Financial Reports
PTA meeting 19th January 2022
Attendees: Katie Hone – Joelle White – Mrs Conroy – Lizzie Perry – Anita Brown – Gemma Carroll – Natasha Squire – Amber Edlin
Apologies : Jill O’Donovan.
Katie chaired the Zoom session, kindly hosted by Mrs Conroy.
Welcome and thanks
Katie welcomed everyone present at the meeting.
Chairman’s report 2020-2021
It has once again been a particular year and it was difficult to maintain a middle ground between not holding any events and organising events that enough people would feel comfortable to attend. With that in mind, several parents have rallied quite inventively and helped us raise money for the school.
Katie thanked the following individuals for their support in the events that took place in 2020-2021:
EVENTS HELPERS
Bag to School Marissa Holden
Halloween Trail Sarah Rodi and her daughter
Christmas online fundraising Helen Emmett, Amanda Boulding, Kate and John Spicer, and helpers
Easter Trail Sarah Rodi and her daughter
Swimarathon Jill O’Donovan
Parent Rep Coordinator Michaela McLachlan and Lizzie Perry
Uniform Shop Katie Hone
School School staff and caretaker Simon
Committee Katie Hone, Jill O’Donovan, Joelle White, Michaela McLachlan, and Lizzie Perry
Treasurer’s report 2020-2021
The annual budget has been put together by Jill and signed off by Melanie Delahaye. £7,824 were raised during that school year and £6,886 were spent, which, considering the context, is a very good result.
This includes a contribution towards 28 new iPads, the Seesaw application, an Internet safety day with Paul Hay, and a new cooker.
Election of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary
Jill announced that she would carry on with her role as Treasurer, but it will be her last year. She will need a volunteer to take on the role from September 2022 and she will be around to help during that year.
Katie announced that she would also carry on with her role as Chair, but it will also be her last year as her child will be in Year 6 next year. She will also need a volunteer shadowing her from September 2022.
The recommendation is that both those roles are to be held for two years before passing them on to new people, to facilitate the handover.
Jo had already said she was leaving her role as Secretary. Anita has very kindly offered to take on that role. Anita has consequently been elected as the new Secretary by the committee.
Lizzie is happy to carry on as events coordinator.
Actions:
- A call for two volunteers to take on the Treasurer and the Chair duties will be made via the newsletter and the class reps.
- Jo will coordinate with Anita to hand over to her the PTA webpage and the PTA secretary email address.
Events since last meeting
Several fundraising initiatives took place before Christmas and the committee thanked everyone involved:
Bags to school, 19th November, that raised £181.50.
Helen Emmett will now be in charge, as Amanda Boulding will be leaving Cookham after Easter. Katie will check if Helen needs someone else to help her. Jill recommended to organise 3 collects a year as Bags to school has increased their payment. Amber suggested to schedule the collects straight after half-term holidays; by promoting them before the holidays, it would give enough time for parents to sort out through clothes.
Christmas tree sale, 2nd December, that raised £395.
That sale was very successful and the feedback was very positive. Anita suggested to make it more of an event with stalls selling drinks and cakes, for instance, or Christmas ornaments. Katie raised the point that the access by car is the issue when it comes to collect a tree. It was suggested to hold this event at the cricket club if possible, rather than on the school grounds.
Christmas events with the carol concert, 16th December, that raised £810.
Swimarathon, 9th January, that raised an impressive £2,000.
Gemma mentioned that the children were very enthusiastic, especially to have contributed together to a result once all the laps were added on. She suggested to organise another sporting event in summer. Anita suggested a fun run, making use of the running track at school, and counting the number of miles/laps etc. A Danceathon can be another idea, with children choosing the songs they want to dance on for an allocated duration. Amber proposed a goal kick event as well.
Actions:
- Katie will check with Helen if she needs one helper and if she can schedule 3 collects a year, after half-term holidays preferably.
- The committee will keep in mind the Christmas tree sale event for next year.
- Same about a summer sporting event, before or during the Summer fair if it is to take place this year.
Financial update
There is about £3,500 on the account; £2,000 is kept as working capital, thus leaving about £1,500 available for spending.
Jill asked the school to specify if some of the resources the committee agreed to pay for are still going ahead.
Mrs Conroy confirmed :
- the visits to O2 and the payment of the train fare
- the contribution towards the KS2 playground (work scheduled during February half-term)
- the Oxford Owl reading books for Reception and KS1
- the Nordern Farm workshops (to happen in June)
- the Seesaw application
- the Science scheme
Mrs Conroy will check about the Spelling Frame, whether that scheme is maintained or not.
The diversity resources are covered by the school’s budget and the PTA no longer needs to pay for them.
The school does not currently have any request for spending.
Amber asked the school to think about what they would like to receive from the Year 6 as a leaving present.
Actions:
- Jill will update the accounts in line with the school’s comments.
Calendar of future events
Term 4 (28th February – 8th April)
Bags to School, 18th March.
Parent evening?
The general feeling is that we can start planning an event as long as we follow the guidelines in place. For parents who do not feel comfortable in attending but still want to support the school, there is our JustGiving page where donations can be made at any time.
Amber suggested to organise a film/theatre night with a bar, where it would be possible to keep the distance between adults. Anita suggested to have a silent auction online. A call will be made to the class reps to ask for suggestions.
The rest of the year will be scheduled later.
Term 5 (26th April – 26th May)
Term 6 (6th June – 20th July)
Actions:
- Lizzie will send a message to the class reps to ask for ideas/suggestions for an event in Term 4.
Any other business
CAF signatories.
Jill will organise the paperwork so Jo can be removed as a signatory and Anita added on.
The new signatories will therefore be Jill, Katie, Lizzie, Anita, and Mrs Hunter once Jill gets confirmation from her.
2nd hand uniform shop.
Gemma has come forward to organise the 2nd hand uniform shop with an online platform. The cheapest she found takes a 15% commission in case of sales but is quite flexible in terms of use. The creation of the catalogue of uniform items will be the biggest task at first, but it should be easy to run afterwards. Katie highlighted that the 2nd hand uniform shop was not designed as a money-maker as such but as a service of convenience for the parent community. Donated items are priced at around 25% of their initial value, as a suggested donation only. The two main issues are that it is not always easy to receive items in good condition and the fact that some parents are still not aware we provide that service. Gemma suggested to send a quick survey to all parents first, to see whether there is enough of an interest in 2nd hand clothes before going any further.
Contact details stored on the Drive.
Jo will obtain the list of names and phone numbers of the Reception parents from Anita and will update the list of contact details on the Drive accordingly.
Actions:
- Jill will update the list of CAF signatories.
- Gemma will send a quick poll to parents about the 2nd hand uniform shop.
- Jo will (finally!) update the contact lists on the Drive.
Next meeting:
Wednesday, the 9th March, 7:30pm
Details to be confirmed