Friends of Putney High School
Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023
Friends of Putney High School Annual Report and Accounts For the Year Ended 31 August 2023
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Friends of Putney High School
Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 August 2023
Happily, in the year that FOPHS celebrated its 40th birthday, we were able to return to our pre-covid levels of activity with an actionpacked year of events, fun-raising and fundraising activities for the whole school community including a whole school Christmas Fair and a 40km walk and talk along the Thames River Path for the parent community.
The year ended 31 August 2023 has seen the Friends of Putney High School (FOPHS) raise over £61,336 before costs. The total costs of generating funds were £18,535, generating a net profit for this year of £42,801.
FOPHS approved bids from School with a total value of £39,995 during the year. In addition, the £50,000 donation, received in 202223 from the Nick Maughan Foundation, was voted to be used for the refurbishment of the Learning Enrichment Area in the Homefield Building in the Senior School.
Once again this year we held our AGM and Senior School and Junior School engagement sessions in person, but the three FOPHS committee meetings were conducted via Zoom and this will continue going forward as it makes life easier for all attendees.
The autumn term was our busiest, with a second-hand uniform sale in September, engagement sessions for the Junior and Senior School, a Neon glow disco for Year 7 & 8, and the first all-school Christmas Fair since 2019. We also arranged for the Barnes FiSH Community Bus to transport guests from Regenerate Rise to join the Junior School Harvest Festival celebrations. The bus was driven by Putney High dad and FiSH volunteer Gareth.
The spring term brought a musical Movie Night for the whole Junior School who enjoyed Sing 2 in the PAC in February. The FOPHS 40km Walk and Talk took place in early March, and a couple of weeks later, the Inquizition team delivered another popular and competitive Quiz Night for parents and staff to enjoy. FOPHS also leant their assistance to support Year 6 who organised a cake sale for Comic Relief in March.
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The summer term brought more second-hand uniform sales – in April for all parents - and at the Let’s Get Started events for Reception and Year 7 where FOPHS also provided a selection of reps and existing Putney parents for the incoming parents to talk to about what to expect at PHS.
FOPHS held two discos for the Junior School girls, a second-hand book sale and brought some house colours in the form of face paints to the Junior School Sports Day.
In July we also hosted welcome coffee mornings for incoming Reception and Year 7 parents off-site which were well attended and enjoyed by all.
At the end of term we shipped another 14 boxes of old-style Putney High School Uniform, plus 19 boxes of exercise books and school supplies to the Rain Edge Community in Kenya. Sammy Nawali and the community there are so very grateful to the PHS community for our support. The Junior School kindly held an own-clothes day to help us raise money to ship the goods to Kenya and FOPHS organised an on-line Collection Pot to collect the remaining amount.
As ever, our achievements at FOPHS have only been possible thanks to the hard work, dedication and enthusiasm of the Standing Committee, our parent volunteers and our Year Group Rep teams throughout the school. Our thanks to all of those who have helped at events, at open days and to support their year groups. And a special thank you to FOPHS Secretary Vanessa Robert.
Our thanks to Hamptons who via their Putney Office have continued to sponsor FOPHS for both our Christmas Fair and Quiz Nights.
We are also very grateful to all the staff who have helped FOPHS over the past year and who have provided invaluable support. In addition to the Senior School and Junior School Leadership teams, special thanks go to Alex Swift and Suzanne Fearon from Communications and Development, as well as the staff in the school offices, the Estates team, Finance and Operations and the caretakers and the catering teams. We thank you for your support and enthusiasm for all the activities that FOPHS has undertaken this year.
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The Trustees
We would like to thank all the trustees who have served on the FOPHS Committee since the last AGM, which was held on Monday 3rd October 2022.
