Lowther Primary School Parent Teacher Association Stillingfleet Road, Barnes, London SW13 9AE Registered Charity No. 1140737
Trustee Report financial year 01.09.20 – 31.08.2021
Trustees during period:
Kia Morice (Chair) Malvina Teichert (Co Vice Chair) Kirsty Swetman (Co Vice Chair) John Heffernan (Secretary) Dounia Gassa (Treasurer) Helen McDermott (Member, Old Vice Chair) Lindsay Bishop (Member) Sharon Day (Member) Dilara Firat (Member)
Objectives and Activities:
Development of a supportive parent and carer community; to liaise with school staff on ways to help develop the school; to fundraise to improve and provide learning opportunities.
Achievements:
Overall, it had been a difficult year to fundraise due to an inability to engage parents in the usual ways mainly attributed to the pandemic. It is difficult to develop cohesive relations without the usual opportunities presented in previous years such as in person adult evenings and fun school fairs. Despite all this we tried to deliver fundraising events which appealed to families during the pandemic and highlights certainly included the Scavenger Hunts, An Online Quiz night and the Messages of Kindness Relay. We tried our best to balance fun and fundraising and managed to end the year with fundraising slightly over £33,708.
Hightlights of a couple of fundraisers:
1. Scavenger Hunts
Two SW13 scavenger hunts were organised by Lindsay Bishop, the first in Oct half term and the second at Easter.Thanks Lindsay, and to Ella for assisting Lindsay with all the graphic design.
Both went well and in total raised collectively c.£1333
Lowther School PTA, Stillingfleet Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9AE Registered Charity: 1140737
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2. Quiz Night
We held our first online quiz night on Friday 21[st] November (during lock down), organised by Kia Morice. The quiz was hosted by the hilariously funny author and broadcaster Sam Delaney, who teamed up with his wife Anna Pallai to provide a fabulous evening of fun. Kirsty Swetman did a fantastic job collating all the scores on the night calmly and efficiently. Thanks to Kia and everyone involved, and to Ella for all her graphics.
The evening was a great success and raised c£1694
3. Christmas Cards:
Malvina Teichert and Camilla Wilkinson organized the popular Christmas/Festive Card Project again this year. Children were given the opportunity to make pictures in class, which could then be turned into professional quality Christmas/Festive cards, gift tags, wrapping paper and mugs. Feedback from parents was very positive. The company managing the project, Cauliflower Cards, donated money to the school for every item ordered. Thanks Malvina and Camilla.
We raised c.£515
4. Christmas Sparkle Fundraiser:
With the usual fundraising activities severely reduced, we wanted to make sure the children at Lowther didn’t miss out at Christmas and organized a Christmas Sparkle Fundraiser.
Thanks to Helen Mc Dermott who donated popcorn for every child and organized and paid for a showing of the pantomime Jack in the Beanstalk, which was streamed live into every classroom.
There was a virtual visit from Father Christmas and Mrs Christmas, with every child receiving an individual present. The visit took the form of a video starring former Lowther dad, Jason Ball, and local neighbour, Caroline Lewis, who chatted from their home in Lapland (The Bridge Pub) and wished the children well. Big shout out to Adam Thorpe for creating such a magical Santa video for all the children to watch.
A Christmas class photograph was taken on Christmas Jumper Day and every child was given a copy as a keepsake. Thanks to Jana for taking all the photographs and all the Lowther staff that helped her develop the set and organize children.
In lieu of all of the above we asked parents to donate money. From a fundraising element it didn’t take off as we only raised approx. £189 and despite Helen kindly donating the above we still made a loss of £576. However, saying that, we were thrilled to hear of the children’s delight at receiving a gift from Fr Christmas and realize that happiness is worth more than money fundraised, particularly given the year the children have experienced.
5. Christmas Shop
For 2 weeks in December we ran a virtual Christmas shop on the PTA Events site.
Lowther School PTA, Stillingfleet Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9AE Registered Charity: 1140737
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Alongside cases of bubbles we offered Lowther Jute bags - Thanks to everyone who helped to identify suppliers of great reusable eco bags and to Ella for her design input.
We also sold Lowther Bears sourced by Caryn Sharrock which were a huge success.
Mel Harvison's made beautiful fresh Christmas wreaths which sold really well.
Thanks to Lindsay for all her hard work managing the online shop and to everyone that helped her fundraise.
