– Parents of Sacred Heart Primary School Trustees Report for year ended 31 August 2023
Parents of Sacred Heart (POSH) represents parents and friends of Sacred Heart Primary School, Dundrum. We work with the school to raise funds to support our school and hold events that build community around the school.
The purpose of POSH is to advance the education of pupils in the school, in particular by:
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Developing effective relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the school.
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Engaging in activities or provide facilities or equipment which support the school and advance the education of the pupils.
We, the trustees, are pleased to present this annual report together with our receipts and payments accounts for the year ended 31[st] August 2023.
Through our fundraising social events during the year, and the generosity of those who donate monthly by standing order as part of our Gift Aid scheme, we have yet again been able to support the school generously. The fundraising efforts meant that we were not only able to provide much needed play and ICT equipment, but also contribute to things like school trips and sports activities. The monies raised help to keep the cost of trips and events to a minimum, for our school families.
Total Income raised during 2022-23, including grants, was £10,611. This figure includes £2,354 from our successful Gift Aid scheme, a further £648 received through the annual gift aid claim to HMRC, fundraising of £2,922 and the charity donations through Amazon Smile, totalling £241.
Total expenditure was £10,850, comprising of expenses (£2,400) and donations to the school (£8,450). This resulted in a small deficit of £239. The cash reserve on 31 August 2023, including this deficit, is still at a healthy amount of £5,688. Successful fundraising in previous years has allowed POSH to build up its cash reserve and this is testament to the continuous efforts and generosity from the school community. From the financial statement you can see the amount received in grants was lower in the 2022-23 financial year compared to 2021-22. This was mostly due to financial constraints on councils and government funding and the inability to offer grants out to community projects.
Our main successful fundraisers for the year were:
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Tug Of War held in October 2022, raising an amazing £1,634.73 for school funds. This was a fantastic amount raised and special thanks to all involved in getting this arranged and to Dundrum GAC for the use of the pitch. This is always a wellsupported school community event.
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The annual Christmas Raffle, which was an amazing success with £2,089 raised for school funds. Big thanks to the POSH Committee for organising the draw and those who sourced the amazing prizes. Thanks to the local business for donating prizes and also to the people who contributed towards the large drinks hamper!
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Coffee Morning held in March 2023, raising £660.25. This was another successful event and very well supported by our school families and friends. The school choir sang beautifully at mass and then it was great to see families and people from the community coming over to support the coffee morning and making it a real social event. As always, special thanks goes to Fr Fleck for letting us use the Church Parish Centre for these events.
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Pub Quiz in May 2023, raising £627. This is a very enjoyable annual event that was again really well supported. Thanks to the Dundrum Inn for use of their facilities and also to our Quizmaster Paul Madden and committee members, Aisling, Susan and Tanya for organising the event. Special thanks to everyone who donated and sourced prizes for the event.
Notable school expenditure supported by Grants and POSH donations this year included:
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Purchase of 6 iPads for the school (Grant received from DAERA)
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Contribution towards Actisport sports programme (Grant received from NMDDC)
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Financial contributions towards school trips and events.
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Purchase of P7 Leaver Jumpers
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School Pollinator Garden Grant Scheme which enabled the school to create its first ‘Secret Garden’ on the premises which is a lovely addition to the school.
Now that we are well into the new school year, we look forward to getting our fundraising efforts underway in order to continue supporting our school. We will aim to hold our annual events such as Christmas Raffle, Pub Quiz and Coffee Morning, however, we look forward to coming up with some new ideas.
Our school is also continuing to celebrate its 50[th] year on the current premises so we will fully support any events taking place during this special year.
POSH would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for coming here tonight to sign off on another successful year and the beginning of a new one. Sacred Heart has had to rely even more on our fundraising efforts this year, during tough financial times, so POSH would like to pass on a huge thanks to all the parents, grandparents, carers, friends, and wider Dundrum community for their continued support for our school. It is greatly appreciated.
Shauna McMullan
Chairperson
Signed: Date: