Lytham St. Annes Technology
and Performing Arts College
Parents, Teachers and Friends Association
Meeting,
Minutes
1. Members Present
Debbie Fox, Michelle Riley, Edwina Culshaw, Sandra Madden, Alison Murphy, Ruth
Williams, Chris Challenger, Catherine Irving, Michelle Ackerman, Dianne Hammond,
Carla Harris, Amanda Wiseman, Sarah Davies, Lesley Dobson, Tess Mills, Joanne
Millar, Danielle Collings, Christine rouse, Peter Jackson, Alison Riley, Boris
Richardson, Sarah Aven, Robert Owen, Julie Thornton, Jeanette Richardson, Corinne
Mason, Sarah Warburton, Andrew Moxham, Philip Wood, Adele Tate, Claire Sutcliffe,
Joanna Allitt, Carol Horridge, Becky Rourke, Penny Mallinson, Fiona O’Hara, Mandy
Palmer, Andrea Menzies
2. Apologies
Liz Nunez, Wendi Prime, Joanne Innes, Ali Dunn, Sally Windsor, Lisa Rogan, Maureen Green,
Joanne Innes, Michael Knowles.
3. Minutes
The minutes of the AGM were agreed to be a true and accurate record.
4. 300 Club
There was some discussion as to how many members the 300 club currently has. It was thought
that, despite the name, there were probably around 150 members at present. Some discussion was
made as to how numbers could be boosted as it is a very effective and easy method to raise funds.
Sandra confirmed that we have gained some new members this year from the new Year 7 parents
and that forms are made available at all school events, such as Parent’s evenings etc.
ACTION – Sandra to confirm number of members for next meeting.
It was suggested that an e-mail should go out to all parents to let them know about the opportunity
to invest in a 300 club number.
ACTION – Debbie to arrange for e-mail to go out via school.
After further discussion it was suggested that all members present at the meeting should endeavour
to gain one new member for the club prior to the next meeting, which would significantly boost
thye membership.
ACTION – All PTFA members present at meeting to try to gain at least 1 extra member before the
next meeting.
Peter Jackson made a suggestion, which was well received, that winners should be offered the
opportunity to reinvest their winnings. A monthly win is £22; an annual subscription for 2 more
numbers would be £24, thus a saving of £2 could be offered and the chance to increase the odds of
winning! This was put to a member present who had won, Julie Thornton, and she agreed to do this.
ACTION – Sandra to allocate a further 2 numbers to Julie.
The winners were:
August
51 - PJ Moorhouse 62 - Kim Morgan 23 - Lauren Parkinson
August bonus 160- Emma Morgans
September
52 Julie Thornton
81 Ian Weafer 139 Danielle Dearden
October
54 NR Bullough
99 Dawn Carter 19 Richard & Ursula Almond
5. Finances
Andy Moxham reported that finances were looking quite healthy at the moment. Currently in the
account is approximately £7,500. The catering van is roughly going to cost around £7,000 leaving a
reserve in the account of £500. A certain amount needs to remain in the account to cover various
costs and unforeseen expenses.
6. Fund Raising
Debbie Fox gave feedback on the success of the recent Summer Ball held at the Clifton Park Hotel.
The Ball raised in excess of £1600 and was a great social evening; positive feedback was given
from several members present who had attended. Some discussion was made as to whether or not to
hold another Ball again next year. Debbie and Michelle have stepped down from the Subcommittee
this year, but Mandy Palmer and Andrea Menzies are still happy to continue in this role if it was felt
that another ball would be popular. It was suggested that a break may be a good idea and that
perhaps a change of style might be appropriate, eg, a more casual Cèilidh.
Members present with tasked with considering this and reporting back their thoughts to the next
meeting and if any volunteers would like to step forward they could do so at the next meeting.
ACTION – all members to consider the above for next meeting.
At this point there was some lengthy discussion about various other methods of fund raising and
getting parents and children more involved in PTFA events. Many options were discussed and it
was felt that it was good to have so much enthusiasm and fresh ideas, especially from new parents.
However, on advice from Mr Wood, some of the ideas, such as an after hour’s school disc etc. were
reconsidered owing to the problems that these may cause and the lack of interest that these have
generated in the past.
It was recognised by the existing PTFA members that as a hardworking and dedicated PTFA group
it is often difficult to get parents or indeed children interested in events and that sometimes people
just may not want to be involved. However, we continue to try to recruit new members and to get
people interested in attending events via e-mails, text messages, flyers and posters, the school
website and word of mouth. Many ideas have been tried in the past and that there are limits to how
much time parents are able to give to support school events.
