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I am writing to urge as many of you as possible
to attend the PSA AGM on Wednesday 12th February at 7.30 pm.
According to our constitution, which must be adhered to in order for us to
gain the benefits of a charity, many of the current committee have to step down
from their current roles and these positions must be filled by other parents,
aunts, uncles, grandparents etc in order for the PSA to continue.
We urge you to attend to help your child's
school continue to provide a range of fun, social activities that enhance our
community spirit and provide much needed funds. Please consider whether you
could offer to help by taking one of the four roles: Chair, Vice-Chair,
Treasurer and Secretary. If these roles are not filed, sadly the PSA would
not be able to continue. This would be devastating for our community on both a
community level and on a financial level.
You
will have heard me talk on many occasions about the impact of reduced funding
at a time of ever rising costs over a number of years. This is the bleak reality
of school funding currently (despite the promises). As
such, the school relies heavily on the PSA in order to fund its day to day
business. In fact the school budgets each year to receive an income of about
£10,000 and plans for its use each year. This £10,000 contributes
towards some of the luxuries (e.g. a Christmas theatre group visiting each year
and playtime equipment) but more often contributes towards the more ordinary,
yet essential items such as classroom furniture, books, repairs to iPads and
computers, general classroom equipment and the provision of updated fiction and
non-fiction texts to match the curriculum.
In the
past the PSA has funded the large outdoor playground equipment, pupil iPads and
the replacement of EYFS equipment. Currently the PSA are funding the renewal of
the EYFS & KS1 phonics-based reading stock. The Governors are currently
researching the expansion of mobile technologies for pupil use throughout the
school and this will require significant additional PSA investment.
As
such, without the stalwart efforts of a PSA, the school
would need to make cutbacks in the region of about £10,000 per year, each year.
This would be devastating and would significantly impact upon the
quality of education that we are able to offer.
At the
same time the PSA also aims to build community in providing fun opportunities
for children and their families. To lose such opportunities would have a
significant impact upon well-being in our community and is not something that I
care to anticipate.
Please
help by considering whether you can give just some of your time to the
committee either in a formal role (these can be shared) or as an ‘ordinary’
member by simply turning up to meetings. Details of the available roles and
their associated responsibilities can be found below. Please come along on Wed
12th Feb at 7.30 pm to find out more.
I would
like to take this opportunity to thank members of the current committee for
their fantastic support of the school and also to everyone who supports the
events, providing an essential income as well as building community. I urge
everyone to consider what time they can give to continue this rewarding and
essential work and I look forward to seeing a packed hall on Wednesday 12th
February 2020
ROLES &
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PSA
COMMITTEE
A committee is a team of volunteers who
are elected at the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) to manage the PSA
on behalf of its members. There are two
types of committee member; Officer and Ordinary (or Other) Member. Officers have specific roles such as the
Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary.
Ordinary members play a vital role working alongside and supporting the
Officers. All Committee Members have
equal voting rights, with the exception of the Chairperson, who has an
additional casting vote, should this be needed.
Additional
support - In addition to the
elected committee, it is valuable to have a list of volunteers/helpers, who are
willing to support the work of the committee. It would be acceptable for such
volunteers to attend committee meetings, but they would not have a vote; only elected
committee members (Ordinary and Officers) can vote. Being a nominated PSA volunteer can be a
gentle introduction to the committee and such volunteers may well go on to
being a fully elected committee member with full voting rights.
PSA OFFICERS: ROLES
& RESPONSIBILITIES
Chair
The Chair should work
closely with the school senior leadership team (SLT), Vice Chair, Treasurer and
Secretary to ensure that the PSA is run effectively. The main role of the Chair
is to lead the monthly meetings and oversee the running of the annual
fundraising events.
Key
responsibilities:
·
Provide
leadership.
·
Set
the Agenda for Meetings and run the meetings.
·
Welcome
and involve new Members.
·
Signs
cheques for the PSA with one other Committee Member (i.e. Treasurer / Secretary)
·
Meet
with SLT members and the Treasurer to agree PSA financial commitments for the
year
Vice Chair
The Vice Chair supports
the Chair in providing leadership for the Committee, helps set the Agenda for
the meetings and helps manage meetings in line with the Agenda. The Vice Chair
deputises for the Chair when necessary and assists in the organisation and operation
of the PSA. The Vice Chair will also work closely with the Secretary, promoting
and communicating the work of the PSA through publicity.
Key responsibilities:
·
Support
the Chair in providing leadership.
