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Lochinver House School PTA
Charity Number: 1205835 Trustee Annual Report & Accounts 2023-2024
Lochinver House School PTA
Trustee Annual Report
Academic Year 2023-2024
Introduction from PTA Co-Chairs
It has been a wonderful year for our school PTA, with a new team and new events in the calendar for all of our Lochinver families to enjoy. Our purpose remains being able to support and benefit the school experience of every Lochinver pupil, while developing effective relationships between the staff, parents and children and all others associated with the school. Providing activities, facilities or equipment which support the school and advance the education of all pupils.
We started out the year by signing our new constitution and registering with the Charities Commission. We hope our new official structure will help to guide us with good practice and ensure we are following all the necessary procedures for a fundraising organisation such as ours. This is an exciting new chapter for the Lochinver PTA and one which we hope will benefit all future committees.
We have put on a series of wonderful events that the children and parents have all thoroughly enjoyed. Starting the year with the Macmillan Coffee morning, followed by the School Disco, Elfridges Shop and finishing the term with the immensely popular Christmas Fayre. At the start of 2024 we began to plan our spring and summer events and went on to run our Family Bingo night, the Easter Egg Hunt, and finishing off the academic year with a very successful Summer Fete.
All of these amazing fundraising events are only possible because the Lochinver community is so generous with their time, volunteering at the events to make them such a success. We would also like to say a huge thank you to all the staff at the school for supporting us so enthusiastically throughout the year. There can be no doubt that it has been a team effort and we can all be very proud of our success and look forward to another exciting year in 2024-2025.
Kirsty Hone and Kimberley Catherall
LHS PTA Co-Chairs
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Our Financial Donations to the School
As the incoming committee, it was our responsibility to approve the spending of funds raised from the year 2022-2023. As per previous years, £5,000 of the funds raised were put aside in reserves, in order to support fundraising if expenses are incurred due to event cancellations. For example, if the summer fete were to be cancelled due to extreme bad weather. However, this money is also earmarked to go towards funding the Lochinver Ball that takes place every 5 years, in order to celebrate the anniversary of Lochinver House School. The next ball is due to take place in May 2027, and this event in itself is also a fantastic fundraiser for the PTA.
After £5,000 was put aside, this left us with a budget of £15,000 to spend. At the AGM in September, the staff presented the PTA with a wish list of things they would like this money to be spent on and the list was approved in the following formal meeting in October. We were delighted to be able to provide the school with some wonderful equipment, games and genuinely enriching experiences. These included a new outdoor storytelling chair, a Buddy Bench, a large mud kitchen, robotics kits, a weather station, a pantomime visit, circus skills day, a new skeleton model and so much more.
Fundraising Activities
As mentioned above, one of the significant ways we support the school is through raising funds by running community events. Following is an outline of the events that took place over the last year.
School Disco
November saw the PTA reboot an old favourite with a collaboration of a Lochinver and Stormont disco! The event was a roaring success with children from both schools relishing in the sounds of DJ Lee from Productive Vents. He had the crowd dancing from start to finish!
Elfridges
In a new venture for the Lochinver PTA for the festive season we hosted our very first Elfridges shop. The children were able to visit the beautifully decorated shop and chose a present for the grown ups of their choice. Watching the children really think about the people in their lives and what makes them happy, and then learning to wrap the presents themselves was a real emotional experience for all involved. The obvious love and thought the boys put into choosing the presents was incredible and even the staff got involved buying presents for their families afterwards. Many hours
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were put into the creation of Elfridges (650 presents were bought!) and all involved agreed it was worth it to help our boys experience the joy of giving.
Christmas Fayre
The most wonderful time of the year as the saying goes, and this event was exactly that. The PTA thoroughly enjoyed hosting such a festive event with the unwavering support of the parents who volunteered their time. From feeding the snowman mince pies to knocking Santa off the chimney the games as always didn’t disappoint. The air was filled with the smell of mulled wine and the children even got the chance to learn to snowboard! We welcomed our new headmaster into the fray with humour and cheer as he participated in the reindeer toss, letting small children take aim to throw hoops at his head. There were festive external stalls and homemade delights from the Lochinver’s LEO incentive, delicious treats and the ever-popular secondhand toy stall, where many of us watched in fear as our children tried to buy back the items we had donated! The event was an amazing success with the joy and delight of the season spread throughout.
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Family Bingo Night
This event is such a hit with all the families who attend. It’s a real opportunity for parents to enjoy some good old fashion family fun, huddled over their game cards with just the slightest competitive drive to be that first person to claim a prize. It really is so great to watch young and old alike getting in to the spirit of the event while supporting our fundraising at the same time. Attendees were also able to join in with our brilliant raffle, with prizes donated by Lochinver families and local businesses. It was lovely to see all the event with arms full of prizes and tummies full of delicious pizza. We are sure a great time was had by all!
