Meeting Minutes - 13th January 2022

Here are the minutes from our last meeting.

Remember all parents/guardians with a child at the school are a member of the PTA and so all are welcome to our meetings to find out more. You don't have to be a Committee member to join us!

Our next meeting is Thursday 3rd March at 8pm - hopefully in the pub - we hope to see you there!

PTA MEETING

CLAREMONT PRIMARY SCHOOL PTA

PTA MEETING VIA ZOOM

13 January 2022

8.00pm

Seven members constitute a quorum. See Table 1 at the end of report for full attendance and voting record.

APOLOGIES: Sami Fotoohi

1. Intro/Update - CS

a. Nikki Webb – CS welcomed Nikki to the meeting. Nikki leads our second hand uniform sales.

b. CS thanked everyone for a successful first winter term. Last terms saw fundraising via various activities inc. Christmas cards, trees, wreath making, return of cinema club, second hand uniform sale. In total we raised ~£4k after costs (events only). Specific thanks given to Sam Walker and Dominic Coulson for cinema club, the wonderful Christmas team (you know who you are!), Nikki Webb, Niloufer for social media, shed helpers who installed the new PTA storage unit, and Ami Parker & Natalie Jolliffe for facilitating and running the wreath making.

2. Actions from Last Meeting (S’OM)

- a. Covenant – BD very keen to remain involved in this; no update but he will continue to research when he gets the opportunity.

b. Storage Unit – NW advised that now this is installed it needs kitting out. We have lots of rails but need more plastic stackable boxes to make everything easier to label and store. Might need shelves. NW requested a vote for £90 for plastic boxes needed, unanimous approval received (please refer Table 1 for voting record).

c. PTA signage. NJ confirm that they are on metal poles, and that our order is all agreed with the company. The school is going to place the order as they also have a signage requirement. Post Meeting Note: the company we were going to use has stopped trading, the school is now seeking new quotes.

d. Engagement with other school PTA’s – BD going through all the local info online; found a couple of schools similar to Claremont from a size perspective. Will collate learnings and share, inc. what corporate sponsors pay for sponsorship,

e. Staff band for Clarefest – DC was going to ask if there was a staff band that would like to participate in Clarefest – Claudine agreed to chase.

3. Teacher Rep resignation & vacancy –CS

Dominic Coulson resigned just before Christmas, it’s a great loss to the PTA and we pass on our huge thanks for his contribution to the PTA over the years. SS has issued a comms note to the staff community, shared in teacher meeting and sharing with Teaching Partner’s tomorrow. Hopefully this will generate some interest.

4. Financial update & achievements - SF / NJ

CS now has access to bank accounts, CS now gets accounts to home address. SF & NJ still not set up yet, so need to chase. As of 17 December 2021 there was £26,274.07 in the bank account, and ~£800 in PayPal. PTA spent ~£6.5k in the winter term on the new storage unit, fully paying for the Y4-6 theatre trip, Christmas hats and subsidising the leavers yearbook. £15k request from the school for IT is expected later in the year and there may be funding requested by the school for the outdoor classroom. NJ advised that the £100 requested for paint for the Storage Unit was not currently needed to be spent as it will remain green for now although the school may request us to paint it at a later date.

5. Events / Fundraising – CS presented Event Schedule slide 2021-22 (from AGM).

a. Scavenger Hunt – CS

Kate Bourne has kindly agreed to organise this on 20th March, it will be a virtual event like last year. It will be £10 per entry cost.

b. Disco - CC

We usually do one in February and one in May, and we would like to do one of these before Easter. Usually do Year groups 1&2, 3&4, 5&6. SS suggested that we pencil one in anticipating a shift in Covid-19 guidance. Proposed that we do Years 5&6 before Easter and Year 3&4 after Easter, but don’t advertise Year 3&4 just in case, and then Year 5&6 could be run on second date in the event of cancellation. Proposed Friday 25th March, straight after school, ~3.40pm after kids get changed, possibly 5pm pick up. Ticket includes drink & snack. Need at least 8 volunteers to run the disco, will add this to ticketing process. £5 per ticket.

Action: CC to progress, in same format as previous. Agreed to ask in the PTA whether there is a parent DJ to save the costs.

c. Easter update – LP

Egg Hunt is going to be either Thurs 31st March or Friday 1st April, LP to confirm. Liaising with EB with what happened last year. Run same as last year in lockdown format. Easter bunny is booked. LP will work out costs and request funding to purchase all the eggs. More volunteers would be better to help with egg distribution, rather than TP’s this year. Allocate eggs to class and then fill and hide the baskets. (Wet weather back up day to be considered?). Year 5/6 could help Year R/1, and two year groups go out at the same time. Children with allergies bring their own in. £4 per child as a working assumption.

