Easter Egg Hunt - all you need to know

What and when is it?

The Claremont Easter Egg hunt is a much loved and fun activity for all of the children at Claremont School. It happens at school, within the school day and this year will be taking place on Friday 4th April 2025.

How does it work?

In the days running up to the hunt, the children will make their own Easter Egg basket (at school) which they personalise, decorate and most importantly, put their name on!

On the morning of the hunt, the baskets will be collected from each class and given to a team of PTA volunteers who fill the baskets with chocolate goodies.

In the afternoon, the PTA volunteers will hide the baskets, two classes at a time, in one of the two school fields. The classes will be bought out to the school fields where the children are then able to hunt for their own basket! Classes will be paired (e.g. Yr 6 with Yr R) so that the older children can help the younger ones.

Lastly, to make the event even more special, the Easter Bunny will be visiting to say hello and spread Easter joy to all!

How can I help?

The event is run and funded by the PTA. It is for all children to enjoy.

If you would like to support the PTA, you can do so by joining CHIP-IN; directly supporting the provision of I.T. facilities for your child in school. If you wish to, you can:

1. Donate monthly here , or;

2. Make a one-off donation here.

Why is the PTA buying all the chocolate?

The PTA is buying over 4,000 chocolate treats up front! We used to ask parents to donate them but this enables the PTA to monitor food allergens more easily within the chocolate and to ensure all children have the same content in their baskets. The exception to this is children with allergies (please see below).

What if my child has a food allergy?

The chocolate purchased contains milk, soya and egg. Whilst the chocolate purchased won’t specifically contain nuts, the items may also contain traces of peanuts, nuts and wheat.

If your child has any allergy the PTA are not allowed to provide chocolate/treats for your child. Please therefore either:

1) provide your own appropriate treats (see photos below for a guide) in a CLEARLY LABELLED bag with the child's full name and class name by Wednesday 2nd April (to the school office or class teacher)

2) if your child has allergies but is ok with the PTA provided treats, please email the school office (admin@claremont.kent.sch.uk) to advise that your child can have the PTA provided treats.

As an additional precaution, all children will be instructed not to eat the chocolate treats until after school, and only once they have parental permission.

Will all children be able to participate?

Yes, if your child is in school on the day, they can participate. It is an inclusive and seasonal fun event for ALL Claremont School children and all donations are optional (but much appreciated if you’re able to!) If your child is not in school on 4th April they can collect their Easter basket from the school office after the Easter break.

Thank you for your support

Meeting Minutes 13th January 2025

13/01/2025 – The Claremont Pub - 8pm

Attendees present:

Axelle Joos de ter Beerst AJ (Chair), Natalie Jolliffe NJ (Vice chair), Shagun Bansal SB (Treasurer), Lisa Gammon LG (Secretary), Lucy Prior LP (CM), Jenny Brown JB (CM), Ben Dryland BD (CM), Anna Pearson AP1 (CM), Emma Butterworth EB (CM), Gemma Ferguson GF (CM), Marta Zielinska MZ (CM -Teacher), Nicki Webb NW (CM), Jennie Maslin Fong JMF, Carmen Di Cara CD, Giles Lamb GL

Apologies: 

Claire Summers CS (CM), Candi Roberts CR (CM- Headteacher), Ami Parker AP2 (CM)

Sarah Seddon SS (Duty Headteacher), Becky O’Brien BO, Emma Doward ED (CM), Samantha Walker SW(CM)

  1. Chair’s Update (AJ):

  Axelle opened the meeting thanking everyone’s efforts towards successful terms 1 & 2.

2.    Financial Summary (SB/NJ):

Figures as @ 11.01.25 (Financial Year starts 01.09.25)

• £24,051 Cash in bank

• £32,565 Grand Total Expenditure

  o   £30,347 donations to the school. The difference relates to PTA expenses.

• Wreath Making: Another successful year. £1,670 profit (up on last).

• Playground Sales: Strong earner.

• Cinema Club: expenses paid are 100% accurate

• Bank Interest £232. Healthy income for very little work.

• Craft Club: £156 profit. A trial pop up club which received great feedback. Would be great to do more.

• Direct donations £4,695. Mainly from Chip In. Projections: with another two terms of circa £5k, PTA will hopefully meet the £15k committed I.T. donation to the school.

• PTA plan to have £20k in the bank as a comfort blanket. Idea being no commitments to school until cash in bank or guarantee future income increases cash in bank above £20k.

