## **2** ~~**9**~~ **th September 2025** ## **Poyntzpass Primary School PTA AGM - Chairperson Report** Good Evening Everyone! Let me start by giving you all a very warm welcome to our PTA Annual General Meeting. I would particularly like to welcome any new members joining us this evening, we are delighted to have you here as part of the PTA team and look forward to getting to know you and your families. New members are essential to the life blood and longevity of the PTA and always bring new ideas and inspiration. So, thank you for coming along! A huge thank you to all returning PTA members for this new school year. There is lots to do as always so your continued support and commitment is really appreciated. A strong team of like-minded people is what makes this PTA so successful in supporting the school. So, let me take a minute or two to recap on some of those successes from the school year 2024-25. After our previous AGM on 3[rd] October 2024, we hit the ground running with organising the double event of a Christmas Craft Fair & Illuminated Tractor Run on 16[th] November. My goodness it was truly a “all hands to the pump” task and you did not disappoint! This was the first time we had ran both events together on the same evening and was a true test of our teamwork, commitment and dedication to the cause. Fundraising on this level was not for the faint-hearted, and that we are not! You deserve so much praise for the effort you put into sourcing produce, setting up equipment, serving customers, registering participants and general logistics of the evening. It was a huge success and a night to remember for the whole community. I will never forget the sight of tractor after tractor coming into Poyntzpass all lit up with fairy lights! It was a sight to behold! £7220 was raised from that one evening! An outstanding achievement for us all! Quickly, we then had to turn our attention to the School Nativity of December 2024. As Jacqueline is 100% committed to Christmas Magic, of course it was held in the Ferris Shed again. Another event for us to really come together as a team and support teaching staff with all their requirements. A signature event on the school calendar with teachers and PTA members working tirelessly to ensure it was a successful and memorable show. It really was! Just to list a few other projects or items the PTA supported during 2024-25. We: - Donated £3000 to Air Ambulance NI - Purchased P7 Leavers Hoodies - 156 Christmas Selection boxes distributed during Santa’s school visit. - Paid a portion of the tickets for children’s visit to Newry Panto. - Paid £2000 towards the internal painting of the school - Supported staff to achieve Archery qualifications by paying training fees of £470.00 - Donated £100 to match school donation for B Positive Charity Walk Other fundraisers carried out through the year: - Science Week – Pop-Up Shop – raised £223.45 - Mini Tractor Run – raised £577.24 - Sports Day Refreshments – raised £390.00 - - Summer Staycation Raffle – raised £1795 An amazing amount of money raised in total and worth mentioning that our PTA bank account balance did at one point in the year read at over £10,000!! Sharon will forever have that screenshot in her phone as a lasting memory of our success and a first for this PTA! Most PTA’s would celebrate to have even a quarter of that amount available to them so I want like to reiterate how brilliant that moment was for us as a PTA and for the school. That level of fundraising gives the staff and management of this school options and freedom to extend and enhance learning experiences of all children who pass through their doors. It is rare for any school in the country to have funds like this at its finger tips, to be able to say yes to ideas and projects and make them happen. On that note, I would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to Mrs McAlister, teachers and non-teaching staff of Poyntzpass P.S. for all your hard work and commitment to your roles. We as parents and guardians are immensely proud to represent this school to the wider community and so grateful to know our children are receiving a fulfilling, fun and enriched primary school education. Given that teaching staff are currently, like many others, involved in industry strike action, it does not go un-noticed how much you all do for our children and that extra mile you push for. Thank you so much for all that you do. I would also like to thank PTA members who are standing down from position holder roles. You have made significant difference in your time in those roles and we thank you for all your time and effort over the last number of years. Finally, I want to say a personal thank you to you all as I step down from the Chairperson role. After 4 years as Chair and a year previous to that as Vice-Chair I have gotten to know so many of you and come to regard you as good friends. It has been a true privilege to help and support this PTA in any way I can. Your support to me has been invaluable and this PTA has been one of my passions during the time my children have been here. I found a bit of Claire again in this role, not just mummy or wife but myself as a person who can do all these things – speak in public, chair meetings, help bring ideas to life, see a community come together, ask for support for events and to be surprised over and over again when that support comes in droves. The craic, the comradery, the sense of achievement and friendship has brought me so much joy! I am so proud of this team and what it achieves. After all we are some team for one team! I wish our new Chairperson and all position holders every success as they look ahead to this new school year and promise that for the remaining time the Achesons are at Poyntzpass P.S we are still here, with our sleeves rolled up ready to help. _Thank you._ # **Claire Acheson**