Friends of Thomas Jolyffe (a Parent & Teacher Association) provide our school with invaluable support. We organise events and fundraise for the school. The money we raise is used to enhance our children’s education and school environment. Items that FTJ regularly provide funding for include coaches for the annual pantomime trip and Year 6 residential PGL trip, book bags for the new Reception pupils, reading diaries for Key Stage 1 pupils and Year 6 leaving gift sweatshirts. In 2020 we purchased a further 24 iPads so that both the Infants and Juniors now have a set. Money has been set aside in 22/23 to improve library facilities for KS1 and a Tesco grant was won in 2022 to purchase weather stations for each playground.

The association is organised and run by volunteer parents and teachers who willingly devote time and energy to our school. FTJ has been without a chair for 22/23 and we are hoping to start things back up again ASAP. We are always looking for new members & volunteers, please email us at friendsofthomasjolyffe@gmail.com for more information.

Current committee is - Treasurer - Emma Brassington and Secretary - Rachel Perrin-Stalker

Happy's Circus visit to Thomas Jolyffe - May 2022

We decided to try something new this year for our summer fundraiser - not a fair, or a festival, but the CIRCUS! A full size big top on the school field with international circus acts.

Planning started in February and was full on from the word go. We had 600 tickets to sell, sponsors to find, caterers to book, posters & programmes to make, pre-events to plan and more. Happy's Circus were a great support, checking in with us every month and providing materials to promote the event and advice on how to raise as much as we could.

We held a circus-themed non-uniform day, we ran a competition to design the front cover of the programme, the school kitchen put together a circus-themed menu on the day and we raised £550 from local businesses who advertised in our programme and at the event. 

It was pretty stressful on the day as the trucks and caravans had trouble entering the site but it was all worth it as the event was a MASSIVE success. We sold all 600 tickets and raised a fantastic £3673. This will be shared between 2 projects - improving Forest School facilities to include KS2 and improving the KS1 library facilities in the infant hall. Thank you for your support.

Check out this short film we made of the event. 

Thank you so much to the all the FTJ volunteers and staff that helped to run the school disco on 1st April 2022 and of course to YOU, the parents and carers that supported our event. Here are some lovely comments from parents about the event. 

"Thanks for the organizing! My daughter had a great evening!!! She had the big smile all night long"

"Thank you for organising this, my daughter was sooo excited."

"Thank you so much everyone, F loved his first disco at T & D was over the moon for them to be back on"

"Thank you for organising the event. It was really lovely to hear the sound of so many excited children as we dropped off and then tons of smiles at pick up! It was much appreciated!"

The Great Big FTJ Christmas Raffle 2021

In December 2021 we held a Christmas Raffle. And this really was GREAT & BIG. We were delighted with how many wonderful local business we're able to donate prizes - Tesco, Boots, Arden Hotel, Shakespeare Birthplace, Guy Salmon, The Butterfly Farm, George Street Townhouse, Gilly's Disc Golf, Avon Boating and more, we are so grateful. And a HUGE thank you to everyone that bought tickets. We raised an incredible £900 which is considerably more than any recent Christmas Fair has raised. Thank you so much for your continued support.

We also raised £500 from the school Christmas Card project.

FTJ Halloween Trail 2021

Over the weekend of 30/31st October, FTJ held a Halloween Trail. We provided families with a map and asked them to find all the houses with decorated windows and a letter of the alphabet, then to unscramble them to make a well known Halloween phrase. Congratulation to winner Evie in 6D who received a hamper containing treats for all the family. Take a look at some of the fantastic window displays below.

Author Michael Rosen's virtual visit to TJ - June 2021

We had an exciting virtual visitor come to school in June  - Michael Rosen Zoomed LIVE into school to talk about his writing and answers questions from TJ pupils. FTJ contributed to the cost of this event and would like to thank parents for their continued support. 

Sadly, we were not able to hold our usual TJ Christmas Fair but that didn't stop us from coming up with some new ways to raise money for the school. We held a Christmas trail on the last weekend before the Christmas holidays. A number of local residents and pupils decorated a window in their house in a Christmas theme. We provided a map of the trail and there were letters to collect and unscramble to find a well known Christmas phrase. At a time when there were still many social distancing measures in place it was lovely to see families enjoying this event and waving to others or having a 2m distanced chat on the way! Congratulations to siblings Annabel and Ethan who won a hamper full of goodies. 

