Minutes of PTFA Meeting - 10.03.2008
held at the Pound Art Centre, Corsham
Present
Peter Dove, Nick Skeet, Paul Arrowsmith, Letitia Bradley, Sarah Taylor, Martin Edmundson, Fran Inman, Charlotte Day (for Mr Loftus), Veronique Needham
1) Apologies for Absence
Lis Skeet, Amanda Fitzgerald, Fiona Dowling, Julie Duddy, Elinor Anderson.
2) Minutes of last meeting and matters arising.
Review of the actions
Peter to follow up the car sharing scheme with Andy Shirley – outstanding, whilst everyone applauded Andy’s efforts it was clear from the feedback that other solutions were required.
School to provide details of bus times and stops – outstanding; linked to the above this was viewed as a simple way of driving up use of the buses that provide a service to school from outlying locations, Miss Day agreed to follow up with school.
Paul to approach Becky Roberts to follow through on sign donations – completed
Paul to advertise his company’s scheme for donating to school PTFAs following events their employees have helped run – completed
Peter and Nick to approach the Governors about raising traffic issues with the local councils – outstanding, Nick to raise in forthcoming meeting with RMc
Peter to invite class reps to a gathering – outstanding, Peter agreed he would follow up on this with a view to hosting a get together the following week.
Action: NS
3) Chair's Report
Peter expressed the PTFA’s delight in what had been achieved to date with the Valentine’s disco, class teas and some exciting plans being taken forward with the school for supporting the purchase of vital equipment. Nick added that follow up was required to clarify with RMc whether the list originally agreed with KL was still extant or required refreshing. A meeting would be fixed for as soon as possible.
4) Head Teacher's Report
Miss Day reported for the school that they were grateful for all the efforts of the parents in organising class teas. She explained that the teaching staff had all agreed that funds raised should be shared equally from a central pot in the interest of fairness. It was agreed that RMc would be asked to communicate this decision with supporting reasons clearly to the parents as it has been a contentious subject in the past.
Action: CD
The school were also grateful for the disco organised for Valentine’s Day and were delighted that the children had enjoyed themselves so much.
Miss Day showed the meeting some examples of the new reading scheme books that had been purchased with PTFA funds and said how pleased she was that these and role play area equipment was adding real value to the experience for the early years children. Peter spoke for all present when he said that to see the results of the fund raising efforts was great and real vindication for all the hard work put in by all associated with the PTFA.
There followed a discussion about whether further funds could be used to bolster the reading scheme as it is clear that what has been purchased is to supplement existing old stock not replace it. It was agreed that the meeting with RMc would confirm what PTFA has already committed to in terms of spend before considering further support.
A discussion followed on the ‘no turning’ sign at the school entrance and some expressed disappointment at the fact that some parents have been seen ignoring it. It was agreed that the sign should be further promoted through the newsletter in the hope that over time observance becomes the norm. It is also hoped that when the governors become more involved in helping address the traffic issues with the council, the potential improvements to road markings and signage will increase safety for pedestrians.
5) The Treasurer's report
Paul presented and explained the latest financial position with key points and highlights being noted. The full report will be made available on the website and posted with the minutes. There is a healthy net balance of nearly £5,500 and the PTFA now has a higher interest bearing account. In the period between Sept and Feb the PTFA raised £2400.
Paul also presented details of a website called The Giving Machine which acts as a portal for parents or other users of the PTFA website to do online shopping with a huge range of retailers with household names. Merely by using the portal the school would make a commission on every purchase. All agreed this was worth investigating and Paul agreed to do so.
Action: PA
6) Vice Chair's update
Nick reported on the event consultation that had been run with parents in February – unfortunately of the 150 questionnaires sent out only 7 responses had been received; clearly a very disappointing response and unrepresentative sample. However, the results did indicate that some events were more popular, namely an auction of promises, quiz night and special class tea event for charity. The results were discussed and it was agreed that in light of current schedule of events but with the exception of a sponsored event and the special class tea, these ideas for new events should be considered for 09/10.
The current year’s events timeline was presented and discussed. Planning for the summer fete needs to begin in earnest in April and Peter agreed to use a class reps meeting to drum up support for a date, small team to coordinate planning and ideas for a theme and attractions etc.
Action: PD
Amanda Fitzgerald who has offered to organise a special class tea involving the whole school would be approached to get things moving and agree a date.
Action: NS
It was also agreed that the school would be asked to provide some guidance as to a suitable theme for a curriculum based sponsored event. NS would do this at his meeting with RMc.
Action: NS
Nick reported that the wine tasting event was still in the pipeline but being further pushed back as he was having problems getting a date and event details agreed with Chapel, etc., the proposed venue.
A discussion followed on a number of proposed possible events for the future and Sports Day, specifically the role of the PTFA, which will be decided in due course following further discussion with the school.
Final plans are in place for Race Night and Nick reported that ticket sales had been strong – the event promises to be the best yet.
7) A.O.B.
There was no other business.
Actions
Nick to convene a meeting with RMc to refresh the funding required and agreed spend list along with discussing other issues.
Miss Day to ask RMc to communicate to parents the reasons for decisions on split and use of class tea funds.
Paul to investigate use by PTFA of The Giving Machine portal.
Peter to convene a meeting of class reps.
Nick to ask Amanda F to go ahead with organising the special class tea.
Nick to ask RMc to discuss with teachers and provide PTFA with guidance as to a suitable sponsored event theme.