Friends of Rupert House – Chair’s Report for 2021/2022 AGM Tuesday 13[th] September 2021.
So, we did it! We got through a full year without a lockdown, which frankly feels like an achievement in itself. Mr Armitage is now an old hand having been in post for two years, the school continues to grow, in terms of both pupil numbers and the opportunities available to them.
We were allowed out of the house and back into the school, so obviously the Friends of Rupert House capitalised on the ability and desire to mingle, resulting in one of their busiest and most successful years to date. We were able to take positive steps across each of the five principal aims of the Friends.
The first aim is to support and enhance the pupil’s experience at Rupert House. Well, with another successful Christmas Fair, the Easter Eggstravaganza, a book swap for World Book Day, the May Fair, a Great School Run at Stonor Park, the auction of promises all most recently topped off with a pre-back to school picnic, I think we can consider that box ticked. If you then add in the contribution to the DT suite and a shiny new outdoor classroom at the forest school site then, well, you’re going to need a bigger box. All of this is only possible with the support and generosity of our wonderful school community. We are incredibly fortunate to have so many people who are so willing to give up their time, money and skills, as well as the random things they find in drawers.
We have also built a strong link with the school-nominated charity for 21/22, Fund A Future Uganda (FAFU). The charity was founded by a former Rupert House pupil, Lara Lambert, and funds go towards providing education for children in Uganda. The money raised at cake sales goes to the nominated charity and this academic year saw donations of over £2,600. Thank you to all who volunteered, baked, bought and ate to reach that figure. Lara sent a video of thanks, including messages from some of the pupils supported by FAFU, which was shown to the children in assembly, and Lara will be visiting the school in the autumn term with some of those children. We hope that this connection between Rupert House and FAFU continues and develops in the future.
The second aim of the Friends is to promote good relations, co-operation and foster communications between/among parents, pupils and the School. As ever, this is largely achieved through the fabulous class reps, who collate and cascade information, ask questions, answer (even more) questions and essentially become fountains of knowledge for their year groups. Not only did we see a thankful end to remote learning, but we also had a number of parents go into school to speak with children during both International Week, with pretzels and chapatis aplenty, and STEAM week where they got to hear about life as a pilot from two of our pilot parents. We held not one but two summer parties (one being postponed from June to September) which gave parents and staff the opportunity to meet and chat away from the school door.
We welcomed a former teacher, Miss Ives, back to the school to run a wreath-making workshop for parents in the run up to Christmas. Another highlight last year was the return of the much-anticipated quiz night. Obviously the teachers won, but I guess that’s ok because, competitive spirit aside, it’s reassuring that we’re sending our children to be taught by people who know more about everything than we do!
Another important role of the Friends is to support the School’s Board of Governors, Headmaster and Staff and this takes a number of forms. Mr Armitage has continued to demonstrate his support for the Friends, by actively engaging in each meeting,
sharing information, seeking opinions and feedback. The Friends, together with a broader group of parents from across the school, discussed the uniform, including the challenges with supply and the transition to the new blue and white stripes. The second-hand uniform team pulled out all the stops again during the year, really being the only option for people in need of kit. A special mention goes to Ashifah Dhalla for her tireless work on second-hand uniform whilst also trying to rationalise the new uniform to make it easier to navigate in the future.
The Friends have also continued to support the role of Rupert House within the wider community, including collections for Nomad at harvest festival and at Easter. Nomad have also taken the opportunity to speak with the children about the importance of the work they do.
A new, and incredibly successful, event this year was the Great School Run in June, organised by the world’s most organised woman, Birte Hayes and held at Stonor Park. This event brought together families from across Henley and the surrounding areas for a fun-packed and active afternoon, with proceeds going to a Ukrainian charity. We expect that the success of this event means that it will become part of the Rupert House calendar going forward.
In addition to organising leaving gifts for teachers moving onto new challenges, we also worked hard to ensure that all staff at Rupert House, both teaching and support, feel valued by the school community. Small gifts can only go so far in demonstrating the appreciation of the families for the teachers, support staff, caterers and cleaners who work so hard to provide a wonderful environment for our children, so I would like to reiterate our heartfelt appreciation to all.
Our fourth role is as fundraising body for the school. Here, our school community really has smashed it out of the park this year with record fundraising. The May Fair saw over £2,500 raised. The auction of promises raised over £8,500, and the auction held at the summer party in June raised £11,500. These events, together with all of the other events throughout the year, meant that we ended up sailing past our £15,000 target for the year. This felt like a very, very punchy target when it was first set, but we have been absolutely blown away by the support and generosity of the school community and look forward to seeing those funds being reinvested in the school.
Finally, and in my view most importantly, the Friends aim to contribute to the overall welfare, happiness and success of the School. This is the bit that always makes me a bit emotional, as I look to the school and the families within it. Our school community it made up of wonderfully creative, talented and kind people, who are brimming with the most wonderful ideas as to how to make events special for our children. One shining example of this is Lucy Sheikh, a wonderful wing-woman by any measure.
The increasing pupil numbers at Rupert House are testament to the nurturing environment and strong academic results achieved. There’s always a real buzz around the blue door at the start of the year, with children (and parents!) excited by the return to school. The school continues to go from strength to strength.
As my tenure as Chair comes to an end, it is reassuring to know that the Friends of Rupert House will also continue to go from strength to strength, under the leadership of Georgie Lamb and with the support of an excellent committee and an outstanding parent body. I am grateful to everyone who has supported the Friends in working towards these aims, in particular the reps, committee and trustees and I look forward to seeing what the coming years bring for our children.
