to view order.
Gardening Gloves - 6
Litter patrol tabards - 6
Jumbo Composting bin - 1
Gamester Balls set - 12

Upon review of finances and seeing how the rest of the year goes, we are looking into:

A forest trip, outside normal school hours
Animals for the school
More non-Montessori equipment for the school

If there is anything in particular you would like the PTA to fund, please email bhmontessoriparents@gmail.com with your suggestions.

Also, we are looking for fundraising suggestions for next year. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

Also, don’t forget tea towels – we only have about 30 left. £5 – find at the admin office. All funds go to the PTA!

Montessori Schools Foundation

There is a core group of us working on this – myself, Lisa, Emm, Jay, Mara. We have been busy collecting petitions, meeting with people in the know, and getting the powers that be to visit the school.

You may have read about the successful visit with Caroline Lucas MP.

http://www.carolinelucas.com/cl/blog/what-im-doing-here.html

We are also planning for Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove, to visit the school on Friday, 9 July.

How you can help:

If you are in Kemptown, please write to your MP asking them to visit the school. I would be happy to assist you with this. If you are willing to do so, please email me on montessoristateschool@googlemail.com
Get your neighbours, friends, relatives and colleagues to sign the paper petition handed out at school and RETURN IT to Daisy in the admin office.
OR - http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/statemontessorischool/signatures sign here and email everyone you know. They don’t need to be local – but they can only sign once.
Continue looking for disused property (offices, bingo halls, etc) and email details over to Daisy on info@brighton-montessori.org.uk .
Fundraise! Any suggestions for fundraising email over to montessoristateschool@googlemail.com. Dad Jay has suggested recycling mobile phones, which we will be instating soon.
Volunteer! We may have nothing for you to do – yet – but we may need you soon. If you are willing to volunteer, please inform us of the sort of work you like doing, skills, etc so we can utilize you correctly. Again, if you wish to volunteer, please email me on montessoristateschool@gmail.com

And don’t forget….

Kiss and Ride

If you, or a prospective parent, are wanting to looking into alternative transport rather than driving your child to the school, please contact Daisy on info@brighton-montessori.org.uk. No, I don’t know what the “Kiss” means.

Also, thanks to Trudy, Rufus’ mum for meeting with Steven Kelley of Brighton and Hove City Council to explore sustainable transport options for the school.

Online Shopping

From All Saints to Zavvi, Brighton & Hove Montessori School now receive commission from almost 200 different online retailers, so whatever you need to buy, please check our online store first – the link is on our homepage http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/

It's a great way to get some fantastic online bargains, find cheaper gas and electricity services and even book a holiday. Remember, anything you buy through our web shop will help towards our fundraising targets.

You pay exactly the same price as on the retailers’ main sites, often lower than on the high street.

The commission we earn comes out of the retailers’ profit margin - it is their marketing spends.

Just a few of the many retailers supporting us include:

3Mobile, All Saints, B&Q, Brand Alley, BT Business Direct, Ebay, Ethical Superstore, Eurocamp, Expedia, Game, Glasses Direct, Habitat, Hmv.com, Kiddicare.com, La Senza, Marks & Spencer, My Name Tags, National Trust Membership, Next, O2, Pizza Hut, Play.com, Qantas, RAC, Republic, Sheila’s Wheels, Skate Hut, Sky, Superdrug, Swinton insurance, T Mobile, Thorntons, Ticket Master, Vertbaudet, Waterstones, Zavvi

Keeping up with school news

If you wish, you can follow the school news on Twitter by signing up to this link: http://twitter.com/lookatthechild

And Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brightonmontessorischool

Please do join! This is the easiest way to keep track of all school news as well as assist with our Google ranking (which is important for recruiting more children into the school). Several of you have joined since the last newsletter – thank you. Please – everyone who is at the school please do sign up!

And, if you haven’t done so already, please write a nice review of the teacher’s on:

Whooo hooo! Thanks to all the Parents for such a wonderful year. See you at Trash and Treasure, Picnic, Sports Day and Drinks!

