Every year, our school community is brought together by the Friends of Norwich School. Whether for one of the regular coffee mornings or one of their fundraising events, such as the biennial ball or the much-loved Winter Quiz, kindly hosted by John Ingham, Friends of Norwich School are an integral part of Norwich School. In addition, many in our community rely on the incredible facilities offered by our Second Hand Uniform Shop, which is run by a dedicated team of FONS volunteers. But what is all this for? 

Well, in addition to providing bursary funds for the school, the FONS money is used to enrich the pupil experience, by offering grants to support clubs and societies within the school. Here are just a few of the stories that show where this fundraising money has been spent... 

Lower School Dance 

“The children who are in Dance for Performance enjoyed participating in the Junior Dance Festival and the Great Big Dance off competition. They wore the t-shirts, which were funded by FONS, to show they were part of a team and that they looked professional during rehearsals. These will continue to be used during various performances including the Gala later in the year. 

£300 was spent on the t-shirts. The t-shirts have the Norwich School Logo embroidered on the front and ‘Norwich Lower School Performing Arts’ written on the back.” 

The Drama Department 

“In the Drama department we kindly received £500 which we have used all to purchase a DSLR camera and green screen equipment. This was purchased with the intention of using the equipment to facilitate more film for the pupils as well as more professional capturing of performed productions within the department. 

I am pleased to report that we have already used the equipment to great effect to capture the L5 Theatre in Education pieces, along with the U6, L6, U5 Drama event work and the recent inters play. 

All the equipment has also been used to great effect in the self-taping auditions for the 4th Form recently for a new movie adaptation of Lord of the Flies.” 

The Charities Committee 

“The money allocated by FONS for the Partnerships T-shirts has all been spent, to purchase 25 black polo shirts which can be worn by pupils volunteering for events and partnership work. The total cost slightly exceeded the grant which was subsidised by the Marketing Department. 

The front of the shirts says Norwich School Charities Committee and the reverse says "Here to help." The pupils absolutely love them, and we have a highly active charities committee, who have already volunteered for several events, including the Friends of Norwich School Ball and volunteering for local charity Keeping Abreast's Fundraising Winter Fair at The Forum, at which the pupils proudly wore the shirts. 

Thank you to FONS for your support which has made a significant difference to our pupils who give so generously of their time to help the community.” 

Argentinian Soup Kitchen 

“So far, a lot of items have been purchased for different activities such as: footballs, whistles, vests, a pump, two boxes to storage everything, a card machine, sweet tubs for winners for our different competitions (Mario Kart, FIFA, football and darts), lollies for valentine's "flowers" and for the "ghost lollies". 

We have also paid for people's ingredients to run a bake sell and if there is any left I would like to use it to make tea towels and raise even more money. 

We have also used some money to purchase wool for mittens (from Ester and her grannie) and ribbon for me to make bunting and scrunchies and for my mum to make cat and flower bookmarks (for Easter Fair with Amnesty). 

Thanks once again for your generosity. It will make a big difference for these kids.” 

Knitters and Stitchers 

Knitters and Stitchers are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Friends of Norwich School. Having only been established this academic year, it is so wonderful to have so much support! 

So far here are some of the purchased items; Sewing and quilting machine & thread, Knitter’s loom bag combo & vari dent reeds, iron, ironing board, tailors dummy, tailors’ hams mardili, washers, pinking shears, French curve mixed set and dressmakers’ tool and so much more! 

Thank you again to Friends of Norwich School for their continuous support of the school!