Announcement: Quiz Night Thursday 31st March
Quiz Night: Thursday March 31st at 7pm at Wren Academy.
Our third annual quiz night gives everybody the chance to get together and test their knowledge against other parents, friends and staff. More importantly, it’s an opportunity to enjoy some great food and get to know some new people.
So, put the date in your diary now and get your team together for what should be another fun night. Wren quizzes have a habit of being just that bit different. Tickets will cost £10, which includes a delicious two-course meal.
More details will follow soon
Annual General Meeting – Report
A big thank you to nearly 40 people who turned up to FWA’s AGM recently.
We were very grateful for your support.
At the meeting we reported on a successful year for FWA, including the confirmation of charitable status.
We also talked about forthcoming events and exciting ideas for the coming year including hiring the sports hall, a second-hand uniform shop, on-line shopping and raising funds for a new minibus for the Academy.
More details available - email us at friendsofwrenacademy@googlemail.com with any questions that you have.
Friends update, and BOLLYWOOD evening a great success
BOLLYWOOD came to Wren Academy on November 26th when Friends of Wren Academy held a very successful social evening. If you weren’t able to make it, you missed a treat.
Over eighty people braved the cold night air to enjoy an evening with a rich Indian flavour. Some were braver still as they were put through their paces on the restaurant floor by our delightful visiting Bollywood dancers. I think some people really surprised themselves with how well they did, while others may have been regretting they hadn’t joined in the fun.
That was followed by a warming delicious curry, which everybody seemed to enjoy. Even better, the outside caterers cleared up all their own rubbish, leaving the committee and friends to do comparatively little at the end of the evening. We’d like to thank the excellent site services staff on duty that night for their good-humoured and patient help, it really was very much appreciated.
Of course, such events don’t just happen. They require a lot of hard work and planning and I’m grateful to the excellent sub-committee, as well as staff and friends, who helped put the event together. We plan to hold another social event in the spring and we hope you we all come to that. It’s not always easy to get to know other parents when your child is at senior school so such evenings are a rare opportunity to get together and talk over a glass of wine and some good food. There will be more information about future events soon and one definite date for your diary is Saturday June 18th when we will be holding Wren Academy’s third Summer Festival.
Bringing people together is very much part of the ethos of the FWA. We want to build a community that everybody feels part of at the Wren, whether parents, staff or students. However, we are also trying to raise funds to enhance the education and environment of the Wren Academy. We recently made a substantial donation towards the cost of erecting an attractive gazebo in the grounds and we hope to support other projects in the near future.
As well as social events and the Summer Festival, we’re also looking at other on-going ways we can raise funds. Amongst these is an on-line shopping system, through which you can register to have a donation made to the FWA every time you buy something via the internet. Do please have a look at our website today to see how you can join in. Another way we can raise money is through matched-funding, a system where companies will double the money raised by an employee at a charitable event. Do please get in touch with us if you think you can help in this way.
The FWA will be holding an AGM in the New Year so if you’d like to be on the committee please do get in touch. We’re particularly keen to encourage year 7 parents to get involved. More details on this and other events very soon.
Ed Newman
FWA
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Christmas Shopping Discounts
If you shop online, every purchase you make could raise money for Friends of Wren Academy, and it won’t cost you a penny! This has to be one of the easiest ways to raise money for our school, and it’s so simple even a parent can do it. Even better, this month there are brilliant Christmas shopping deals – so you can save yourself money while you fundraise for your children!
Three steps to raise money for your school while shopping online:
- Go to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/
- Press the big red button marked “register as a user”
- Press the big purple button marked “find a cause” and enter “Friends of Wren Academy”
Whenever you shop online, access your chosen shop via easyfundraising and the shop will give money to FWA, every time you buy something. You can shop with 2000+ Brand Name retailers and to raise funds you just use the links from the easyfundraising site first – it’s that simple!
Why not help our children at no extra cost from purchases you would make anyway – and you can even save money too!
Current Voucher Offers on www.easyfundraising.org.uk – You will get details of these offers when you register.
1. 50% off beauty gifts at M&S
2. Argos – £5 voucher when you spend over £50 or £10 voucher when you spend over £100
3. £50 M&S voucher from Sky
4. Amazing ‘Black Friday’ deals from Amazon
5. 10% off all orders over £20 at IWantOneOfThose.com when you quote NOEL10.
6. Free delivery when you spend over £30 at John Lewis
7. 50% off selected Early Learning Centre toys
8. National Trust membership – 12 months for the price of 9
9 Up to £15 off at PrezzyBox
10. 10% off when you spend £30 at Hotel Chocolat – use code EASYFUNDX
11. 3 for 2 on Christmas gifts from Laura Ashley
12. 10% off with Red Letter Days when you use our EXCLUSIVE eVoucher code EASYFUND10.
13. 20% off all orders at New Look when you quote the eVoucher code VIPX10
14. Waterstones – use eVoucher code at checkout to get 10% OFF books when you spend over £30.
You can find more details and lots more great offers on the Christmas Gifts page – http://easyfundraising.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a9bc40e4402cf770e3c4db614&id=96afe5ea03&e=cb59aa8abb
Bollywood Night Poster
Wren Calendar Available Now
Raise Money While you Shop
If you shop online, every puchase you make could raise money for Friends of Wren Academy, and it won’t cost you a penny!
