Chairman’s AGM Report 2021
Good evening all and thank you for attending tonight’s slightly delayed PTA Annual General Meeting.
2021 started with a return to strict COVID-19 restrictions, home schooling, and very little sign of what we used to call ‘normal’ returning to us anytime soon. January certainly seemed even longer and darker than usual!
Thankfully, after a couple of months of life through a Zoom lens, the world started to open up again slowly, and, after a few false starts, the PTA could dare to dream of actually running some of the events we had in our planned schedule…
- Crazy Hair Day 1st April
This was a last-minute event which coincided with the long-awaited reopening of hairdressers! We were able to make the most of the last of our children’s ‘lockdown locks’ and go big with some fantastically inventive styles making their way through the school gates. Prizes were on offer for the craziest effort in each class.
This raised £221 for the school and the feedback was really positive. It also created a great, fun atmosphere on the last day of term.
- Doorstep Photos Easter Holidays
Chloe Sammons (Year 1 parent) very kindly gave up her time to offer families a Covid-friendly doorstep photoshoot. This was a very thoughtful and inventive way to create a memento of the strange times that we were going through.
This generated £80 of funds for the school and we’re very grateful to Chloe for offering this unique opportunity to Speldhurst families.
Topsy Turvy Day – 11th June
Another twist on the standard non-uniform day! Topsy Turvy Day had children wearing things back to front, inside out, upside down…you name it! There were some brilliantly creative ideas on display and £314.19 was raised. This was split between classes in place of the monies usually made on cake sales.
Mini Marathon – 25th June
Just when we thought it would never happen, restrictions were lifted enough to enable us to run a slightly ‘watered-down’ Mini Marathon within the school grounds at the end of June.
This was only possible thanks to great planning and effort from the committee, who were up against some eye-watering time constraints, and the vital support from Mr Vale-Taylor and Mr Steibelt. A special thank you too to the event sponsors – their contributions allowed us to give all the participating children the incredibly popular prize of a fidget spinner each!
Thanks to very generous donations from the family and friends of the children, the event raised the amazing total of £4607.
It was a huge success with the pupils, especially as it was the first whole school event in 18 months.
Summer Social and Raffle - July
As was the way in the first half of the year, this event also had to change at the 11th hour. Originally intended as a Summer Social gathering at the G&D to allow some long overdue socialising between parents (with a raffle planned on the side to raise additional funds), the committee had a fantastic plan in place…the flyer had been circulated to parents ready for tickets to go on sale…and then the long awaited lifting of restrictions was delayed and plans were scuppered.
In an attempt to salvage the situation, a small number of volunteers took on the challenge of pulling a raffle together in a matter of a few weeks. With a winning combination of charm, determination and hard work, they managed to secure some fabulous prizes from very generous businesses, and even managed convince Mrs Hayward and Mrs McDougall to appear on screen in Hawaiian attire for the prize draw!
A fantastic sum of £1543 was raised in total and we agreed this would become a regular addition to the PTA schedule going forward.
Quiz Night - 1st October
After an enforced break in 2020, it was great to have the Quiz Night back in the Autumn term. Our experienced committee managed to put on a fabulous night, which provided us with the first opportunity to socialise all together in a very long time!
It was expertly organised and managed to strike the balance between being ‘Covid secure’ and still a great deal of fun (and undoubtedly competitive!).
Although the result of the quiz didn’t go the way I’d hoped (and even a strong showing from the teachers wasn’t enough to beat The Wild Ones), the financial result was a tremendous £1274. Special thanks to Jim and Charlotte, who are stepping down from the committee after a number of years of committed service to the quizzing cause.
Bonfire Night - 7th November
I’d heard legend of the amount of planning, time and organisation put into this event. After my first year on the committee, I can confirm the legend to be true!
The event is months in the making and every aspect is very carefully considered by the experienced committee. The end result was truly worth all the hard work though.
It was very special to have a much-missed fireworks display back in the village, even if in a slightly pared back form to account for restrictions and safety, and the evening was enjoyed by all who attended.
An incredible £4398 was raised for the school’s wellbeing programme.
A very special mention needs to be made to Andy & Helen Yates and Kevin Martin, who have been absolutely instrumental in making this event happen over the past few years but who will be leaving the school in 2022 (don’t go!).
Silent Auction - 27th November
The auction has become a big-ticket item within the PTA calendar and the team certainly rose to the challenge this year. We had a fantastic range of top quality lots on offer. This culminated in a frenzy on the Saturday night, when after one (or maybe even two) glasses of wine, the real bids started tumbling out and the amount of money raised was catapulted up to an amazing total of £3017. The competition for the class party with the teachers became very heated in the final seconds (well done Galaxy Gala!).
