Minutes of Last Meeting - 02.07.2007
Present
Peter Robson, Nick Skeet, Mr Loftus, Martin Edmundson, Sally Mitchell, Sarah Taylor, Letitia Bradley-Proulx.
1) Apologies for Absence
Neil Bolton, Lis Skeet, Margaret Gill.
2) Minutes from the Last Meeting
- The new parents document has been advertised, and is available for all to read on the website. _ Thanks again to Rob for this.
- Banner is now in hand and so no longer need to use Michael Hope for this.
- Neil to investigate the lack of allocation of class tea money - this has now been resolved and will be covered later in the minutes.
- Peter to raise car sharing opportunities with Mr Loftus - pending.
- Peter to cost the extension of the kit to include netball/hockey skirts and polo shirts - this will be £250 approximately.
- Nick to report to Mr Loftus the conclusion of the mug investigation - this has been resolved and should be at the school for the Mass.
Chairman's Report
Peter began his report with the Summer Ball, and how fantastic it was, the food was wonderful and there weren’t any hiccups due to and thanks to all the helpers. The only negative feedback we have had so far is that it was all over too quickly! A big thank you was given to Sarah for not only organising it so well, but in the way she managed to encourage a lot of business support in this case Indulgence, and previously Straker from the race night who are happy to come and generously support these events.
The Headteacher’s Report
Mr Loftus started his report by thanking and congratulating the efforts of the PTFA Committee and everyone who has supported them over this year. He has seen how the children have gained not only educationally and socially but in a myriad of ways related to their personal development through the commitment of the PTFA. He felt that the organisation and delegation of tasks has reflected a good balance of fund raising, charitable work and social events for the children and adults alike. It has meant the acceleration in the realisation of projects such as the outdoor classroom and the annex link. It is this clear communication and the interest in the school’s aims and projects that has strengthened and made the learning environment more vibrant as well as making the PTFA and its successes the envy of many of the surrounding schools.
Mr Loftus said that we had shown ourselves to be both a reflective and a self evaluating group and whilst the questionnaire returns were disappointing the tremendous support from the parents and the success of our initiatives have surpassed all expectations. The school would like to view the returned responses but he personally had had very positive feedback from the new families in the school as well as colleagues.
Many congratulations were given to Sarah, Letitia, Peter and everyone else who took leading roles in the organisation of the fantastic Summer Ball. The feedback from the staff was very positive indeed and Mr Loftus also commented on the how excited the pupils were that their parents were “having their own party”.
On the subject of whether to hold a summer fete or not, Mr Loftus believed that the decision was the correct one given the busy nature of the term with the 40th anniversary. Also from a staff perspective some of them have had four weekend commitments already this term with Holy Communion events etc.
Sister Stella told him that she was delighted with the fact that the PTFA have been so generous with their donations to the Cheshire Homes and the school leadership team has seen how these initiatives work closely with the aims and mission of the school.
Mr Loftus ended his report by giving many thanks to Nick and Peter for taking time off from work to contribute to the Reception induction meeting again this year. He was pleased to see some of the new parents at the ball!
Treasurer’s Report.
Peter presented the report that Neil had prepared. The healthy balance (£8,600) was in fact mostly made up of money from the sale of Ball tickets and that once all the expenses were paid (£6250) we would have the £1000 working capital required to hold in reserve. The comment was made that we are not indeed a bank and the money raised should and indeed is spend on the school as quickly as possible. There is still the gift aid income to be claimed back and as the end of the school year is approaching a declaration to parents needs to be made. Nick said he would do this.
Peter said the decking for under the outdoor classroom would cost £480, and this would be down this month so the children can make full use of it.
Questionnaire Report.
Out of 150 questionnaires sent out only 19 were returned. This gives a percentage of 12% and can not be called a representative sample, however some very useful comments were made and information gathered and thanks was given to those people who did return them to the school. A suggestion was made that we could work with the school for future questionnaires and set it for homework with the pupils interviewing and collating data. The draw was still held and Sally Hobden won the two bottles of Champagne.
Events and Donations update
Summer Ball
a) Summer Ball - The reconciliation was done and whilst the object was to break even as this was a social event we did make an estimated profit of £71.
This includes the two tickets paid for by the PTFA for Sister Stella and Sister Concepta and the two tickets that were partly sponsored by Hartham Park that were given as Race night raffle prizes. The final invoice has been received and has been given to Sharon so that the VAT can be claimed back.
All of our thanks went to Peter Dove and Elinor who took such wonderful photographs and did all the explanation notes that were given to guests. Peter Dove has offered his services to take photographs at the Santa’s Grotto this year, he would be able to offer the photos at a nominal fee as the photographer last year had charged £5 a shot and this was felt to be too expensive and of course took money out of the PTFA pot.