Kindest regards

Kristin Magnuson
Chair, PTA

REMEMBER, YOUR OFFICERS ARE:

Kristin Magnuson, Chair

Naomi Ibbotson, Secretary

Lisa Brown, Information and Publicity Officer. If you have any events you are organising that you want to communicate, or if you have recommendation on how to improve the school website or if you want to assist with press releases and photos at the school, please contact her on lisa@helloluxx.com

Paul Brown, Treasurer

May 2010 Edition

Brighton Montessori School — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:56:00 +0000

Firstly, thank you to the wonderful Sandy and Larch and all other participating parents who worked together for the Children’s Parade. Luckily, the weather was on our side and it was a lovely morning. Although, I think you would agree that most of the parents were a bit blurry-eyed due to the Komedia night the night before. Once again, a really big, big thank you to Pete, Rob and Jason and all parents who came and misbehaved ever so nicely and for all of you who could not come but purchased raffle tickets instead. A super fun evening was had by all.

It was really, really great to see parents who have not previously been able to get involved with the school. We love to see everyone getting involved by the end of the year in some capacity.

Photos of the Children’s Parade can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=429640&id=346100680625&ref=mf

The Sound of Music

Thank you to Dad Steve for wowing the children with his clarinet playing last week.

If any parent has any talent they would like to share with the school, please email bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com with your idea.

Farm day

Thanks to the teachers for these pictures and for Dad Lee for putting these pictures on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brightonmontessorischool/sets/72157623981359172/

Ride share to school

As most of us do not live a comfortable walking to school, we are encouraging parents to ride share / cab share / bus share. Thus, if you are parent who can pick up other children on the way to school, or if you are parent who is willing to be responsible for other children and cab share or accompany them on the bus, please email bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com and we will help you coordinate this.

Other News

You may have seen this information in previous newsletters, but just to remind you:

Online Shopping

From All Saints to Zavvi, Brighton & Hove Montessori School now receive commission from almost 200 different online retailers, so whatever you need to buy, please check our online store first - the link is on our homepage http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/

It's a great way to get some fantastic online bargains, find cheaper gas and electricity services and even book a holiday. Remember, anything you buy through our web shop will help towards our fundraising targets.

You pay exactly the same price as on the retailer main sites, often lower than on the high street.

The commission we earn comes out of the retailers profit margin - it is their marketing spends.

Just a few of the many retailers supporting us include:

3Mobile, All Saints, B&Q, Brand Alley, BT Business Direct, EBay, Ethical Superstore, Eurocamp, Expedia, Game, Glasses Direct, Habitat, HMV.com, Kiddicare.com, La Senza, Marks & Spencer, My Name Tags, National Trust Membership, Next, O2, Pizza Hut, Play.com, Qantas, RAC, Republic, Sheila’s Wheels, Skate Hut, Sky, Superdrug, Swinton insurance, T Mobile, Thorntons, Ticket Master, Vertbaudet, Waterstones, Zavvi

THANK YOU TO LEE AND LISA FOR SETTING THIS UP!

Sainsbury and Tesco vouchers

The Tesco voucher scheme has now ended, so please bring in any last vouchers and keep collecting the Sainsbury vouchers. Please bring to school and hand in to the Particles, who are doing a fantastic job sorting the vouchers and keeping a tally (THANK YOU, PARTICLES!) or alternatively hand into the class teachers! Once we have all the vouchers are in, the PTA will review what additional equipment we will purchase for the school. However, we are hoping the vouchers will take care of most of their needs to, get shopping and collecting parents! Please could you also ask your friends, families and work colleagues to collect the vouchers for us. We really want to make the most of the schemes this year!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

Please remember these are all listed on the school website.

May:
Saturday, 15th May “Soup and Walk” with Mum Mara. From 10.00 - 13.00. Please email Mara on msolercan@uoc.edu for further details or to confirm attendance, if you’re coming, please bring a knife, chopping board and bowl. The children will be cooking a soup using seasonal vegetables, before a trip to Preston Park whilst soup cooks.