Mr Wood commented that the most successful events always seem to be the ones held of site and
those that are sold by word of mouth.
Debbie Fox also advised the group of the opportunity of a shopping evening to be held at Stringers,
which would be ticketed event run and hosted by Stringers in Lytham. They will supply raffle
tickets and possibly arrival drinks. This was a well-received idea and volunteers Michelle riley,
Alison Murphy and Debbie Fox to form a sub-committee to arrange a date etc. It was suggested that
November would be a good time.
ACTION – Michelle, Debbie and Alison to book date and report back to group.
Race Night – This is to be held at school on Friday 17th October. Rachel and Alison Riley explained
that this was to take the format of a family fun night rather than just a Race night as last time. There
will be a mini quiz, beetle drive, races and chocolate bingo as well as other family fun activities.
This is to be sold as a Family night and flyers will be passed out at the forthcoming Meet The Form
Tutor Evening. There will be a licensed bar and refreshments available for children. Please
attend if you can. If anyone has any Raffle prizes they could donate please let Alison or Rachel
know so they can arrange to collect them.
ACTION – Alison to pass flyers out and forward to Debbie for distribution to all members.
ACTION – Members present to inform friends and family of evening and try to attend if possible.
Clothes Collection – these have been held previously in school at various points in the year with
some success. It was suggested that rather than use the method of dropping off at school and PTFA
members sorting out and taking to the local business, there is an alternative of a collection bin being
placed on site and emptied periodically by the collector. This has been successfully done at
Heyhouses School in the past with good profits being made.
ACTION – Claire Sutcliffe to investigate the details of this venture and report back.
ACTION – Debbie Fox to check with Site staff as to whether or not this is feasible.
7. Refreshments
There are a few refreshment opportunities coming up shortly and a request was made for the
PTFA’s services at the forthcoming Open Evening. There was a query as to whether or not the
PTFA usually provide this service. This was to be confirmed by Sally. Volunteer’s names were
taken for the forthcoming year 12 parents evening, the Meet the Form Tutor evening and Year 13
Parents evening. Thank you to those who volunteered.
8. Head Teacher’s Forum
Mr Wood gave an update on the Year 7 boys who were involved in a Road Traffic Accident earlier
in the week outside school. All parents present sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery and Mr
Wood advised that the boy’s parents were cautiously optimistic that they would make a full
recovery, but it was still early days.
Mr Wood went onto explain a brief history of the school’s campaign of recent months/years to get
safety features built in and around the school’s roads. There have been ongoing negotiations
between the school and Lancashire |County Council for many months. Recently lights advising
20MPH limits have been erected along roads by school, however, there have been some initial
problems with these and their functionality. On the day of the accident the lights were not in
operation, however, Mr Wood reported that the driver had not been speeding.
There are still ongoing concerns with the safety of the roads particularly at home time when parents
insist on parking on yellow lines outside school causing congestion and adding to the chaos of
school exit times. The school (including great involvement from the school council) , school council
are still liaising with Lancashire about road safety issues and indeed the school are currently trying
to initiate a series of Road Safety awareness sessions in particular for Year 7 pupils. It must be
emphasised that this has been going on for some time not just recently initiated as a result of the
accident.
Mr Wood was asked about staffing and supervision around school finishing time and he advised
that there are staff present at this time who work on “Bus Duty” but, as now there are so many
fewer buses than previously, the duties may be reviewed.
9. AOB
Debbie Fox advised that we had received a request from a member of staff (A Boyle) to look into
the possibility of buying some table tennis tables for school as an activity at Lunchtimes. They are
roughly around £500 and are weather proof. The idea was well received and it was considered to be
a definite possibility. This would require further investigation, but it was agreed that this could be a
new fund raising target.
ACTION – Debbie to acknowledge Andrea’s request
It was also agreed and voted upon by members present that we should now sign off fund raising for
the catering van and that this should now be ordered. Mr Wood advised that the prices have
changed since we started to look at these and we would be looking at a second hand one, for around
£7,000.
It was also agreed that when the van is ordered and delivered, we will advertise this and publicise it
to good effect as a successful PTFA fund raising effort in an attempt to heighten awareness of the
group and what they do. A suggestion was also made by Sarah Warburton that it may be possible
for PTFA to man the catering van on certain events at school, such as the open evening, to help
exemplify who we are and the sorts of things we get involved in.
Finally a request was made for Raffle prizes for the forthcoming Family Fun Night on Friday
October 17th.
The meeting closed at 20.00
The next meeting will be Thursday November 6th
The meeting closed at
Date of next meeting