• 2024-2025 school initiative: Axelle to meet with Mrs Roberts to understand school requirements and any monetary values including update on libaray request made in last meeting. PTA currently has £9k available cash. The PTA would like to support this initiative but cannot commit to any new school provisions until terms 3&4 events have taken place.

3. Debrief on Terms 1 & 2 (AJ):

Wreath Making was a big success, lots of positive feedback. Axelle led the raffle on the night which made a healthy amount of money for the PTA, using free gifts and putting hampers together from left over alcohol from the Summer Fete.

Wonderful to have SEN as a visible part of the PTA. Ben Dryland has put together a SEN box which will be a continuous and evolving provision. 

Secret Room, as always, was a highlight from many children at Christmas, even those who were unwell and not in school on the day received gifts chosen by staff.

4. Chip In (BD)

• 72 direct debits, down from 74.

• People will drop off naturally over time, and this is expected.

• Income landing in the PTA bank account is a shade under £1k a month.

• No message went out at Xmas linking Xmas events to a chip-in sign-up prompt (this generated 10 new sign-ups in 2023 across a number of comms messages), so we have no new joiners to report.

• Going forwards there'll be placeholder dates with the comms team for chip-in content to go out within the newsletter slot, and therefore a strategy all PTA volunteers are unified on. Generally, that content will be a monthly one- or two-liner with a hyperlink and graphic, with something more wordy around annual relaunch, Xmas and Easter.

  Action Point: BD to liaise with AP1 to get the dates in place

• A promo video was suggested by AP1 - could include pupils in situ seen using IT equipment/ championing chip-in in their own words and Mrs Roberts’ endorsement

  Action Point: AP1 will explore ideas with school office and feed back to the exec & chip-in team

• New parent pack.

  Action Point: BD to review insert with chip-in team and BO

• BD advised to expect 10-15 drop offs between now and Sept due to year 6 leavers.

• CD asked whether we can get better stats on members and the year of youngest child, etc. BD explained the sign-up process is with a 3rd party, Localgiving, so we collect very little data when people sign up and both privacy and data protection are paramount. We're some way from having our own webform to handle sign-ups and therefore customising the data we collect, and it's not a pressing ambition to do so. But it was suggested that should the PTA decide to issue a parent questionnaire it could include a section of carefully crafted chip-in questions. 

• NJ closed with a thank you to the chip-in team and the wider committee efforts, that the PTA now has in place a dependable income stream.

  
  

5. Comms Team (AP1)

• Reminder to fill in the comms spreadsheet with future announcements for newsletter and WhatsApp.

• Future events to be communicated in a calendar format, similar to Claire Summers' events calendar published last year.

Action point: AP1 to put together a FAQ’s sheet on who/what/why the PTA operate.

6. Clarefest – (CD & GL)

Thank you Carmen Di Cara and Giles Lamb for collaborating and allowing Clarefest to take place for another year.

Carmen has a strong background in events and is committed to Clarefest going ahead this year. Giles has been involved in the music at Clarefest since 2019.

Key points:

o   Making Clarefest accessible for SEN families. Possibly open earlier with no music or have a dedicated SEN tent. Direct questions and ideas through Mrs Smith first.

o   Last year’s team helpers have said they’ll help again.

o   Plan to use existing advertising material and design, update these with current information.

o   Ideally, the first comms to go out next week with the date: Saturday 17th May -TBC.

o   Require a robust support network. Ask year groups to help, to steer away from just the committee being responsible.

o   Carmen to direct questions through Emma Butterworth.

o   Looking into merchandise ideas. Firstly, Carmen plans to understand what has and hasn’t worked well in previous years.

o   Team would like to get more families involved musically. It was suggested to explore former pupils and Irock being involved

o   Security: Must have a clear policy on how security plan to handle an intoxicated person.

o   Increase ticket price (TBA) and lower free entry age to under 1’s.

o   Plan for tickets to go on sale end of March. Carmen to advise Natalie to these can be added to the website

Action Point: NW to communicate with Year 2 parent to gather some volunteers.

Action Point: NJ to update website with ‘Save the Date’ as soon as date is agreed with school. Carmen to confirm

Action Point: EB to show Carmen and Giles the documentation and process to get school access approved.

Action Point: Carmen to ensure all SEN suggestions are approved by Mrs Smith.

Action Point: GL approach Candi Roberts to ask the children if they would like to perform at Clarefest. Perhaps the school’s iRock bands can perform; this would need an iRock representative there to support children.

