St John's School Association

click Lacey Green School for other records

Hallmark report 1978 by Kathleen Turner. Hello again, and a belated New Year greetings to you all! We haven't been doing a lot lately because we've all been on holiday; but there's lots to look forward to, something for us all, grown-ups and children. (click Gordon & Kathleen Turner for more about Kathleen)

Our annual dance is on Saturday, 11th February. It's a Discotheque for a change, but rather more sedate than those put on by the youth club! Tickets are available from commitee members and the school, or just phone Princes Risborough 3277.

The following week, on Saturday 18th February we proudly present the Dolphin Puppet Theatre. This is a rather splended entertainment which we are pleased to put on, involving hand, stick and stringed puppets combined with film and music. Some of you may have seen a production they put on for the Save the Children Fund last year, which was well received. There will be two performances in the School Hall at 3pm and 7pm. Tickets will be available from committee members and the School. There is sure to be a big demand, so get your tickets early.

Four weeks later, our Annual Sponsored Litter Collection takes place on Saturday, 18th March. The children do a marvellous job of tidying up the villages, so we hope you'll continue to spport them as you have in the past.

And finally, a note for your diary - there will be a Fashion Show on Wednesday, 10th May. Don't know yet who the clothes will be by - look out for further information.

Hallmark reports below for 1983, 1986, 1990, 2013, 2014 and 2023. The reports between 1983 to 1990 in Hallmark on behalf of this PTA were written by Alan Edwards 1, Tony Smart 4, Robert Lenko (Chair)4, Jane Tyrer 1, Phil Manktelow (Secretary) 1

Hallmark May 1983. Report by Alan Edwards

And a jolly good time was had by all! That sums up the ramble on Sunday 22nd, when more than sixty children and adults "headed" by Mr. and Mrs. Anthony, set out from Smalldean Lane car park. The route took us through Park Wood, fringing fields of peas and other crops and ended up at Smalldean Farm Cottage, where teas were served. The weather was kind, although parts of the path were squelchy. Adults avoided, and children headed for, the muddy sections, and there were a few squeals as children became embedded up to the top of their ‘wellies'! But there were no serious accidents and it was a very pleasant walk. Many thanks to Ray Gosling for the idea and the organisation. The objective was to have fun and not make money and this was achieved.

However, to make money was the objective of the 50/50 Auction on May 7th and over £200 was raised for the school funds. It is amazing what people can find for sales and what people wish to buy! Stamps! Bikes (very popular) old 78 records, very old lawnmowers and window blinds were all displayed and sold. The "one armed" Auctioneer Jon Ellis, kept up a constant patter for two hours, congratulations and many thanks to the committee who rallied around to help.

In previous ‘Hallmarks’ I have mentioned that our main object for 1983 fund raising was Environmental Studies. A good start has been made, weather permitting the pond will have been dug out, hedges and flowers planted. Aside from the environmental studies, a trophy cabinet has been bought and will be used to display cups and shields etc.

Stop Press Important.

We have just heard of Mr. Anthony's forthcoming retirement as Head of St. John's School, after 25 years service to the school and the Village. A farewell presentation will be made at the school on July 20th at 8.00 p.m. Collections are being organised and we are certain that you will give generously.

Hallmark October 1983 Report. The new committee for 1983 is :- Chairman - Alan Edwards: Vice Chairman - Annette Stokes: Treasurer - June Clements: Secretary - Jenny Elton: Members : Barrie Fowler, Ray Gosling, Sue Tipper, Alison Stacey, Pat Richards, Raphne Roach, and Mr Greaves. Teachers' Representatives - Muriel Agnew and Jo Rodbourne. Managers' Representative - Joan West (until the newly elected parent governors are accepted).

Hallmark December 1983. Extract from report by Alan Edwards. This year we are starting a campaign to raise money for the most ambitious project yet - new changing rooms and showers. We have feelers out in all directions for grants towards the cost, but in these days of public spending cuts, it is certain that the majority - if not all - of the money will have to be raised by the Association. Forgive me for mentionimg it again but we need your money!

