Minutes of the Friends of Wreningham School, held at White Horse P.H. Ashwellthorpe on Thursday 26th March 2009.

Present: Andrew Hustler (Chair), Marie Reeder (Vice Chair), Julie Peachment (Treasurer), Lindsay Parfitt (Mins. Sec.), Catherine Griib (Advertising), Richard Burbage, Helen McAndrew, Cathryn Nuttall, Gilly Cugnoni & Emma Rees.

Apologies: Celia Phoenix, Julie Leeder & Jules Alexander

Minutes of the Previous Meeting (12th February 2009):

These were read, agreed and signed.

Matters Arising:

The audio books have been put in the library.

There are 2x 2009 annuals to be used this year.

Lindsay to write to Sonia Harris.

Buddy Bench – The School council has chosen the design they would like for a buddy bench. Richard has sent the design to local firms for quotes , but as yet has received no reply.

Fliers for Forget-Me-Not plants have been sent out.

Treasurer’s Report:

CASH IN HAND £ 112.11

COMMUNITY ACCOUNT £ 870.83

BUSINESS ACCOUNT £ 1564.41

Payments since last meeting: - NONE (£207.40 TO BE PAID TO Tacolneston School)

Receipts since last meeting: CAKE STALL £95.50

QUIZ & CHIPS £414.81 (Half of this amount to be paid to Tacolneston school)

Past Events: -

QUIZ & CHIPS:-

There was some concern as to whether the food could have been earlier as some people had expected it earlier. Julie explained that the quiz master had specifically asked for the food to be at this time after the quiz had finished. Unfortunately the quiz ran a little late as the majority of people arrived later than requested. If we were to repeat a quiz, perhaps the committee would have to look at alternative arrangements. Other ideas suggested were ‘Quiz & pudding’, ‘Quiz & Chilli’ etc, but these would mean more work for the Committee and it could prove difficult to cater for that amount of people.

It was thought, on the whole that the evening was a great success. It was really heartening to see so many people and the Village Hall full. It was a good idea to join up with Tacolneston and they seemed happy with the evening. A good profit was also made.

A big Thank you to the ‘Day’ family, especially Neville Day, who hosted a great quiz.

Thank you to Julie P who arranged everything. Thank you to everyone who provided lovely prizes. ‘Chips Away’ were really efficient with all orders on time and correct.

CAKE STALL:-

The profit was slightly smaller than usual. It was nice to have a themed cake stall. There was a great selection of themed cakes and biscuits. A suggestion of going back to contributions from 1 or 2 classes was made, but we don’t usually receive enough donations this way.

Future Events:

Bingo-Friday 8th May- 6pm start -School Hall

This is intended to be a family event. £1 a book. 10 games. 10 prizes. Lindsay/Julie P arrange prizes. Richard cannot make the evening. Member of staff to lock/unlock. Julie P to check on bingo machine & arrange the amp. Committee to sell refreshments e.g. crisps, choc bars, teas, coffee, soft drinks etc. Lindsay to check/purchase. Julie P to check on bingo tickets. Andrew to be caller?

Family Event-Friday 12th June-Straight after school

After some lengthy discussion, a treasure hunt/rounders match/5 a side football match had to be put on hold mainly because of the uncertainty surrounding drainage works by Anglian Water in the village in June. All the roads and many of the gardens are due to be dug up at some stage and this will cause considerable disruption. Ideas also included a picnic/BBQ/Social event/fundraising event.

Lindsay thought the Wreningham Open Gardens event had been cancelled, but Richard hadn’t been informed.

It was finally decided to hold a simple rounders match & picnic in the school grounds straight after school on Friday 12th June. We should be able to use the Social club toilets, therefore we wouldn’t need access to the school.

Sports Day/BBQ/Hamper Raffle/Cake Stall

It was decided that our next cake stall could follow on from the sport’s day BBQ as most of the parents come along to this event. The theme being: ‘Summer’! Arrangements to be finalised.

Following the success of the hampers last year, it was decided to repeat this as our last big fundraiser of the year. £5 of raffle tickets to be given to each family to sell. Andrew to arrange this. The Committee agreed that it would be worth repeating the ‘English traditional’ hamper as this was really popular last year. The Committee failed to finalise their decision on the other two hampers. Ideas included: gardening, pampering, chocolate, toys/activities. Committee to give this some more thought before the next meeting and bring along some ideas.

Any Other Business:

Nicola from Tacolneston asked if The Friends would like to have a fundraising stall at The Pelican Playgroup Fete in Tacolneston on Sat 6th June. An idea of the lucky jar stall was suggested as this is always popular. We would have to check with the organisers to ensure no one else would be having a similar stall.

Julie P will try to produce another Friend’s newsletter as soon as she can.

Lindsay, Julie P & Andrew will have to relinquish their roles on the Committee at the A.G.M. in September and there is concern as to who would be willing to take any of these roles on. Also Helen would be leaving this year and Marie, Julie P & Andrew would be leaving the Committee completely next year.

It is quite concerning that no new parents seem willing to join the committee. Marie is happy to approach parents in the playground to see if she can encourage anyone else to join, including Dads. Richard will put a note in the next newsletter to stress the importance of new parents coming through and taking an interest. As school budgets are very tight it becomes increasingly important for The Friends to provide extras for the school.

Date of Next Meeting:

**Thursday 30th April – 8pm –White Horse P.H.-Ashwellthorpe** -

Marie to check with landlord to see if convenient.

New parents welcome!