Action Point: CD Clarefest team to catch up with exec committee in two weeks.

7.  School Uniform Handover Update (NW)

• Julia Beath fully taken over. All in hand.

• Moving under wet canopy for collection soon.

• Once Julie has got to grips with stock, process and admin then she’ll be pulling on volunteers list.

8. Annual events for the year. Lead persons discuss new updates & outstanding action points

8.1 Playground Sales                      JF /AP2

o   Team of additional volunteers required. It was a struggle last term to successfully put on the playground sales.

o   It’s the second highest profit maker, we need to support the team to keep it going. Target year 6 children to help. The playground sales plans are in place, team just require volunteers to execute. Low effort and time required. 

Action Point: AP1 Comms to put a volunteers call for 10 new volunteers.

8.2.  Discos                                       NW

o   Dates confirmed and DJ Lollypop booked.

o   6th February YR 1&2

o   13th February YR 3&4

o   13th March YR 5&6

o   17th March Reception

  o   Proposed ticket cost increase in line with cinema club. New ticket price £6.5. Meeting attendees in favor of the increase.

o   Expenditure £700 for all four discos. Breakdown:

o   £140 DJ cost for each disco. Grand total £560

o   £140 for snacks & drinks

Committee members voted on expenditure: Approved (12/17)

Jenny Brown, Shagun Bansal, Lucy Prior, Natalie Jolliffe, Axelle Joos De Ter Beerst, Lisa Gammon, Ben Dryland, Marta Zielinska, Gemma Ferguson, Emma Butterworth, Anna Pearson

  Action Point: NW- What are the extra costs to have a silent disco for YR’s 5&6

8.3.  Easter Egg Hunt          LP

o   Date confirmed with school: Friday 4th April

o   Easter bunny coming back and booked

o   Expenditure £700. To Purchase eggs to fill each child’s Easter basket.

Committee members voted on expenditure: Approved (12/17)

Jenny Brown, Shagun Bansal, Nicki Webb, Natalie Jolliffe, Axelle Joos De Ter Beerst, Lisa Gammon, Ben Dryland, Marta Zielinska, Gemma Ferguson, Emma Butterworth, Anna Pearson

        8.4.  School Fete                  AP1/ZP

o   Proposed Date: 5th July TBC

o   1ST team meeting in two weeks

o   Team to update PTA committee via email before Easter break

o   Fete will have a ‘Project Library’ focus this year. All Fete related comms will promote proceeds from the Fete to support school’s library renovation and provisions.

9. SEN (GF)

Can playground sales consider a SEN queuing system for those who require an alternative.  

  Action Point: GF/AJ to speak to Claire Smith to discuss suitable ideas and solutions for playground sales team.  

Action Point: GF & AP1 to create a SEN box wish list for comms team.

Action Point: NJ add a SEN tick box to ticket sales webpage to allow a family member to support their child at an event.

10.    AOB

JB: Secret Room was a success just under 1000 gifts donated. No shopping required. 100 gifts left over. The nonperishables have been stored away for next year.

Action Point: NJ- Question to be added to PTA website for next year’s secret room. What if my child is sick on the day?

Action Point: PTA -gazebos, look to invest in new ones.

Action Point: AP1- Comms to advertise for a Quiz Night lead person. Ideally quiz night to happen before Easter Break.         

Next PTA meeting: Tuesday 29th April at 8pm

Location: The Claremont Pub

APPROVAL OF MINUTES BY CHAIR OF MEETING:

SIGN:  Axelle Joos de ter Beerst

DATE: 16th January 2025

Meeting Minutes 11th November 2024

11/11/2024 – The Claremont Pub - 8pm

PRESENT: Axelle Joos de ter Beerst AJ (Chair), Natalie Jolliffe NJ (Vice chair), Shagun Bansal SB (Treasurer), Claire Summers CS (Committee Member), Lucy Prior LP (CM), Jenny Brown JB (CM), Lisa Gammon LG (Secretary), Ben Dryland BD (CM), Anna Pearson AP1 (CM), Candi Roberts CR (Headteacher), Emma Butterworth EB (CM) Ami Parker AP2 (CM), Gemma Ferguson GF (CM), Sarah Seddon SS (Teacher), Marta Zielinska MZ (CM -Teacher), Becky O’Brien BO, Gemma Ferguson (GF)

APOLOGIES: Nicki Webb NW (CM), Emma Doward ED (CM), Samantha Walker SW (CM), Jennie Maslin Fong JMF

1. Chair’s Update (AJ):

▪       Axelle opened the meeting thanking the PTA for the warm welcome she has received as the new Chair.