Monday, 17th May. PTA Meeting. 20.00 - 21.30hrs in the Particles Classroom

Friday, 28th May Dads Drinks at Pub Du Vin from 20.00 onwards. Email Dad Jay on jay@gooby.org for more info.

June
Sunday, 6th June - Springwatch Big Festival Parade details tbc but at Stanmer Park. Drivers not encouraged to this event train to Falmer, buses, cycling or walking encouraged.

Saturday, 19th June Blaker’s Park Community Picnic. The school will have a ‘Pop up classroom’ there so please attend! If anyone is interested in providing live music on the day, please contact Blaker’s Park directly.

Monday, 21st June PTA. Details as above.

Monday, 28th June Trash and Treasure / Swap. £5.00 Noelle’s house next to the school. Exact address to be confirmed. Timings 12.15 – 4pm. LAST ONE OF THE YEAR! So, if you haven’t attended so far, please do. Everyone who has attended has always been surprised with the Treasure they have found. And, no, you don’t have to bring anything to swap if you do not want to do so.

July
Sunday, 4th July (tbc) B&H Montessori 25th Anniversary Picnic at Stanmer Park. Email Daisy on daisy@brighton-montessori.org.uk for details and to get involved.

Monday, 12 July 13.30 - 15.00 Sports Day with Football! Cake and bake sale!

Monday, 19th July PTA CANCELLED! Party in a pub this week instead. Date to be confirmed. Pub suggestions welcomed, please! Email suggestions or desire to attend to bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com

December
Saturday, 18th December - A Christmas Carol panto

Tickets: £25 (£21 for ticket - £4.00 to PTA). Must be booked and paid for by 1 June. We can organise ice cream at Scoop and Crumble before the panto. Please contact bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com if you wish to attend.

Keeping up with school news

Remember all events are published on: http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/open-events-and-calendar.

So, if you are planning any activities that will raise money on behalf of the PTA or the Foundation, please email bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com and we will be sure to include it on the calendar.

If you wish, you can follow the school news on Twitter by signing up to this link: http://twitter.com/lookatthechild

And Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/brightonmontessorischool

Please do join! This is the easiest way to keep track of all school news as well as assist with our Google ranking (which is important for recruiting more children into the school). Several of you have joined since the last newsletter - thank you. Please everyone who is at the school please do sign up!

Thank you!

For all of your reviews. It has really helped the schools standing on Google.

If you haven’t done so already, and you desire to tell everyone how happy your child is at B&H Montessori, please write about your experiences on:

https://biz.yelp.co.uk/signup/SHZiGiUnQTtv1vSxcgjcxg/?return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yelp.co.uk%2Fbiz%2Fmontessori-school-brighton

http://www.unschool.me

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=brighton+and+hove+montessori&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=montessori&hnear=brighton+and+hove&cid=6768278697642695417

http://www.cylex-review.co.uk/history/116372-the-brighton-hove-montessori-school/

http://www.bizwiki.co.uk/schools/1307916/the-brighton-hove-montessori-school.htm

http://brighton.enquira.co.uk/education-training/independent-preparatory-schools/brighton-hove-montessori-school-l4636.html

Thank you so much! We really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

Kindest regards

Kristin Magnuson
Chair, PTA

April 2010 Edition

Brighton Montessori School — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:15:08 +0000

Dear Parents

I hope all of your children enjoyed the Farm Trip. Thank you to Mums Trudy and Francesca for organising this and thanks to the PTA for paying for this fabulous trip.

And - thanks to the following parents and teachers for helping out on the day:

Francesca
Sarah
Karl
Sharn
Tammy
Camille
Clare
Anna
Joanna
Laura Lisa
Laura
Ben
Gisele
Sarah
Gemma

It was really, really great to see parents who have not previously been able to get involved with the school. We hope to see all of you get involved by the end of the year in some capacity.

Online Shopping

From All Saints to Zavvi, Brighton & Hove Montessori School now receive commission from almost 200 different online retailers, so whatever you need to buy, please check our online store first – http://buy.at/brightonmontessorischool

It's a great way to get some fantastic online bargains, find cheaper gas and electricity services and even book a holiday. Remember, anything you buy through our web shop will help towards our fundraising targets.

