MINUTES
of a meeting of St Albans School PTA
held on Wednesday February 15, 2012
Present: Karen, Ginnie, Jane A, Tracey M, Leslie, Sharon, Jodi, Mandy, Debbie, Sarah, Wade, Brendan, Judy, Julie, Tracey H,
1. Apologies: Susie, Lisa, Liz, Jane R, Chris, Kirsty, Claire, Angela C, Angela B, Tracey Fowler
We welcomed Wade and Julie to the meeting
Thank you to everyone who helped with our many activities at the end of last year
2. Confirmation of Minutes of Previous Meeting. Approved: Karen/Sharon
3. General Business.
3.1 Office bearers and AGM
Karen and Susie will be stepping down as chair and vice-chair at our AGM next month. Karen is happy to serve as vice-chair. Jane and Sarah to stay on as Treasurer and Secretary.
3.2 2012 Sub-committees
We are looking for people to organise the helpers for sushi, pizza and sausage sizzles.
Debbie will organise sushi/pizza with Lisa. Julie can help count sushi money and offered to help with sausages.
Disco: Karen and Ginnie will work out dates for a disco in Terms 1 and 3. Ginnie offered to get student leaders to take part in helping with the Junior discos.
We need someone to help organise the disco helpers – volunteers email Karen please!
3.3 Fair
The Monster Fair will be on Saturday Nov 3rd. Enhancing the school swimming pool will be the target for fair funds. (We are still awaiting word on pool repairs)
A subcommittee has been formed: Debbie, Tracey H – more welcome! We will start urging parents to begin thinking about stalls they would like to help with.
3.4 Library.
A subcommittee was formed at our last meeting of 2011. Ginnie is applying for $70,000 from pub charities to revamp the library. Needs complete renovation. She should know about funding this term.
3.5 Sausage sizzle/sushi dates
Sushi 17thFeb, 16th Mar, sausage sizzle 2nd March and 30th Sarah to put dates on school calendar online.
3.6 Second hand uniform store
Store is now set up permanently in the Oak Leaf Café. Working well - lots of sales and new uniform coming in all the time. Judy needs some skirt clothes hangers please (the kind with clips) if anyone has them, drop into the café.
3.7 Wishlist
Sunshade for sandpit
Ginnie will investigate modifying the former junior quad shade sails. Nick Coultas will check out sail-makers who might be able to help with this.
Jodi Archbold asked for some extra funds for more sports uniforms, as we now have more children participating in touch teams etc.
Need 20 singlets - $340, 40 zip tops/t shirts - $1000, 15-20 shorts for rugby $300. $1800 approximately in total ($800 on top of the $1000 we allocate to sports each year)
Kirsty and Jodi are monitoring uniform distribution to make sure items are returned
Kim Scadden is keen to have the EcoWarrior children raise chickens at school this year, and asked for either PTA funding or a sausage sizle to raise funds We agreed to support this idea in principle but defer funds until a plan for protecting chickens from vandals is in place.
Eftpos machine: With uniform sales now going through the Oak Leaf Café we will look further at the possibility of buying or leasing a PTA eftpos machine. Karen is to investigate whether we could ‘piggyback’ on the Office eftpos terminal, thus reducing the considerable costs.
3.8 Parent teacher interviews
These are on the 6th and 7th March. PTA to provide enough soup and bread for the staff for two nights please.
Soup: Tracey M, Sarah
Bread: Mandy, Jane C
Teacher request: Liz - brownies please!
Susie will make a slice
We need a couple more people to make a soup or bread please – email Karen if you can help. They can be left in the Staff Room anytime on the 6th March.
3.9 Quiz Night
Tracey M volunteered to organise a Midwinter Quiz Night, to be held on Friday 15th June. To avoid clashing with the Fair and asking local businesses for prizes/sponsorship, it will be a more “low key” version than last year, with homemade cakes/baking provided as prizes. We will run a bar again – need to source a bar manager. Tracey will ask for a subcommittee of helpers closer to the date.
3.10 Plant fund
Wade suggested we ask families to donate $5.00 towards a “plant fund” to purchase more plants for the school gardens. Ginnie supports this. We will look at running this through the café.
4. Reports
4.1 Principal’s Report
4.2 Treasurer’s Report. (Jane)
During the summer holidays $690 was spent purchasing 10 smaller trestle tables for the school through Grant and Mandy. (PTA members were emailed to approve this purchase)
Motion: That we allocate $6,700 of PTA funds to our annual donation to the school (Targetted Learning, Library, sticker fund, piano accompanist, arts and sports funding, Acorn Fund) Moved Jane/seconded Wade. Passed.
Motion: That we allocate an additional $800 to purchase sports uniforms as requested by Jodi. Moved Jane/seconded Wade. Passed.
Motion: that we invest $10,000 of our remaining funds in a term deposit for 150 days at 4.5%. Moved Jane/Seconded Tracey. Passed.
4.3 Café Report. (Sarah)
Profit: The Oak Leaf Cafe ran for 12 weeks last year from September to the end of the school year. After reimbursing the PTA the $750 in start-up funds which were lent to us in September, we cleared $1880 profit, which averages about $150 a week. So far this year sales seem to be similar. Thank-you to our PTA volunteers Susie, Tracey, Kelly and Karen who have helped out every morning taking orders and are now also selling second hand uniform.
Staff: Our barista Fiona sadly will be leaving in May and we have started looking for a suitable replacement. (Please let Sarah know if you know anyone suitable) Fiona has been a big part of the success in getting the Oak Leaf up and running and has done many hours of unpaid work, on top of her paid hours.
As to how to spend our profit so far, I would like to recommend we invest part of it in promoting reusable coffee cups. I have investigated an Australian brand, KeepCups, which are being sold by several Chch cafes – these are good in that they are a standard size and fit under the espresso machine heads. We can chose colours. Minimum order is a carton of 50. They are BPA free, non-toxic, polypropylene, dishwasher safe.
Apart from the obvious environmental benefits of having more of our customers use reusable cups, we would also save money – each disposable cup and lid costs us around 18 cents – and we make a couple of dollars profit on each cup sold also.
Motion: That we invest $500 of the Oak Leaf café’s profits so far in purchasing 50 KeepCups for resale in the café. Passed.
