Meeting Minutes 8th November 2022

08/11/22 – 7.30pm Zoom Call PRESENT: Claire Summers (Chair), Natalie Jolliffe (Vice-Chair), Sara O’Malley (Secretary), Sami Fatoohi (Treasurer), Lucy Prior (Committee Member), Ben Dryland (Committee Member), Sam Walker (Committee Member), Nicki Webb (Committee Member), Emma Butterworth (Committee Member), Candi Roberts (Headteacher), Michelle Bovey-Wood, Jonathan Coupee, and Cat Christodoulou. APOLOGIES: Emma Doward

Chair Update - CS Lots of fundraising activity going on in the first term. Dragon Boat team won the Tonbridge Boat Race and raised nearly £500 in September. We hosted a Reception social; good vibe, encouraged interest and raised money via the raffle, and we also hosted the Afternoon Tea with governors and school. Big thanks to Juliette Hatchman for organising the pre-half term Halloween costume playground sale that raised £200. The recent Raffle raised ~£1k and huge thanks to Zoe Phillimore for hunting down some amazing prizes. For the first time we sold Dunorlan Park Fireworks tickets (with thanks to Lucy Prior), for which the PTA received a kickback totalling ~£200. Michelle Yeatman organised Christmas Cards again this year and thanks to Emma Doward who is supporting and will take over next year (post meeting note: raising around £450). The Wine Tasting event was held last week and was a big success, raised ~£700-£750, and was much enjoyed by all. Uniform sales continue well with two online sales and one in person sale raising ~£800. Huge thanks to parent body and wider community for their continued support during tough economic times. Looking forward we have planned a Cinema Club, the usual “Christmas Cracker” including Secret Room and we have committed £170 (approved by email in the term) to costs to contribute Christmas hats to the Christmas lunch and prize for Christmas card winners.

New Committee Member Voting - CS Michelle Bovey-Wood has kindly volunteered to join the PTA and was nominated by CS and seconded by NJ. Welcome to Michelle and a big thank you for your time prior to this meeting. Actions from last meeting - S O'M – see attached update.

Treasurer Update – SF £7,177 profit raised this academic year to date, which is almost double compared to this time last year so a great effort from all involved, many thanks. £37,202.70 cash in the bank. Figures from individual events were presented but various expenses had not yet been processed so revised figures for the term will be presented at the next meeting. 5. Funding Request from School - CS CS provided an overview of some of the equipment suggestions that the school are interested in investing in, and that the PTA could contribute to. The school are looking into more Canopies for the outside area(s) & a Trim Trail (the wooden play areas on the school field). The Committee had a productive discussion on this; we reviewed the overall funding contributions the PTA normally donates forecast for the whole year (see below diagram) and noted that if all potential projects are contributed to, with the year's lower amount of expected fundraising than last year, then the buffer in the PTA bank account could deplete by over half and be under £10,000 by year end (which would not be enough to fund even 1 future year of IT spend). CS highlighted that all figures in the chart are forecast estimates and no firm commitments or requests for funding have yet been made.

[Chart unable to load to blog - Please contact the PTA if you'd like to see the chart] The Committee felt that it was a big outlay to commit to at this point in the year when future fundraising efforts are uncertain e.g. we do not know if the Summer Fete will be able to go ahead due to lack of volunteers to organise and there is no guarantee of being able to raise the whole amount the school may request. However, the PTA agreed in principle to work towards funding £40,000 of projects and set a fundraising target of that for this year. The PTA requested for CR to revert to the PTA for formal approval once costs and specs are confirmed and known following the school's formal procurement process.

Summer Fete – CS CS has had some discussions with a previous organiser of the Summer Fete; it was acknowledged that it is a resource intensive project. It was agreed that a brainstorming session could be held to look at innovative ways of making it more light touch on the organisers (e.g. children only event in school, outsource bouncy castles). ACTION: CS to organise Summer Fete brainstorm; SO’M, BD agreed to attend.

Feedback Process - CS The PTA sometimes receive feedback (positive and constructive) on events / fundraising activities. Responding to individual feedback can be time consuming so the below text in blue was reviewed by the Committee and it was agreed it would be issued in response to any future feedback. We also agreed to introduce a formal standing agenda item at the PTA Meetings where feedback received would be tabled for the Committee to discuss and address as appropriate. Hello, Thank you for taking the time to email us your feedback. We love hearing your thoughts and ideas, and we look at everything we receive at our regular committee meetings. We can't respond directly to every email, but rest assured we will be looking into the points you've raised in your email. The PTA committee is made up of Claremont parents, and most of us have work to balance too. We joined the PTA because we want to create fun memories for the children at Claremont, so we're always looking for ideas of how we can improve. But we have a limited capacity, and need an increase in active PTA members to help get everything done. Could this be you? We'd love to see you at our next meeting, where we will be discussing your feedback. You can find details of when our next meeting is by clicking here. We hope to see you there. With thanks, Claremont PTA committee