The event raised a total of c£1202
World Book Day
World Book Day Book Sale was organized by Kia Morice. Due to Covid and the inability to set up a Bookstall in school like in previous years, Barnes Bookshop kindly stepped in to save the day and were incredible in supporting our PTA initiative. Every year Mr Nelson collates a list of books that each class would like to have in their classrooms.
Thanks, Kia for all your hard work delivering the event.
Over 80 new books were delivered to Lowther for the children to enjoy.
PTA Cupboard Clean Up
We organised a cupboard clear out and Erica volunteered to sell some of the old books lying around in the cupboard. Thank you.
She raised £23.88 for Lowther!
Father’s Day Card Sale
As we have been unable to hold any sales on the school site we set up a carousel in reception with an honesty box.
This collected a small profit of £30
Barnes Literary Festival
Lowther were delighted to host Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Professionals for all the fun of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth as part of the BCLF; the initiative was brought to Lowther by Kirsty.
A PTA tuck shop supported the show by offering PIP organic drinks, water and popcorn.
Thank you Kirsty and Lindsay for setting up the shop and to everyone that volunterred for a shift.
It raised £170, an unbudgeted bonus for the PTA!
Lowther School PTA, Stillingfleet Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9AE Registered Charity: 1140737
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Messages of Kindness Relay
In 2020 after Covid struck Kia Morice developed a new fundraiser which has now become a Y6 Lowther tradition - The Messages of Kindness Relay.
Our awesome Y6 Class of 2021 really embraced the idea of the relay and decided they wished to leave a legacy for the school that gave them so much throughout their primary school years. They decided to fundraise for Outdoor Learning facilities. Like last year we were overwhelmed and blown away by the success and community spirit that was displayed.
Thank you to Kia Morice, Ella Coleman, Paul Mayze, Adam Thorpe, Gennadiy Amazariani, Kim Pryde, Sam Allpass and all the fabulous children and parents of Class of 2021 for making it a fantastic fundraiser.
Including gift aid the Relay raised an incredible £9438!
Lowther Lottery
The Lowther Lottery generated a slow-but-steady income, with relatively little promotion. In total we sell about 62 tickets a week plus quite a few generous parents donated their winnings back to the school. plus we have some very generous parents, upon winning they donate money back to the school!
Thanks to Malvina Teichert for organising and leading this initiative.
The lottery raised c£1203
Uniform
Since July 2020 Caryn Sharrock has been running our second-hand uniform sales ‘virtually’. This is over a 300% increased on sales reported ever.
Thank you, Caryn.
Uniform sales raised c.£657
Resources Fundraiser
At the start of the academic year in 2020 all parents were asked to contribute towards resources needed in each class room.
This raised an incredible £5554
Lowther School PTA, Stillingfleet Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9AE Registered Charity: 1140737
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Conclusion:
The past year, off the back of a bumper fundraising year in 2019-2020 we were fortunate to be able to distribute funds so widely with a little left over in the bank. Some of our spends in 2020/2021 were earmarked from the previous year, but due to Covid certain supplies had delayed works, resource delivery etc. Thankfully we have now fulfilled all our promised spends from the period 2019-2021 totaling c£53,226 and purchases have included some of the following resources:
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✓ £7500 on IT equipment which included Chrome Books and an Interactive touch screen for Reception. These vital pieces of equipment were purchased thanks to Class of 2020 Relay.
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✓ Over £6,500 on Playground and Gym equipment repairs
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✓ Over £6,000 on Reading Books
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✓ Over £5,800 on a dedicated music teacher and equipment
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✓ Over £12,000 on a new canopy for EYFS outdoor learning area
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✓ Over £5,000 on resources for classrooms – such as whiteboard markers etc.
I must say though throughout this pandemic the resilience and caring nature of the Lowther Community has shone through. We are very fortunate to have a very active and engaged PTA that is such an integral part of the Lowther School community.