We gladly accepted his offer. Peter agreed to write to Peter Dove to thank him for this offer.
We also thought as the art cupboard was such a great place last year we could reuse it again and as it is right outside the Year One class room offer the decoration of the grotto to the Year One parents as their traditional task.
b) 40th Anniversary Mass
There isn’t any support required from the PTFA for this.
c) 40th Anniversary Mugs
Nick was hoping to have the sample to show us but because of the postal strike it had been delayed but there have been 252 mugs ordered, one for each pupil and the Staff and Governors. These will be a gift and are not for sale.
d) 40th Anniversary Banner
This has been sourced and delivery has been promised by the 10th. It has the school logo in gold on a blue background and a gap has been left for the mission statement and finishing off which will be completed by the parents who have kindly offered their needle craft skills.
e) The Outdoor Classroom Flooring
This will be going ahead at the start of next week.
f) The Sports Kit
Peter handed over the new St. Patrick’s sports kit to Mr Loftus. It was really stunning to see and Mr Loftus agreed that we need to have a photograph taken of the team wearing it, so the other parents can enjoy seeing it too. Peter had taken the optional extra of an embroidered kit bag ensuring that the kit has one place to be returned to. The school will find someone who is responsible for the washing and returning of the kit. The total was £320. Mr Loftus said thank you on behalf of the school and said what a difference it would make to the team spirit of those wearing it. Hopefully a netball team kit will follow soon.
g) A September Event
We all agreed that Peter would write a letter to the Parent body explaining why there wasn’t going to be a fete this summer. These big family events are the hardest to arrange and a full blown fete takes months from the planning to fruition.
We did then talk about the smaller family event that we will have in September, we can then welcome the new Parents and have a social, not huge fund raising event which does not require a massive set up but is family inclusive so everyone can enjoy it.
It is hoped it will be based around a BBQ, with a bar and have lots of sports stuff out for the kids. We talked about the merits of about having it on a Friday evening after school or on a Saturday and having commercial stalls in with just a pitch fee over asking parents to run them, however no decisions were made. We need an event leader now so we can support them and have a brain storming meeting. Mr Loftus mentioned in the past after school events are tricky as we no only have to make sure that people attend but keep them there otherwise it could all be over by 4.30 but on a Saturday other commitments kick in. It was decided to talk further and make the relevant decisions when we know who would be willing to lead on it.
The school will however pass a list of possible dates to Peter and ask for an event leader in the forthcoming newsletter.
A.O.B.
Raffle tickets
A big thank you was given to everyone who bought raffle tickets again this year. The winner of the first prize kindly donated it to Sister Stella and the work she is doing for Cheshire Homes. At the meeting we did not have the full total but it was over £1050. We all wanted to thank Sally Mitchell again for the work she did in finding the raffle prizes for us.
The textile collection
Apologies were also given for the late collection of the textile collection, this was due to an administrative error but some of us were glad as it gave us a chance to bring a few more things in. The feedback we have had has been very positive and hope has been expressed that we can do another one before Christmas.
Uniform Shop
Friday 6th July is to be the last Uniform Shop of the current school year . Jacqui and Lena are both to step down and unless other parents are willing to come forward it will not be able to be run from the school.
Mr Loftus remembered when it started, as previously parents had to go to Chippenham to get the Uniforms, and it was a worry then how dependant it is on parents finding the time to keep it open. Thanks were given to Jacqui and Lena, and to everyone else who has helped keep it going for so long. We will put a notice up to let everyone know that this Friday is the last one and Sally is to ask Lena what the responsibilities and commitments are to the post.
If no one comes forward it will regretfully close.
Ideas for fundraising
A new idea was raised to hold an adult class tea (gossip club) in the school hall every six weeks or so possibly going past school time so the parents could have chat time and then be joined by the children for half an hour. Healthier snacks could be made available or milkshakes etc. under an agreed format each year group could host it - real coffee and a chance to mingle with parents up and down the school. Mr Loftus agreed to the idea in principle but felt more thought was needed but for the Winter Season it could prove popular. The meeting was drawn to a close at 9.30.
Summary of Action Points
- i. Peter to raise car sharing opportunities with Mr Loftus.
- ii. Peter to cost the extension of the kit to include netball/hockey skirts and polo shirts.
- iii. Nick to script a gift aid declaration to parents.
- iv. Peter to write to Peter Dove to thank him for his offer re the Christmas Bazaar and accept it.
- v. The school will find someone who is responsible for the washing and returning of the new sports kit.
- vi. Peter to write a letter to the Parent body explaining why there wasn’t going to be a fete this summer.
- vii. The school will pass a list of possible dates to Peter for a September Event and ask for an event leader in the forthcoming newsletter.
- viii. Sally is to ask Lena what the responsibilities and commitments are for running the uniform shop.