September 2022 #2
AGM and planned events
Hello,
By now you should have received your Christmas card design and order form. If you haven't, then please speak to your class teacher. Information on how to order your design is below. Orders and designs must be in by 14th October.
***HALLOWEEN TRAIL*** Commitee member Tilly, will run a halloween trail at the first school from 3:30 on October 21st. Follow the pumpkin clues hidden around the playground to claim your treat! WE NEED HELP to make up the treats in little cauldrons the week before the event, and to take the money /give out the treats at the end of the trail. Donations of wrapped sweets (not lollies) gratefully received. Please email us if you can help. It will be £1 to take part.
***AGM*** On 1st November at 6pm we will hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) over zoom. The meeting usually lasts about 15 minutes - enough time to give an update on the charity's performance over the last year. We'll also hold elections, as Sam Crowe, current chair, and Siobhan, current secretary, will step down. Nominations are now open for these posts. More detail below.
***FUNDRAISING TARGET*** assuming we have a new chair, we have agreed in principle to raise £20,000 for the school. This money will be used to fund the 'discovery' area in the year 1 playground (see school website here). The playground transformation will not happen for years without this money. This term we hope to use money in the bank to get the teepee that's been in storage up into the Junior woods so it can be used as an outside classroom. We are also working with school to see if we can fund some specific Black History month activities, and we'll also fund pantomimes for every child.
***UNIFORM, coats and shoes
We always have second hand uniform on sale, just email us and we will help find what you need. Suggested donation: £1 for tops, £2 for jumpers and cardigans, £1.50 for skirts, shorts, trousers and dresses. We work closely with Ms Ulett-Milne, so if you are struggling to afford uniform, shoes or a coat please contact her and she can access our stores and hopefully find what you need.
If you want to pass on uniform then please get in touch with us so we can arrange for you to drop it off. Any uniform that is past its best can be recycled at the front of the first school in the large black 'Recycle with Michael' recycling container. We get money for the material weight.
Don't forget to label uniform. You can buy packs of 30 stickers for £6.99 at Stikins. We get money every time you use our code 1542. See below for info.
See you for Halloween fun in a few weeks! Sam, Lauren, Tilly, Cath, Nia and Aimee.
**Our first fundraiser! Christmas Cards**
Christmas cards are back! Create your design and order by 14th October
We've launched our first major fundraiser: personalised Christmas cards, mugs, goft wrap and notebooks.
Your child should have come home with a form so you can design and order your cards at home.
How does it work?
This page on the printer's website explains more, but here's a summary of the steps you need to follow:
Step 1. Create your design. We recommend doing a design on a separate piece of paper and then gluing it to the form within the margins (pictured). There are lots of ideas here
The more colourful the better. You can do paper collage, paint, drawings, use sequins, pompoms, cotton wool, buttons, goggly eyes, just make sure anything glued to your design is stuck fast.
Finally, mark the Christmas tree so it's clear which way around the design should be printed - landscape or portrait.
Step 2. Go to https://xmas.cauliflowergroup.co.uk/ to register. You'll see the boxes to input a unique code and the school code A751 (pictured). These can be found in the top left corner of the form.
(NOTE If something happens to your form then please ask for a new one. Do not photocopy forms or use a code from another child's form as it will confuse the system.)
Step 3. Order and pay for items. This will take you to the order page. Select the items you want to order - cards, mugs, gift wrap, gift cards and then head to the checkout and pay. You can add more than one child to your order using their unique form codes.
(NOTE - you can select a greeting for your cards at this stage. Though we are doing this for Christmas, you can make a design and select a greeting to mark other religious festivals and special occasions.)
Step 4. Complete the name and class of your child on the form and tick the box to say you have ordered. This must be completed as names will be printed on the items so we know which ones are yours.
Step 5. Return your form to your teacher with the design securely GLUED to it. Do NOT use staples, cellotape or paperclips OR fold or crease the page as this will effect the end result when it's printed.
You must return the form and art work to your class teacher by 14th October.
The PTA will then send away the designs to Cauliflower Cards by secure courier. When items have been printed they will be sent to school and distributed to the children to bring home in time to send for Christmas.
Thanks to Lauren and Tilly for volunteering to run things.
AGM
As a charity, we must legally hold an AGM. This is used to appoint committee members and confirm the money raised and available to spend.
This year we need to elect a new chairperson and a new secretary. We welcome anyone with children at the school or an association to the school - parents, carers and grandparents - to nominate themselves for these positions. You'll get a full handover if you are successful.
What is a chairperson? This person is legally responsible for ensuring the charity meets the constitutional obligations of raising money for the school so that 'every child benefits'.
They work with the president of the charity, in this case Mrs Hardy as headteacher, the leadership team and nominees from the teaching team at the first school and at the junor school to ensure the funds are invested in the right projects.
The chair will co-ordinate events and make sure they are fun, safe and inclusive.
They will work closley with the treasurer to ensure the financial accounts are up to date and accurate, and filed to the Charity Commission annually, and with the secretary who does the charity communications.
A chair needs to be organised, good with people, and a problem solver.
The amount of time involved in running the PTA is entirely up to them. Given the size of the school, one event a term is plenty.
What is a secretary? This person is responsible for the meeting minutes, writing the newsletter, creating the advertising for events, and social media.
