Long Crendon School PTA
Annual Report Academic Year 2015-2016
Officers of the PTA
Chair 1Nin Dartelected September 2015, stood down October 2015
Chair 2Simon Howardco-opted January 2016
Vice ChairAlison Stottelected September 2015
Hon TreasurerJohn MacLeanelected September 2015
Hon SecretaryJoanne Parkelected September 2015
Trustees
John MacLean, Joanne Park, Sue Stamp, Anna Bowden, Annie Pearson, Debbie Rodale, Julie Allen, Sarah Hassan.
The role of the trustees is to ensure the PTA is operating correctly. Trustees can be parents, staff or members of the community. Please let us know if you are interested in becoming a trustee.
Purpose of the PTA
The objective of the Long Crendon School PTA is to advance the education of the pupils in the school. In furtherance of this the PTA may:
a)develop more extended relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the school;
b)engage in activities which support the school and advance the education of the pupils attending it; and
c)provide and assist in the provision of facilities for education at the school (not normally provided by the Bucks Learning Trust).
Fundraising
Total income raised through the PTA in 2015/2016 was £16,103, a 5-year high and an increase of more than £3,000 on the previous year. Well done and thank you to the army of volunteers and sub-committees who have helped drive our fund-raising activities and contributed to this record year.
Table 1 below shows the breakdown of income by event. Our two biggest events both occur in the autumn term, the fireworks display with a deserved reputation for excellence in the Thame area and our Christmas Bazaar. These two events alone made over £8,000, about half of our annual income.
Providing refreshments at events such as sports day, harvest, and nativity along with cake sales throughout the year and the PTA coffee mornings raised £1,391 demonstrating that we can make a difference even in the smaller activities. It all adds up in the course of a year.
Christmas cards and calendars raised £1,030 and school discos and cinema events brought in another £1,000, as did the triathalon/sponsored bike ride in the summer term.
Not only was the quiz night in April fun, it raised £923 and the 100 club lottery also contributed around £900.
This year, a new event, the fashion show was added to the mix and this was so successful (kids and parents loved it and we raised £749) that we hope to repeat it in 2017.
The second hand clothes raised £690 and we continue to promote the use of and which contributed £350 simply by parents doing their online shopping via these sites.
Table 1: PTA Income (after costs) by event
2015/2016 Event / Income (after costs)Christmas cards / £338
Fireworks / £5,732
Christmas Bazaar / £2,326
Christmas disco / £265
Calendars / £692
Fashion show (March) / £749
Quiz night (April) / £923
Cinema night (April) / £346
Sponsored bike ride / £1,060
July disco / 421
Regular income
Second hand clothes bank / £640
Second hand uniform sale / £50
Cake sales / £543
Refreshments at events / £848
Easy fundraising / £326
gift aid / £274
100 club / £543
yellow moon / 27.41
Total / £16,103
Table 2: Spending summary
Item / Funding providedAnnual contribution towards ICT suite / £5,000
IT wifi and ICT extras / £4118.75
Guided reading / £3984.43
Forest school equipment / £378.81
IXL online learning (Maths) / £625.00
PTA fireworks marquee / £493.98
PTA org subscription / £96
Lottery bid writer contribution / £500
Nativity costumes / £153.83
Year 6 sweatshirts (funded by 100 club) / £226.30
Total / £15,577.10
The PTA are contributing to essential items of school expenditure, helping to balance the budget. In particular we are supporting the IT infrastructure and online learning programmes. The school spent £1,000 making a bid for lottery funding and were awarded a £10,000 grant so money well spent. The PTA shared the costs of this exercise.
Financial summary
The PTA raised £16,103 and contributed £15,577 towards the running of the school in the 2015/2016 academic year.
Total uncommitted funds in the PTA bank account currently stand at £11,841.95 and this will allow us to make the annual £5,000 contribution at the start of the new academic year and have funds to pay for the big events such as the fireworks display.
Thank you to our treasurer John Mclean who is now standing down and welcome to Sara Goddard who is willing to step into the role.
PTA communications
One objective for 2015/2016 was to improve communications with parents and raise the profile of the PTA within the school community. The PTA communications teams was revamped and now meets monthly. The team currently consists of Sophie Davies, Michele Duncan, Simon Howard and Sue Stamp. If you would like to join this team and have skills in communication, marketing and PR then please contact Simon Howard.
Our main initiative in 2016 was to highlight the school funding gap and the need for PTA events and the income that they raise. We did this through a meeting with parents and governors and through regular letters to parents.
Plans for 2016/2017
Simon Howard (chair), Joanne Park (secretary) and Alison Stott (vice chair) are willing to be re-elected to their roles with Sara Goddard offering to take on the treasurer role. Other nominations are welcome if anyone else wishes to take on any of the PTA officer roles. Voting will take place at the AGM on 21st September.
As we move into the new academic year we would love to see more parents and staff at our meetings. All parents and guardians of children attending the school and all members of staff are automatically members of the PTA and are very welcome to attend our meetings. We have two class reps per class who will attend regularly but it’s really important for us to get a wide cross-section of views and ideas at our meetings.
We have set a target of increasing our income to £20k and this primarily means more events so we need ideas for events and lots of parent helpers. Please support us in this aim. We are currently planning 4 new big events, a Masaai warrior dance and music culture show in October, a 5k sponsored run around Easter, a black tie ball in May 2017 and a circus towards the end of the year. You can help by attending the events, joining the planning teams or simply helping out on the day.
We are also exploring how to increase our income through corporate sponsorship and by increasing the use of gift aid processes when selling tickets to our events.
Thank you
We continue to rely on support from all parents and staff to make our events, and therefore our fundraising, a success. We are grateful for all contributions, large or small. Whether you can give your time once or many times during the year, all help is very welcome. Even if you can’t give your time, come along to our events and spend your money, it all goes towards enhancing our children’s education.
Thank you to everyone who has made this year so successful.
Long Crendon School PTA, Registered Charity Number 801177
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