The Senior Leadership Team:
Mrs Longstaff, Headmistress Mrs Armstrong, Head of School Mr Mutton, Deputy Head (Academic/Digital Innovation and Curriculum)
The Junior Leadership Team:
Mrs Page- Roberts, Headmistress, Junior School Miss Franks, Deputy Head Pastoral, Junior School Mr Miller, Deputy Head Academic, Junior School
Ms Suzanne Fearon, Director of Communications and Development Mrs Alex Swift– Development Officer
The FOPHS Standing Committee:
Chair: Jane Day Secretary: Vanessa Robert Deputy Chair, Senior: Natasha Wada Deputy Chair, Senior: Angelina Harris Deputy Chair Junior: Becky Glazier-Philip Deputy Chair Junior: Helen Perrott Treasurer: Monica Conway
Parent Reps:
Reception: Caroline Gulliver Year 1: Emma Cornish Year 2: Clare Higham Year 3: Nicola Baylis Year 4: Qing Ma Year 5: Jill Emney Year 6: Heather Alcott Year 7: Alice Maughan Year 8: Katherine Pugh Year 9: Mel Baroukh Year 10: Lisa Saunders Year 11: Clair Greenhalgh Year 12: Benedetta Del Balzo Year 13: Rachel Tanner
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We would also like to thank the Deputy Reps: Reception: Amy Barker Year 1: Dearbhail Starr Year 2: Nicole Ion Year 3: Suze Willison Year 4: Elif Buderi Year 5: Amanda Webber Year 6: Jamini Kesavan Year 7: Perrine Faye Year 8: Sarah Smith Year 9: Oksana Myskovets Year 10: Caitlynne Barlow Year 11: Amy McCoy Year 12: Sharon Kaye Year 13: Lesley Swain
In several year groups there were other parents who also played their part as part of a larger Rep Team. FOPHS thank them for all that they do throughout the year to help create the warm, open and inclusive school community that we have all come to expect and appreciate and for the help they lend to FOPHS activities throughout the year.
Review of Activities
As ever, I am very grateful to all the Standing Committee members who have worked enthusiastically and in good humour throughout 2022/23 to make this year another successful one for FOPHS and for the Putney High School community.
Vanessa Robert, Natasha Wada, Angelina Harris, Becky Glazier-Philip, Helen Perrott & Monica Conway have dedicated a great deal of their personal time to keep FOPHS running smoothly over the last year and it has been a pleasure to work alongside them.
Thanks to Suzanne Fearon and the Development team for helping to streamline the collection of consent from parents for FOPHS contact. Parents are now able to access class contact lists via the FOPHS area on their Firefly pages. FOPHS is working with school to hopefully simplify the process even more before next September.
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Thanks also to the parent Reps for always keeping positive and available (to both FOPHS and their year group parents) and for continuing to find the time for FOPHS.
Event Summaries (and monies raised):
Second-hand Uniform Sales - £14,161
Held in the Junior School Scooter Park in September and April (plus further sales of Second Hand Uniform at the Reception and Year 7 Let’s Get Started events) we know how popular and useful these are for all parents. All sales are now contactless payment only.
Year 7&8 Neon Disco - October 2022 - £2,489.47
Thanks to Natasha Wada for taking the lead on this event and for organising an awesome disco team. Thanks also to Alice, to Jenny for her decorating prowess, to Orly, for helping with the ticketing and Angelina for helping with the catering. 300 tickets sold out in days and we were joined by boys from Shrewsbury House, Kings House and Tower House. Thanks to all the volunteers and first aiders who came to help and who did their best not to join in with the dancing. We even tested the efficacy of the PAC smoke alarm. No fog machines will be used at future discos!
The Online Christmas Raffle, £7,005
Thanks to Natasha Wada for organising a fantastic online raffle this year. As we all know, a raffle is only as good as its prizes, so our thanks and appreciation to the year groups and parents for donating such wonderful prizes and to all the parents for generously supporting us.
Christmas Fair – £8,631
This was the first full all-school fair since 2019 and thanks to a huge team of parent volunteers, FOPHS brought the spirit of Christmas to all of Putney High School. The Gift PAC returned, filled with external shopping stalls, the Jingle Bell Gym was filled with traditional fairground games and FOPHS favourites plus, for the first time, a Putney High School Young Enterprise marketplace, Elfridges returned to the long corridor, as did Santa’s Grotto and Reptile Rescue, and Last One Standing and Beat the Goalie took place outside on the single tennis court and Astro turf pitch. With refreshments available in the cafeteria and mulled wine and a coffee cart outside, there was something for everyone to enjoy and the afternoon flew by.
