NETHER GREEN SCHOOL PTA MEETING
THURSDAY 18TH JANUARY
MINUTES
In attendance:
Miss Ball, Mrs Wyatt, Julie Wood, Cathy Evans, Kim Portlock, Di Cole, Barba=
ra
Godfrey, Madeleine Thomas, Clare Coyne, Cinnamon Hodgson, Amanda Forrester,
Sarah Furniss
Apologies received from: Kate May, Leila Prescott, Justine Phillips, Helen
Billingham-Griffith.
The Christmas Fair – raised £1709 including costs, £645 from raffle, £160 from S= anta.
It was felt that Santa was very good and very popular = and that the organisation of his visits were good. T= he stall holders did not do particularly well and it was felt that we should advertise their presence for next year so that visitors can come prepared w= ith more in their purses to purchase things. The lighting shop Light and Shade would= be interested in providing a stall at the next occasion. The uniform stall did= not do well at all, no second hand uniform was brought in for anyone to purchas= e. The school calendars – there are still some remaining and= so the cost has been reduced to £1.50.
Quiz night – arranged for 2nd March – less difficult questions =
have
been requested this year. To be held in the school hall at 8pm. Outside caterer's will be providing supper and people =
are
invited to bring their own refreshments, with glasses. Cathy and Amanda are=
both away and so Cinnamon and Tori have offered to org=
anise
and more volunteers are required to help, please contact Cathy or Tori asap=
.
The summer event, initially thought to be a ball=
has
now been altered to be a more low key affair in view of the costs. The Dam
House is offering a meal of £15pp however it was not known if this wa=
s inclusive
of a disco, several volunteers have offered to go on a
reconnaissance! There would be approximately 100 places. The PTA must make =
the
decision about this being a social or a fund raiser in view of possible pri=
ce
of tickets.
Spends – the contact bracelets are a success and have been well recei=
ved,
providing extra security for the children and escorts whilst out on trips. =
The
PTA have offered to pay for visitors to come to the school to provide shows=
etc
for the children, the next one being the
Crucible staff coming to perform for the children and then do a workshop wi=
th
Y2. We would ask the teachers and the new school council, soon to be voted =
in,
what other suggestions they may have. The Christmas collection from the
nativity raised £440, half of which was going to the Tsunami, the oth=
er
going towards a multi-media projector for the school. Mrs Wyatt asked for s=
ome
contributions towards the 'wet play' box. A sound system was suggested also
DVD's. Cinnamon Hodgson also informed the group that a =
friend
of hers worked for EDS who offer grants of £1000 to schools for IT
equipment and it was felt that if were successful in obtaining a gra=
nt,
the money could be used towards the multi-media player. The shaded area
for the play ground was discussed, Miss Ball had received some quotes and t=
his
was to be discussed at the next governors meeting. The school received many
donations of paint for the toilets and discussion took place around even ju=
st
painting the remaining toilets to improve the surroundings for the children.
Mrs Wyatt felt it very important that the reception should receive some
attention due to the younger children finding this aspect of life sometimes=
a
little daunting at school. Cathy said she had a contact of someone who may =
draw
some murals on the wall for the children and volunteers to then paint in. T=
here
was discussion around the garden, the governors and sta=
ff are
meeting to discuss if the garden and pond are situated in the right
location due to difficulties in staffing to child ratios, (in terms of toil=
et
visits etc). Should the PTA offer to fund a gardener to visit regularly to
maintain the garden, wherever it is, and involve the children and volunteer=
s in
its maintenance?
Dates for your diary:
Summer Fair – 7th July
Coffee morning for reception parents – 29th January and 31st January
–
volunteers please to chair asap.
Summer Disco – 12th July (Barney Baloney to be invited to host it)
Sports Day 28th June
Sponsored Bounce – 25th April
Mothers Day Present sale and wrap –12th &13th March. Volunteers
Red Nose Day – 16th March
Other suggested events:
Family BBQ
Family bingo and bring and share evening
Wine tasting evening/hand made chocolate tasting evening.
September social to welcome new parents to school
It was discussed that a minority of new parents may feel isolated when comi=
ng
to school in view of lack of knowledge of the school and other parents, the=
PTA
have tried previously to welcome parents by means of coffee mornings and
evening drinks and the numbers in attendance were always low. However it was
felt that we should try again so that for the few who did want and were abl=
e to
make contact in this way, it would reduce some of the stress that these par=
ents
felt. There was discussion about an ID board to show photos or PTA and also
members wearing badges but the majority declined this idea. Instead it was =
decided
that in September a welcome letter could be sent out to all parents to
introduce the PTA and also to explain and advertise the school's planned ev=
ents
and also offer contact numbers of PTA members who would be able to offer any
advice or friendship to new parents, Barbara has offered to do this.
Mrs Tattersfield sent a card to the PTA to acknowledge her present and our =
good
wishes for her retirement and said she is thoroughly enjoying her time.
Next Meeting Wednesday 7th March.