Trustee Report of Tír Na Nóg Primary School PTA

Trustee Report of Tír na nÓg Primary School PTA,

60 Doagh Road, Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, BT39 9BG

for the year ending 31 March 2017.

Tír na nÓg Primary School PTA was set up in March 2015 and we were registered as a charity on 26th January 2016. We are members of PTA-UK and have adopted the PTA-UK Model Constitution. We are a Parent Teacher Association, with the parents, guardians or carers of any pupil currently attending the school plus teaching and non-teaching staff currently employed by the school, being members of the Association.

The Committee (except those co-opted) must be members of the Association and are elected at the AGM to hold office for one year. All committee members are also trustees of the charity. The trustees of Tír na nÓg Primary School PTA for the year 2016 – 2017 were Mrs Sinead Nolan (chair), Mrs Andrene Rennie (teacher rep), Mr Chris Maylin (treasurer), Mrs Yvonne Moir (secretary) and Mr Eugene Mullan (co-opted).

Our Association was established with the purpose of advancing the education of pupils in the school. In particular, by developing effective relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the school and engaging in activities or providing facilities or equipment which support the school and advance the education of the pupils.

During this financial year, we used the knowledge we gained from the events we ran last year to improve our fundraising efforts. The figures for the events below are the totals collected before expenses were deducted. More details can be found in the attached Financial Report.

May Fair Car Boot Sale 28th May 2016 - £525

A Car Boot Sale was held during the district council run ‘Ballyclare May Fair’. The fair committee wanted to involve local schools and community groups and we were keen to strengthen our community links (which would also help us to continue meeting our public benefit requirement). We were very fortunate with the weather and the BBQ, Raffle, PTA stall and Pitches all contributed to a very successful event. We would like to run this event again at the same time next year.

Sports Day 3rd June 2016 - £69

We ran a refreshment stall for parents and children of both the school and the pre-school during the school Sports Day and the family picnic which followed.

Halloween Disco 26th Oct 2016 - £123

We are aware that this event doesn’t generate a large profit, but we agree that it is run for the enjoyment of the children.

Church Fair 5th Nov 2016 - £122

We decided to take a stall at the parish’s craft fair to not only raise funds but also promote our school and support our parish church. The fee for the table was very kindly donated by a parishioner and several PTA members made and donated items for sale.

Christmas Fair 27th November 2016 - £816

Our biggest event of the year is the Christmas Fair. We are keen to open the doors of the school to the local community and this year we had many more local crafters joining us. We also arranged for the school’s book fair to coincide with the fair. We advertised with local businesses and a community facebook page helped to promote the event for us. The adjoining pre-school and Sacred Heart parishioners were also invited. The day was well attended and both stallholders and visitors complimented the school and the PTA on a welcoming and enjoyable fair.

Asda Bag Packing 11th December 2016 - £688

We applied for another Bag Packing fundraiser in Asda Ballyclare and we were again very fortunate to be granted a day in the run up to Christmas. This year we opted for a Sunday instead of a Saturday as we found that our volunteers had more free time to give on a Sunday. This was again a very successful fundraiser and a great advertisement for our school. Many of our staff, parents and friends got involved and we would like to thank them for their time and enthusiasm.

Christmas Play 14th December 2016

The PTA provided complimentary refreshments to the audience before the school’s Christmas Play as a thank-you to our members for their support during the year.

Silver Smarties December 2016 - £594

We worked closely with Tír na nÓg Pre-school for this joint fundraiser which was so generously supported by all the children and their families. We were fundraising for playground markings at the time and the pre-school, who share the playground, also had some input into the playground design.

Fireside Quiz February 2017 - £74

A fireside quiz costing £1 a sheet was bought by families, friends and staff of the school and pre-school.

Cash for Clobber (ongoing) - £368

Cash for Clobber is a scheme run by a local textile recycling company. We ask parents and families for donations of clothing, shoes, bedding etc. to be dropped off at the school. The recycling company collect the donations and pay us by the kilo.

Easyfundraising (ongoing) - £102

We set up an account with easyfundraising last March. Supporters of the school register with the company and simply select their retailer through the easyfundraising website before online shopping to raise free funds for the school. We have been trying to increase our number of supporters and reminding our supporters to use the website before they shop online.

Upcoming Events

We are always open to new fundraising ideas and offers of support at any time!

Benefits to Tír na nÓg Primary School

We have met our charitable purpose throughout the year in the activities listed above and also in the following benefits that we have provided to the school:

• Facebook – PTA members have set up and help to administer a facebook page on behalf of the school. This has been important in helping to develop effective relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the school and in improving our links with the wider community.
• Donations to the school

New tables and chairs were bought for the KS1 class. These were very much needed as the old furniture was not fit for purpose. The Board of Governors agreed to replace the tables and chairs in the KS2 classroom at the same time.

Two football / sports nets were bought to improve the physical education of all the children in the school. These have been well used and have also offered opportunities for other schools to visit for sporting competitions.

A year’s subscription to Cyber coach (an online physical education programme) was paid for and although it was well used at the start, it wasn’t used so much as the year progressed, so the subscription won’t be renewed.

Playground markings and benches – this was a big donation from the PTA and has made a huge difference to the overall look of the school as well as being both educational and fun to play on (road markings were also added to help the children with their cycling proficiency). The school children had an input in the design and layout of the markings.

School website - the PTA have paid for the creation of a new school website and the first year’s fees. We have agreed to at least part fund the annual fee in the future. The new website is easier to amend and update and the children will be able to use it in their ICT lessons. The website also comes with an app for parents to help keep them up to date with school events.

Donation to school council – The PTA made a small donation to the school council. They had to decide what to spend the money on and work to their budget. They chose to buy gardening supplies to help them achieve their eco-school’s accreditation.

The next areas agreed for PTA funding will be the accelerated reader scheme and maths resources for classrooms.

• Community – The work of the PTA in engaging the wider community has a positive impact on the school and offers the children access to resources, events, activities and links with the local community which are not available through direct school funding.

The PTA made a donation of £53 worth of small toys from their old stock to the SVP Christmas appeal. The SVP have very generously donated money to the school and we appreciate their support of the school and its children.

Public Benefit Requirement

The trustees have met their public benefit requirement throughout the year in the many examples listed above, as is required by the Charity Commission NI.

Message from the Chairperson

I would like to finish by thanking the trustees, PTA volunteers and staff for the time and effort that they dedicate throughout the year, much of it ‘behind the scenes’. In such a small school, having such a successful PTA is an amazing achievement, but we wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for their hard work, it is all very much appreciated.

I would also like to thank the parents, families, friends and staff, along with the local businesses and community, who so generously support our events. This continued support has helped us to improve the facilities in the school, enabling our children to reach their potential while enjoying everything their school has to offer.

Our dedicated staff deserve the best tools for the job and in these challenging financial times our fundraising efforts are all the more important. We look forward to another successful year and seeing the rewards of our hard work being enjoyed by the whole school community.

Sinead Nolan.

Signed: ______Signed: ______

Position: ______Position: ______

Date: ______Date: ______

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Trustee Report of Tír na nÓg Primary School PTA – Financial Summary

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Trustee Report of Tír na nÓg Primary School PTA – Stock Report

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