▪       Gemma Ferguson (GF) was introduced to the Committee. Gemma has offered to join the Committee as a parent, to provide SEN representation and advice. Gemma was nominated by AJ and seconded by BD to join the Committee.

2.    Financial Summary (SB/NJ):

▪       £18,500 in bank

▪       £30,700 expenditure

--£23k committed for KS2 Maslow’s Corner- wet weather canopy, £2.3k Trinity trip, £3.6k playground, £1.4k classroom contribution, rest PTA expenses

▪       New Parent event raised £300 from the raffle

▪       Wreath Sales good, £2.6k ticket sales.

▪       Direction donations already at nearly £3k.

3.    New Comms Process (AP1):

▪       Comms team have a live spreadsheet tracking and recording all PTA events throughout the year.

▪       Any information/ events for the comms team to communicate in a newsletter is required to be added by midday on the Monday before that week’s newsletter release.

▪       New Parents: PTA to target new families in communications, to inform and highlight PTA’s role at school.

Action: Send shared comms spreadsheet to committee- AP1

Action: Put together FAQs – AP1

4.    Annual Events for the Year and Lead Person:

4.1   Playground Sales (JMF)

▪       Flagged “Nearly New Toy Sales” raised £800 last year. Currently no one to lead this playground sale. Last year it was run by school uniform team.

Action: Ask Nicki Webb to provide feedback on last year’s event.

▪       Ongoing volunteers required for playground sales.

o   Ideas proposed for playground sales going forward.

o   New suggestion that a playground sale and date is assigned to each year group to organise and seek volunteers.

o   Have YR6 students as helpers.

o   GF asked if donut sale can include non-sugar option and for inclusive queuing system.

Action: JMF and GF to discuss how to make playground sales inclusive for all children.

4.2 Disco (NW)

▪       Nicki Webb happy to lead again this year.

▪       Discussions around how to mix year groups. At the last disco some children in YR5/6 didn’t seem to enjoy it as much, which made this particular session quite difficult to manage.

▪       New Ideas: silent disco, YR6 to help at reception disco, open library as a breakout area for SEN children, PTA to offer ear defenders. Arrange SEN toolbox if volunteers feel a child needs to break away from event.

▪       Break out area will require 2:1 ratio

Action: Exec team to investigate ear defender costs and SEN toolbox - NJ/BD

Action: Silent Disco costs – NW

Action: Send disco dates to school office asap- NW

4.3 Cinema Club (SW)

▪       2nd December The Grinch (animated version)

▪       Tickets go live Friday 15th November at 8pm

▪       Ticket sales close midnight 27th November

Action: New Lead required as Sam Walker will be leaving school at end of   school year.

Action: set ticket sales on website NJ

Action: NJ to advertise all job vacancies on website.

4.4 Christmas Cards (ED)

▪       On track. 160 forms back, which have been sent back to Xmas4schools and we should get our links to order soon. Then items should be delivered by 29th Nov and handed out 1st week of December. 

▪       The prize winning designs will be announced in the school newsletter and the office has the prizes (donated book vouchers). 

▪       CR- School have already judged the card designs.

▪       NOTE- All donations in relation to a PTA event should be expensed. To allow the PTA to log all outgoings involved in each event.

Action: NJ to discuss with ED re reimbursement for book tokens.

4.5 Secret Room (JB)

▪       Jenny Brown shadowing the outgoing team

▪       Collection dates – at drop off 2nd,3rd,4th,5th  & 6th December

▪       Secret Room event – 13th December

▪       Risk assessment complete – still to be handed in

▪       Comms Team creating a Christmas event focused newsletter

Action: A Bear for ‘Name the Bear’ and wrapping paper donations required.   Comms team to note in newsletter.

Action: MZ to provide Secret Room class timetable

4.6 Wreath Workshop (AP2)

▪       Ami Parker requested wreath making expenditure £700- voted and agreed.

▪       Votes: Ben Dryland, Gemma Ferguson, Marta Zielinska, Candi Roberts, Emma Butterworth, Anna Pearson, Jenny Brown, Shagan Bansal, Lucy Prior, Claire Summers, Natalie Jolliffe, Axelle Joos de ter Beerst, Lisa Gammon

▪       56/60 tickets sold so far

▪       Ticket price increased this year from £25 to £35 due to cost increases and need to buy more greenery as there wasn’t enough last year.