Cinema Club Feedback – SW SW informed the Committee of feedback we had received following Cinema Club ticket release. It was felt that there were not enough tickets and not enough notice before they went on sale. It was acknowledged that there was a “glitch” on the website which meant tickets were available before they should have gone live and parents had been able to starting purchasing. Once realised we put ticket sales on hold until agreed time. It was a very popular event. We explored whether we could hold another one around similar times which SW kindly agreed to organise again. Everyone agreed if we could secure the hall and enough volunteers. Discussion on allowing Reception children but CS advised the adult: children ratios are different. ACTION: SW/CR to take offline and discuss possibility of Reception children at Cinema Club. SW to explore second date.

Christmas Cracker – CS This year's PTA Christmas Cracker is again being organised by Theo Tully and Loran Haines and will include the Secret Room, Guess the Name of the Teddy, Christmas Hats at the lunch (organised by Michelle Yeatman, handing over to Lucy Lamb for next year), and being able to wear a Christmas jumper on the day of the lunch. We are asking for a donation (no-one is excluded) of £4 per child and the LocalGiving site is open. CS advised that King Charles the Martyr is holding a Christmas Tree festival and they’ve offered a tree which we can decorate and trees get auctioned off before Christmas of which we would receive some funding. There is no cost to the PTA, we just provide the decorations Jonathan suggested that the children could do at home and offered to provide a template we could send out to parents. ACTION: Jonathan to provide Christmas decorations template.

Second Hand Toy & Christmas Jumper Sale – Cat Christodoulou Cat kindly attended the meeting and proposed an idea for doing a second hand toy and Christmas jumper sale before Christmas this year. Everyone thought it was a great idea so this will be progressed. NW agreed to support and help. Many thanks to Cat for proposing and taking the time to attend. ACTION: NW to contact school about availability of facilities to hold the sale one day after drop off.

One Hundred Club idea – JC Jonathan Coupee attended this month to propose and explore the idea of a “One Hundred Club”. Parents donate £100 per year and this would include certain items such as PTA tickets for events, an ‘x’ amount of second hand uniform items and potentially benefits such as offered by the TN1 card organiser had offered 50% discount on the cost of that card. It was suggested whether it would be a subscription approach rather than a one off payment. Again, there was lots of support for the idea but more thought and brainstorming would need to go into it to ensure it was inclusive. Many thanks to Jonathan for proposing and taking the time to attend. ACTION: LP agreed to arrange a brainstorm session in January and BD, CR and SO’M offered to attend and support.

AOB – All Wine Tasting – NJ – great feedback received on event and looking into possible gin tasting in the future. It was noted it was a good networking opportunity and perhaps a parent networking night could be held if we had any volunteers. Kent Wines supplied the drinks and they have offered to supply our wines for future events and beat the cost of Bookers or Majestic. Boon – CS – like a local e-bay within Claremont community and has been discussed before. CS will revert in January as no capacity to do anything now. Not Just Travel – EB – there is an initiative called “Not Just Travel” which offers a kick back, at no cost, to charities when people book a holiday through them. ACTION: EB to revert with a formal proposal on this and check there is no sponsorship conflict. Panto – BD – The Assembly Hall offers a school deal “cheaper rate”; BD wondered if the PTA could sell these tickets with a mark-up as a service to parents. Committee agreed it was worth looking into for Christmas 2023. ACTION: CS to discuss cheaper panto tickets with Council / Assembly Hall and explore the opportunity of accessing and selling such tickets. Date of Next Meeting - S O'M – Tuesday 24th January 7.30pm at the Claremont ACTION: SO’M to book next meeting at the Claremont. APPENDIX 1 Table 1 - RECORD OF ATTENDANCE & VOTING: See PTA files for table (unable to load to blog)

APPROVAL OF MINUTES BY CHAIR OF MEETING: SIGN: ________________________C Summers_____________________ DATE: _______7/1/2023______________________________________

Homemade Christmas Paper Decorations

Help decorate the PTA Christmas trees at school with these simple make at home Christmas Decorations.

Choose from one of our printable seasonal decorations below, from simple baubles to intertwined paper hearts. Simply click on your favourite below and print the PDF.

Once your child/ren's design is finished (& dry!) please put it in the box in the school reception area no later than Thursday 1st December 2022.

If you have other fantastic paper decorations instructions you traditional make with your family, why not share it with us by simply emailing claremonttwpta@gmail.com and we'll add them to this page.

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AGM Minutes 29 September 2022

If you'd like any further information or have any questions on any of this please don't hesitate to get in touch.

