Minutes of Last Meeting - 19.06.2006
Present
Nick Skeet, Mrs Robinson, Martin Edmundson, Neil Bolton, Amanda Fitzgerald, Lena Pheby, Veronique Needham, Lis Skeet, Letitia Bradley-Proulx.
Apologies
Peter Robson, Julie Duddy, Jane Paulton, Teressa Lynch, Sarah Taylor.
Matters arising from Previous Minutes
The minutes from the PTFA meeting on the 24th April and from the special meeting on the 24th May were signed off by Nick Sheet who was acting Chair.
Chairman's Report
Nick reported the following on behalf of Peter,
- The new Constitution has been approved and the application submitted, we are now awaiting Charitable status.
- The induction morning for parents of the new reception pupils was a success and that valuable feedback received, especially on the welcome booklet and presentation. The Uniform sales were also very good on the day. thanks go to Lena for this. As a result of the work put in we have already had some volunteers from the new intake who wanted to help with the fete and generally get actively involved.
- 94 children took part in the Fun Run and the total raised to date is £1416. Amanda said she hoped to generate extra publicity by getting some large Cheques from the bank. There were still about 20 people to bring in their sponsorship money.
- The PTFA is grateful to all of those helping to make the summer fete a success but is aware that more helpers for stalls, set up and clear up, etc are needed for the day. All parents are asked to help out in any way they can.
- The latest update on the PA system is that Peter Croom is awaiting the arrival of a mixing desk and the whole system will therefore not be installed in time for the Fete. Charmaigne Cooke has agreed to step into the breach and let us use her system again this year.
- Lastly Peter has sent letters to the neighbours of the School letting them know that the Fete is happening and reassuring them as to the PTFA’s commitment to minimise disruption and inconvenience. Peter has also been given cones by the Police to use to ensure that driveways are not blocked. The Football club have given us permission to use their car park as an overflow if we need to but it is felt that most people will park in town or just walk anyway. However, inside the School there will be access restrictions in force due to the need to provide disabled parking and access for the Fire Engine.
Headmaster's Report
Mrs Robinson presented a short report on behalf of Mr Loftus. He wanted to thank everyone who had helped with the Induction morning including those who provided refreshments and ran the uniform stall.
There is to be a meeting on Wednesday night about the building works and the fete committee will be updated of any issues that will affect the access of the fete site.
Lastly Mr Loftus asked for clarification on the request made by the PTFA for details of how the money raised by the class teas was being spent. In response Nick explained that the PTFA thought it would be nice to let the parent body know what benefits and improvements were resulting from their fundraising efforts. This information can also be used on the website and in newsletters to encourage further fundraising and publicise the good work of the parent body. Mrs Robinson said that her class used the money in big ways such as to enhance a school trip by making the purchase of IMAX tickets and in small ways such has purchasing pritt sticks.
It was agreed that the other teachers would also give an overview of how they spent their Class tea totals.
The Treasurer’s Report
Neil reported on the healthy uniform sales and stated that he would present a full report at the next meeting. As of the 16th May total funds were £6748.00
Events Update
Summer Fete
Lis Skeet started by reporting that unfortunately we would not be able to hold the "Children's Walk" from the town centre, even though police permission had been granted there were simply not enough adult volunteers, nor was there a staff member available to lead the procession.
Lis thanked everyone who had offered their help early which had helped enormously for planning purposes and pointed out that there were still a few key slots that needed filling. It was hoped that the Governors would respond positively to the invitation that had been sent to them by the PTFA Chair to assist with running the Bar on the day for us. Lis acknowledged that this invitation is more directed at the non-parent governors who aren’t already involved.
Lis said she would give everyone who is helping a ‘check list’ to make things run as smoothly as possible as some people will be helping out for the first time. This list will also ensure that we all have the same information especially with regards to set up and clear up.
Lis is still waiting to find out if we would need to have a short Health and Safety briefing before the fete and hoped most helpers would get there by 11.00 at the latest. Mr Loftus had also given his approval for the children to help their parents at the stalls if they wanted to and have suitable supervision.
