By Emily Smith
Poppleton Road Primary School in York held their annual Christmas fair on Saturday November 24 to raise extra money for the school.
The fair was run by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and raised £2000 which will go towards buying equipment for the school.
Steve Wragg, chair of Friends of Poppleton Road School said: “The fair is an essential part of the school’s activity calendar.
“Our primary goal is to put on an event where all have fun and the event builds the spirit of the school and the community.”
The Friends of Poppleton Road School group helped run the festive fair to raise money.
As the fairs are run by volunteers, the group often struggle to find enough people to help and are always looking for more.
Ellie Dawson, 36, a teacher at Poppy Road said: “The fair is one of the main events that our PTA organise and it gives their group focus and they can see the impact over the year.
“Teachers are extremely thankful for the equipment that is bought with the money raised, as we have new resources which we can use as part of every lesson or extra toys which can be used for indoor playtime and wellbeing sessions with the children.”
The fair was held from 1-3pm and was open to the public, featuring cake stalls, games and a raffle.
In the past, money raised from annual fairs went towards events including a year 6 disco and a magic show for the younger children.
IPads and digital cameras were bought for every classroom with money raised from fairs, which were important to enhance children’s learning and help document their work.
Christine Noonan, a teacher at Poppy Road, said: “We are all as staff aware of the challenges we face in the future however we currently haven’t seen much day-to day impact.
“Obviously lack of glue sticks, pens and things like these can be frustrating but we are lucky enough to have teaching assistant support still, freedom with printing and help from school with other expenses.”
The school has struggled with funding in the past, often relying on money raised at fairs to provide supplies for classrooms and pay for maintenance and repairs.
Poppy Road will be hosting their annual summer fair at the end of the school year, and hope it will be as equally as successful.
Visit the school’s website to find out more: http://www.poppletonroadprimary.co.uk/