You pay exactly the same price as on the retailers’ main sites, often lower than on the high street.

The commission we earn comes out of the retailers’ profit margin - it is their marketing spends.

Just a few of the many retailers supporting us include:

3Mobile, All Saints, B&Q, Brand Alley, BT Business Direct, Ebay, Ethical Superstore, Eurocamp, Expedia, Game, Glasses Direct, Habitat, Hmv.com, Kiddicare.com, La Senza, Marks & Spencer, My Name Tags, National Trust Membership, Next, O2, Pizza Hut, Play.com, Qantas, RAC, Republic, Sheila’s Wheels, Skate Hut, Sky, Superdrug, Swinton insurance, T Mobile, Thorntons, Ticket Master, Vertbaudet, Waterstones, Zavvi

THANK YOU TO LISA AND LEE FOR SETTING THIS UP!

Sainsbury's and Tesco's vouchers

Please bring to school and hand in to the Particles, who are doing a fantastic job sorting the vouchers and keeping a tally (THANK YOU, PARTICLES!) or alternatively hand into the class teachers! Once we have all the vouchers are in, the PTA will review what additional equipment we will purchase for the school. However, we are hoping the vouchers will take care of most of their needs to, get shopping and collecting parents! Please could you also ask your friends, families and work colleagues to collect the vouchers for us. We really want to make the most of the schemes this year!

Update on activities thus far

PTA meeting – well attended, with a few new faces. Thank you.
Wine tasting - sold out! If you booked tickets, but were not able to attend, please do give your £15 donation to the PTA to ensure this event was in profit. Monies to be left at school's administrative office.

Trash and Treasure raised £20.

Polar Bear Build exceptionally well attended (thank you fab fashionable Mum Larch for use of your workshop!) and to all the Mums who attended this very modern day sewing circle.

Monte Spring Clean – “Bob – a – Job” - Thanks again to Lisa for setting this up. Well, I've been educated on what a "Bob" is (the shilling equivalent of 5 p?) and my daughter now wants to help with EVERYTHING - gardening, putting away dishes, grocery shopping... Hope your children are enjoying it to and that it raises money for the PTA.

PTA Finances

After the Farm Trip, we are about £650 in credit. However, it would be great if EVERY PARENT could attend the upcoming fundraisers so that we can raise enough money to pay for:

fixing / redesign of gardens
entertainment for school picnic
extra equipment for school
and more nature trips for our kids

So, on this note, here is the calendar of events…

Calendar of Events – PLEASE READ AS SOME DATES HAVE BEEN CHANGED

Upcoming events thus far is as follows:

April:

Monday, 19th – PTA Meeting – start time 20.00, finish 21.30.

Saturday, 24th April – Polar Bear Big Build at school. Check Facebook / Twitter for further details.

Friday, 30th- Dad and DJ Pete Wiggs (of St Etienne) is DJj-ing as a fundraiser for the PTA. Thanks Pete! We are starting to advertise this properly next week (the night is going to be cheekily called The P.T. A!) but, if you want to go, please bring £5 per ticket to the School’s Admin office marked for the attention of the PTA. ASAP as we do intend to sell out. Leave the money in an envelope with your name and contact details . This event will be advertised through Komedia in the next couple of weeks and people will also be able to buy tickets on line – to be confirmed. We have already sold 8 tickets – only 82 left to go….

Also, for this event, we are looking for raffle prizes. So if you have a skill you can raffle off (say – gardening, massage, acupuncture, etc) or something of value (new books, CDs, DVDs etc) please donate them to our raffle. Raffle tickets will be on sale for £3 (Thanks Mum Carly for the suggestion!)

May:

Saturday, 1st – Children’s’ Parade. Contact Sandy on sandyglooba@talktalk.net for more details.

Thursday, 6th (rain day – Monday, 10 May)– Football skills day with Ben! More details to be announced later.

