MINUTES OF THE FRIENDS OF UPTON NOBLE PTA MEETING

WEDNESDAY 7^TH OCTOBER 2009

1.          Present

Mr Tyrrell, Mrs Duncan-Webster, Mrs Greaves, Mrs Lusty, Mrs White, Mrs George, Mrs Ogilvy, Mrs Frost, Mrs Vincent, Mr Perkins, Mr Mackenzie, Mrs Barlow, Mrs Straker.

2.          Apologies for Absence

Mrs Olsson, Mrs Edgell, Mrs Spooner, Mrs Bevan, & Mr Hawksley sent apologies for their absence.

3.          Appointments

Louise Olsson was reappointed as the Treasurer (proposed by Clive Mackenzie, and seconded by Ross Perkins).

Mary Straker was appointed as the Secretary (proposed by Liza Greaves, and seconded by Linda Duncan-Webster).

Liza Greaves was appointed as the Chairman (proposed by Becky White, and seconded by Kate Lusty)

Thanks was given to Mrs Duncan-Webster for her hard work as the Chairman until now.

4.       Class Representatives

It was agreed that it would be very helpful for each class and the Treehouse to have at least one Class Representative who could help to spread the word of the PTA, and rally support for the various events that take place. Representatives so far are:

Acorn - Mary Straker, Adela Crichton

Elm – Hannah Frost, Becky White, Kate Lusty, Rachel Vincent

Willow – Linda Duncan-Webster, Ross Perkins

Ash – Victoria Ogilvy, Lucinda Edgell, Sally George

Beech – Clive Mackenzie

Maple – Clive Mackenzie

Treehouse - TBA

5.       New Name

It was agreed that the new name for the PTA would be Friends of Upton Noble( FUN) PTA.

6.          Forthcoming Dates

Christmas Fair – It was agreed that this would take place on Friday 27^th November.

Meet the Parents – It was agreed that an evening for parents to meet each other and members of staff, and to hear more about FUN/PTA would take place on Tuesday 10^th November.  Parents could bring children if they wish, funds will be taken out of the PTA to provide wine and nibbles.  Ross Perkins and Linda Duncan-Webster will organise this evening.  It was agreed that for smaller events, one group of class representatives would be responsible for organising it.

7.          School Wish List

Mrs Greaves asked Mr Tyrrell what would be top of the school’s wish list for the PTA to achieve funds for. 

A – The ICT suite, which has been provided by FUN/PTA funds so far, will require maintaining, and updating of computers in the near future.  Mr Tyrrell said that it was a consideration as to whether the FUN/PTA would continue to be responsible for this, or whether school funds would have to be involved.

B – Year 6 Residential trip which is a week away can be very expensive for parents to afford, and although school funds do subsidise this trip, Mr Tyrrell said that they were hoping that a Bursary system could be set up, whereby parents could apply according to set criteria, if they needed help with funding their child’s trip.  Mr Tyrrell said he hoped that FUN/PTA funds could supply this bursary.

8.          Telephone Tree

It was suggested by Mrs Ogilvy that we should set up a Telephone tree, whereby parents gave their phone numbers voluntarily, and it would be a useful means of communicating news about forthcoming FUN/PTA events, information about school closures in the event of bad weather, or simply as a means of organising social events outside of school.  Issues of data protection were discussed, and it was agreed that Mrs Straker would produce a letter regarding this for parents to respond to, on an opt-in basis, which would be distributed in school bags.

9.       Next Meeting

The next meeting was set for Wednesday 21^st October at 7pm in the School Hall to discuss organisation of the Christmas Fair.