2023-08-31-annual-report - Cavehill Parent Teacher Association

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Trustees’ Annual Report March 2024 for Cavehill Primary School

Charity Number: 106762

Cavehill Primary School Upper Castle Park Belfast BT15 5FG

This report relates to the Financial Year 1[st] September 2022 – 31[st] August 2023.

The main purpose of the charity is to advance the education of the pupils of Cavehill Primary School by:

i. Encouraging co-operation between teachers and parents for the benefit of the children attending the school
ii. Fostering an interest in education.
iii. Providing social activities for the entire school community.
iv. Assisting in raising money for the school funds.

The Trustees corresponded electronically during March 2024 to review the work of the PTA during the 2022-23 academic year.

We were delighted to return to a more normal mode of operation during the 2022-23 season following the disruption that resulted from several years due to COVID. The PTA committee and office bearers deserve much credit for the way in which they managed to motivate and enthuse volunteers.

They continued to raise funds through various initiatives; support the work of the school through money received from various grants awarded to the PTA; and ensured that there was a strong sense of community created throughout the school through various non-profit events for parents and pupils.

The period of September 2022 – June 2023 resulted in the PTA creatively designing events and activities that ensured their contribution to the life of the school community remained significant and supportive.

The AGM for Cavehill Primary School’s Parent Teacher Association took place on 11[th] September 2023 at 7pm. It was held in the school hall and was well-attended by a mixture of 19 parents and staff of the school. Parents were elected to a number of posts in line with our constitution (see appendix 3).

An agenda, annual report, grant report and budget report was presented to those in attendance (Minutes of the AGM enclosed – see Appendix 1). The reports were communicated by those existing members who hold executive roles and provided a comprehensive overview of what has been achieved over the last year.

The Chair reported on how the past year had progressed in her Chair’s Report (see appendix 2). The meeting discussed upcoming events and planned fundraising activities for this year were highlighted and the support needed in terms of adult assistance at events communicated.

The PTA met periodically throughout the year to plan and evaluate their events. Many events were arranged throughout this period and are detailed below in the Chair’s AGM report.

The PTA has had regard to the public benefit requirement statutory guidance and endeavoured to be of help to the wider school community as far as possible through their events and overall contribution to society through its contacts with the children, parents and relatives. The PTA has been able to support the education of the pupils through creating a sense of belonging to the school community amongst both parents and pupils; providing resources for the pupils; developing the work of the garden etc. The pupils, staff and parents have benefitted as a direct result of the various initiatives undertaken, some examples include: the P1 welcome nights, cake sales, Christmas events, P7 Leavers’ hoodies and Pancake Breakfast, the gardening programme for families etc.

The PTA’s financial accounts are included in a separate, detailed financial monitoring report, they were audited and reflect the following:

1 Sept 22 -31Aug 23

1 Sept 22 -31Aug 23
Available funds at 1 Sept 22	£8,050.52
Income	£35,065.94
Expenditure	£27,381.44
Balance at 31 Aug 23:	£ 15,735.02

There were no PTA debts, nor were there any funds that were materially in deficit at the end of the year.

Charity Trustees:

Mr S Orr (Cavehill Primary School Principal)

Ms M Hoyt (Chair)

Dr A Scott

The constitution of the PTA states the details of the charity’s purposes, how it is governed and membership details and was formally adopted on 12[th] December 2017 (see appendix 3).

This is a true and accurate report to the best of our knowledge.

Signed: ____ Date: _ Signed: Date: Signed: ____ Date: _

Appendix 1

Cavehill Primary School PTA AGM

11.09.2023

Meeting Minutes Attendance

Actions

Present : J. Wharry (Chair), K. Murphy (Secretary), L. McCart (Treasurer), M. Hoyt, J. Harris, A. Pugsley, L. Adair, J. Casey, A. Moore, K. MacManus, Sc.Orr, D. Irvine, G. Clarke, N. Pauley, S. McIntosh, A. Hayes, N. Gates, Teachers - S. Orr, M. Magee

Apologies : P. Connelly

Welcome

Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a brief overview of the aims and scope of the PTA for newcomers.

Chairs Report

Chair invited Treasurer and sub-committee leads to present reports on PTA activities over the past year. Finance – Laura McCart Fundraising – Meghan Hoyt Gardening – Aisling Pugsley Grant – Peter Connolly (Jill provided in Peter’s absence) Please see attached report for details.

Election of Office Bearers and Committee

Secretary stated that there were no proposed changes to the constitution and the committee approved the minutes of the last AGM. Officer bearers’ roles offered. No-one nominated. Current officers agreed to continue in post for another year, with elections at next year’s AGM. Chair, Jill Wharry (3 years in post) Secretary, Kylee Murphy (3 years in post) Treasurer, Laura McCart (1 year in post)

Committee members remaining in post:

Meghan Hoyt, Aisling Pugsley, Jennifer Casey, Alison Moore, Laura Adair, Jo Harris, Peter Connolly

Committee members stepping down:

Winston Irvine, Stephanie McCaig, Gearoidin Taggart and Emily Frances

New Committee members elected:

Kristina MacManus – Proposed JW/ Seconded KM Sian – Proposed JW/Seconded KM Aimee Hayes – Proposed JW/Seconded LMc Teacher Reps: Mr. Orr, Mr. Magee and Mrs. Nicholl All sub team leads remaining in post.

AOB

SO – Trustees report has been submitted. Noted particular thanks for the work on the counselling grant. It is very welcome. Thank you to the PTA for all their work in fundraising and their efforts to create a vibrant school community. It is noted and appreciated.

JW – Noted particular thanks to Geoff Dickson who came on board during the year to lead the counseling grant.

JW – need to have future conversation about recruiting year reps for the PTA and ensuring that every year group has a contact point. As well as highlighting the important of continuity planning.

Upcoming events

P1 Welcome nights – need leads and volunteers

Garden Opening – need a date: Friday afternoon 29th agreed provisionally.

• • Stalls: Cavehill Conservation/ Ulster Wildlife/ Workshop/Wee critters and Refreshments?

• Speaker - Deputy Mayor?
• Radio compare – via Mr Magee contact?
• Time: 2-4pm

*Aisling to check Ts & Cs of grant and deadline for spend Fundraising Goal

Upcoming large fundraising goal. Need to have conversation about targeted fundraising campaigns and possibly Crowdfunder page to focus attention on this goal.

Autumn Fundraising Idea

Reused Halloween costume resale

Appendix 2 Cavehill Parent Teacher Association

Annual Chairs Report 2022-23

The following report provides an overview of the Cavehill Primary School PTA and its activities in 2022-23 academic year.

Committee Membership

The following officials have been in post for the past school year, with Jill Wharry as Chair, Kylee Murphy as Secretary and Laura McCart as Treasurer. The remainder of the Committee during the year was composed of:

Parent representatives : Meghan Hoyt, Jennifer Casey, Peter Connolly, Alison Moore, Aisling Pugsley, Laura Adair, Joanne Harris, Winston Irvine, Stephanie McCaig, Emily Frances and Gearoidin Taggart

Teacher representatives : Mr. Orr, Ms. McClelland, Ms. Hamilton

Sub-committees were introduced a few years ago to streamline main PTA meetings but also to ensure each area had sufficient time dedicated to it.

Team leaders for the 2022-23 were as follows: Fundraising Team Lead: Meghan Hoyt Gardening Team Lead : Aisling Pugsley Grant Team Lead: Peter Connolly

Unfortunately, four members of the Committee, Winston Irvine, Stephanie McCaig, Emily Frances and Geraldine Taggart are unable to continue to commit to the Committee and left in August 2023. We thank them for their contributions during their time on the Committee.

Key Activities and Events

Broadly speaking as per our Constitution, the aims of the PTA are threefold:

• foster links between parents and teachers;
• fundraise on behalf of the school; and
• contribute to creating a community atmosphere within the school.

To that end, here is what we achieved during the year:

FUNDRAISERS

Megan Hoyt oversaw the co-ordination of fundraising events as follows:

GBBO Bake Box Loosely tied to the end of the Great British Bake Off, the PTA ran bake-box sale at the end of November. Boxes were prepared fresh by the PTA and collected at the school.

Movie Night The PTA went back to running a Movie Night in the evenings as oppose to the matinees as we had no teacher volunteers available to help. In order to reduce the number of parent volunteers required, we ran the event in the Hall over three nights. P1/2, P3/4 and P 5-7. Snacks were distributed to the children during the movie. These were relatively well attended, but restless children and noise in the Hall made it a challenging event.

Christmas Events For the 2022 Christmas season the PTA organised bespoke Christmas cards designed by the kids as normal which saw high sales again this year. Always one of our top earners. We also ran an online Christmas Raffle with larger prize bundles rather than multiple smaller ones. We seemed to bounce back to preCOVID sales raising over £1k mark.

Treat Fridays

Themed treats sold afterschool at 2pm and 3pm pick up in the run up to a holiday or celebration of some kind. Usually sold for £1. This year we sold at Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, Easter and not forgetting Ice Lolly Fridays!

