Untitled Document

MINUTES OF THE
RATCLIFFE COLLEGE PARENTS ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD AT THE COLLEGE
ON MONDAY 23RD JUNE 2008

Present:

David Nightingale (Chairman)
Lucy Patterson
Pat Clayfield
Polly Phillipson
Keith Croysdale
Sam Pole
Bindi Desai

Caroline Rigby
Trevor Henderson
David Robson
Nicki Howard
Denise Sowden
Peter Farrar
Sarah Pole

Amalia McGrath
Michael Tolond
Siobhan Noble
Darryl Wideman
Becky Page
Kate Mason
Sophie Neuberg

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Alison Etty, Julie Croysdale and Anne Taylor

MINUTES OF 2007 AGM
The Minutes of the 2007 AGM were proposed for approval by Keith Croysdale and seconded by Caroline Rigby and were duly adopted by the Association.

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
David Nightingale read the Chairman's report for the year 2007/8 (Copy to follow). He thanked the members and parents for their support during the year. The report was proposed for adoption by Amalia McGrath and seconded by Becky Page and was duly adopted by the Association.

TREASURER'S REPORT AND ACCOUNTS
The Income and Expenditure account for the year ended 30th April 2008 was presented at the meeting. Becky Page reported that the school was given £4,752 and outside charities £6,272 during the year leaving a surplus of £11,232.

The Income and Expenditure Account was proposed for adoption by Lucy Patterson and seconded by Keith Croysdale and was duly adopted by the Association.

HEADMASTER'S REPORT
Mr. Farrar thanked the Parents Association for their work during the year, committee members for their support at school events and the funds raised for the school and outside charities.

ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The following parents were elected or agreed to continue to serve as officers and members of the committee:

Chairman David Nightingale
Vice-Chairman Amalia McGrath
Treasurer Becky Page
Vice-Treasurer Lucy Patterson
Secretary Michael Tolond
Junior Representative Sarah Pole
Nursery Representative Kate Mason
Newsletter Editor Polly Phillipson
School Liaison Officers Anne Taylor, Polly Phillipson

Committee Members

Keith Croysdale Sophie Neuberg
Julie Croysdale Siobhan Noble
Bindi Desai Sam Pole
Alison Etty Trevor Henderson
Nicki Howard Denise Sowden
Kate Mason

Ex officio members: Headmaster, Deputy Head and Director of Finance

The Committee recorded their thanks to Alison Etty who had retired as Newsletter Editor at the AGM

Ratcliffe College Parents' Association

Chairpersons Report at Annual General Meeting, 23 June 2008

The new school year began in September with the Headmasters Reception for new and current parents, which is co-hosted by the PA; we then moved straight into the Open Morning in October where we got to meet many prospective parents. From these two events, we were again lucky to find some new committee members.

Our first big event of the year was the Quiz and Curry night in November. Another sold out evening saw a record number of teams tackle questions set by Mr Wideman. Many thanks to Darryl, and to all those on the sub-committee for the fabulous planning. Everyone had a great evening and this event continues to be a firm favourite in our social calendar.

The Christmas holidays were fast approaching and that meant decorating the Church to celebrate the festivities. Under the leadership of Sam Pole and her team of volunteers, we set out to transform the Church and, once again, it was a wonderful sight!

The annual Christmas Ball was a tremendous success with tickets selling out in record time. This year the entertainment was provided by a caricaturist as well as the usual disco. The evening included a beautiful sit down dinner and a very enjoyable time was had by all who attended.

At Ratcliffe, for the PA, the spring term now means the Spring Fair and everyone did a magnificent job preparing for the event. Luckily, we were blessed with fine weather on the day. Almost 20 craft stalls filled the theatre with high class merchandise. Amalia McGrath, aided by Eleanor Waters, managed to recruit and organise an army of volunteers. A corner of the Sports Hall was home to the indoor games and a childrens craft paradise, and the bouncy castle was a great attraction. Other great successes included the Easter egg stall, Cake stall, and Tombola. Becky and Lucy kept track of the money and Sophie ensured that the raffle was again a great success. It was a busy but rewarding day as we were able to raise nearly ö300 for our two local charities, The Peter Le Marchant Trust, and Vista. A very big thank you to everyone who supported this event.

The summer term keeps us busy providing refreshments at all the Senior School Drama productions and we will have made presentations on the work of the PA at all three of the information evenings for new parents, as well as helping at both the Senior School and Junior Department/Nursery School Sports Days. This year, for the first time, we have worked with the School in developing a Summer Fun Day alongside the Fun Run, and I trust that we can continue to grow this event in future years.

In addition to providing social activities, we have also supported Ratcliffe with donations to all sections of the School including our largest ever single donation of õ000 towards the purchase of outdoor play equipment in the Junior Department. I understand that the plans are well ahead with this project and all will be in place by the autumn term.

The Chair and Vice Chair also participate in the Ratcliffe College Advisory Group where we meet with representatives of the Governors in an informal way to tell them of our activities and the views of parents. It has been an action packed and very successful year, and I would like to say a personal thank you to everyone who has hel