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Annual Letter from the Chairman
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August 2008
Dear Parents, Staff and Governors
As another school year draws to a close, so too does our first year as co-Chair of the Friends Committee. It must be said that having done such a great job before us, cheerfully, efficiently and apparently effortlessly, Eve Bignell was a hard act to follow! We are very grateful for her generous and invaluable advice, as well as the support of such an enthusiastic team who have given up their free time and have worked quietly behind the scenes to put on the successful social events.
For parents of new pupils, the Friends of Marlborough House are a committee devoted to arranging social events for the parents, staff and occasionally children. Our purpose is social rather than fundraising and in most cases we aim to simply cover costs for each event. When we do make a profit, it is primarily used to fund the extras at school that go above and beyond the school’s own expenditure. This year we have been able to buy new sports kit for the entire Years 5-8, speakers for the big screen television in the Gallery, a DVD player for the sick bay, a digital camcorder for the pre-prep and cushions for group reading in the Harrison Building.
The School itself helps the larger community in raising monies for charities in a number of ways and The Friends help towards this by donating the funds raised from the Christmas Fair each year.
The 2007 Fireworks and Bonfire night, the first social event of the school year, seemed to have been better attended than ever. Our grateful thanks to Ken Weatherall for once again putting on a spectacular firework display, to the groundsmen for preparing the bonfire and the gap year students for making the guy. The threatened rain held off, the mulled wine steamed and a patient food queue was served by the apron-clad committee members and various volunteers, while being entertained by fire throwers.
The 2007 Christmas Fair was 'under new management' after many years in the capable hands of Louise Heilbron. It was greeted with the usual enthusiasm from the children and was well supported by parents and grandparents. The must-have shopping craze of the fair was to own one of the hessian Marlborough House bags which sold very quickly and are still regularly spotted out and about in the local (and not so local) area! There might yet be a prize for anyone who is able to spot (and support with photographic evidence) an MHS bag the furthest from Kent..! Our thanks go to Nona Wright and Lyn Gordon for their hard work in achieving such a great success, with a record sum of £4,874 being divided between the two chosen charities, Changing Faces and Hospice in the Weald. Our thanks also to Louise for all her help in ensuring such a seamless transition.
No sooner had we returned from the Christmas holidays and the Quiz night was upon us, this year with a wine theme. Turnout as ever was high and the quiz was completed in a jovial and friendly atmosphere. The winner’s prize was hotly contested between a table of pre-prep parents and the headmaster's table, resulting in a 'fingers on the buzzers' decider - with the clearly academic headmaster's team winning with their knowledge of Abba songs..! Dan Davies provided great hilarity with his individual style of quiz-mastering, while Jem Hughes provided the welcome breaks. Thank you to Philip Lockyer and his staff who laid on a delicious meal with the chicken curry and popadoms being a sell-out yet again!
This term's Staff v Parents Cricket and Rounders Match was a great success in terms of weather, attendance, atmosphere and the fact that the parents won the cricket for the first time in at least five years! The staff however remained victorious on the rounder’s pitch. The increased attendance was undoubtedly due to the inclusion of the fathers’ popular 5-a-side football, with more pre-prep families coming along than in previous years, and a coconut shy and ice cream van added a touch of the 'fairground' to the evening. Special mention should be made of Mrs Daley and her Achilles tendon, which was torn at first base. She had to retire hurt with an excruciatingly painful injury which she bore with great bravery. Everyone was pleased to see her back at school before the end of term and we hope she is now fully on the mend. We would like to say a very big thank you to Melissa and Mark Russell-Vick and Steve Fleming for organising the parent teams and to Rachel Fox and Rob Mathers for all their hard work. Thanks too go to Philip and his staff for such delicious sausages and burgers sourced from the local butcher.
The Committee has seen various comings and goings and we are delighted to welcome onto the committee Annabel Rutman and Phil Cornish. The Social Reps continue to be a key point of contact for new parents and children and we are extremely grateful for their input not only during the term, organising various informal get-togethers etc but also for the time they give during the holidays when they get new and existing parents together. Their efforts ensure that every new child has a familiar face to look for on Day One which can be greatly reassuring for new parents.
Finally, we would like to wish a warm welcome to those parents new to the school next term. Please do not hesitate to contact any one of us if you have any queries regarding the social events. We are listed in the back of your Almanack. Please remember that we are always keen to hear from anyone who would like to help with Friends' events as these can only happen with the continued support of volunteers.
We hope you have all had a fantastic holiday and look forward to seeing you in September.
With best wishes,
Jo Santini and Pippa Horlick
Co-Chair, Friends of Marlborough House
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