·
Chair
any meetings that the Chair is unable to attend.
·
Liaise
with the Committee and Sub-Committees organising events.
·
Welcome
and involve other parents into the PSA.
·
Work
closely with the school office and Secretary to circulate information to
parents via email, website or text alerts
·
Liaising
with the local press to get press coverage of PSA events.
·
Publicising
PSA events and fundraising initiatives
·
Ensuring
posters are displayed around the school in good time, liaising with class reps.
Secretary
The Secretary is a key
Committee Member as they are responsible for ensuring effective communication
links between Committee Members and between the PSA and the School.
The Secretary deals with
all the correspondence that the PSA receives and helps the Chair ensure that
Committee Meetings run smoothly. Building up a good relationship with the
School, the Secretary will help make sure that correspondence, sent to the
School, is passed onto the PSA promptly.
The Secretary can arrange
to leave PSA notices with the School office for distribution with School
mailings / text to parents. The Secretary will make arrangements for the Annual
General Meeting (AGM) and help the Chair prepare the Annual Report.
Key responsibilities:
·
Deal
with correspondence.
·
Send
email to committee to confirm date of next meeting and their attendance.
·
Prepare
Agendas along with the Chair.
·
Take
the minutes of meetings, type them up and distribute them to the committee.
·
Ensure
that enough committee members are present to make the meeting valid (i.e. at
least four committee members should be present).
·
Write
the Annual Report with the Chair.
·
Prepare
and distribute newsletters and other communications to parents.
·
Prepare
flyers, posters, tickets, etc. for events
Treasurer
The role of the treasurer
is to manage and control the funds the PSA raises. The Treasurer should record
all income and expenditure, details of the amounts received and spent, and have
the information available for every Committee Meeting plus:
·
The
balance of funds
·
committed
expenditure
·
Income,
expenditure and profit from each event held
The Treasurer role is the
only role that cannot be shared by two individuals. The Treasurer should report on the current
financial position at each Committee Meeting and this should be recorded in the
Minutes. The report should include an update on funds received and spent since
the last report. If the Treasurer is unable to attend a Committee Meeting, a
written report should be sent to the Chair, at least one or two days before the
Meeting. All financial decisions taken should be recorded in the Minutes of the
Meeting.
Key
responsibilities:
·
Maintain
the financial records by reconciling PSA bank accounts on a monthly basis to
fully account for all incoming/outgoing payments and present income expenditure
at meetings.
·
Liaise
with the bank, advising them of agreed changes to the bank mandate, i.e. those
authorised to sign cheques.
·
Count
and bank all income from PSA events.
·
Manage
cash floats, ticket sales and incoming monies for all PSA events, this should
be managed by two members of the PSA Committee at any time.
·
Arrange
appropriate licenses for events.
·
Raise
cheques/BACS payment on request of PSA Chair in relation to requests for funds
for approved payments.
·
Manage
expenses to reimburse PSA members for any items purchased and keep record of
receipts (expenses must be approved in advance by Chair/Vice Chair).
·
Maintain
on-going registration and annual submission of accounts to the Charity
Commission and Gift Aid.
·
Draw
up the annual accounts.
·
Safekeeping
of Cheque and Paying in books and all PSA account files.
·
Maintain
an up to date list of authorised signatories to PSA bank accounts.
·
Maintain
financial delegation declaration (change names when needed).
·
Pay
Parent Kind membership fees (covers PSA insurance) and any other annual
membership/subscription fees
Ordinary Committee
Members
Ordinary Committee Members
work alongside the Officers, contributing ideas, helping to organise events or
running smaller projects. They also have an important role to play alongside
the Officers of the PSA in ensuring good communication with the rest of the
School, encouraging participation and enthusiasm for the events organised by
the PSA.
Class Reps
Class Reps ensure good
communication with the parents and teachers of their class. They organise
social events for the parents and carers of their class. They may run small
projects for the school, organise stalls and helpers for Summer and Christmas
Fairs and help out where they can with PSA events. They also liaise with the
Class teacher to organise fundraising activities for their Year group. E.g.
Bake Sale.
Key responsibilities
include:
·
Maintain
a class list: email distribution group and text message group where possible (this
should be renewed each year in line with GDPR rather than carried forward).
·
Provide
feedback and ideas from class to the PSA Committee.
·
Welcome
new parents to the School.
·
Liaise
with class teacher for any specific help required from PSA.
·
Arrange
social events for their class.
·
Organise
the Year Group fundraising activity.
·
Help
out at and recruit volunteers for PSA events.