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Tokens were also introduced as a form of payment alongside contactless payments.
Sarah Gibb, a parent illustrator in Year 6 also designed a Christmas Card for FOPHS, featuring Rudy the wellbeing dog in the Junior School and also leant her talents to the Fair posters and artwork. Our thanks to her.
Helen Perrott coordinated a Cauliflower Cards Christmas Order for the Junior School enabling the girls to design and order Christmas cards, gift wrap, mugs and labels.
Junior School Movie Night - £875
Sing 2 was screened in the PAC and almost the entire Junior School gathered to watch and sing their way from 4-6pm.
40km Walk and Talk – Putney High School Boat House to Putney Common via Tower Bridge - £1,885
Postponed from September due to the Queen’s funeral arrangements, a group of 27 set off from the Boat House at 7.30am for a 40km walk and talk. 17 completed the full 40km at a very respectable pace. This event wasn’t first and foremost a fundraiser, but instead a moment to reflect and celebrate 40 years of FOPHS and parent volunteers and our parent community. Our thanks to the development office team for joining us on the day, to Mrs Longstaff for waving us off and to Mrs Page-Roberts for meeting us at the finish line. Thanks to the generosity of our parent community we also raised £1,885 and it was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable day out.
Quiz Night - March 23rd – £5,693
Alex from Inquizition returned to host another successful Quiz Night. We had a waiting list for tables but all year groups were represented in the PAC along with the Junior and Senior school staff. It was a lively evening, full of competition and was very much enjoyed by all. The Senior school staff retained their winning streak, but only by one point.
Junior School Discos - £1,653.37
The neon theme returned to the Junior School hall for the summer dance off and FOPHS hosted two discos, back to back, for the Junior School girls who took to the dance floor with much enthusiasm. With a dancer leading them in a number of routines, plus competitions,
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spot prizes, neon face paints and flashing hair accessories it was a high energy afternoon for all.
Second-hand Book Fair – £620
Held outside on a happily sunny afternoon in the Junior School scooter park, the Junior School girls shopped for pre-loved books and the remaining books were delivered to The Children’s Book Project who work to redistribute books across the UK to children who would otherwise not have access to them.
Pledges to the School
The school is always incredibly grateful for the continued support, of the parent community. The extras funded by FOPHS are appreciated across all age-groups and disciplines by the school and indeed by the parents and their daughters.
During 2022-2023, FOPHS pledged £39,955 to 23 projects that the Committee considered would benefit the girls and the school. In addition the £50,000 donation from the Nick Maughan Foundation was voted by the FOPHS committee to be dedicated to the refurbishment of the Learning Enrichment area in the Senior School.
| £763.20 | Gardening Club |
|---|---|
| £5969.80 | Microscopes for Biology |
| £900.00 | British Sign Language–Introductory Course |
| £330.93 | Library Reading Corner |
| £696.00 | Junior School Pantomime |
| £5,000.00 | Contribution to Octuple Scull |
| £900.00 | Think Maths Workshops |
| £5,871.72 | Musical Productions |
| £1,030.00 | Write Inspired Workshop |
| £255.00 | E-safety talks |
| £1,728.00 | Chinese and African Dance Workshops |
| £1,980.00 | Youth Mental Health First Aid Course |
| £960.00 | Advanced Composites |
| £780.00 | Junior School House Reward Scheme |
| £1,500.00 | PHS Leavers Ball 2023 |
| £2,000.00 | Junior School Dance Production |
| £1,353.06 | Gymnastics Mat |
| £2,000.00 | Maths Talk |
| £1,000 | LearningEnrichment Books |
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| £1,578.00 | Table Football Tables |
|---|---|
| £599.80 | Archive Scanner |
| £300.00 | Lego Therapy and Sensory Circuits |
| £2,459.98 | PE Gazebos |
The bid split this year was £14,561 for the Junior School and £23,442 for the Senior School. £1,953 benefitted both.