Also a warm welcome to David Green who takes over as headmaster in the New Year, and a very warm "thank you" to Murial Agnew who has so ably run the school over the last term.

Hallmark October 1985

Hallmark February 1986 extract from report by Tony Smart (click Tony & Pat Smart for more abut Tony)

"As you may know the school swimming pool was unusable last year due to. lack of maintenance by the local Education Authority. The association has been in contact with the authority and with additional assistance from our local MP, the Rt. Hon. Timothy Raison we have now obtained an assurance that it will be completely renovated by the end of March this year.

Hallmark April 1986. Reporting Tony Smart.

The Fashion Show held in March was well attended and raised around £190. We would like t thank the parents, children and others who made an excellent job of modelling the clothes.

If you have children at St John's I am sure you will have noticed that various parts of the school are badly in need of decoration. The Association are asking parents to assist them in the repainting of certain classrooms and anyone else in the village feels they would like to join us, we would be very grateful of their help.

In addition the school hall is desperately in need of new curtains. If anyone could advise us of where we could second-hand curtains or material/new curtains at a substantial discount we would be very pleased to hear from them.

We were very upset to hear that the school may have to lose a teacher next year. The Association will be writing to the Local Education Authority and M.P. to lodge our protest. If we do not obtain a satisfactory answer we will call a public meeting to discuss what action can be taken.

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1990 ? Report in Hallmark by Jane Tyrer (click Chris & Jane Tyrer for Jane)

A rather more quiet weeks than usual for the committee was ended by a hectic jumble sale in the School Hall which raised approximately £150 for school funds. Thanks to all the helpers, new and old, and to those who donated jumble and cakes. The best of the leftovers (of the Jumble Sale not the cakes) has been despatched to Rumania, the shoes to hook-worm in Africa and others items to Oxfam.

We are now looking forward to the FAMILY TREASURE HUNT on 16 June. This will be ON FOOT and will start at the school at approximately 10.30 am. Tickets are available from committee members at £1.50 to include drink and barbeque. A variety of entertainments will be available at school for footsore treasure hunters on their return.

A disco is planned in the Village Hall on 20 October.

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Hallmark 2003. The St John's Parent Association organised their first Fund Run in 2003. click 2003 St John's P A Fund Run for details

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Hallmark May 2013. report by Julia Spittles, hon.sec.

Can it really be the summer term already? Life at St. John’s is as busy as ever with all of the children working extremely hard. Each class has chosen a charity to support and they have held various events to support those charities. At the end of April all 30 children in Year 6 will be singing at the Royal Albert Hall taking part in “Echoes 5”. This is a concert arranged by Buckinghamshire Music Service. It is involving 60 primary schools in Bucks and focuses on the themes of “Old Oak” and “Legacy”. The children are very excited to be able to sing. at such an amazing venue.

Hot School Meals

We are very excited to announce the re-introduction of a hot school meal service at St. John’s School. The school has secured a grant from the county to make the necessary changes to the current school community room in order to take advantage of the fantastic school meal service provided by “The Hub” based at Princes Risborough Upper School.

Mark, the Chef from the Upper School and his catering team, produce fresh, nutritionally balanced meals for the Upper School and many of the local primary schools in the area. The meals are cooked from scratch each morning, using locally sourced produce and then delivered to St. John’s school, hot and ready to be served to the children and staff each lunch time.

The work to the kitchen will be carried out over the Whitsun half term and we hope to serve our first meals to the children on Monday 1st July 2013.

In addition to providing school meals for the children we have designed the new kitchen to provide the necessary equipment and space to be able to run a regular chef’s club. The chef's club has been running as a trial-period over the past 3 terms. The results have been fantastic. The children taking part from years 4 and 5 worked together over a 5 week period to produce proper family meals for 4 people. The meals they prepared were then taken home to be enjoyed by their whole family. We had so many positive comments and the children’s skill level improved so much over the 5 week course, we are determined for this to become a regular feature at the school.

St. John’s Gardening Club Needs You!

