About Dr Challoners High School
Parents’ Association
The PA aims to bring together parents ( and guardians ) of the pupils, both to build up a community spirit, and to support the school by raising additional funds. By organising events for parents and pupils in pursuit of the first objective, we aim to carry out the second as painlessly as possible.
Who are we ?
Every parent with a daughter at Dr Challoner’s High School for Girls is automatically a member of the Parents’ Association, and the PA is itself is a registered charity, a member of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations. The PA is run by a small committee, whose members are the trustees of the charity. The committee meets regularly to plan and set budgets for events, and distribute the proceeds in response to requests from school departments.
PA Events
PA events range from large set pieces, such as the annual Fete and the occasional grand Ball, to providing refreshments for parents’ evenings. A list of current planned events can be found on this website. While smaller events are usually managed by a few committee members, for larger events we rely on assistance from class reps and other parents.
While some events are now annual features, we are always ready to try something new – for example, in 2009 we staged the ‘East-West Fusion evening’, an idea of one parent who contributed hughely to its success.
Proms and Discos
The PA organises discos for year 7 and 8 pupils, in association with the DCGS ( boys Grammar school ) parents. Last year this was extended to include one event for years 8 and 9. We also organise the year 11 prom, and offer support for the year 13 prom which is currently staged by the pupils themselves.
We are grateful for the assistance of teachers and parents who help supervise these events. Parents with a first aid qualification are always in demand.
Uniform sales
Lost items of school uniform and sports kit which are not reclaimed by the owners are cleaned by the PA and offered for resale from time to time. See our website for details of sales.
How to help
Firstly, please support our events whenever you can. If you can’t always find the time to participate, then you can still support us and the school through the 200 Club ( a monthly raffle ) or the Supermarket Vouchers scheme
If you have an idea for a new event, or are able to help us with an event from our program, please contact us !
Can you help us source catering supplies, raffle prizes etc at a discount ? By reducing the cost of staging events we can raise more money for the school, so we are grateful for any assistance to help us achieve this.
Class Reps
We appoint a parent as the PA class rep in each new year 7 class, and then maintain this contact as the classes move up the school. This allows us to mobilise extra support to help out with the larger events, from time to time. Some class reps also organise social events for parents from their class.
The committee
The PA committee usually meets on the first Monday of each month, throughout the school year, and new members are always welcome. The chair, treasurer, secretary and other members are appointed or elected at the annual AGM, but additional members can be co-opted at any time during the year.
While the trustees are responsible to the charity commission for the use of PA funds, they are covered by public liability and personal accident insurance, so personal liability is limited.
PA Finances
The PA raised £23,100 in the year 2008/9 – less than the record £35,000 in 2006/7, but a significant amount. Over half the income was raised by the 3 largest event ( Spring Draw, Summer Fete and Indulgence evening )
The money raised was used to refurbish the 6th form common room , to support the school magazine ( £2,000 for each ), with a further £12,000 distributed to different school departments. Costs associated with running the PA were less than £150.
A full breakdown of income and expenditure may be found in the presentation made to the AGM last November .
In the past the PA has had a policy of funding ‘extras’ – items not easily funded from the main school budget – on the assumption that the county would fund essentials ( such as textbooks ). However, given the anticipated scale of budget cuts over the coming years it is likely that some proportion of PA funds will be required to maintain essential services.