The teaching staff too have made themselves available to help make this a great fete and Lis told us that their talents will be found in both the traditional tea room but also in helping with the face painting.
The Scouts are lending us a BBQ and a brief discussion about prices took place. All of the burgers and sausages are to be bought from the local Butchers and the rolls to be supplied from the local bakers, this will then ensure everything is fresh and tasty. Last year there had been a small number of complaints about the BBQ prices so after taking the comments on board a compromise between profits and costs was reached and a flat rate of £1.00 for both burgers and hot dogs was felt to be fair.
It was agreed by those present of the necessity to keep the parts of the School that were not in use locked. Mrs Robinson said she would inform the staff that Classrooms 4 (for the dance display team) and 5 (for teas) would be needed and thus cleared on the day before the fete.
Other concerns were raised over what would happen to the donated items they did not sell, in past years it was understood that a skip was hired. Several of those present volunteered to take leftovers to the recycling depot if not of any use to the local charity shops.
A full layout plan was not available at the meeting, but the main concerns are around inclement weather and where to site the 40 or so members of the Corsham Wind Band. Discussion and agreement on contingencies in case of rain followed.
Amanda gave a brief outline of where the children's play area would be and that they would use hand stamps to show who had paid and allow re-entry if required.
Mrs Robinson also said she would approach Mr Johnson to see if he could source stocks for us to use, so that we could run the ever popular wet sponge stall.
Lena agreed to get the chinaware from the church for us to use and return it afterwards. Also Hans Parker has offered to lend us his commercial tea urn.
It was agreed that the inflatable maze was to be thought of as an attraction but not a serious money maker; this would allow us to price it very competitively. Guidelines have been agreed to ensure that proper Health and Safety controls are adhered to with regards to child numbers and how long each ‘turn’ will be.
The assault course is to be viewed ahead of time by the committee but it has already been agreed that it would not have anything high in it.
Jackie Parker has kindly agreed to act as Safety Officer for the day and St Johns Ambulance will be present in a low profile role as first aiders.
Lis reported that the old banners for the school fete had been lost or destroyed and so have been replaced by Sarah Taylor, who has managed to obtain 2 professionally printed, re-usable ones for £70. Sarah has also used her skills to procure us a slot on the wall of the Chinese restaurant even though it was supposedly fully booked. A second banner will be displayed by kind arrangement with Margaret and Nigel Gill.
The fete update closed with further discussion of prices, it was felt that toys should for the most part be 20p - 30p unless there was something special (working and clean) that could be charged more for. Books will be up to 40p, again unless there are particularly valuable examples. CDs 50p to £1, DVDs £2 and videos 50p. The assault course would be 50p a go and it is hoped that the Air Cadets would help record times so that a prize for the fastest boy/girl can be awarded.
Those present were mindful of there being several large families at the school and it was hoped that prices and variety of events and stalls would strike the right balance between raising essential money and allowing everyone to have a fun day out and go home happy. It was agreed that it is vital to ensure there is FUN for all in this fun-draiser.
Nick thanked Lis and all those helping, for not only organising this Fete but for creating a template and manual so that in future this mammoth task will be much easier to plan.
AOB
Neil reported that the closing date for Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers was nigh and he would be sending in the order forms based on the prioritised wish list provided by the school.
The role of the Class reps was raised and specifically the wish of the committee to clarify the Class rep role in greater detail and possibly link reps to specific events with the task of sourcing volunteers from within their year group of parents. A discussion followed and it was agreed that a more detailed proposal paper will be developed and presented for consideration at the next meeting.
Nick closed the meeting, thanking everyone for attending.
Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be held on the 10th July at a venue to be decided, the committee hopes to see lots of parents there.
Summary of Action Points
- Lena agreed to get the chinaware from the church for us to use and return it.
- Mrs Robinson also said she would approach Mr Johnson to see if he could source stocks.
- Mrs Robinson said she would inform the staff that Classrooms 4 (for the dance display team) and 5 (for teas) would be needed and thus cleared on the day before the fete.