This has to be one of the easiest ways to raise money for our school, and it’s so simple even a parent can do it 
- Mosey on down to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/
- Press the big red button marked “register as a user”
- Press the big purple button marked “find a cause”
- Whenever you shop online, access your chosen shop via easyfundraising and the shop will give money to every time you buy something.
You can shop with 2000+ Brand Name retailers and to raise funds you just use the links from the easyfundraising site first – it’s that simple!
If you ALREADY shop online, why not help our children at no extra cost from purchases you would make anyway.
Why do retailers support your fundraising?
It seems very generous, but when you buy online the cost to the retailer is much lower. As there’s no shop, salesperson, heating, electricity, rates, not even the cost of the bag to put your goods in, retailers are more than happy to help good causes when new online customers are introduced to them via www.easyfundraising.org. Please note that your chosen good cause receives 100% of the donation. E.g. the donation rate for M&S is 5% of all spend, so your chosen good cause will receive 5p for every £1 spent.
Will I pay anything extra?
No. You pay the same prices exactly as if you visited each retailer’s website directly. Using our service will not cost you a penny more than you would pay normally.
How much can I raise?
Up to 15% of every purchase is donated, depending on which retailer you select and what you buy. The exact donation that will be paid is displayed directly next to each retailer listing. With some categories such as mobile phones and insurance there is a cash value. If a retailer offers more than one donation, or if there is any special
Am I dealing with the retailer or with easyfundraising?
You still deal directly with each retailer. Easyfundraising simply record your visit to their website and reward your selected cause if you make any purchases.
Save money
Many retailers give exclusive ‘Internet-only’ discounts, special offers and even money saving ‘eVouchers’ to our members, so as well as raising funds, you can also use our site to save money.
What next?
The service is easy to use and it’s completely FREE. To start please Register so they know who you support. Then just remember to use them the next time you shop online! Please contact them if you have any questions and they’ll be happy to assist!
Welcome!
Welcome to a new year at Wren Academy!
Approximately 500 people – staff, pupils, parents/carers and other family members, have become Friends of Wren Academy for the first time.
For new joiners in year 7, the difference from primary school, and the relative lack of involvement and engagement with a community around the school, takes some adjustment. We are lucky to have the active community that we do. The active support of the school, who helped us set up our PTA right at the start of our first academic year, as well as some very committed parents, makes a big difference and we hope you will want to build on this tradition and stay involved.
Wren Academy is quite unusual amongst secondary schools in having such an active community amongst its parents and involving the whole family in parts of school life. We enjoy the chance to get to know parents of our children’s’ new friends, we enjoy the social life it helps to bring, and we raise extremely valuable funds for the school.
Look out for new on activities for this term and the rest of the year – on this website and the school newsletter – and get in touch by email or phone if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or ideas about Friends of Wren Academy.
2010 Summer Festival a Great Success
What a day to remember! Months of planning, hard work and a brilliant joint effort from students, parents and teachers made the second Wren Summer Festival a huge success.
We prayed all week for good weather and thankfully, the rain held off all day. We had around 750 visitors in total and everyone found something to keep them busy once through the gates. The now legendary cake stall needs a festival all of its own and anyone partaking of a cake or two, often came back for seconds or thirds! The barbecue had long queues of hungry punters, desperate for kebabs, burgers and sausages.
The sports tombola sold out of prizes, it was so popular. Highlight of the day might well have been the surprise appearance of a fire engine (there was no fire, it was just something we all got to play on!).
The five-a-side footie was heavily over-subscribed, with everyone desperate to get into the spirit of world cup fever. And for those who wanted to sit down and savour some raw talent whilst having a Pimms, there were acts from gospel choir to school of rock, mostly Wren students. A special appearance from Finchley Foil (fencing) and a finale from a band called X-O Thermik , who provided a perfect end to a great day.
We made just under £7,000, which is a great result, especially when you consider there are just two years of students at Wren. All of these funds will go towards buying equipment for the school, after discussion with Mr Whitworth. Thanks again to all the helpers on the day, the students who bought in contributions for stalls and the parents, teachers, advertisers and contributers for making it so special.
Raffle Prizes Announced
Top prize in the raffle is a diamond pendant worth £2,500!!!
Special thanks to Simon Lewis of Hatton Garden for his amazing generosity.
Sales of raffle tickets have been going well, let’s hope for a final push this week. Tickets will be on sale on Saturday at the Festival. Donations are still arriving, so check on the raffle stall in case there’s a last-minute extra prize that makes you want to prise an extra £1 out of your pocket.
½ Carat Diamond Pendant worth £2,500
£250 Cameo Photography Package
Sony Ericsson Mobile Phone
Life Coaching Session
Personal Training Session
Claudia Canova Couture Gold Evening Clutch Bag
Men’s Grooming Hampers
Ladies Spa and Beauty Hampers
