Charity number 1004467
Monday 9 January 2023 7pm
Meeting held ONLINE ON MS TEAMS.
Committee Attendees: Kirsten Webster (Chair), Dan Bishop (Deputy Head), Sam Woodward (1000 Club), Haijit McLean, Laura Shapland, Katherine Cook.
Absent: Hilary Angel (Treasurer)
1) Welcome and Apologies (Chair) – Apologies from HA but forwarded all Finances for discussion. Welcome to new attendees and DB as new school representative.
2) School Update and Funding Requests (Dan Bishop- Deputy Head)
DB’s key areas of focus, as Deputy Head, are Academic and Careers.
School finances are all balanced and they have 5 key areas of focus. DB has asked staff for any finance requests. The school hall experienced electrical problems and the entire circuit board needed replacing. The bill for this was £3k and the school is asking FoSWGS for a contribution. Committee to discuss and respond.
DB thanked the FoSWGS team for all their efforts and fundraising.
3) Minutes of the Previous Meeting (KW) held on 7th November, 2022
(minutes of former meeting were posted on CLASSLIST & emailed on request)
All agreed to previous minutes and responsibilities completed.
4) Matters Arising (KW)
· New meeting Dates for new school year were distributed and dates are listed with events in section 8.
5) Finance Update (HA)
For your information:
Bank accounts as at 30 November (awaiting statements for December):
1000 Club £5,718.19
School Fund £776.00
Parent Fund £12,987.19
Treasurer’s £20,278.72
Smarties Cash £259.36
Music Concert Cash £183.00 + iZettle £105
6) 1000 Club (SW) – Gambling Act Certificate paid and up to date - it covers the 1000 Club and any raffle/quiz type events we may run during the year.
13 new numbers (8 Members) over Christmas.
7) Review of Past Events/Activities
· Grammar Christmas Fair – Another very successful joint event with BWSPA. Footfall was greater than the previous year and we had a fabulous atmosphere. The music teams were outstanding. Stallholders were extremely happy with the event and all signed up for next year. Parent helpers were thin for the Friday set up but we were extremely please with the volunteers on the Saturday. Chris Child ran his Secondhand book stall with his team, adding over £200 to the total. Between the 60 stallholders and raffle we raised over £4k between the two schools.
· Christmas Music Concert – SW was thanked for running the refreshments for the music event. It was a successful evening and she had a fabulous team of volunteers that worked great as a team. Going forward we would like to encourage this team to run future events.
8) Planning for Current Events/Activities
· Years 7/8 & 9/10 discos – KW sent out a link to an online survey to parents/guardians in years 7-10. The majority of responders (90+ in total) were from years 9 & 10 begging for a disco for their children as they had missed such social events during the Covid years. A number of parents have offered to help with various jobs in running the discos. Most parents opted for Friday, then Thursday nights for such events. KW presented dates for discussion and DB has asked us to change the date for the year 7/8 disco to Thursday 23 February 6.30-8.30pm – (KW just realised this clashes with BWS half term) – KW/DB to discuss and confirm.
DB to discuss with MC (Head) regarding year 9/10 disco – pencilled in date Friday 24 March.
· Annie Drama Production (10/11 March) – School has requested FOSWGS to run the refreshments for both performances. KW to set up a team/roster on Classlist & email EL for distribution to whole school.
· Easter Hamper Raffle – to be run 6-24 March encapsulating the drama production and proposed quiz night to boost ticket sales. HM volunteered to head up the hamper wrapping. KW to set up ticket sales online and paper sales for events. HM has suggested a colour theme for each year. Instructions will be sent out to parents & to forms, labelled collection boxes will be set up in reception w/c 1 March.
· Update on Year 13 Leaver’s Ball/ Cocktail Night 23/24 June – Venue has been cancelled so Leah Allen and KW are investigating other venues. This was discussed and we all agreed that the school was definitely not an option. KW & LA visiting numerous venues in coming weeks and a Year 13 committee needs to be established.
· Quiz Night – in the diary for Thursday 16 March from 6.30pm. Looking for volunteers to help with announcing, refreshments, prizes and ticket sales. Teams will be registered on the website. Open to all (including staff teams)
· Secondhand Book stalls – CC to confirm booked dates
9) Website, Classlist, Paypal & i-Zettle
Update from KW – need to sort out the electronic payments element as need to set up online payments for ease of event management. KW to discuss with HA
10) AOB
It was tabled to have a school open date/fete type event in July to promote the school in the local community – this has been requested by many local residents and previous school attendees. The team suggested that a student committee be formed giving some of the DofE students the opportunity to work on their 3 months volunteering experience. This idea was discussed briefly and needs to be ‘fleshed out’ for discussion with the school. KW to lead.
Discussed having a Fireworks – led by SW. Team discussed at length as to the pros and cons – with the insurance, costs, paperwork involved and – the obvious – issues with local residents and pets. We decided that it wasn’t a good option for SWGS but suggested partnering with another organisation or school (BWS?) to share responsibility. SW has contact for all the pyro technics.
KW forwarded recommendations for a WELLBEING/ MENTAL HEALTH speaker for FoSWGS to pay for (as previously discussed as a fundraising goal over lockdown and post) – suggested several presentations/workshops over one day. Mrs Harris has made contact with speaker for costs and topics – DB to feedback
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