Engagement Sessions
Our scheduled Engagement Sessions both in the Junior and Senior Schools took place in person this year. All year group Reps met with the relevant Senior Leadership Teams alongside a member of the FOPHS standing committee and these sessions were constructive, valuable and interesting for the parents and staff alike. Our thanks to the Reps for giving up their time and providing a much-valued channel of communication between their year group parents and Putney High School.
The Year 6 Legacy Fund
When year groups complete their Junior School years, they sometimes have monies left in their year group accounts at the end of Year 6. The 2020 Leavers asked if they could donate theirs towards a Legacy Gift for the Junior School, to be spent on a durable physical legacy item that would predominantly benefit Junior School pupils. It is not to be used for a singular experience such as a workshop.
The FOPHS treasurer has agreed to ring-fence this money in the FOPHS account and hold it there until needed. The Junior School SLT can then request it when desired and use it to fund or contribute towards a legacy item of their choosing. We discussed at the last committee meeting that perhaps it would be used for equipment needed for the Outdoor Classroom. However the allocation will be at the discretion of the Junior School SLT.
There will of course be no expectation or pressure for every Year 6 year group to add to this fund. Any residual funds or donations will of course be welcomed by the Junior School in future years. So far the 2020 Leavers have contributed £2,061.17 and the 2022 Leavers, £253.93.
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The Standing Committee
The FOPHS Committee meetings took place in November, January and May via Zoom.
I would like to thank this year’s Standing Committee, year group reps and event organisers for all their help and for all that they have done and continue to do for FOPHS. It really is a team effort.
Monica Conway, our treasurer, will be standing down in January 2024 after being promoted into a more global role at work. She will be leaving us in January 2024 and FOPHS is looking for a new treasurer to start as soon as possible.
I am standing down after four happy and busy years as Chair. I can honestly say that it has been an honour and a privilege to be part of the FOPHS family and I will of course continue to support all things FOPHS as a Year 8 parent and in the years to follow. As I always say, it shouldn’t just be our daughters who make friends during their years at Putney High School and through the FOPHS Committee and many events I have been lucky to make many. I would encourage any of you who have the time and an inkling of an inclination to lend a hand to FOPHS when you can. It is a rewarding way to contribute to this wonderful school and the work that FOPHS does, benefits all the pupils.
I am delighted that Becky Glazier-Philip, the current Junior Deputy Chair has agreed to replace me as Chair going forward and know that she will do a brilliant job for FOPHS. She has been a valuable member of the Standing Committee this year, and also brings PTA experience from elsewhere.
I am also thrilled that Ruth Niven Hirst has agreed to join the Standing Committee as one of the Deputy Chairs for the Junior School. As an experienced rep and the mastermind of last year’s Grotto at the Christmas Fair she knows exactly what to expect.
Once the voting has been completed, the FOPHS Standing Committee line-up for 2023-24 is as follows:
Becky Glazier-Philip – Chair Vanessa Robert – Secretary Helen Perrott – Deputy Chair Junior
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Ruth Niven Hirst – Deputy Chair Junior Natasha Wada – Deputy Chair Senior Angelina Harris – Deputy Chair Senior Monica Conway – Treasurer (until January 2024)
Financial Summary
Total receipts for the financial year ending 31st August 2023 equal £61,336. The total costs of generating funds were £18,535 generating a net profit of £42,801.
Of the £61,336 raised, £2,847 was made up of voluntary receipts including £1,885 via Just Giving for the 40th anniversary walk, plus a further £105 in bank interest received. A further £1245 was raised via product sales of Putney teddies, hair ties and Christmas cards.
FOPHS granted the school bids totalling £39,955 during the year to support a range of school projects. In addition, the £50,000 donation from the Nick Maughan Foundation was approved by the committee to be used for the refurbishment of the Learning Enrichment Area in the Homefield Building in the Senior School.
The excess of receipts over payments for the year is equal to £6,048 leaving cash at bank as at 31st August 2023 of £128,551.65
Once pledges yet to be paid to the school are accounted for, the remaining balance left for future distribution is £58,021.20
Jane Day Chair
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