These are popular with the children but we might want to consider how many we run over the year to avoid treat fatigue. Note other than after school treats we did not run any Valentines or Easter activities this academic year.

School Disco

This year saw the successful revival of the School Disco. We ran four discos over two evenings, separating the children into age categories (P1/2; P3/4; P5/6 and P7). Tickets cost £5 and the discos ran for 1 hour (P1/2 for 45 min).

Extra items were sourced for additional fun, such as a character and glitter tattoos for the younger ages and a photobooth and Tuck shop (cost extra) for the older groups. The discos were very well attended and many parents volunteered to help. A roaring success!

COMMUNITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES

P1 Welcome Night

The PTA ran two welcome evenings, one for each P1 class. Children and parents were invited back to the school in the evening for an informal meet up. P1 teachers were present.

Santa’s Grotto and Petting Pen

The PTA organised a Christmas themed petting pen during school hours which saw the children visit real life reindeers in class groups, complete a festive scavenger hunt and visit Santa for a singalong with all children receiving a small sweetie gift at the end.

Wreath Making

Our very first attempt at running a wreath making workshop saw us over-subscribed, with 20 lovely ladies joining us in the hall to make their very own Christmas Wreaths. With thanks to Alexandra Florist for running the class, this social event was not a fundraiser, just an opportunity for parents, staff and other family members to spend time together ahead of the busy holiday period.

PTA Tea & Coffee

PTA supported the school at various event such as nativities, sports day, P1 open days and inductions. Parents are asked for donations rather than setting a price and we managed to receive £200 in donations. We are always appreciative of people’s generosity. Facebook Giveaways

The PTA felt it important to not only focus on fundraisers but to give back to the parents who continually support us, so we did a free prize giveaway on Mother’s Day. We hope the winner enjoyed their hamper.

P7 Leavers

The PTA continued to organise and partially fund Leavers Hoodies for the P7s as well assist in the organisation of a Leavers event where PTA and volunteers supplied a pancake breakfast.

End of term treats

Established in June 2021 the PTA continued to provide all classes with party refreshments in October 2022, December 2022, April 2023 and June 2023 and plan to continue to do so, as we know the teachers appreciate it being centrally co-ordinated and it means all children get the same snacks.

School Garden

Oversight of the gardening programme is led by Aisling Pugsley. This year the gardening team were very focused on creating a wildlife sensory garden in the caretaker’s old overgrown garden. Many volunteer hours were given up by a small, committed group.

The garden project was funded by AXA parks community fund. The application was completed by Jill Wharry and Aisling Pugsley. Peter Connolly and Jo Harris completed the core team for this project. We had several families drop in to help over the year as well as four past pupils who were completing their Duke of Edinburgh award (bronze). The Eco Club created mini habitants for frogs and insects. Planting choice was influenced by the RHS Plants for Pollinators and the All Ireland pollinator plan. It is hoped that the new garden will be used for social and emotional well-being, access to outdoors in all weather, topic work, and literacy and numeracy work.

Volunteers maintained the vegetable garden. Over the growing season, tomatoes, aubergine, peas, and beans were grown. Some of the produce was shared with volunteers and families who visit the garden. A special thanks to Geraldine, Nicola and Joan who contributed to the maintenance of the garden throughout the year.

Targets for next academic year –

Improve the communication between the garden team and the wider school community.
Continue to look for funding for resources and a paid gardener.
Encourage all classes to access the garden - e.g. movement breaks, link to topics, wellbeing and good mental health, social and emotional wellbeing.
Achieve RHS campaign for school gardening Level 3 – this will take whole school involvement.

Communications

Newsletter

We unfortunately did not produce a newsletter in 2022-23. We will consider if this is something worthwhile for next year or if our other communication channels suffice. Social Media and Apps

We keep our Facebook page updated on a very regular basis but are aware not all parents are on social media so issue notices on the school’s Tuesday Note on a weekly basis and any additional flyers/promotion on the school app.

Website The PTA created a website in September 2020 in the hope it would allow us to be more creative with our content and highlight past successes. However unfortunately due to resources the website was not updated during 2022-23 and may need to be reconsidered.

Finance

The top fundraisers for 2022-23 were:

Disco Night £1,256.12
Christmas Raffle £1,189.41
Friday Treats £1,152.55
Christmas Cards £1,030.84
Movie Night £524.52
Bake Sale £309.41

Expenditure during the year was as follows:

Grant Spend £20,900.10 ( RHS, LHLH, POWER & AXA)
• End of Term Treats £940.76
• P7 Leavers Hoodies £334.20
• School Sundry items £247.14
Subscriptions £230.00 (Parentkind & Bryson Energy)

Financial position as at 31.08.23: Account balance £15,665.66 Restricted Funds (grants) £6,328.31 Cheques pending £0.00 PayPal Balance £0.00 Petty Cash £69.36 Total Available Unrestricted Funds £9,406.71

Independent Review – This was completed for the 2021-22 year by Amanda Millard and was submitted to the charities commission as requested. Amanda will be reviewing the 2022-23 accounts once finalised and will produce a similar report as required.

