PTA Meeting - Minutes - January 9th 2008 - 8pm

Present Sue Allingham, Jacqui Smith, David Prout, Dave Gomm, Mike Brereton, Pete Parkin, Claire Hillier, Tuesday Moodie, Angela Bailey, Jane Harris, Tracy Smith, Paul Brackley, Sue De Boeck, Sonia Harvey Guest – Alan Sheridan from Mad Science  1.    Welcome to new members Pete welcomed Angela Bailey, Jane Harris and Tracy Smith.  2.    Apologies Tina Barber, Sally Billeness, Phyllis Bridge, Belinda Hitchens, Coleen Norman, Estelle Bowman, David Gilbert, Chetan Kakar, Teresa Tait, DM Lawrence 3.    Minutes of the last meeting The minutes were approved as being accurate.   4.    Matters Arising No matters arising.  5.    Finance update  DP distributed the treasurer’s report.  Income since last report:- £2,440.79 from Christmas Fair £2,426.99 from Rugby car parking £127.35 from the Quiz Night. The balance at 9th January is £34,520.10. We have total commitments of £23,057.39 leaving £11,462.71 of uncommitted funds. With rugby car parking there is an estimated income of £19,000.00, giving the PTA a sum of £30,462.71.  Commitments Dansicality doubled from £300.00 to £600.00 – approved. Infant Furniture – Paid £149.95 – committed £3500.00 – to chase Reading Scheme – Paid Playground Equipment – £318.90 paid - committed £2500.00 – to chase Junior Safety Notice board – paid Gazebos – purchased Year 6 Party – still waiting for invoice Stage Curtain – paid 6.    Rugby Car Parking David confirmed we are receiving a good level of bookings for the next couple of events. Confirmed future concerts:- Bon Jovi Friday 27th June & Saturday 28th June Iron Maiden – Saturday 5th July RFU have reserved 30th August as a potential concert date, Pete asked Paul Brackley if we could open on the Friday evening (27th June) – no problems anticipated other than ensuring Squirrels Nursery are aware.  7.    Past Events   Quiz Night Eight teams joined the quiz night, we made a good profit – photos are on the website. Pete has spoken to David Gilbert and we are hoping to host another quiz night in the coming months.  Christmas Fair Pete extended a special thank you to Jacqui for her extraordinary effort in organising the fair. Jacqui thanked the other members of organising committee, Tuesday Moodie, Sonia Harvey, Sue Allingham and Tracy Smith. A special thanks to the new parents that helped on stalls and to Angela Pratt and Mr C for manning craft stalls. Also big than you to Premises Manager Helen Carter for assisting on the day. Jacqui apologised for the breakdown in communication which resulted in a car driving across the playground.  Again a good turn out, but very hectic to turn around by the end of the school may. We may look at different format for next years fair to reduce the stress involved in the organisation.   Infant Christmas Parties Pete extended a thank you from Colleen to helpers on the day and to Steve Baran (from Barans Removals) for bringing along his friend “Father Christmas”  8.    Future Events  Quiz Night – To be arranged, probably after Easter  Summer Fair Date confirmed as Saturday June 21st.  Nick Spellman and band “Northern Lights” already booked.  Initial meeting to be arranged soon.  Disco – To be arranged  9.    Projects    Conservation area – On Hold until a landscape gardener can be found.   Chess Set – PP has found “Giant Chess” pieces for approx £300 – Paul Brackley to raise at the next School Council meeting.  Reading Scheme – Books purchased and in use.  Electric Piano – Purchased and delivered to school.  Dansicality – PP read out a thank you letter to the PTA from Liz Rainey.  Stage Materials Purchased and the committee were read a thank you letter from Janet King. Committee also approved purchase of stage wings  Music for all – This needs detailed discussions and JS/TT/PP volunteered to speak to OG/LR as a working party to work through possibilities  Junior Safety Officer Notice Boards – Purchased and erected by the infant building entrance.  PP read out a thank you letter from Holly, Claire and Rahul – this years JSO’s  PTA storage – agreed to commit up to £500 to purchase a new storage unit  10.  Funding Requests  a)    Dansicality costs doubled as it was £300.00 per day and Anna undertook 2 days - Funded  b)    Miss Rainey has received an offer from somebody to provide out of school netball to years 3 & 4 and would the PTA consider funding. Still further information needed from Miss Rainey – Ongoing   c)    Mrs George sent funding request for permanent display boards for the junior block. Committee agreed this would be a worthwhile project to fund but is dependant on costs and will await quotes from Mrs George. – Ongoing  d)    Sue De Boeck requested funding for visualisers for the classrooms. She has been testing one which the school has already purchased and feedback from the teaching staff is that they are very impressed and feel they would benefit the children. The cost of the visualisers is approximately £500.00 each. PTA agreed to fund 7 in order that each junior class would have them. With a further commitment to fund the infant classrooms at a later date. Pete requested that we try to obtain a discount for the amount we are ordering as a subsequent order to follow. – Funding agreed for 7 units  11.  Teacher Rep No matters arising other than above funding requests  12.  Head teacher No matters arising  13.  AOB  Mad Science – Afterschool Club Alan Sheridan from Mad Science made a presentation to the PTA of the type of activities children participate in at mad science clubs. Mad Science is an after school club whose aim is to make science cool to children. All instructors are from a science background, are studying at university, or are student teachers, all have a love of science. All instructors are CRB checked. They cover lots of different science topics and have a rolling 18 month programme. They prefer to work in a classroom environment and can take 18 children.   Sessions costs between £7.00-£8.00 Approx £60.00 per half term. Although not necessarily paid for by the PTA, Mad Science are able to invoice charitable PTA’s. PTAs would not pay VAT, therefore reducing the cost to parents. Or PTA could use money as funding raising tool Payment in both cases would have to be made via the PTA.  Mad Science would also as part of the package attend school fairs and present shows. With a 50% profit share of gate fees going back to the school. Other fund raising can from candy floss sales and other merchandising, again school gets a 50% share of income.  Pete will arrange a working party to discuss and possibly start up this after school club  Aztec Photography Day Jacqui suggested we could hold a family photography day to raise funds. It would have to be held on a weekend. We would charge a sitting fee from parents wishing to book and then receive a percentage of sales from the orders taken. Jacqui will speak with Aztec to see if they can book a date.  Mothers Day Event It is unlikely we will hold this event as it was poorly attended last year.  The next PTA Meeting was set for Tuesday 25thMarch 2008 at 8pm Meeting ended at 10.00 pm Minutes taken by JS

Action                                                  DP                                    PP     PP             PP/JS           PP     PP CN     PB                 PP                                                       PP     JS