Friends of Rupert House - Treasurer's Report
Period Ending Year 2021/22 As at 31 August 2022 Treasurer Anthony Jones
Summary
2021/22 academic year has seen excpetional fund raising with the resumption of in-person activities more than achieving our goal for an aspirational gift to RHS co Pro-forma monies on account are c.£29k after deducting £4k buffer, £3.5k for DT suite and monies to be paid to FAFU
Fundraising
1 Net profit from second hand uniform sales of £2,910 following payment of oustanding commissions to parents
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2 Christmas fair raised a net profit of £1,824 vs. £1,474 last year
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3 Christmas raffle raised £825
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4 Quiz night raised a net amount of £671
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5 Monies from Charity Christmas Cards were strong with 100% uptake - net receipt of £543.40
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6 The Summer Party 2021 is now concluded at a net profit of £1,326 for FORH
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7 The Summer Party 2022 made a small loss of £397 (TBC) but the auction raised a tremendous £10,575!!
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8 Cookbook sales much improved with net loss across two years reduced to just £265
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9 Cake sales in AY22 generated £2,633 with £344 paid to 'Thames Valley Air Ambulance' and £2,289 available for 'Fund a Future Uganda'
10 The Easter Eggstravaganza was a huge success with a net £845 raised!
11 Goodwill donation for use of Foresct School by Beavers
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12 The "Fun Promises" auction raised £8,416!!
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13 The foreign coin and note sale raised £245
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14 Gifts to staff totalling £2,833 offset by £830 of parent contributions
15 Cap sales totalling £1,070 with stock unsold to be sold at a pure profit in AY23
| Second Hand Uniform Sales May Fair Christmas Fair Christmas Raffle Tea towels Hair Ribbons Caps Tote bags St. Patricks Day Quiz Christmas Card Sales Coin and note sale Fun Promises Auction Summer Party 2021 Summer Party 2022 Summer Party Auction Egg Cups Lapland Cookbook "Shout Out" Cake sales Easter Eggstravaganza Sundry Total Fund Raising Events Bank Interest Received Sub-total Befriending events and costs Net receipts before donations |
Expenditure Receipts £ £ (466) 3,376 (531) 2,832 (721) 2,545 825 20 (1,083) 1,070 (264) 935 543 245 8,416 (3,245) 2,500 (7,022) 6,625 10,575 (1,187) 612 (344) 2,633 (205) 1,050 (69) 179 -£15,136 £44,981 - £29,845 (116) £29,729 YTD 2021/22 |
Expenditure Receipts £ £ (645) 4,506 (576) 2,050 1,175 (774) 1,415 99 190 51 - 53 (379) 2,450 (139) 216 200 310 (169) 555 - 95 -£2,682 £13,364 - £10,681 (131) £10,550 FY 2020/21 |
Expenditure Receipts Note £ £ 179 (1,130) 1 (531) 2,832 (145) 495 2 - (350) 3 774 (1,395) - (99) (1,083) 880 15 - (51) (264) 935 4 - 490 5 - 245 13 - 8,416 12 (2,866) 50 6 (7,022) 6,625 7 - 10,575 7 139 (216) - (200) (1,187) 302 8 169 (555) (344) 2,633 9 (205) 1,050 10 (69) 84 -£12,454 £31,617 - - £19,163 - - £19,163 Year on year variance |
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Donations
Awaiting confirmation of funding for agreed items on 2020/21 "wish list" - DT equipment costing c.£3,500 Likely project for FORH support in 2021/22 is a new "outside classroom" costing c.£15k
| Contributions to RHS Wish List Gifts for Teachers Local residents Leavers Hoodies Total Surplus/(Deficit) for the year |
Expenditure £2,848 £530 £3,378 YTD 2 |
Receipts Expenditure £100 £1,328 830 £1,248 £40 £490 £930 £3,107 £27,280 021/22 YTD 2 |
Receipts Expenditure - 1,683 - (1,083) £0 £600 £7,444 020/21 Movement si |
Receipts - 11 395 14 - - 13 £395 £18,564 nce last report |
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Bank accounts and cash
| As at 3 Treasurers Account - 00427517 Treasurers Account - 20152768 - 2HUS Business bank instant Cash Total Increase/(decrease) in bank balances during year CHECK |
1 August 2022 As at 3 £39,091.67 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £39,091.67 £27,280.25 £0.00 |
1 August 2021 Moveme £6,847.34 £4,685.00 £0.08 £279.00 £11,811.42 £7,443.53 £0.00 |
nt during year £32,244.33 -£4,685.00 -£0.08 -£279.00 £27,280.25 |
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of rA)i/=hJ4J£ OK k(Jpr£ / On accounts for the year ended Ji Au6uST 202 Charlty no (if any) 113319 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the a¢counts of the above charity ("the Twst") for the year ended 3 1 /0 É12oZ X Responsibilitl8s and As the charity truste8s of the Trust, you are responsible for th8 preparation basts of report of thè accounts in accordance With the requirements of the Charit¢es Act 2011 ('the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of th8 Trusfs accounts Calad out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have follov*Ed the applicable Directions given by the Charty Commission under section 14q5){bl of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters have come to my attention ( ') in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: accounling records were not kept in accordance yth section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not &cord with the accounting records I have no concems and have come across no other matters in conneGtion with the examination lo which attention should be dravm in order to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ' Please delete the w0S in the brnckets rf they do not apply. Date: Independent examlnerfs statement Signed: 2023 Name: AtsJLi fvJ6SOrtJ Relevant professional quallflcation(s) or body (if any): Address: It &gLLAf411 Ll LLI rof4Df iQi-- October 2018