They work closely with the chair to make sure everyone involved in running events, or attending events, knows what is happening when.
Can I share either of the roles with a friend? Definitely! This is a really good way to get involved and make your time stretch further.
IS THIS YOU? Please contact Sam if you want to find out more before making a decision or email a 150 word summary as to why you would like to nominate yourself and what you think you will bring to the role to beaverrdfundraisers@outlook.com. This summary will be issued before the AGM so people can read it before voting. Please submit by 18th October.
What is the PTA?
The Parent Teacher Association is a charity and its purpose is to raise money for things the school budget can't afford. We are run by volunteers and function separately to the school. We have a constitution and our purpose is to improve the life of every child at school.
Over the last four years we've hosted lots of fun events and raised around £92,000. Money is mainly spent on renovating the outdoor play areas and learning resources such as:
SENCO equipment for special needs learning
Yr 1 role play areas
Reading books and books about diversity
Children's first aid training
Resources for the Year 6 business project
Art equipment
AV system for the junior school
Wakatubes and ukuleles for music
Online safety education
Forest school visits
Sports equipment for playtimes and PE
Christmas entertainment from theatre groups
Nursery reading corner
How do we raise money? School discos, movie nights, pizza parties, book sales, second hand uniform sales, treasure hunts, summer fun days...
We also raise money with Amazon - customers can donate money each time they purchase something using the Amazon Smile app - read on for details!
LATEST PURCHASES! The children have been dreaming of a giant slide for the Juniors for several years, and we're excited to say that the wait is finally over! This summer the bespoke slide arrived. It's been hugely complex to design, build and install so it's brilliant to see it in use and providing so much fun. THANKS to everyone who contributed to making this happen and Mark Bradford for working so hard to get the project finally delivered.
We've also bought £800 of books for reception and year 1, but using a 2-4-1 offer only spent £400! And we've helped Mrs Mour invest in the creation of house anthologies using art work and stories written by the children.
CAN YOUR COMPANY MATCH FUND THE MONEY WE RAISE? Lots of companies help their employees double the money they raise for chairty. Does you company do this? There's a list here. Please get in touch if you can help us boost what we raise via beaverrdfundraisers@outlook.com
Raise money with Stamptastic and Stikins
We've teamed up with Stamptastic and Stikins to offer you two ways to raise money for the school when you buy 'no sew' name labels.
Stamptastic will donate 15% to us when you buy a personalised stamp and ink pad from its shop. Simply put the school postcode, M206SX, into the discount box when you check out. You'll receive a discount voucher to use on your next purchase, which is handy for all the great crafts and gifts they also sell. https://stamptastic.co.uk/
Stikins makes sticker labels that won't come off in the wash. Stikins will donate 15% when you buy a set of personalised labels from its online shop. Just put 1542 in the school fundraising box. www.stikins.co.uk
Our orders arrived within 48 hours!
WAYS TO DONATE WHEN YOU SHOP
Stamptastic donates 15% of all personalised name stamp and ink pad orders to us. Enter the school postcode M206SX at the checkout in the promo code box.
Amazon Smile will donate a % of what you spend to the PTA when you make purchases online at smile.amazon.co.uk or in the smile Amazon app. Just nominate Beaver Road PTA as your SMILE charity.
THANK YOU!
**NEW Stikins donates 15% on purchases of personalised name stickers when you put 1542 in the school fundrasing box at check out. Packs of label;s start at £6.80 for 30. Packs of 60, 90 and 120 available too.
The Giving Machine donates a % of what you buy online from top retailers
Simply set up an account and nominate us as your charity. When you're ready to shop select the retailer you want to buy from and it will redirect you to the retailer's website. This is then tracked and your purchase earns us commission. Find out more here.
The Committee
Chair: Sam Crowe. Sam is mum to Thomas in year 5 and Nicholas in year 1. Sam is a freelance PR consultant. After 4 years as Chair, Sam will step down this year.
Parent Partnership Champion: Nia Horan. Nia is an early years teacher at Beaver Road and runs the gardening club. This year Nia will be joined by Junior's teacher, Aimee Fox.
Treasurer: Lauren Fulton. Lauren is a qualified accountant and financial analyst. She has two daughters - Esmé, in year 1 and Harper in year 2.
Outgoing secretary: Siobhan O'Leary Donkin is a digital programmes manager and is mum to Denna in year 1 and Maggie in year 4. Siobhan has exciting house move plans so is stepping down as secretary this year.
Volunteer committee member: Tilly Barfield-Jones. Tilly helps organise and run lots of our fundraising events. Tilly works part-time in the film industry and has Ollie in year 1 and Freddie who is in pre-school.
Volunteer committee member: Catherine Furay is a consultant anaesthetist. Catherine is mum to Florence in year 1, Matilda in year 6, and Alexander at Parrs Wood. Cath looks after second hand uniform sales.
Keep in touch: Beaver Road Primary School PTA on Facebook *** @BeaverRoad_PTA on Twitter *** beaverrdfundraisers@outlook.com
PTA committee: Sam Crowe, outgoing Chair, communications manager & parent - Lauren Fulton, treasurer and parent - Nia Horan and Aimee Fox parent partnership champions and teachers - Siobhan O'Leary Donkin, outgoing secretary - Catherine Furay and Tilly Barfield-Jones volunteer committee members and parents