This year we celebrate the 20^th birthday of our pool – it opened in 1994 – Happy Birthday Upton pool!!

At Upton we are very proud and privileged to have such a wonderful swimming pool which is well used by many schools and our local community. The pool is a fabulous but costly asset and the very small profit we make from hiring it to others is used for ongoing maintenance and repairs. For a pool of this age it is extremely well maintained however the liner is nearing the end of its life as is the air cooling system; the changing rooms could do with a bit of a spruce up too! All this needs to be done to ensure the pool remains the amazing facility it is enabling us to continue to offer swimming to not only our ‘Uptonians’ but also the children of Thanet.

Costs for the proposed works are coming in at approximately £80,000, something we cannot afford to do on our own. We are in talks with Sport England regarding funding for half this amount with the remaining £40,000 being match funded through fund-raising by the school, our hirers and the wider community to make the £80,000 required. We are forming an ‘Upton Pool SOS Committee’ which will be made up of staff, pupils, hirers, PTFA and parents/carers and will meet next term to brainstorm fundraising ideas. Please contact the school office if you would like to assist with this committee.

The children have already come up with some fantastic money making ideas which kick off this Friday, 24^th October, with a non-school uniform day and a cake sale – how exciting!!

Pupils are invited to wear non-school uniform for the day in exchange for a £1 donation to the Upton Pool SOS Fund. The theme of the day is the colour blue (to match our pool water) and pupils can wear anything be it pyjamas; jeans, tops, dresses, hair – in fact anything blue and the crazier the better!

They will also be able to, with your permission, bring in money to spend on cakes to support the fund-raising. Our Upton cake sales are rapidly achieving legendary status and last time we raised a whopping £380.  This is only made possible through the generous contribution of cakes made (or purchased) by parents and children that are brought in for sale. Any similar support for this Friday would be greatly appreciated.

Please try to bring in cakes in disposable containers or ensure that any cake containers that you wish returned are clearly labelled with your child’s name and class (container and lid).

Best wishes

Miss Crine, SBM & Mr Walker, Assistant Headteacher