Action: LP to progress Easter event.

Action: Corporate Social Responsibility days & Corporate matching– agreed we should publicise in the next email/blog; parents employers may offer this, encourage parents to investigate as they may be able to use days for assisting Event(s) set up.

Action: S’OM to do a first draft.

d. Parent Social - NJ

NJ proposed doing another wreath making/flower arranging event. Committee agreed, and we agreed Friday 11th March for Spring wreath making, with alcohol sales this time as the licence covers Friday nights. CC/NJ to ask Kate Bourne, who may know someone that could help organise as Ami Parker not available this time.

Action: NJ will check school diary for hall availability for spring wreath making.

e. Quiz - CS

CS advised that we have a parent available to run it but would need a facilitator/lead/organiser. We agreed that as there are now a few events before Easter we would discuss again after Easter.

f. Clarefest update – EB

21st May in the diary. Need to check that Sami will be around, as he will need to manage the floats and takings on the date. EB asked whether our alcohol licence would enable us to pre-sell alcohol bundles at the same time as selling tickets online. S’OM to check with Richard O’Malley (current Licensee). Clarefest team looking into card payment options. (POS system). Sami was going to look into this so EB to liaise with him.

Action: EB to liaise with SF re. Clarefest.

Action: S’OM to check licence provisions re pre-selling alcohol.

g. Cinema Club – SW

SW is happy to organise another one. Looking at early May. There are ~6-8 benches in the lodge but that’s all, it was tricky to get all the chairs into the hall. Can the children sit on the floor? Look to do regularly.

Action: SW to consider format, progress and dates.

h. Summer Fete - CS

Did a call out for volunteers recently, had some interest to help. Agreed that the sub-committee would come up with a high level plan and then delegate per action / workstream. CC happy to help (but not lead) as she has lots of experience. Lots of help needed on the day, set up, moving tables, gazebos etc (8am-6pm). (Don’t have the tables and benches that we’ve used before so this needs to be considered). BD to be there on the day for help. Purchases need to be done by Committee members. LP to help before and during the day. Provisional date 25th June proposed. Batchelor Monkhouse happy to sponsor Clarefest and Fete again this year, but need to agree how much.

Action: CS to discuss and confirm proposed summer fete date with school office.

Action: CS/ST to discuss with EB re synergies with Clarefest. ST/CS to come up with a high level plan and workstreams / actions that could be delegated.

Action: Date for sub-committee agreed: Thursday 27th January meeting. CC, EB, CS, NJ, LP. CS to see if others want to join this meeting.

Action: SO’M to review documentation on Dropbox and bring to sub-committee meeting.

Action: EB to get in touch with the old previous Clarefest team to find out what they had done. Plastic cups etc, logo, etc etc. Kegs of beer.

6. Licence Conditions - reminder – S O’M

S O’M provided a reminder of what our Licence covers for events (Live music Recorded music Sale or Supply of Alcohol)

Times the licence authorises the carrying out of licensable activities:

· Live music (Outdoors) Saturday and Sunday 11:00 - 21:00

· Recorded music (Outdoors) Saturday and Sunday 11:00 - 21:00

· Sale or Supply of Alcohol Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12:00 - 23:59

7. AOB

a. We agreed to publish Minutes of the PTA meetings for information and transparency.

8. Next Meeting Date – Thursday 3rd March 8pm. Do voting requests for Clarefest and Easter ex-committee prior to next meeting.

Table 1 - RECORD OF ATTENDANCE & VOTING:

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Attendance

Vote – Plastic boxes for Storage Unit (£90)

1. Claire Summers (CS)

Y

Y

2. Natalie Jolliffe (NJ)

Y

Y

3. Sara O’Malley (SO’M)

Y

Y

4. Sami Fotoohi (SF)

N

n/a

5. Emma Butterworth (EB)

Y

Y

6. Claudine Cerrini (CC)

Y

Y

7. Sarah Seddon

Y

Y

8. Lucy Prior (LP)

Y

Y

9. Sam Walker (SW)

Y

Y

10. Ben Dryland (BD)

Y

Y

TOTAL

9

9

Happy New Year!

We’re sure you’ll all agree that first term flew by!

In case you blinked and missed it, here’s what the PTA* got up to:

- We welcomed Reception and (belatedly) Yr1 parents to the school community at our socials at the Claremont pub in September,

- Our first ever Raffle by text raised £700,

- The monthly 2nd hand uniform sales raised nearly £900,

- We welcomed back cinema club which raised £650,

- We held our first ever Wreath making workshop which raised £400,

- We ran Secret Room which raised a whopping £1000,

- We sold children's Christmas cards/mug as well as Christmas trees & wreaths, raising £500.

That's over £4,000, just from the events, so THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for all your support this last term, whether you volunteered time, donated money, bought tickets, donated Christmas presents or bought 2nd hand uniform. It all counts!