We also created the first ever TJ Cookbook - not one, but two fantastic books full of YOUR recipes. We had such a varied selection from pupils and teachers. In our TJ Cookbook KS1 'Round the World' we had SO many different nationalities represented. Polish, Korean, Spanish, Turkish, Indian, Bulgarian, Welsh, Indian, South African, Japanese and more. In our KS2 TJ Cookbook 'Round the Corner' we had lots of delicious family meals and tea time treats. From classic recipes such as Moussaka and Pork Stroganoff to more unusual recipes such as Vegan Tacos and Chocolate Porridge! Thank you to everyone that bought a copy. We were amazed at how popular it was and delighted to have raised over £300.

With in person events still not allowed, we decided to put together another FTJ Virtual Family quiz, using the platform Quizizz. FTJ members got to work coming up with some challenging (and not too challenging!) questions to suit all ages. We had a 'Kids TV' round, a 'Sports' round, a 'History' round (based on KS1 and KS2 school topics), a 'Music' round and a 'Guess the Film' scene round, and more. We also had a 'Stratford' round - to test how well you REALLY know your home town! Congratulations Team Edwards, they did it again! 1st prize! 2nd place to the Hodgson's (Mrs. Wright relinquished her position!) and 3rd place to the Wheeler's! Well done everyone that took part and thank you for supporting our event. 

On October 16th we held TJ's first ever Creative Conker Competition! We were so impressed with the entries, Mrs. Dunnico and Mr. Penn had a tough decision choosing a winning creation from each year group. Congratulations to Ava RSC, Arthur 1B, Samuel 2D, James B Yr3, Marcie 4D, Harley 5GW and Grace 6D.

Winners received a selection of crafts activities and toys and everyone who took part got a ToucanBox magazine. We put out collection pots and raised £53.76 which is wonderful! Thank you to everyone that donated and took part.

Unfortunately, our Easter events and Summer 'TJ Fest' were not able to go ahead due to school closures. But that didn't stop FTJ members thinking of new ways to fundraise for the school. In May, we raised £851 via a Just Giving page and asked children to take part (at home) in a 'School Marathon' - run, walk, crawl, cycle, skip and to measure the distance they covered. Thank you to all the families that sponsored and supported this event - we donated half the money to SWFT NHS Foundation Trust.

In July we held the first ever Virtual TJ Family Quiz. What a fun event it was! FTJ members came up with the questions - we had a music round, a literature round, a food round, and many more. An extra special thanks to Faye Hampson for tech support! Families and teachers took part in the quiz live via the Quizizz website. Congratulations to Team Edwards who came 1st and won vouchers for the Clopton Catch. We raised £150.

The tinsel and baubles were out for the TJ Christmas Fair on Friday 13th December. Mr. Penn led the carol singing and Mr. Drummond donned his elf costume again as Santa’s helper. The were lots of games to play in the Kids Games Room - Reindeer Hoopla, Spin the Wheel, Find Santa’s Presents Map to name a few. Children were able to purchase surprise presents for their families members in the Secret Present Room. We had some wonderful prizes donated for the raffle - A Gin Tasting Tour from Shakespeare Distillery, A meal for two at Boston Tea Party, Family Bowling at Tenpin in Leamington. Congratulations to all the winners! 

We raised just over £800 - thank you to all the children and families who attended and to all the volunteers for the time and efforts. 

After some very disappointing wet weather in June, TJ Fest was sadly postponed to the start of the new term and was held on Friday 13th September. We were very thankful for the beautiful weather we had that day!

We had wonderful performances from TJ’s Zumba club and Mezzo Dance Company plus great music from Paper Planes and Alfonso’s Breakfast Pancake. A great selection of food was on offer too - Burgers and Burritos from the Bourbon Street Kitchen and Twisted Kitchen were back with their delicious wood fired pizzas. Cocktails and beers were supplied by the Tipple Tuk and our very own TJ Pimms Tent went down well with parents. Kids could make their own smoothie with Class Catering’s Smoothie Bike - even Mrs. Dunnico and Mr. Penn were spotted having a go! 

Thank you to everyone who volunteered at the event, we are always looking for extra help and very grateful for those that can give up their time. And to everyone who attended TJ Fest a very big thank you from FTJ for your support. We raised a wonderful £2334.35!

****OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT DONATION FROM FTJ****

FTJ have given £4000 from funds raised at various events to the school to go towards the cost of developing the outdoor provision for pupils. This will help to fund projects including a Lego Wall in the Infant Playground, Table Tennis tables in the Junior playgrounds, a sensory garden area and to improve the green areas around school such as Corrine’s Meadow.

