Caterham School Parents’ Association
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday 5th November 2014
Senior School Library
Present:
Liz Mason (LM), Chairman, Tracy Wyner (TW), Secretary; Maureen Gibbins (MG), Treasurer;
Julian Thomas (JT), Headmaster; Matthew Godfrey (MG), Deputy Head; Howard Tuckett (HT) Head Prep School.
Payal Shah / Angela Chauhan / Omar IbrahimSophie Locket / Belinda Russell / Viara Challier
Debbie May / Orla Flatley / Alison De Villiers
Nadia Barton / Karuna Patel / Sam Ogden
John Hill / Tim Allison
New Members: / Chantal Baker / Sam Wright
Uliana Mishina / Zoe Jackson / Tracy Baker
1. Chairman’s Welcome:
LM opened the meeting by welcoming all those present and especially new members who were in attendance. Tonight’s AGM will be followed by our ordinary meeting as many of the items on the agenda are the same.
2. Apologies: Jackie Huke, Alina Rennie, Janna Kellaway, Jane Bainbridge.
See below
3. Minutes of the AGM on 6th November 2013 and Matters Arising:
There were no matters arising or objections raised.
Adoption of the minutes was proposed by Maureen Gibbins and seconded by Tracy Wyner.
4. Chairman’s Report:
LM started by highlighting how busy the year 2013/14 had been for PA events and that she was so grateful to everyone who helped and made these events such a success. We are so lucky to have such a large number of PA members from all areas of the school who are willing to give freely of their time and ensure that we can offer so many events to the school community.
Colin Dunne, our Deputy Chair left this summer and moved from the area and now Tracy Wyner and myself have completed our 3 years as Chair and Secretary. We look forward to welcoming our new replacements later in the meeting when they are voted in. Thank you for stepping forwards – we are all certain that they will do a marvellous job.
So despite again another tough year financially for the World, we have yet again managed to raise just under £35,000 this year. This is all thanks to the help the PA receives from Form Reps, parents and pupil participation in all the events that take place. The Form Reps do an excellent job in communicating vital information back from the PA to the school community and drumming up support for all the events. They organise social events within their own year groups and also collect the Q&As for the Headmaster at our Form Reps meeting. This all ensures that as a Parent Body, we can be very strong and effective in our endeavours.
Fund Raising & Events
Quiz Night - The year started with an excellent quiz evening which was organised by Debbie May and a willing group of helpers. Steve May was the quizmaster for the evening and this event was attended by 80 guests and made a profit of over £300. DM has promised to run one again next year.
Philthebag – November is always a busy month in school and November 8th was no exception. We had collections for Philthebag in the morning, organised by Helen Simmans and this raised £569. At the same time, the Nearly New Sale was busy and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Alison Slater, Helen Hammer, Colleen Tuckett, Jackie Huke and Janna Kellaway for their time running this and providing the school with many sales throughout the year.
Fireworks Night – was organised by Colin Dunne and his team on a beautiful dry but cold evening. Advance ticket sales were up and the event made a good profit. The fireworks were excellent as always and the entertainment around the field was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to the music department for providing the bands and singers, to all the parents who covered the many tasks of gates, bar, BBQ, glowsticks, sweets and hot chocolate. It is a great event that brings the whole school together to celebrate within our own wonderful grounds.
Christmas Dinner & Dance – This took place in late November and organised as always by Maureen Gibbins at the Surrey National Golf Club. This is always an excellent start to the Christmas season and made a profit of over £2000, so a special thanks once again to MG.
Prep Christmas Fair – SO and her team of form reps continued the Christmas spirit with the Prep School Christmas Fair at the beginning of December. Christmas trees were once again sold and there was something for everyone, with even the sale of bacon butties to parents watching sport at Senior School and the ever popular Santa’s Grotto. A selection of external stalls, selling gifts ready for Christmas and the ever popular Year 6 stalls, entertaining everyone. A wonderful profit of £3709 was achieved, so a huge thanks to SO and her team. Raffle tickets and Christmas Tree order forms will be out soon for this year’s event.
2014 – started with Burns Night – organised by Alison De Villiers. This was a huge success and tickets sold out fast. There was superb Scottish Fare and a live band who kept everyone up dancing all night. ADV has kindly agreed to organise this event once more in 2015 and it made a profit of £1870.
Comedy Night – This event had a sell-out audience in front of an excellent group of talented comedians, ending with the outstanding improv group called the Noise Next Door. A wonderful evening was enjoyed by all, raising £5489. TW thanked her team of Debbie May, Orla Flatley, Vicki Ashworth and Angela Chauhan for all their support. This event will be taking place next year on April 18th.
April - Philthebag – the return of this ever popular event allowing us all to have a good clear out and benefit the school. This collection raised a healthy £500.
June – Prep School BBQ - organised by Angela Chauhan with a wild west theme. A beautiful sunny day with more than 200 people in attendance and great fun was had by all.
GlitterBall – Final event of the year - organised by Gert Schyberg and his wonderful team of helpers. This was Gert’s last ball as his daughter was leaving too. The School and PA are so grateful for all that he has done on the PA and especially for the teaching of the Sixth Form dance over many years. This has become a tradition at the Summer Ball and one which we hope will continue for years to come. The weather was dry, the food was gorgeous, the Band and DJ were superb and the dance floor was packed all evening by both parents and sixth form alike. Thanks to Gert and his team TW/BR/OF/AC/KC/VC/VR/PMcL for all their organising over a 9 month period and setting up on the day – the team work definitely paid off with an astounding £14000 profit.
Special Thanks: LM went on to express special thanks to:
None of the events mentioned would be possible without the tremendous amount of help that we get from John Dodwell and his amazing team. They help us out at nearly every event with the putting up and taking down of tents and marquees, setting up BBQs and are invaluable. Without their support, we would be unable to put on all the events that we do.
