Dear Parents/Carers, As you are aware, Friends of St Swithun’s (FOSS) is the PTA of your child’s school. We play a key role in fundraising, organising social events, and bridging the gap between staff and parents. Every year we run several events to raise valuable funds for the school—although not so many this past year for obvious reasons—and with the support of all the parents and children who attend these events we raise approximately £15,000 per year to help the school buy extra resources for all the children to enjoy and use. We have been lucky in recent years that a core team have taken on the roles of organising the events and activities, but this level of responsibility on the individuals is not sustainable. We are desperate to recruit active new members to help with the planning and staging of events, and with both our Secretary and our Treasurer’s recent announcements that they will be standing down at the AGM in June, we also need to fill the necessary Committee posts. FOSS is a registered charity and we require officers to be able to operate, so it is with great regret that the remaining Committee members and active FOSS members are having to seriously consider disbanding the PTA. If you have ever considered getting involved, whether as a part of the Committee or playing a more active part in school events, then we really need you to come forward. Without the PTA there will be no May Fayre, no Christmas Fayre, no Christmas or Summer Raffles, no Fun Run, no Disco, etc. FOSS has provided funding for new Chromebooks for the school, interactive White Boards, the new sensory garden, Twig Hill, and the Saplings all weather garden. We also give regular contributions for PE Bags for the new starters in reception and Christmas presents for KS1 children. These are the kinds of things that the school will have to do without if the PTA disbands. There are many ways to get involved with FOSS, and being part of the PTA needn’t be a large time commitment. We meet on the second Monday of each half term for up to an hour to discuss upcoming events, and beyond that you can choose to be involved as much or as little as you want in terms of helping to plan events or simply volunteering on the day. Please do consider attending the upcoming meeting this Monday 1st March (details below). If you cannot attend—and being working parents ourselves we do fully understand that many of you have demanding work or family commitments, especially in the current circumstances—but would still like to help, please do send an email to friendsofstswithuns@gmail.com. With best wishes, FOSS Committee Zoom Meeting Details Topic: FOSS PTA March 2021 Time: Mar 1, 2021 08:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/92136404002?pwd=OHVIaXRPWE4zcWNvVWNBb3hiOE1WQT09 Meeting ID: 921 3640 4002 Passcode: 2myxM6
The Friends of St Swithun’s PTA (FOSS) is an association made up of all parents and guardians of the children at School. The objective of FOSS is to create and nurture a link between the parents and the school to enrich the pupils' learning experiences and wellbeing.
FOSS raises valuable funds to provide additional resources, facilities and experiences for the school through fundraising activities and events.
How is the PTA organised? In June each year FOSS holds an Annual General Meeting (AGM), which all parents are invited to attend. At this meeting a committee is elected to run the PTA. This is the current committee:
Chair: Emma Slaughter Treasurer: Jane Bull Secretary: Elizabeth Lawson Communications: Claire Blacker
The committee is supported by friends of FOSS, who are parents that are not members of the committee but who regularly give up their time to help at events and get involved with fundraising efforts.
FOSS has regular meetings on the second Monday of each half term. There are also smaller working parties, made up of committee members and friends of FOSS, which meet separately to coordinate individual events.
Get involved FOSS is always keen to welcome new members onto the committee and would love to hear from you if you would like to get involved. We appreciate that not everyone can make this kind of commitment, so there are also lots of roles for people who would prefer a job related to a particular event or would just like to help out as needed, the friends of FOSS are an essential part of the team.
Please contact us if you want to get involved.
Contact You can contact FOSS via friendsofstswithuns@gmail.com or Facebook @friendsofstswithuns. You can also complete a ‘get involved’ form available from the school reception or can be downloaded below to receive email updates from FOSS. FOSS Get Involved About FOSS