Easter Egg Hunt
With the weather working in our favour this year the Easter Egg Hunt was a joyous celebration of spring and, of course, sweet things for all. With the delightful sounds of “pica pica” coming from the sunshine yellow mascot of the day, the boys were spurred on to find all the eggs that had been sneakily hidden around the music field. Every year the PTA choose a theme from popular culture, per previous requests, and this year one of our very own PTA voluntarily climbed into the giant inflatable Pickachu suit, aka portable sauna, and embodied the happiness of the coming season. There were PTA and school staff on hand to help the boys with putting the puzzle pieces together and finding those pesky Pokémon for the bonus points and a delicious variety of chocolate eggs and spring sweets to choose from afterwards. Watching the boys run around and work as a team to discover all the hiding places really was so much fun, the excited cries to all their friends across the field when they found the eggs embodying teamwork, and the thrilled exclamation when they discovered the acronym made all the hard work worth it.
Summer Fayre
The summer fayre really is the pinnacle of the school year for the PTA, and with the weather favouring us with sunshine, our Olympic themed day was a roaring success! The change of layout allowed us to create a central arena and get everyone involved in various summer sports. The tug of war was a sight to behold with the reigning champions, the teachers, maintaining their title against some very stiff competition. The children of Lochinver also got involved in a children’s tug of war and with determination and enjoyment on their faces they gave it their all. With the bunting waving in the breeze, the field was a sight to behold, with a wonderful variety of stalls and the return of the year 8 BBQ, it really felt like a community event. The everpopular dunk tank claimed its newest victim and with that Mr Wadge has been formally inducted into the Lochinver family! Meanwhile the children got to try their hand at golf, curling, high jump and rowing, with a panning for gold and face painting adding to the happy air of the day. Another highlight was the Lochinver’s Got Talent,
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it was truly delightful to watch the children get up on stage and show their skill, from music to magic, the boys really put on a show to be proud of. The day is of course only made possible by the support and generous time given by both teachers and staff and we as the PTA, want to thank each and every one of you, for your time and support this year, thank you for making it so special for all our children.
Second Hand Uniform Sales
We are incredibly grateful to Laura Weinburg and Victoria Polden for their continued efforts with the second-hand uniform store. Not only do they raise money for our school, but they also provide families with a more affordable option for kitting out the boys with everything they need… and replacing everything they lose! Thank you for all your time and effort to make this possible.
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Fundraising achievement 2023-24
We are delighted to say that after a year of hard work we have raised £17,756 for our school. This is a staggering amount and we are so incredibly grateful for the generosity of all our Lochinver families, both financially and the many hours of time given to make it all possible. We very much look forward to allocating these funds in September, in order to continue supporting the school and contributing to the happiness of school life for all of the pupils.
The 2024 – 2025 PTA Team
Most of the PTA team will remain the same for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year, however we are saying goodbye to Ariana Nicolaou, who is stepping down at the end of the year. Thank you so much for all of your help Ariana, we are all incredibly grateful for all you have done to support the PTA’s efforts this year.
The 2024-25 Team are:
Co Chair: Kimberley Catherall Co-Chair: Kirsty Hone Treasurer: Christiana Tavaria Committee Members: Elena Makrides, Gozde Hattatoglu and Hannah Bedwell
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Lochinver House School PTA Charity 1205835 School Year 23/24
Statement of Financial Activities for year ending August 31, 2024
| Fundraising Activities School Disco Elfridges Xmas Fayre Xmas Cards Bingo Easter Egg Hunt Summer Fayre Uniform Sales Sponsorship JMB Design & Build Other Income Interest income Barclays Compensation Expenses Parentkind membership Paypal fees Gambling licence Net Income Donations Donation to LHS |
£ 319 1,119 4,752 659 1,429 473 5,348 862 |
14,898 3,000 509 (714) |
|---|---|---|
| 159 350 |
||
| (145) (549) (20) |
||
| 17,756 | ||
| (11,000) | ||
| 6,693 |
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Statement of Financial Position
| Barclays Current 30613509 Barclays Premium 30123277 Barclays Premium 50744549 Co-op Bank 67326895 Co-op Bank 67326905 Paypal Cash Total |
August 31, 2024 August 31, 2023 £ £ Note 1,277 17,794 1 0 32,693 0 26 11,906 0 47,000 0 3,903 9,179 2,342 0 66,428 59,692 2 |
|---|---|
| 1. Adjusted for 22/23 transactions: Balance as at Aug 4, 2023 Payment to Prital re Summer Fayre 23 Harrow School error reimbursed Balance as at Aug 31, 2023 |
34,559 (290) (16,475) |
|---|---|
| 17,794 |
| 2. Bank and Cash Reconciliation Balance at Aug 31, 2023 Income from Fundraising Activities Donation to LHS Prepayment for Elfridges '24 |
59,692 17,756 (11,000) (20) |
|---|---|
| 66,428 |
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Lochinver House School PTA
31st August, 2024
1205835
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