Chairman’s report, Wallace High School PTA

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Welcome to our Annual General Meeting – welcome to all the existing committee members on whom we depend to support and organise the various PTA activities and events and welcome to any new members attending for the first time to see what we do and perhaps join in.

Our aim has always been to raise funds so that we can provide support for projects which further enrich the experience of our young people at this school and this year we have been able to provide that support for projects as diverse as new desks for a Prep classroom and funding a sporting event organised by our A level PE class as part of their course work for local primary school children.

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The year started out on a high with the PTA organising for the school flag and match ball to be flown in by the Wild Geese as a dramatic start to the All Star Hockey match at the Hockey Pitch Opening event on 20th June 2014. Much hard work had gone into the selling of “ Landing Mats” which were distributed over the landing area for the Wild Geese and gave us a novel approach to allocating our ballot prizes on the day. The pitch opening was a significant event in the life of the school and the PTA were pleased to be a part of it, organising various entertainments for children attending and providing barbeque, food and tuck throughout the afternoon.

In 2014 we supported both Prep and Senior School Sports Days, again putting our burger flipping skills to the test, making the last week or two of term a very busy time for us.

After the summer break we were straight to work with the Year 8 Parents Evening, an opportunity for us to highlight what we do to Year 8 parents and encourage their support.

This is also a time of year when we are busy making arrangements for the serving of refreshments at Saturday Sports fixtures. The feedback which we get from parents attending home matches is that this is a much appreciated activity and it is also one which generates a steady stream of income.

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In October of this year we realised the significant milestone of achieving charitable status due largely to the efforts of Tom Aughey, Corinne Latham and Ellen Scott. This brings with it a requirement for more detailed financial reporting for which I would like to thank Jen Guiney.

The Prep Pumpkin Party and the Craft Fair are quite recent ideas which have become established traditions.

At the Pumpkin Party the parents are thinking about who will win the pumpkin carving competition but the children are firmly focussed on the Spooky Walk for which we are indebted to the enthusiasm of the Prep teachers and our own more grown up kids.

The Craft Fair on 15th November attracted an even bigger group of crafters than the year before and we hope to continue this family focussed event. This is a big undertaking for which we rely heavily on the input of a sub team (Ellen Scott and Laura Morwood) in order to get the word out to crafters and communicate and reassure them in the run up to the date. On the day we had several hundred people attending the fair and raised £2648.

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Our Christmas Dance at the start of December seems to hit the right note with parents and friends and I am pleased to report steady numbers and in excess of £7000 gross funds raised . Coming as it does at the start of the festive season, this event requires a lot of preparation and decoration and a much appreciated commitments from all PTA members.

In all of our activities and events, we rely on the cooperation and good will of the school staff and we are fortunate to have enjoyed both, in particular with the school caretakers and canteen staff.

It is also important that we communicate effectively with parents to publicise our events and ask for their support. In this regard we are fortunate to have Laura Morwood as our publicity officer who helps us navigate our way through more modern approaches to publicising our activities.

On a personal note, I have enjoyed being part of the PTA team and would like to thank each team member for enthusiastically giving up their free time in support of everything we do.

Gillian Megaw, Chair Person

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Last modified: March 8, 2017