PTA Annual General Meeting CLAREMONT PRIMARY SCHOOL PTA 29/09/2021 – The Lodge 7pm PRESENT: Claire Summers (Chair), Natalie Jolliffe (Vice-Chair), Sara O’Malley (Secretary), Sami Fatoohi (Treasurer), Lucy Prior (Committee Member), Ben Dryland (Committee Member), Sam Walker (Committee Member) Non-member attendees: Polly Coupee, Sharon Bovey-Wood, Michelle Bovey-Wood APOLOGIES: Candi Roberts, Emma Butterworth, Nicki Webb

Welcome and Introductions (CS) All attendees introduced themselves round the table. PTA Members 2022-23 Resignations & New Appointments (CS) CS advised the meeting that Claudine Cerrini had resigned from the PTA last summer. The PTA is very sad to see Claudine leave as she has been a long standing member of the PTA and we send our enormous thanks for her hard work and commitment over the years. We still have a School Staff (teacher/TA) representation position vacant. Whilst it’s a not a mandatory requirement; the Committee all agreed there is significant benefit in having a school representative on the PTA. ACTION: CS to raise with Candi R and/or Sarah S to continue to try and encourage volunteers to come forward. CS nominated Emma Doward to join the committee who has kindly agreed to join and assist with the Summer Fete and Christmas Cards.( Refer Appendix 1, Table 1 below for voting record and confirmation of nominators and seconders). Vacancy – Corporate Sponsorship is a role we really want to fill (does not need to be a Committee member). The Committee discussed the fundraising potential of sponsorship but we’d like a volunteer to manage and facilitate it. ACTION: CS to write a blog and summarise what PTA roles are needed and what activities are required. ACTION: CS & NJ to produce a marketing pack that could be issued to local companies (via parents that we could encourage to help). Ask current sponsors to provide data to demonstrate value of the sponsorship). Committee discussed the idea of an Information page for parents on the PTA website; could we consider a Parent Community page, to encourage parents onto the website? This could then encourage sponsorship if we could market the web site traffic. ACTION: BD to organise a separate offline session to progress and produce a one page proposal on a parents page on the website.

Chair’s Annual Report (CS) CS summarised an exciting year post-Covid, which brought the Claremont community together for in-person events. Clarefest recorded a record profit of over £10k thanks to a dedicated and brilliant team. The weather was kind for both Clarefest and the Summer Fete. Both used card machines and token system for the first time which were a great success (albeit with some lessons learnt). The PTA organised the first ever text-raffle and Christmas wreath making, both successful. The Scavenger Hunt was well received and generated more income than 2021 thanks to sponsorship and greater take up. The PTA organised memorable activites for the children including Cinema Club and Discos, an Easter Egg Hunt and the Claremont Xmas Cracker. All raising a good amount of profit. The PTA gave the school ~£30k and raised just over that with only 8 committee members. CS conveyed massive thanks to those involved in all aspects, Committee members and the whole community who mucked in not only to raise a fantastic amount but create special memories for our children.

Treasurers Report (SF) SF talked us through the 2021-22 year end final accounts, which are attached in full at Appendix 2. In summary: Income: PTA made £24,800 profit on Events and £11,930.27 from other fundraising and income = £36,733.73. Expenditure: PTA Expenses: £5,399.73 (Fencing, Shelves, Uniform Unit, Annual fees etc) and contribution to the School £29,258 (IT, Outdoor classroom, Theatre Trip, Classroom contribution, Year 6 expenses and Christmas lunch) = £34,657.73. Balance Sheet: Surplus £2076. Bank Accounts: £30,304.90 ACTION: SF to look at investing money in the bank account somewhere accessible with a better interest rate. ACTION: SF to look into Zero Application – SW can provide support. ACTION: CS to look into Dunorlan Fireworks and consider selling at a playground sale.

Fundraising Plans for 2022-23 & Role Allocation (CS) & Targets The Committee reviewed the proposed Events Schedule (slide 4) & Fundraising Target (slide 5) deck attached at Appendix 3. Most events have a lead volunteer to organise but we still need volunteers for Summer Fete co-ordinator, Playground Sales and a potential Parent Social. Tea Towels was discussed as it was not on the Schedule but possibly done every 2 years. ACTION: Tea Towels; NJ to speak to EB. Is it every other year? The Committee discussed how to encourage wider communications of events (especially those that we know are popular) in a fair way through social media and use of contacts in the membership area of the website. It was proposed that we encourage parents to sign up to the PTA website to receive email notifications directly from us when events are launched (i.e. not just through the school office). For us to be able to use the website contacts in this way, the privacy policy has been updated so parents need to be informed. ACTION: CS to include “best way to be informed” section in the weekly PTA newsletter to encourage more website members and social media followers, and include link to update privacy policy. ACTION: NJ to send an email to website members with a link to the reviewed Privacy Policy. ACTION: NJ to check access permissions for Wix to ensure the appropriate people have appropriate access. It was also proposed that we could use Class Reps in a better way to help the PTA promote events and seek volunteers. We agreed that we could arrange a Class Rep social to thank them and talk them through the proposed Event Schedule, and seek their thoughts and feedback. ACTION: SW to arrange Class Rep social date (S O’M to organise at The Claremont pub). It was discussed whether optional Insurance could be charged for event tickets that parents could buy to guarantee a refund in the event of cancellation. As a first step, we need to understand if this is feasible through our Wix website. If yes then it will need further discussion. ACTION: NJ to explore website feasibility of charging an Insurance for events (in the event of cancellation to give a guaranteed refund) and report back.

