16 Jan 2008 - Minutes
Minutes of the Committee Meeting
Wednesday 16th January 2008
At the Cottage Commenced 8.00pm
Present: Sharren Jakobsen - Chairperson
Steve Wyatt - Treasurer
Michelle Jolly - Secretary 2
Carol Cross - Afternoon Team Leader
Nicky Healey - Committee Member
Kim Dix - Committee Member
Carol Potter - Team Leader
Chris Moss-Wilcox - Committee Member
Pat Froud - Administrator
In Attendance Jill Maidment - Reception Class Teacher
Apologies Leanne Bradford - Committee Member
Lisa Andrews - Committee Member
Emma Craigmile - Secretary 1
Jude Taylor - Staff
Sue Lambert - Team Leader
1 Confirm minutes of the meeting held on 30th October 2007.
Minutes of the last meeting were agreed and confirmed.
2 Matters Arising
Sharren thanked the Staff and Committee for their hard work during the Autumn term. She also thanked Nicki Healey for co-ordinating T-towel sales.
All of the Christmas events were well attended.
Nativity - It was felt that in future Mince pies should be bought for this event. Christmas Party - Entertainment should be booked before the Summer holidays and possibly the timings should be reviewed. Jo Jingles was very popular as all children were involved in the activities rather than just a few who were selected.
Kim reported that there had been an increase in activity on the site for Website shopping following the distribution of ELC catalogues and we should receive a cheque for the commission soon. It was felt that parents should be reminded that they can book holidays through this site on the next Newsletter.
Most of the work is now complete on the Soft Play area and Steve was thanked for his hard work on this project.
It was proposed by Sharren that a non-refundable Retainer fee of £20 per child should be charged in order to reserve a place at the Cottage. This was seconded by Chris Moss-Wilcox. It will offset the cost of admin and staffing if a place is subsequently not taken up. This amount will then be deducted from the first invoice once a child takes up the place. Steve and Pat will look at the administration of this fee.
3 Finances
Bank Balance end of Dec 2007 £3701.56
Deposit a/c £8998.18
Play Area £830.34 Expenditure - Play surface £15818.00, skip hire £100, outside spotlight £100. Local Network Fund grant spent on sandpit, playhouse, tractor and trailer and water table.
Fundraising – Nativity: Raffle £102.00 & Coffee £49.10
T towel proceeds provided a profit of just under £60
Photograph commission £58
Share of profit from the Christmas Fayre approximately £300 – chq to come.
Bank charges – These have increased due to the number of cheques passing through the account for the purchase of photographs and T towels. This could be reduced by making parents aware that these payments can also be made through internet banking.
£828 has just been paid for the Buildings insurance and another £400 for the remaining insurance is due in March.
Fees during the Autumn term have brought in £19500, which is an increase of £3,500 on last year but wages have also risen by £3,200 this term. There is a surplus of £2632.63 during the period September to December 2007.
4 Ofsted Report
The Satisfactory grading that the Cottage received in the recent Ofsted inspection was felt to be disappointing. The limited use of the outside area due to the building work taking place and some of the staff having First Aid certificates which had lapsed was a contributory factor. However it was felt that when the work on the soft play area is complete this will be an asset to the setting. Some items in the report had already been highlighted in the Parents Questionnaire and work had started on addressing these issues, which include improving Development files and launching the Cottage Carton for comments/communications. An Action Plan is to be drawn up and Lisa, Chris and Michelle have agreed to assist with this so that progress can be reviewed.
5 Parents Open Evening
It was agreed that this will be held on Tuesday 4th March 8.00 – 9.00 pm following the requests on the Parent Questionnaire. It will take the format of an Introduction by Sharren, followed by a chance to look at the activities the children participate in and an informal chat with staff. Any parents requiring more specific information about their child will be invited to make an appointment with the childs keyworker at a mutually convenient time.
Parents will be advised of this event in the next Newsletter and a tear off slip will be provided allowing parents who are not able to come along to advise of a more convenient time. A glass of wine and nibbles will be provided. It was felt Committee members should also attend, Steve and Chris agreed to make themselves available to promote the work of the Committee.
6 Open Day/Marketing
A Grand Opening of the Soft Play area will be held on Saturday 7th June 2008. Those people who attended the previous Opening Ceremony for the Skip to the Loo Building project will be invited to attend. This will enable them to see the completed project, which has been funded by grants and the fundraising of the last few years.
7 Holiday Club
Joel Potter has now joined the Holiday Club staff. Some bookings have been made for the February half term and details of the activities have now been agreed:
Tuesday 19th February - Pirate/Mermaid theme – Activities - facepainting, masks, hats, telescopes.
Wednesday 20th February – Football
Friday 22nd February – Cooking
Sharren will design posters and details of activities will be provided to parents in the Newsletter. The Banner will be put on the fence 2 weeks before the half term holiday.
8 Event dates
The following dates were provisionally made for the Spring and Summer terms and will be confirmed at the next Committee meeting:
Easter Bonnet – Friday 14th or Thursday 20th March. Invites to be sent to parents with the invoices after Half term. Raffle will be held. Michelle to get a present for the cleaner at Holtwood Hall
May Fayre – Saturday 17th May
Sponsored Bike Ride/Teddy Bears Picnic - Friday 20th June
Sports Day - Friday 4th July. Kim to take Group photos
Summer Outing – Friday 18th or Monday 21st July
Leavers Party - Tuesday 22nd July
10 Staffing
Mandy Jones is leaving at the February half term and interviews for her replacement will take place next week. Tina Symes, cleaner, is leaving at the end of January and so far there have been no applicants for this position. Mary Marsh, SEN support worker for one of our children, left at the end of December.
Kerry Curchin joined the staff in October and has settled in well. Nicky Healey has a temporary contract for 7 hours per week. Kate Paddy (Surestart Bank Staff) has also joined the staff to cover ASC hours for Sue Lambert and SEN support work for one of our children.
11 Any other Business
Carol Potter requested that parents be reminded of start and finish times for each of the sessions as there are some problems with children arriving for Early Birds before the Breakfast Club have left for school.
Jill Maidment informed the Committee that Acorn Club will start on Friday 6th June and will run for 6 weeks as usual.
It was agreed that a ‘Spring clean’ would be carried out by the Committee at the end of the Summer holiday and again at Christmas, when there is no Holiday Club.
Carol Potter and Carol Cross to review whether Friday would be a better day for the Photographer to visit in the Autumn term as there is no Caterpillar session on this day.
Ofsted have informed the Committee that a record should be kept of any injuries that a child comes into the setting with and parents should sign this record confirming that the information is correct. Chris agreed to help with the wording of this request for information from parents.
The main sewerage pipe is being put through Gaunts Common village in February and it is anticipated there may be some problems with access.
Michelle informed the Committee that there are now recycling facilities available at Holt Football Club and it was agreed parents be made aware of this on the next Newsletter.
Kim suggested that the Committee could set up a ‘100 Club’ in order to raise funds for the group. 100 tickets would be on sale at a cost of £12 per year for monthly draw prizes. Further investigation into the possibility of setting this up to be undertaken by Kim and it will then be discussed at the next meeting.
Following on from this discussion Steve felt that it is important to fundraise for specific items, not purely to cover running costs.
Chris would like the Committee to consider the installation of an electric gate.
12 Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday 27th February 2008 at 8.00 pm.