Christmas Activities
This year’s Christmas activities were again affected by the constantly evolving Covid restrictions. However, Santa’s number one helper within the PTA Claire Fox managed to keep up with the daily changes to the plan and delivered a full and fun selection of events for the children to enjoy, including an afternoon watching a panto online and a trip to the grotto to pick presents for their parents. The grotto also raised a wonderful £525 for the school.
Christmas Cards and Wrapping Paper
Many thanks to Katie Harle who organised the Christmas cards and wrapping paper for another year. As always, these were of the highest standard and greatly appreciated by friends and relatives far and wide. They also raised a magnificent £841 for the school.
Christmas Wreaths
Vicky Trifiletti kindly offered to make a selection of her fabulous wreaths available for purchase, with a donation per sale going to the PTA. The feedback on the wreaths available was fantastic and we were very grateful to receive £70 from proceeds of sales.
Preloved School Uniform
This is a really great initiative, which not only helps new and old (figuratively speaking) parents within the school, but also helps to reduce the number of pieces of uniform that end up in the bin before they’ve fulfilled their potential. Thanks to the team, we now have a very organised uniform store within the school. As we hopefully return to more normal life now, there will be more opportunities to exchange uniform and make these available to all who want and need them. This has raised £202 and has added value for a number of families.
Amazon Smile
It is has been a fair while since we have promoted this to parents so it definitely needs a new push as I expect many new parents to the school will not be aware of it (same applies to Easyfundraising). All the same, this generated £96 through until the end of September (and I’m sure based only on the amount of parcels that we received in December that there will be more monies to follow for the end of the year!).
How the PTA supported the school?
The focus of the school throughout 2021 was on the emotional and mental wellbeing of the children. The pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for us all so it’s no surprise we are seeing it’s effect on our children as well.
As a result, the majority of monies raised throughout the year have been earmarked to fund the school’s Emotional Wellbeing programme. This has primarily involved mindfulness and counselling sessions to date.
In 2021 £4,840 has been spent on this and the PTA will continue to support the ongoing and evolving pupil support programme through 2022 and beyond.
We were also happy to be able to contribute towards the revamping of the much loved centre piece of the playground, the trim-trail. We put £5,000 towards this very worthy cause and are delighted that it is now ready for the children to enjoy.
Another use of the PTA funds was to pay for the outdoor learning benches – a much needed addition to the playground at a time when fresh air is paramount. These cost £1,040.
Other lower value items purchased using the PTA money included:
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Headphones
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Year 6 dictionaries
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Library reference software subscription
The treasurer’s report details all costs and proceeds.
Despite the challenges faced and the ever-changing situations we have found ourselves in, we’ve had a very strong year of fundraising and have managed to bolster the PTA bank balance ready for future projects, whilst also supporting the immediate needs of the school.
This is only possible thanks to the generosity, commitment, kindness, determination and extraordinary tenacity of the current PTA members. We therefore need to say a huge thank you to all of the committees and individuals who made things happen. A thank you too to the parents who volunteered to help at events and supported with attendance. Last, but by no means least, thank you to Mrs Hayward, Lucy McDougall, April Wicks, Martin Steibelt and the teaching team for their unwavering support and encouragement.
Finally, a few special mentions:
Sam Marken is stepping down as PTA co-chair. Sam answered the school’s plea for a volunteer to help lead the PTA at the start of 2020 and has managed to help guide it through the choppy Covidinfested waters of the past 18 months with grace and good humour. We had to learn an awful lot very quickly to keep the ship sailing! Lucky for us, Sam will continue to help with certain events, such as the 2022 Mini Marathon.
We also have a couple of key members of the PTA team leaving the school this year and we owe them a very big thank you…
Firstly, Tessa Hewitt…Tessa has made an invaluable contribution to the school since joining. She’s said yes to many a graphic design ‘favour’ asked of her by various committees (often all at once!) and has helped provide a level head at times when it was most needed. She will be missed by us all!
And then there’s Helen and Andy Yates. We have suggested they have another child so we can keep them on the PTA but they’re not sounding too keen! So, unfortunately we can’t keep hold of them for any longer…. They’ve been amazing mainstays of the Speldhurst PTA for a number of years now and have an encyclopaedic knowledge that will be hugely missed (they even know what’s in the far corner of the PTA shed). Their support of the school is only surpassed by their generosity in sharing their knowledge and time with us newer members. Thank you so much to you both…the school is all the better for you having been involved.
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