Saturday, 15th May – Soup and Walk with Mum Mara. From 22.00 10.00– 13.00. More details to come.

Monday, 17thrh May – PTA Meeting. Details as above. 20.00 – 21.30hrs in the Particles Classroom

June

Saturday, 19th June – Blakers Park Community Picnic. Montessori will have a stall there so please attend! (Thanks Lisa). If anyone is interested in providing live music on the day, please contact Blakers Park directly.

Monday, 21st June – PTA. Details as above.

Monday, 28th June – Trash and Treasure / Swap. Noelle's house next to the school. Exact address to be confirmed. Timings – 12.15 – 4. LAST ONE OF THE YEAR! So, if you haven’t attended so far, please do. Everyone who has attended has always been surprised with the Treasure they have found.

July

Sunday, 4th July (tbc) - B&H Montessori's 25th Anniversary Picnic. Details to be confirmed!

Monday, 19th July - PTA. Details as above.

December

Saturday, 18 – A Christmas Carol panto

Tickets: £25 (£21 for ticket - £4.00 to PTA). Must be booked and paid for by 1 June. We can organise ice cream at Scoop and Crumble before the panto. Please contact bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com if you wish to attend.

Remember – all events are published on: http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/open-events-and-calendar.

So, if you are planning any activities that will raise money on behalf of the PTA or the Foundation, please email bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com and we will be sure to include it on the calendar.

VOLUNTEERS

We need volunteers! Please email bhmontessoriparents@googlemaill.com if you can help with:

organising 25th Anniversary picnic on 4th July? (We have two mums on board already - we need a committee)
shooting / editing the school video - "A Day in the Life"
Upkeeping the garden at the school (once or twice a month)
Run a cake sale or picnic fundraiser at the football skills day on Thursday, 6th May run by teacher Ben and Dad Stephen. (Mum Naomi? Noelle? Francesca? I know you are all keen bakers – any volunteers?)
Being the secretary for the PTA - only takes up 2 - 3 hours per month!
A group of organisers for the 25th Anniversary Picnic on 4th July.
Helping children garden once or twice a month.
Also - any gardeners out there? We had to wait so long for the church to give us approval on fixing the garden (UGH!) and now Ruth is super duper duper busy with work. Anyone can help? Ruth will donate the materials and designs!

Please do volunteer! We need you!

OTHER CHARITIES

We are exploring the idea of our children and parents supporting another children’s charity (other than our own). We are looking for suggestions! As most of you will know, the children and their families send Christmas presents to Romania each year, but we are looking for something that is year ‘round that the children can get involved in.

If you have any suggestions, please send them to bhmontessoriparents@googlemail.com

Keeping up with school news

If you wish, you can follow the school news on Twitter by signing up to this link: http://twitter.com/lookatthechild

And Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brightonmontessorischool

Please do join! This is the easiest way to keep track of all school news as well as assist with our Google ranking (which is important for recruiting more children into the school). Several of you have joined since the last newsletter – thank you. Please – everyone who is at the school please do sign up!

Helping Mum Lisa with Recruitment

Thank you to the parents who have taken the time to write reviews of the school. This is an important tool in our recruitment drive. Again, if you have the time to write about your child’s experiences at B&H Montessori, the websites to write on are:

https://biz.yelp.co.uk/signup/SHZiGiUnQTtv1vSxcgjcxg/?return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yelp.co.uk%2Fbiz%2Fmontessori-school-brighton

http://www.unschool.me

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=brighton+and+hove+montessori&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=montessori&hnear=brighton+and+hove&cid=6768278697642695417

http://www.cylex-review.co.uk/history/116372-the-brighton-hove-montessori-school/

http://www.bizwiki.co.uk/schools/1307916/the-brighton-hove-montessori-school.htm

http://brighton.enquira.co.uk/education-training/independent-preparatory-schools/brighton-hove-montessori-school-l4636.html

As most of you will see, there was a very unhappy parent with the school some years ago. Unfortunately, this parent owns a search optimisation company! Of course, it is fine to be unhappy with the school but I personally think the way he dealt with his grievances was unfair and very damaging to the teachers. Thus, by writing fair and balanced reviews of the school, you will help us in promoting the school and making an even better environment for our children.