We are in the process of changing banks from AIB to Co-operative to allow online account access and payments.

Funds Allocated

We primarily concentrated our efforts on doing little and often in 2022-23 to keep up our presence and raised over £5,000. We used some of these funds to purchase party food for all classes, part fund P7 Hoodies, maintain the school garden, run the P1 welcome night and pay for annual membership subscriptions. The PTA did not have any large purchases in 2022-23 with the view to build up monies to fund a larger project in the future.

Grant Funding

The grants team have been working on a number of grants this period and being successful in the following:

NIE Grant (Special equipment for advancement of education) - £1,000

Thanks to this grant the school was able to purchase new headsets and iPads for the computer suite.

AXA Parks – Wildlife Wonderland project -£17,700

This grant was awarded for a new functional, natural space which will improve an overgrown wasteland area of the school grounds to form a sensory wildlife garden. It is due for completion by end of September 2023.

Victoria Holmes Trust – School Counselling service - £4,000

This grant was awarded on this period to provide 20 days of counselling for children at the school Although successful in several grants, the main focus of the grants team was the AXA parks grant.

Joanne Harris, Aisling Pugsley, Jill Wharry and Peter Connolly from the Committee have spent many hours of personal time both organising and working to create a perfect garden and outside school space for all the Cavehill School community.

Charity Commission

Cavehill Primary School PTA is a NI Registered Charity (NIC106762) since 18/12/17. Trustees of the PTA are Stephen Orr, Andrew Scott (Chairperson) and Meghan Hoyt (Secretary).

NICVA Update

We are registered with the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA). Opportunities for training support include Trustee role sessions and grant application advice. Many of the sessions will benefit committee members in their own personal and professional capacity also. We have not utilised NICVA in the last Academic year as planned, many of the training and information sessions are during working hours however a fresh look at what is available is planned by the Grants Team.

Thank you

As Chair of the PTA, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff, parents and other family members who have volunteered their time during the past 12 months. Whether it’s helping in the garden, volunteering at an event or donating to our fundraisers any time given or financial support enables the PTA to function and is of value.

A special thank you goes to my fellow Committee members, both parents and teacher reps alike, without your commitment the PTA would not exist. I am grateful for your support as without it we would not be able to operate.

Jill Wharry

September 2023

Appendix 3 Cavehill Primary School

Parent Teacher Association

Constitution

1. Name

A. The name of the group shall be 'Cavehill Parent Teacher Association' (and in this document it is called 'the Association')

2. Administration

A. The Association and its property shall be administered and managed in accordance with this constitution by the members of the Management Committee in an entirely non for profit and voluntary way.
B. The Association shall be guided by the needs of the Principal and staff in all that it does. All events organised and decisions taken must be in keeping with the ethos of the school; to this end, the Principal will hold the final veto.

3. Objectives

A. The objects of the Association are to advance the education of the pupils of Cavehill Primary School {hereinafter called 'the school'} by:
A. Encouraging co-operation between teachers and parents for the benefit
of the children attending the school. ii. Fostering an interest in education.
iii. Providing social activities for the entire school community. iv. Assisting in raising money for the school funds.

4. Powers

The Association:

A. Cannot become involved with the wider management of the school. Such issues are the remit of the Board of Governors.
B. May provide, assist in providing or secure the provision of social services and educational facilities for the benefit of the general public.
C. May promote and carry out, or assist in promoting and carrying out research, surveys and investigations and publish useful results which are related to the objectives of the Association.
May obtain, collect and receive money by way of grants and donations providing that the Association shall not undertake any permanent trading activities and shall conform to any relevant requirements of the law relating to non for profit voluntary organisations.
E. May train members with the appropriate skills to carry out the objectives of the Association.
F. May further such other charitable purposes as the committee of the Association may from time to time decide, including the delivery of services for the benefit of the wider community and in partnering with other groups to enhance and broaden provision

5. Membership

A. Membership is open to anyone regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs.
B. All present and future members will receive fair and equal treatment.
C. Membership will consist of parents of each child currently attending the school, the Principal, the teaching and ancillary staff shall have automatic membership, the right to vote and participate fully in all the activities of the association.