Thank you to Padraig and all the Sodexo team for looking after us at our meetings with food and drink and your invaluable help with the catering at many of our events and licensing of our bars.
Thanks also must go to Paul Brushett and his team of caretakers for all their help in setting up at our events and to Graham Nott for his DJ services.
Apart from all these events, there are other things in the background that help to boost our funds.
Rebecca O’Connor runs the 200 club for us which made a profit this year of £600 and has 70+ members. MG & AD both run Phoenix Card events and AD also introduced and set up The Giving Machine which generates income through parental shopping on sites such as Amazon.
The Prep Second-Hand Uniform shop run by Helen Simmons and Helen Sampson and has provided funds this year for playground equipment at both Prep and Pre-Prep Schools.
Lost Property ladies – Sheila Castle and Helen Sampson for their sterling work collecting lost items and, together with Miss Dawrant, returning it to its rightful owners.
A big thank you goes to Sam Ogden who is Prep Rep Co-ordinator, for all that you organise down at the Junior Schools and to Paula McLaren for auditing our accounts.
Thank you to Leony Goodwin and Poonam Mitchell for all their hard work over the last few years in campaigning for and enabling the installation of our crossing on Harestone Valley Road. This was finally agreed this year and put into place, slowing down the traffic and making it much safer for our children to cross.
To all the members of the PA and the form reps who have now left the school – thank you for all the hard work you have contributed over the years and with special thanks to Gert Schyberg, Christian Marryat, Vicki Ashworth and Nicole Downer.
All of this adds up to provide all the pupils within the school with a little extra and this year has certainly been no exception. Here are just a few of the things that the PA has been able to fund in the last 12 months for the pupils of Pre-Prep, Prep and Senior School :-
Digital Swimming Scoreboard
Netball Seating at Senior School
Donations to both U6 Leavers book and Prep Year 6 leavers book.
Outdoor playkits, equipment and chess boards for both Prep and Pre-prep.
Set up costs for an orienteering course to be put in place when the newly acquired woods are ready.
Camera lens and iMacs for film club.
Star curtain, portable dance floor, portable lighting and a smoke machine for the Performing Arts.
We have also pledged money for the circus club, music and drama departments for this academic year.
5. Charity – Emily Ash Trust
This is the end of our 2nd supporting the Emily Ash Trust and in the 2 years, we have been able to donate just under £10,000. Our new charity is the Breck Bednar Memorial Trust and we will support this with a percentage of our profits for the next 2 years. This was voted for by a large majority of the PA members this Summer. Breck was a former pupil of Caterham School and was tragically murdered this February, aged only 14 years. The trust aims to teach children about internet safety and to live a real life not a virtual one. The court case comes to the Old Bailey this month and so we will leave the family alone until this is over. LM & MG both know the family well and will liaise with them on this project.
LM then thanked the Heads – Julian Thomas, Howard Tuckett, Emma Neville, Matthew Godfrey and Tracy Kirnig for all their support over the last 12 months. LM wished JT well with forthcoming adventures and presented him with a small gift of ‘lifesaving items’.
Finally LM thanked TW for all her hard work as Secretary for the PA and to MG for all her years serving as treasurer. LM & TW are looking forward to skipping off into the sunset but both are continuing on the PA. We now handover the reign to our incoming Officers who will be voted in shortly.
6. Treasurer’s Report & Adoption of Accounts: Maureen Gibbins
Unfortunately due to holidays and work commitments Paula McLaren and MG have been unable to meet to enable the accounts to be reviewed however MG is confident that the figures before everyone are a realistic view of the position to the year end.
Once again the PA started off the year with a healthy reserve, which along with the income raised from events during the year enabled us to give £15,500 to the school and an additional £4,887 to the Emily Ash Trust. A surplus of £34,000 has been made on events held during the year and this is on a par with the surplus for the year to July 2013.
Over the year we have held a number of events , all of which provide the funding for the PA to provide additional resources to the school. MG took this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in not only the fund raising events but in all aspects of the Parents’ Association, many of whom work quietly behind the scenes. It is through their teamwork and the support of the parents, staff and pupils that the Parents’ Association is able to achieve so much.
If anyone has any queries pertaining to the accounts MG was willing to answer them but there were no queries. She asked those present to agree to the accounts being approved at a PA meeting once they had been reviewed.
7. Appointment of Accounts Reviewer
LM thanked Paula McLaren for acting as Accounts Reviewer for a further year. Her children have now left the school so we asked for a new candidate. Chantal Baker volunteered to do this and was voted in by LM and seconded by TW.
8. Vote of Thanks to Outgoing Committee Members:
LM asked for a vote of thanks to outgoing PA members:
Gert Schyberg, Nicole Downer, Mark Mear, Vicki Ashworth and Christian Marrryat.
9. Election of Officers
Sophie Locket – Chairman - nominated by MG, seconded by LM
Debbie May – Vice Chairman - nominated by BR, seconded by TW
Janna Kellaway – Secretary – nominated by MG, seconded by LM
Maureen Gibbins – Treasurer - Nominated by DM and seconded by SL
10. Election of Committee Members
LM listed those who had kindly offered to join the PA committee as:
Uliana Mishina, Chantal Baker, Tracy Baker, Zoe Jackson, Jane Bainbridge, Sam Wright.
All were proposed by Viara Challier and seconded by Sophie Locket.
Headmasters’ Responses:
Senior School – JulianThomas
JT also extended his thanks to both LM & TW for all their contributions over the last 3 years. A strong PA is essential to a strong school and we certainly have one here at Caterham. JT welcomed in the new committee and thanked everyone in advance for the time that they give freely in organising all the events.