Thank you so much! We really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

And finally….

Thanks for reading. It is great how many of you have been involved, whether it has been volunteering for Farm Day, attending PTA meetings, showing up at Swaps, looking forward to Wine Tasting. We hope all of you can get involved some way by end of the school year to help make our children’s school as vibrant and as wonderful as it can be.

Kindest regards

Kristin Magnuson
Chair, PTA

REMEMBER, YOUR OFFICERS ARE:

Kristin Magnuson, Chair

Lisa Brown – Information and Publicity Officer. If you have any events you are organising that you want to communicate, or if you have recommendation on how to improve the school website or if you want to assist with press releases and photos at the school, please contact her on lisa@helloluxx.com

Paul Brown – Treasurer

March 2010 edition

Brighton Montessori School — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:33:13 +0000

Dear Parents

Although you have not had a PTA newsletter for sometime, it doesn’t mean that parents haven’t been busy working on our children’s behalf.

Calendar of Events
Firstly, we are instating a Calendar of Events. This will be at the start of every newsletter, and, in addition, all events will be listed on be published on: http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/open-events-and-calendar.

So, if you are planning any activities that will raise money on behalf of the PTA or the Foundation, please email bhmontessoriparents at googlemail dot com and we will be sure to include it on the calendar. We welcome all activities!

Upcoming events thus far is as follows:

March:

Saturday, 13h – Monte Morning at 10.30 Juliet and Lee’s House in Rottingdean. CANCELLED

Monday, 15th – Trash and Treasure time! Bring anything to swap. £5 to attend. A great, fun social event. Anytime from 12.30 – 16.30 at 67 Westbourne Gardens, Hove, BN3 5PN. Some food will be provided but do bring a packed lunch for the kids and – well – use the swap as an excuse to walk to Wish Park or Hove Lagoon or Marrocco’s for ice cream after you’ve collected all your treasure! Contact bhmontessoriparents at googlemail dot com if you want advice on buses or if you are worried about parking restrictions. This is a good mixer as neighbours as well as Montessori parents attend. Also, let me know if you require transportation as I am happy to coordinate rideshare.

Monday, 15th – PTA. Start at 8PM in Particle’s classroom, finish 21.30 prompt.

Friday, 26th – Wine tasting! Contact Ruth on Ruth at gardenasylum dot com for more details and to register to attend. Friends as well as Montessori parents are welcome! Location TBC.

April:

Monday, 19th – PTA Meeting. Details as above.

Saturday, 24th – Monte Morning. CANCELLED

Friday, 30th- Dad and DJ Pete Wiggs (of St Etienne) is Dj-ing as a fundraiser for the PTA. Thanks Pete! Contact bhmontessoriparents at googlemail dot com if interested in attending. Tickets prices tba. Tickets will first be on sale to Montessori parents and friends and, if we do not sell out, then on sale to public. 90 capacity so be sure to register asap!

May:

Saturday, 1st – Childrens’ Parade. Contact Sandy on sandyglooba at talktalk dot net for more details.
Wednesday, 6th – Football skills day with Ben! More details to be announced later.
Saturday, 15th – Soup and walk, starting from school at 11 AM. Email Mum Mara on msolercan at uoc dot edu for further details.
Monday, 17th – PTA. Details as above.

June:

Monday, 21st – Trash and Treasure / Swap. Venue to be announced.
Monday, 21st – PTA. Details as above.
Saturday, 26 – Monte Morning. CANCELLED.

July:

Monday, 19 July – PTA. Details as above.

December:

Saturday, 18 – A Christmas Carol panto

Communications

In addition to this newsletter, you can also keep up to date on school news by subscribing to:

If you wish, you can follow the school news on Twitter: http://twitter.com/lookatthechild

And Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/brightonmontessorischool

Please do join! This will help you keep in touch with any developments as well as help our Google ranking which in turn will help in recruiting students.