EASTER ACTIVITIES 2019

FTJ celebrated Easter with not one, not two, not three but FOUR Easter fundraising activities. We decided to hold a Sponsored Bunny Bounce on Friday 5th April and hired a bouncing castle. TJ pupils put on their bunny ears and FTJ members counted how many bounces they could do in a minute. Thank you to all the parents, family and friends who sponsored this event and well done to everyone who took part. That evening we held a School Disco and as usual lots of games and dancing took place. On Thursday 11th April we held an Easter Egg Tombola and Easter Raffle after school. Congratulations to Emma in RK who won a ginormous Easter Egg in the raffle! Thanks to all who donated chocolate and bought tombola and raffle tickets. The total raised from all 4 events was £3385.92 which is fantastic! We are so grateful to everyone that supports our events. 

Friends of Thomas Jolyffe held another fun-filled Christmas Fair on 7th December. This year we decided to invite outside stall holders to sell Christmas themed crafts and gifts at the fair. They made an excellent contribution to the event and it was great to have such a wide selection of crafts for sale.

We held a ‘Decorate A Christmas Shoebox Scene’ competition and received some very artistic and creative boxes. Well done to the competition winners!

We were very lucky to receive a visit from Santa Claus. He was very impressed with TJ’s beautifully decorated grotto – Thanks to Sam Lloyd and her team of FTJ elves.

We would like to thank everyone who attended, donated, baked, supported and helped at the fair. We cannot run these events without the fantastic support of the FTJ members and the generosity of the parents and families. We raised just over £1000 which is terrific!

On 9^th November 2018 the Friends of Thomas Jolyffe held it's AGM. After the official proceedings were completed it was time to go the circus! Flip & Dippy performed their hilarious ‘Clown World’ show for children and parents. It was a great evening, with some wonderful audience participation and a magical flying car! We raised just over £500 for the school, which is fantastic. Thank you to everyone who attended.

On 8^th June 2018 the Friends of Thomas Jolyffe held the first ever TJ Fest. We wanted to make a change from the typical school summer fete and decided to create a mini festival. We also decided to hold the event after school on a Friday rather than the weekend in the hope it would increase turn out and it certainly did - although the weather may also have had something to do with it! As well as the usual stalls - tombola, face painting, hook a duck, bouncy castle - we invited outside caterers in to add to the festival vibe. We had wood fired pizzas from Twisted Kitchen, locally sourced hot dogs and ales from Bar.BeCue, Prosecco and Peroni on tap from the Tipple Tuk and delicious waffles and ice cream from Waffleicious. These vendors were a welcome addition and some even sold out of produce!

We had live music from local bands and young musicians from Stratford High School, as well as a performance from TJ school choir and staff band. Scratchy Beard www.scratchybeard.com entertained us with gypsy jazz and a song or two in French. Alfonso’s Pancake Breakfast http://www.pancakebreakfast.co.uk delighted the crowd with well-known funk and rock covers.

It was a fantastic evening and we raised £2,400 for the school. A massive thank you to all those who helped behind the scenes, on the night, ran a stall and of course to all the families that attended.

On Friday 13^th July 2018 FTJ held a fundraising School Disco. We held separate events for Key Stage 1 and 2. Our DJ was Sam from Glo-Ball https://www.facebook.com/GloBallParties/ and as well as some fantastic tunes he also played some great party games with the children. It was a super evening and thanks to all those who helped and thank you to the children (and parents) who attended. We raised a magnificent £600 and some of this money has been spent on gazebos to be used at sports day and other school outdoor events.

The Easter Extravaganza took place on Friday 23^rd March 2018 and we raised a wonderful £600 for the school. The Chocolate Tombola was a great success as always and there were plenty of happy and chocolatey faces from those who won! Children also decorated Easter biscuits and made Easter chicks and bunnies. There was an Easter themed word hunt in the playground. Many thanks to all children and families who attended. We cannot run these events without your support!

On 1^st December 2017 FTJ celebrated Christmas at Thomas Jolyffe School with a festive fair. The choir, expertly coached by Mrs Fletcher and Mrs. Nayar, entertained us with Christmas carols. There was mulled wine and a wonderful array of cakes – thanks to all those who baked or brought donations.

Father Christmas came to visit and he had some wonderful Year 6 elf helpers. Thanks to Sam Lloyd for creating a fabulous grotto. The chocolate tombola sold out within 45 minutes and the secret present wrapping stall was a great success. We hope all the mums and dads were happy with their surprise Christmas presents! We raised a whopping £800.