The fundraising in the Winter term enabled us to pay for:

- A trip to Trinity Theatre for all year 4-6 children to see the Panto (£2000), and;

- Santa and Elf hats for the children’s Christmas lunch (£175).

We also invested in a brand new storage unit (the large green box in the car park – you can’t miss it!) which will serve mainly as our 2nd hand uniform shop, and some new signs which will be up around the school grounds shortly. We hope these will make it even easier for you to engage with the PTA!

We also bought Waterstones vouchers for the two Christmas Card competition winners – well done again to Robyn in Elm and Marcy in Linden for their fantastic designs - check them out below.

We’re also pleased to announce the name of this year’s Claremont Teddy, won at Secret Room by Luca in Year 4, was Christopher Claremont.

Remember, as well as the fun extras (like theatre trips and sports kit), we are fundraising for two main items this year, to help the school:

1) maintain it’s IT offering to the children – for that we need to raise £15,000 per year

2) build a brand new outdoor classroom behind the Lodge (tendering process is ongoing so watch this space for the contribution the PTA needs to make).

To raise these amounts, we have various fun activities planned for the rest of the year, including a SCAVENGER HUNT, FAMILY 5k, CLAREFEST (21st May – SAVE THE DATE!) and parent socials.

One big area where WE STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS is for the SUMMER FETE.

***At the moment the Summer Fete will not be happening as we do not have enough volunteers.***

Remember … many hands makes light work so it’s not a big job if we have a lot of people!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get in touch if you think you can help in any way. It’s a massive earner for us (can be £8-10k!) and is a brilliant day enjoyed by all.

COME AND GET INVOLVED!

You're invited to join our next meeting - you'll find us on zoom at 8pm on Thursday 13th January 2022. Email us to be sent the zoom details.

Thanks for reading and your continued support!

Claire, Natalie, Sami, Sara and the rest of the Committee

*please note all figures above are approximate estimations of profit after fees/costs paid out

What is the Claremont Secret Room?

What is happening at school on Wednesday 15th December?

The PTA is creating a magical day of festive fun for the children with:

• A magical Christmas “Secret Room” experience where each child will have the opportunity to select gifts for 2 of their loved ones to give them at Christmas

• A “Guess the name of the Claremont Christmas Teddy” competition – each child will have the opportunity to guess the Teddy’s name when they visit the Secret Room. One lucky winner will be able to take the teddy home.

• Giving all children the opportunity to wear a Christmas Jumper/festive item that day.

What are you doing to minimise the risk of Covid transmission?

As with every PTA event, we have to conduct a Health and Safety risk assessment, and to minimise the risk of Covid transmission during Secret Room we are:

- asking each child to sanitise their hands upon entry to Secret Room,

- keeping the back doors open at all times for good ventilation,

- asking every parent volunteer to undertake a LFT on the day and they can only attend if they have a negative result, to wear a mask at all times and to bring, and use regularly, their own hand sanitiser,

- ensuring all the usual good hygiene practices are encouraged as a matter of course.

What can parents/guardians do to help make this happen?

1) Donate gifts to fill the Secret Room full of wonderful presents:

We will be accepting donations of (small, low value) gifts ideally 2 per child if you can - on 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th November at morning drop off. Gifts should be left with the PTA helpers, in the marked boxes by the main school entrance.

2) Donate financially:

Children do not need to take cash into school on 15th December to participate in the Secret Room. All children will be given 2 non-monetary tokens to “spend”. However, if you can donate (we suggest £4 per child) to support the efforts of the PTA, then please do so through our website, through localgiving here or by texting CLAREMONT 4 to 70085 to donate £4 (or CLAREMONT 8 for £8 etc).

What is the Secret Room?

The Secret Room is a much-loved magical Christmas event for the children that takes place in school, this year on 15th December. Your child is given the opportunity to choose two Christmas gifts for their parent(s)/guardian(s), wrap them up in their classrooms and take them home to hide ready for Christmas Day.

The PTA transform the school library into an enchanting festive room of wonders where the children get to choose their gifts. Every child will be given 2 tokens to “spend” in the Secret Room.

The children really do love selecting secret gifts for their loved ones and are thrilled to watch you receive a genuine surprise on Christmas Day, if of course, they can keep it a secret that long!

What gifts can I donate?

Gifts really do not need to be expensive. We recommend small low value gifts such as socks, chocolates or bubble bath. We are unable to accept any gifts containing alcohol, nuts or DVDs over rating PG.

Will all children be able to participate?

Yes, if your child is in school on 15th December they can participate. No child will be excluded regardless of donations received. It is an inclusive and festive fun event for ALL Claremont School children and all donations are optional.

Thank you for your support!