The parents of children at St. John’s have recently started an after-school gardening club on a Friday which is open to all middle school children. The initial intention of the club is both to restore the ‘Outside Classroom’ and to turn the Millennium Garden into a kitchen garden to enhance the role of the new kitchen at St. Johns.

By restoring the gardens and dedicating them to mainly kitchen gardens this will involve the whole school curriculum: The children can use the produce to create wonderful healthy organic dishes, plant, water, watch them grow, harvest, collect seeds, compost the left-overs and start the process all over again.

At present we are working with the basics and ask if anybody has any excess vegetable seeds, seedlings, compost, planters etc. would they kindly donate them to the gardening club.

Also if you have a particular area of expertise you would like to share with parents and children alike please let us know. The two parent co-ordinators for the kitchen and garden projects are Kate Collet-Fenson and Maggie Robins, please email either of them with your ideas.

Summer Ball

The annual Summer Ball will take place on July 13th with this year’s theme being ‘Copacabana Masquerade Ball’. The preparations are well under way and it promises to be a great night out. If you would like to join us please contact the school office for tickets. This year we are raising funds to refurbish our outdoor fitness trail for the children.

School Drop Off and Pick-Up

We would like to thank all residents of Lacey Green for their patience and understanding with the parents of St. John’s at drop off and pick-up times. As we are all aware this is a very fraught time of day for all and we are trying our hardest to address any problems. With this in mind we are asking all parents at pick-up time to cooperate and drive in a clock-wise direction around Church Lane. This is not compulsory but we feel that it will help alleviate snarl-ups at the end of the day.

Have a great summer.

Hallmark May 2014. St Johns Parents Association. reporter Julia Spittles

Can it really be the summer term already? Life at St. John’s is as busy as ever with all of the children working extremely hard and looking forward to the new summer term.

St John's School was delighted to welcome the Eden Project all the way up from Cornwall for a day in March. They reminded everyone that while nature can live without us, we cant live without nature, so looking after the environment couldn't really be more important. It was a fantastic day, much enjoyed by the children and part of a broader program at the school to raise awareness of sustainability. The school is grateful to Toby Robins and his company, Wiles Greenworld, for sponsoring the event.

This term we held two PA events, the first being a Murder Mystery Evening on 15 March. Lacey Green Productions kindly gave up an evening to perform for us. It was a well attended evening and everyone enjoyed the acting. They really did give a great performance set 20 years in the future in Lacey Green! It was also a good opportunity to use our new kitchen facilities and we enjoyed food from the same kitchens as the school meals. School dinners have come a long way since my day...!

Our next PA event was a school disco for the children on the Friday before we broke up. The children love the chance to have a “mufti day” at school followed by 3 separate discos: first school, year 3 /4 and year 5/6. Thanks to the parents who come and help sell sweets, glow sticks and spray hair!

This term the PA are looking forward to hosting a Summer Disco on Saturday 10th May which will include an auction of favours.

Ice cream sales will start after Easter every Friday after school for the summer term. This is a lovely treat at the end — of the busy school week for the children.

St John's School is putting together a Community Cook Book to celebrate the new school hot meal service and the development of a new school chef's club. The cookery book is only in very early stages and we hope to involve the whole community with sections and recipes to reflect all areas of life in Lacey Green, Speen and Princes Risborough. If you would like to become involved please email Kate Collet-Fenson on colletfenson@gmail.com.

Have a great summer..

Hallmark May 2025 Chair of Governor Vacancy

St John’s CE Primary School is looking for a new Chair of Governors to succeed the current chair who will shortly be stepping down after 17 years’ service.  This is a rewarding opportunity for someone who cares about children’s education and would like to contribute to their local community.  No specific skills are required, just a willingness to learn, an ability to listen and ask questions, and a commitment to upholding the Christian values of our highly successful village school.

The role is suitable to individuals over the age of 18 who are able to give a little of their time to this important role (approximately 25-30 hours per year, mostly outside of working hours).

If you are interested and would like to learn more please contact the school office at office@jlg.odbst.org or Caroline Gulliver, the current Chair of Governors, at cgulliver@jlg.odbst.org