The PTA’s Information Publicity Officer is Lisa Brown. If you have any events you are organising that you want to communicate, or if you have recommendation on how to improve the school website or if you want to assist with press releases and photos at the school, please contact her on lisa at helloluxx dot com

Volunteers needed!

Some of the parents have been working on:

researching busing for the school
having a farm day for the kids in the spring
gardens at the church
recruitment for the particles class
“A Day in the Life” video of the school to update website as well as a “Meet the Teachers” profile for website
Summer fete in June

Although we are chugging along on these items, we still need assistance on:

organising 25th Anniversary picnic for school in June / July
volunteering as a Lollipop mum or Dad
Lead project of getting safe crossing at school?
Upkeeping the garden at the school (once or twice a month)
Run a cake sale or picnic at the football skills day on 6th May.

If you can assist with any of these points, or have fundraising items of your own, please email bhmontessoriparents at googlemail dot com to volunteer.

The PTA needs a secretary

If you are able to attend most PTA meetings and take notes (and write them up afterwards) we need you! Shorthand and a tape recorder not necessary. If you are able to volunteer, I will help you ensure you do it properly the first few times. It is easy – promise! And will only take up to three hours a month.

If you are able to volunteer, please email bhmontessoriparents at googlemail dot com.

Say nice things about the teachers

Whether or not your children are going to be attending the Montessori next year, I am sure that all parents will agree as to how fabulous the teachers are and how generally happy the children are on a day to day basis.

Thus, if you appreciate the teachers as much as I do, please thank them by reviewing them on the following websites:

http://www.unschool.me

http://www.cylex-review.co.uk/history/116372-the-brighton-hove-montessori-school/

http://www.bizwiki.co.uk/schools/1307916/the-brighton-hove-montessori-school.htm

http://brighton.enquira.co.uk/education-training/independent-preparatory-schools/brighton-hove-montessori-school-l4636.html

By taking the time to do this, you will not only make the teachers blush with pride, but again will help the school by increasing their Google rating and thus help with student recruitment.

Foundation news

As some of you may know, separate to the PTA some parents are working on revitalising the Montessori Foundation in working towards a state school campaign as well as to raise funds to provide scholarships for children, based on need.

You can keep up to date on all trustee news by subscribing to:

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=183638859639

And Twitter - http://twitter.com/theMSF

Trustees

We are beginning to recruit for Trustees. If you, or if you know of anyone, who is a:

Lawyer
Education specialist – ex-Head Teacher, etc
Fundraiser
Ex-Council Member
Children’s Charity worker
Marketing and / or PR specialist
Business strategist

Please contact magnuson.kristin at googlemail dot com to receive further information on job description. The job is not renumerated and will require your time for up to 15 evenings per year.

Raising funds by shopping

Yes, you read right.

If you are planning on some shopping at M&S or Amazon, please click on:

http://www.brighton-montessori.org.uk/montessori-materials/

All funds raised will go towards eventual scholarships.

Mum Pippa needs your help!

Super fit Mum Pippa is raising funds for Shaftesbury Young People by running the London Marathon. This wonderful charity supports young people in care and in need to find their voice, to be healthy, to learn, develop and achieve and to gain an independent and positive place in society. Shaftesbury Young People provides residential homes for children aged 11 to 17, services for young people leaving care, supported housing for young people and venture activities for personal development.

Pippa wanted to run for a charity “that struck a chord and being a mum I understand how important it is to provide and build a future for our children, but what about those that don't have a family. This is why this charity is so pivotal for many young peoples lives.”  To give, please click on http://www.justgiving.com/Suzieandpippa 

Finally….

Thanks for reading. Please do volunteer – even if you are only able to give one hour of your time. And please do attend PTA meetings and / or fundraising events. The fundraising events are a good opportunity for us to get to know one another and for the kids to play outside of school.

Kindest regards

Kristin Magnuson
Chair / PTA

Cc Paul Brown – treasurer

Lisa Brown – Information and Publicity Officer