Lowther School PTA, Stillingfleet Road, Barnes, London, SW13 9AE Registered Charity: 1140737
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Annual Financial Statements 31.08.2020 till 31.08.2021
Lowther Primary School Parent Teacher Association
Bank statement balance
Bank statement balance
£28,662.82 as of 31.08.2020 £8,131.79 as of 31.08.2021
| Income Online Xmas shop Xmas Fundraising Uniform sales Greeting Cards sales Scavenger Hunt School Lottery Online Quiz Donations & sponsorship Easy Fundraising Amazon Europe Core donations Virgin Money Giving donations received Relay School Resources Campaign Barnes Literature sale Father’s day card sale Total Income Expenditure School purchases Decoding Books EYF & KS1 Oxford Owl books (balance from 2020) Lowther Reading Spine |
2020-2021 Profit £ 2007.86 £ 1202.06 £ 189.55 -£ 576.85 £ 657.01 £ 657.01 £ 515.25 £ 515.25 £ 1363.68 £ 1333.68 £ 1243.7 £ 1203.7 £ 1694.72 £ 1694.72 £ 23.88 £ 23.88 £ 279.22 £ 279.22 £ 98.51 £ 98.51 £ 12821.16 £ 12821.16 £ 7143.36 £ 7143.36 £ 5554.97 £ 5554.97 £ 98.41 -£ 46.59 £ 17.00 £ 17.00 £ 33,708.28 £ 2719.95 £ 1182.00 £ 2400 |
|---|---|
| Resources EYF, KS1 & KS2 | £ | 5000 |
|---|---|---|
| IT equipment (Reception touch screen, chrome | books) £ | 7500 |
| Bots (IT equipment KS1) | £ | 314.65 |
| Gym equipment | £ | 513 |
| Playground equipment & repairs | £ | 6122.11 |
| Lawn mower | £ | 300 |
| Fencing work | £ | 1045 |
| Canopy | £ | 12340.86 |
| Chrome book charging unit | £ | 829.99 |
| Washing machine | £ | 188.33 |
| Cooker for teaching kitchen | £ | 199.99 |
| Shortfall of school trips | £ | 132.00 |
| Guitars (Music Dept) | £ | 414.49 |
| Gifts for Staff | £ | 84.00 |
| Music Release Time | £ | 5400 |
| Reading Scheme | £ | 5000 |
| PTA Costs | ||
| Annual Insurance | £ | 111.00 |
| Leaving Gifts | £ | 50 |
| EOY Gifts | £ | 277.68 |
| Virgin Money Giving – paid to school | £ | 1101.06 |
| Total Expenditure | £ | 53226.11 |
Total Expenditure
Independent examination of the accounts of Lowther Primary School Parent Teacher Association 2020-21 Report undertaken by Ben Cooper at the request of the PTA.
Reason for report
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The purpose of this report is to offer an independent examination of the PTA’s accounts for 2020-21.
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As the Association had an annual gross income of more than £25,000, it is required by the Charity Commission to commission an independent examination. The Association’s gross income is below £250,000 and the examiner is not required to be professionally qualified.
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I have experience as a financial analyst and former Auditor and believe I can provide an opinion of these accounts and the records supporting them.
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Relevant disclosures: I am the father of a student at Lowther Primary School but have no other connection with the events, transactions or business of the Association.
Requirements of the Charity Commission
- The Commission requires the examiner to look at three aspects of the accounts: the accounting records kept; whether the accounts agree with these records; and whether the format of the accounts is correct. The Association prepares its accounts on a receipts and payments (cash) basis.
Records kept
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The Association receives charitable donations from parents and others with an interest in the school and organises fundraising events to support the school and its pupils.
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Funds are used to support the school and its pupils through the purchase of goods and services in agreement with the management of the school.
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The Association holds a number of fundraising events. In 2020-21 they included a Christmas Fair, a Food Fair, the commissioning and sale of Christmas cards, a Quiz Night and a BBQ. Receipts and payments are recorded for these events showing the net income for each contributing to the financial statements. The accounts are well recorded with a clear description of all transactions.
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Expenditure is approved and recorded with an invoice being presented to the Association. Allotment expenses are administered out of the general account.
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Where expenditure is undertaken by members of the Association or members of the school staff, a “Request for out of pocket expenses” form is used supported by receipts and this discipline is consistently observed.
Reconciliation of the accounts and records
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Transactions are consolidated into the financial statements accurately and balances reconciled.
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All transactions were agreed individually to bank statements.
Format of the accounts
- As the accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis, the format of the financial statements is fit for purpose and appropriate for this size and type of organisation.
Other issues
- It was recommended in the previous year’s examination of the accounts that the Association should consider maintaining a lower balance in its bank account. During 2020-21 the cash balance has fallen from ~£28k to ~£8k which has reduced the potential returns lost. If the Association expects to maintain this level of cash throughout the year, it should consider investments that offer an acceptable risk profile while maintaining liquidity to fund operations.
Summary
- It is my opinion that the accounts are accurate and that the quality of its record keeping is high.
Ben Cooper 28 June 2022