Review Funding Requests (CS) Funding Wish List The Committee reviewed the proposed Funding Requests / Wish Lists from the school; please refer Slide 6 of Appendix 3. A question was raised regarding the level of parent engagement for such funding requests. It was asked what potential there is for parent feedback. The Committee agreed this was best discussed with CR and/or SS at the next meeting. A parent requested a little more detail on the IT equipment; and a summary of what is funded each year from the IT funding provision. It was also asked how do/can parents contribute ideas back into the school? Can parents put ideas / suggestions together and how? Again, it was agreed to raise with CR and SS offline. ACTION: CS to discuss the above funding/engagement questions with CR and/or SS. We discussed the idea of a PTA Questionnaire issued to parents; to include asking for feedback on processes, PTA comms, parent engagement, funding, seeking ideas on events and the type of events they’d like to attend, what involvement they would like to have etc. It was agreed worth scoping this out and discussing at future meeting. ACTION: CS and S’OM take idea of Questionnaire offline and consider further. The New Parent Pack was raised and suggested that it needed a “re-vamp”; could it be linked to the proposed Parent Webpage above and use a QR code rather than all the paperwork provided? ACTION: CS to seek parent help with revamp of the New Parent Pack (with BD to link to new potential parent webpage above).

PTA Expenditure It is recognised that sometimes the PTA needs to invest in some of its equipment or facilities to ensure we can continue to support our fundraising efforts or events adequately. We reviewed Slide 7 of Appendix 3; last year we invested £5,585 which included annual running costs (licences etc), the Second Hand Uniform Unit and Fencing for events. We agreed that we would make a return on that earlier than anticipated (1 year instead of 3 potentially), mainly because the second hand uniform sales were doing so well and generating good profit. We reviewed the potential investment required for this year (also slide 7) but, as per normal practice, PTA members would present to committee meetings throughout the year with funding requests for voting as and when.

Fundraising Figures We reviewed Slide 8 of Appendix 1 which identified the potential forecast expenditure against potential income (based on events we hope we can put on). There could be a shortfall if we do not raise enough money so the Committee requested support and volunteers from the community to help “plug the gap”. We also discussed the potential use of blogs / vlogs to encourage volunteers for events (e.g. summer fete and what it involves). ACTION: CS to contact previous organisers to see if they would willing to do a blog/vlog on summer fete organisation.

AOB Funding Request – Mr Greaves requested annual funding for the Christmas Panto trip for 193 pupils (Year 4-6) £11.50 x 193 = £2219.50. The committee voted unanimously; please refer to Appendi1 for voting record.

Next Meeting Date – Tuesday 8th November 7.30pm via Zoom

ACTION: S’OM to contact the Claremont pub to thank for new parent social, book the Class Reps social and see if we can get any contributions for raffle. APPENDIX 1 Table 1 – NEW PTA MEMBERS VOTING COMMITTEE MEMBERNominated bySecond nominationSeven members constitute a quorum.Claire Summers (CS) - ChairSO’MNJNatalie Jolliffe (NJ) – Vice ChairCSSO’MSara O’Malley (SO’M) - SecretaryCSNJSam Fatooi (SF) - TreasurerCSNJEmma Butterworth (EB)CSNJLucy Prior (LP) CSNJSam Walker (SW) CSNJEmma Doward (ED) – new member see aboveCSNJ

Table 2 - RECORD OF ATTENDANCE & VOTING: COMMITTEE MEMBERAttendanceVote – Panto trip 7 Members in meeting Seven members constitute a quorum.1. Claire Summers (CS)YYNatalie Jolliffe (NJ)YYSara O’Malley (SO’M)YYSam Fatoohi (SF)YYEmma Butterworth (EB)Nn/aCandi Roberts (CR)Nn/aLucy Prior (LP) YYSam Walker (SW)YYBen Dryland (BD)YYNicki WebbNn/aTOTAL77 APPROVAL OF MINUTES BY CHAIR OF MEETING: SIGN: ________________________C Summers_____________________ DATE: 7/11/2022 APPENDIX 2 – Treasurer Report 2021-22 [copy of final year end accounts to be inserted] APPENDIX 3 – AGM Slide Deck [updated slide deck to be inserted]