▪       £1,500 expected profit

 Action: NJ to provide AP2 with list of ticket purchasers to arrange helpers.

4.7 Easter Egg Hunt (LP)

▪       LP to liaise with school to set a date that does not clash with YR3 school trip.

▪       Costs similar to last year

 Action Point: Easter Bunny volunteer required- LP

4.8 School Fete (AP1/ZP)

▪       Plan to set date as soon as possible. Likely to be 28th June 2025.

▪       Planning will commence January.

5 . School Uniform (NW)

▪       New lead required urgently. If no volunteer, School Uniform sales will be put on hold.

▪       Priority - Job description to be written and posted on website and in newsletter

▪       CR offered to highlight school uniform message/vacancy in school’s weekly newsletter

▪       Consider reducing the collection days to once a month.

Action: EB to speak to NW about current process and responsibilities

Action: NJ to setup dedicated school uniform email address

6. Clarefest  (EB)

▪       Tom Butterworth speaking to Year 1 group of dads to discuss Clarefest take over. 

▪       Year 5 parent suggested to co-run with EB but PTA ideally looking for volunteer in KS1 to take lead role over for a few years.

▪       Clarefest 2025 commitment needs to be finalised by January 2025 when early bookings are required to be made.

7. Chip-In (BD)

CHIP-IN UPDATE AS AT 31ST OCTOBER 2024

▪       We currently have 74 active direct debits, up from 46 at the start of term.

▪       Eight one-off annual donations received this term.

▪       In total, 82 active engagements this term.

▪       Current annualised income, including Gift Aid and Localgiving processing fees:

▪       Monthly direct debits = £11,037

▪       One-off annual donations (during 2024 calendar year) = £1,173

▪       Current annualised total = £12,210 (81% of £15,000 target)

▪       Chip-In banner and leaflets visible at all PTA events.

Action Point: Revisit Chip-In message for ongoing comms. Highlight how contributing directly has a positive impact on your child’s education.

8. AOB

▪       New Parent Liaison: Becky O’Brien. Open Morning 20th November next event

Action: New Parent Event should be renamed to New Starter- BO

▪       New Event Idea: Ami Parker (AP2)

o   Christmas Crafts– location school hall.

o   Reuse tank room/personal supplies: several different craft tables

o   YR6 as helpers

o   Advertise as a new PTA concept to target one year group at a time. Perhaps trial with YR4 first.

Action: AP2 to send school overview of dates/numbers/theme

▪   PTA to consider supporting charities and local community. Ideas:

o   Continued extra support for Millwood house residence. Perhaps YR6 craft an Xmas item to donate to Millwood.

o   Foreign currency donations. Buckets at drop off first day back after half terms/summer holidays and present at School Fete. Foreign currency can also be given to Oxfam.

o   Shoe collection at the end of school year- CS investigating

o   Liaise with Tracy Brookbank -school charity lead.

▪       INCLUSIVITY:

o  GF: Can the PTA pay for a third party to talk to Claremont parents about autism. CR  to take this away and consider as part of school offering.

o   Idea to dedicate a newsletter highlighting how/what the PTA is doing to improve inclusivity. Need to be clear that the role of the PTA is not to educate or give professional advice to parents regarding Children with additional needs.

o   GF proposed before Cinema club film to show children a short clip educating children on autism. CR to take away and consider as part of school offering.

o   PTA Committee agreed inclusivity is really important and that the PTA wants to, and should, be taking action to improve it. Clarity on what the PTA can/can’t do within it’s constitution will be important. Where out of scope, the PTA may have to defer some suggestions to the school for consideration in their usual ways.

Action: AJ/NJ create statement for the PTA that clarifies/formalises its role in regards to children with SEN

▪       Specific parent events to engage parents and build friendships.

o   AP2 proposed hosting a quiz night in March.

o   AJ: Premium whisky tasting

Other Action Points:

▪       Signage Boards: MZ is going to speak to Tracy.

▪       Retrospective survey/feedback asking New Parents how PTA can improve communications - BO to consider.

Next PTA meeting Monday 13th January 8pm 

Action: Venue to be decided LG

APPROVAL OF MINUTES BY CHAIR OF MEETING:

SIGN:  Axelle Joos de ter Beerst

DATE: 26th November 2024