MINUTES OF ABBEY SCHOOL PTFA

11th July 2017

Introduction and apologies

Sarah Beauchamp welcomed all those present which were:-

Alison Hawthorn (AH), Sarah Beauchamp (SB), Nicci Judd (NJ), Amy Davies (AD), Lou Sandy (LS), Kate O’Farrell (KF), Elena Nicoara (EN), Lisa Page-Chatton (LP-C), Helen Harrow (HH), Abi Crockett (AC) and Sarah Adams (SA)

Apologies had been received from Richard Wykeham (RW), Joan Bachelor (JB) and Lucy Young (LY),

Minutes of the last meeting held on 27th April 2017

The minutes of the last meeting had been circulated to all members. The Committee adopted the minutes.

Treasurer’s report

Current bank balance is £8,024.00

  • Incoming

Summer Fair £1,249.69

Camp Out £184.50

Fun Run £723.30

£7218.05 Donation from Emma Partridge - a huge "Thank You" from the PTFA!!

  • Promised funds

Licence for software to project to whiteboards approx £100

Matters Arising.

  • Recruitment of Treasurer and Vice Chair. There had been interest from three two parents for Treasurer, Sarah Weech (SW) and Jane Ward (JW). AH to liaise with SW and JW. SB to take on the Gift Aid part of the Treasurer role and to have meeting with AH to run through procedure. SA also offered to assist with this.

For Vice Chair HH agreed to take on this role after discussion with NJ.

Once new committee members agreed, these will adopted at the AGM in September

  • IT - AD reported that the computer in the staff room was working OK. She had no feed back with regards to the other computers. There were four in total. LS confirmed that the school were in a position to purchase 20 pc's for the ICT room. AD requested that Ipads, caddie and accessories for reception. AD to obtain quote for these.

AD reported the following items were left on the "plan" for IT laptop for all teachers as they were quite old now. Desktop for each classroom (seven in total)

At the last meeting AD had request Apple TV's. With advice from AD's husband he suggest software for laptops, which only require a licence and would save £100's of pounds. Thanks to Mr Davies for sourcing this software.

AD had also requested in the February meeting programmable devices and asked if we were now in a position to provide these. Monies had been received from Farnfields Solicitors specifically towards this and it was agreed that these could be purchased.

  • School Grounds - LS stated that they really needed some hard play area. She had a quote for some equipment from Sporting England for 40k. LS had also been in contact with Forest Schools with regards to a forest area. Hedges could be obtained from the Woodland Trust, but a request would have to go in now for autumn funding. LS to provide LY with the number of trees required for the hedging. LS said that a working party would be required to plant them. There is also the issue of whether we needed to apply for change of use of the land and if the area was in the conservation area. Julian Richards is also interested in doing an archaeologic dig at the site. LS confirmed lots of ground work had been done and from September she will follow up on all matters regarding grants
  • Bags to School - NJ stated that the date had been postponed to the 20th July. Sonya to assist Katie Pike (KP) on this collection. After the collection we will receive a cheque and they will arrange a date with KP. LS advised everyone to be careful when putting bags in the barn as there was a small amount of asbestos in the barn. This will be removed over the Summer Holidays but please be careful for the rest of the term.
  • Easyfundraising - £190.88 raised to date. Email to be sent to all new parents with the link. LS to put in School Newsletter. SA to send link to LS.
  • History Festival - very good day out - good feedback from Year 6. To be continued next year. AH will email when "early bird" tickets are available. Possibility of coach.

There was a general discussion at this point about parents who volunteer to drive on outings. KF has a form for volunteers to complete and LP-C suggest parents are DBS checked, as they are volunteering this would be free and would cover the school and parents who volunteer. LP-c to enquire re DBS checks.

  • Family Fun Run - A very enjoyable morning raising lots of money for the school and was not difficult to organise. The event was only attended by 30 children and AH questioned the reasons why not more people had attended. Thoughts were that people had other clubs/events that morning or were away,
  • Camp Out - Fab evening, kids really enjoyed it and parents mixed more than the last camp out. Unfortunately this was not as well attended as the previous camp out, but weather was not at its best.
  • Summer Fair - Very well attended, bouncy castles were a hit as well as slushies. Stick decorating was also another good stall. There was not enough cake and it was noted that possibly this is because normally we are inundated and everyone buys the left overs at the end of past events. It is to be noted that shop bought cakes are fine to be donated. Committee to liaise with cleaners as to areas that will be used during the Fair and the possibility of changing cleaning rota and times for the Christmas and Summer Fair. Speak to Chris as its the area's she cleans. For outdoor events label outside toilets as one for men and one for women. Committee also to liaise with teachers as to what time children are allowed out, so as not to clash with vehicles moving on the playground and the gates closed etc.

It was noticed at the fair that new mugs need to be purchased as current mugs nearly all have chips. SB to visit Bargains and speak to manager.

  • Future Events

3 Peaks Challenge - sponsored event to visit Duncliffe, Hambledon and Melbury. The children to do it in their own time with family and provide photographic evidence to go on map showing which challenge done. There would be a six week timeframe to complete this.

Car Boot Sale - suggested we contact Town Council about holding this on Park Walk as may not get people down to the school. Wayne Adams to speak to Clive @ Natural Treasures as to the feasibility of the school organising this. Also look into the possibility of supplying tea, coffee and bacon rolls either using a generator. AD will also speak to her father in law as he works at the museum. If this can be done, it would need to be marketed in the community.

Cinema/Pretend Sleepover - all children to attend in Pj's/onsies. £2 donation. LP-C to speak to parent at Motcombe School to see how they run this,

Dads v Kids Football Match - LP-C to speak to her husband regarding this. He may know someone to help run it. Also a point of contact could be Ray Mason of Firstly Football as they run club at school.

Any Other Business

Website is not currently up to date with photos of current class and sports activities. LS said there had been issues with the website crashing so a possibility of old date being recovered. Possibly start from scratch in September with all classes and clubs. LS to liaise with Kate Brockway. SA also to keep Kate Brockway up to date with all PTFA information so she can keep the PTFA page of the school website up to date.

Emma Crossfield has requested a new Plastic Activity Water Table and Plastic Active World Tray totalling £291.50. All in agreement to this being purchased.

Digital signage was being installed in reception, so the PTFA could add photo's and write ups of events to be shown.

The board outside the front of the school needed to be repainted and AH confirmed she would do this for September and would provide paint for AD to repaint the Year 1 board.

Mrs Wood had requested prizes for the Spelling Bee competition. Four lots of 1st and 2nd prizes were required and it was agreed the PTFA would provide £60 of Allsorts Vouchers 1st prize £10, 2nd prize £5

Parentmail was up for renewal. Was decided not to renew as not very reliable and sent emails/texts after the event.

Class Reps. This will be confirmed at the beginning of next term. It was explained to AC the role of a Class Rep

LS and the committee wanted to say a huge thank you to our committee members who leaving us this year - NJ, AH and RW for all your hard work and dedication to the school.

Date of next meeting - AGM 14th September 2017 at School