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CLAREMONT PRIMARY SCHOOL PTA
23rd October 2024 – Claremont School Hall 7-9pm
Committee PRESENT: Claire Summers (Chair), , Niloufer Jamal (Secretary), Shagun Bansal (Treasurer), Lucy Prior (Committee Member), Ben Dryland (Committee Member), Sam Walker (Committee Member), Jenny Brown (Committee Member), Nicki Webb (Committee Member), Anna Pearson (Committee Member)
Committee APOLOGIES: Natalie Jolliffe (Vice-Chair), Lisa Gammon, Emma Butterworth, Emma Doward.
Agenda:
1. Chair’s Welcome
2. Chair’s Annual Report
3. AGM Treasurer’s Report
4. Constitution - Request to Modernise Constitution
5. PTA Policies
6. PTA Committee: Resignations and Appointments
7. Looking Ahead to this Year - Events, Why We Need You and Vacancies
1. Chair’s Welcome:
Claire Summers (Chair) welcomed everyone to the 2024 AGM, noting the attendance of new reception parents. She outlined the PTA’s key goals, including fostering a strong relationship between staff and parents and supporting the school with resources to enhance education.
2. Chair’s Annual Report:
Highlights:
• Chip-In was launched, now raising £12,000 annually as of October 2024. Claire thanked Ben, John, and Lucy for their contributions to the success of this initiative.
• Flagship Events: Clarefest and the Summer Fete were highly successful, with increased profits this year. Claire thanked the teams who coordinated these events.
• Playground Sales new initiative for 23-24 and has become a regular income stream (3rd highest earner for the PTA). Jennie was thanked for her ongoing efforts in managing them.
• Claire expressed appreciation for the large number of volunteers and committee members who helped with various events over the past year.
• PTA Feedback Survey: Over 100 responses from parents provided valuable insights into PTA activities and priorities , for consideration and action by the Committee.
Reflections:
• School Funding: Claire emphasised the increasing challenges of school funding and the need for a long-term fundraising strategy.
• Volunteers: With key individuals leaving, there is a pressing need for new volunteers to run events. Currently, there is no team in place to run Clarefest 2025.
• Support from Local Community: There was no sponsor for Clarefest 2023-2024. While positive relationships exist, there is significant potential for growth in this area.
• New Parent Engagement: It would be useful to have a dedicated volunteer to coordinate new parent events.
3. AGM Treasurer’s Report:
• Income for the year: £62,000, a £2,000 increase compared to the previous year.
• Event Performance: Profits were slightly higher this year from the two key events but less as a %. Affected by lack of corporate sponsorship for Clarefest. As the success of these events is weather reliant, initiatives like Chip-In are of great importance in providing steady funds.
• Expenditure and Donations:
◦ £28k donated to the school, with a further £28k committed for the trim trail, wet weather canopy, and classroom contributions.
◦ £15k allocated for IT support.
◦ £8k to match fund the footpath refurbishment.
◦ Contributions for parking signs, new sports kit, pantomime, and Year 6 activities.
• Profit from the Year: £11,407.
• Balance Sheet (as of 31 August 2024): Total cash in bank and hand was £43,247, with £15,204 remaining after commitments (donations agreed to but not yet invoiced).
4. PTA Constitution:
Sara O’Malley presented how the PTA constitution has been unchanged since 1983. A new draft has been developed in line with the latest Parentkind model constitution. The changes proposed are not “regulated alterations” that affect in any material way the PTA works. These would be need to be authorised by the Charity Commission. The new draft instead includes clarifications to bring it inline with the Parentkind model. Members were asked to note the following:
• Purpose: removed reference to “otherwise funded by the local authority” from original constitution.
• Membership: clarified Parentkind model to reflect our existing structure of the executive committee and general committee members.
• Powers of the Committee: clarifies that a member of the committee must be part of the sub committee (e.g., Clarefest, Summer Fete) with explicit responsibility for request and managing funds on behalf of the Committee.
• Quoracy: PTA model suggested 50% Committee members required to hold valid committee meetings, we recommend keeping to 7 members as per existing constitution.
There were no questions for concerns raised by Members attending the AGM and the new constitution was unanimously approved by all present.
Action: PTA Secretary to prepare a special resolution and submit to Charity Commission with copy of new constitution.
5. PTA Policies:
• All four PTA policies (privacy, safeguarding, complaints, financial controls) have been through the Exec Committee’s annual review. No changes other than to:
• Financial Control Policy: The drafting on the approval process for expenses under £250 was updated to reflect the new process that had been previously approved by the committee. No other changes were made.
6. PTA Committee: Resignations and Appointments:
• Resignations:
◦ Claire Summers announced her resignation as Chair after four years of dedicated service.
◦ Niloufer Jamal stepped down as Secretary.
• New Appointments:
◦ Axelle Joos de ter Beerst was nominated by Claire Summers as the new Chair and unanimously elected.
◦ Lisa Gammon was nominated as Secretary and unanimously voted in.
◦ Marta Zielinska was introduced as the new teacher representative and unanimously elected to the committee. CS expressed her thanks to Marta for offering to step into the role which has been empty for several years.
◦ Ami Parker was nominated and voted in as a new committee member.
◦ Claire Summers was nominated to stay on the committee and was unanimously re-elected.
Claire displayed a chart outlining the new committee structure and thanked the many volunteers who support the PTA in various roles, beyond the formal Committee roles.
7. Looking Ahead to this Year – Events, Why We Need You, and Vacancies:
Claire highlighted several key events for the 2024-2025 academic year and stressed the importance of volunteers for their success:
• Clarefest: Needs a coordinator.
• Second-hand Uniform Sales: Needs a coordinator.
• Other Volunteer Roles:
◦ Become a ‘Friend of the PTA’.
◦ Assist with tea/coffee at new parent events.
◦ Help with playground sales.
◦ Source free Christmas trees.
Claire emphasised that the PTA’s ability to run successful events depends on the active participation of parents. She outlined potential future initiatives, including library refreshes, new storage for sports equipment and a wet weather canopy for the second Maslow area.
AOB (Any Other Business):
• The next committee meeting was scheduled for Monday, 11th November 2024. The time and location are to be confirmed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES BY CHAIR OF MEETING:
SIGN: ________________C Summers_____________________
DATE: 26-11-2024
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