Afternoon of sun, fun and tradition

This year’s Fair took on a Book theme with many parents, visitors and children dressing as their favourite book characters including Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and Noddy.

The Fair kicked off with a colourful procession of the children with their May Staffs before entertaining the crowds around the Maypole with Songs and Dancing whilst others enjoyed the activities on offer.

Careful planning meant all stalls and games were in keeping with the book theme with Noddy’s Didi Cars, Willy Wonka’s Hoopla, Winnie the Pooh lucky dip, Queen of Hearts Playing Cards Game and a Where’s Wally Scavenger Hunt to name a few, together with the May Fair staples such as the Coconut Shy and Tin Can Ally.

Kelly Nicholson who is the parent rep for year 3 said: “The highlight for me was a little chap from reception, who won 3 in a row on the card game stall I was on, his face was a picture and as it was the families first fair it was great to see their enjoyment.”

Henry Adam’s Estate Agents ran an arts and crafts stall allowing the children to create bookmarks and kindly donated all profits to the school. The Bouncy slide was a favourite amongst the children as were the Noddy’s Didicars, which were also a new addition to the Fair this year.

The fine weather brought out many visitors to the Fair with record numbers attending, most stalls were sold out by the end of the day making an amazing total profit of over £5,000.

Sales were good due to the lovely weather at the BBQ and Bar where you could purchase a Pimms or a pint from the Greyhound Brewery of West Chiltington; who donated 50p a pint to the school.

There were also many delicious cakes on sale at the ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ cake stall, many in keeping with the Alice in Wonderland Theme all made by parents of the children.

The headteacher of West Chiltington School Julian Rose was particularly pleased with the day and said: “It was an afternoon of sunshine, fun and tradition! The community turned out in force to join us on a memorable summer’s afternoon. Everything went without a hitch. We were also delighted with a surprise donation of £1,000 from Brymor construction who are building the new facilities for Nyetimber vineyards.”

The Fair amongst other fund raisers is the product of months of hard work from the Schools FOSA Team (Friends of School Association) which is made up of parents from the school. The FOSA Team works closely with the school and it’s teachers, which helps make these events so successful. All the teachers were present at the Fair supporting their classes in their singing and dancing including Maypole Dancing and Song and Dance Extravaganza and a choir like rendition of Adele’s Skyfall. The afternoon was compered by Julian Hoad of Crossways Veterinary Surgery in Storrington who brought humour to the afternoon not only by way of his clown costume!

The Grand Raffle was supported by many local businesses, specifically a luxury Hamper from Courtney Green Estate Agents and also a night’s stay at The Roundabout Hotel in West Chiltington.

The joint FOSA chair’s Lisa Marshall and Fiona North were over the moon with the support from the local community, Lisa said: “It has been a fantastic afternoon, everyone has had a great time in the beautiful spring sunshine and we are all delighted to have raised such an amazing amount for the children. We’d like to give a big thank you to everyone but especially the FOSA team, without which none of this would have been possible.”