6. Management Committee

A. The Committee shall meet not less than 4 times a year and shall be represented and governed by a committee consisting of not less than 4 elected members.
B. If a vacancy occurs in the course of a year, the committee will have the power to co-opt another member until the next Annual General Meeting.
c. Elected members will serve for a period of 2 years (after which they will, along with all other parents, be available for re-election) or until they no longer have any children attending the school, whichever is shorter.
D. Parents will be informed during the month of September, of the number of committee vacancies to be filled; each parent/ guardian will automatically be eligible for election unless they specifically request that their name be withdrawn. Members shall then be elected by postal ballot.
E. Two parents from the same family cannot serve on the committee simultaneously
F. The officers of the Association shall be Chair; Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, elected annually by the committee at the Annual General Meeting.
G. A quorum for a meeting of the committee shall be 3
H. The secretary shall circulate the minutes of each meeting to the committee in advance of the next
I. The Annual General Meeting shall be held in the first term of each school year
J. The Association may appoint and may terminate the appointment of not less than 3

trustees.

7. Child Protection

A. We at Cavehill PTA are committed to good practice which protects children and vulnerable persons from harm. Volunteers accept and recognise their responsibility to provide an environment which promotes the safety of the child at all times.

8. Finance

A. An account in the name of Cavehill Parent Teacher Association shall be opened and all monies lodged therein. Two signatures will be necessary for any withdraw, namely Secretary, Principal or Treasurer.
B. All monies raised shall be applied to further the objectives of the Association and for no other purpose provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the payment of legitimate out-of-pocket expenses of members of the Association.
C. The Treasurer will keep accounts of the finances of the Association and a brief financial report of update will be presented at each committee meeting.
D. A written report on the activities of the Association, including finances, will be submitted, on a termly basis, to the board of Governors.
E. Two auditors (not committee members) will be appointed by the Principal, each year to audit the accounts of the Association, the report being presented to the committee
F. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all the monies and will submit, at the Annual General Meeting, an audited and detailed statement of account, showing how the money was raised and what specific projects it went to fund. The Treasurer will ensure that all documentary evidence necessary for the auditors to carry out their function is retained.
G. The financial year of the Association shall run from September 1[st ] to August 3pt
H. In the interests of personal safety and integrity it shall be the responsibility of the committee to ensure that for each fund raising activity appropriate controls are put in place, so that no individual can be held solely responsible to account for funds raised.

9. Alterations to the Constitution

A. No amendment to this Constitution can take place except at the Annual General Meeting, and then only by two thirds majority of those voting. Any person proposing an amendment to the Constitution shall give at least 4 weeks' notice in writing to the Secretary, signed by not fewer than 10 members.
B. No change to this constitution can be made that would make the organisation no longer a charity.
C. An extraordinary General Meeting shall be called by the Secretary at the request of not fewer than 30 members, or a quorum of the committee. Notice of such meeting will be issued within 14 days of the request.

10. Dissolution

A. If the Committee by a simple majority decide at any time that on the grounds of expense or otherwise it is necessary or advisable to dissolve the Association they shall call a meeting of all members of the Association who have the power to vote of which meeting not less than 21 days notice (stating the terms of the Resolution to be proposed thereat) shall be given.
B. If such decisions shall be confirmed by a simple majority of those present and voting at such meeting the Committee shall have power to dispose of any assets held by or in the name of the Association.
C. Any assets remaining after the satisfaction of any proper debts and liabilities shall be given or transferred to the school or other such charitable institution or institutions having objects similar to the objects of the Association as the Committee may decide. All charitable assets must only be used for charitable purposes.

11. Indemnity and Insurance

A. The Association must insure to their full value against any foreseeable risk in respect of public liability, and any other insurance policies as required to protect the Association.
B. The Association must insure to their full value against any foreseeable risk all the property of the Association (except those buildings that are required to be insured by a tenant). The Association must also insure suitably in respect of public liability and employer's liability and take out other insurance policies to protect the Association when required.
C. The Association may purchase indemnity insurance for the Management Committee members against any liability that by virtue of any rule of law would otherwise attach to a Management Committee Member or other officer in respect of any negligence, default breach of duty or breach of trust of which he or she may be guilty in relation to the Association but excluding:
i) fines; ii) costs of unsuccessfully defending criminal prosecutions for offences arising out of the fraud, dishonesty or willful or reckless misconduct of the Management Committee Members or other officer;

Ill) liabilities to the Association that result from conduct that the Management Committee Members or other officer knew or must be assumed to have known was not in the best interests of the Association or about which the person concerned did not care whether it was in the best interests of the Association or not.

This Constitution was formerly adopted on 12[th] Dec 2017