Welcome from Friends of Lamerton School
We are fortunate at our school to have a PTA that is and has been an integral part of the school community for many years. In its time, the PTA has raised thousands of pounds, which has been spent on equipment, resources, trips and some little extras to enhance our children’s educational experience.
However, our PTA is about much more than simply fundraising. The PTA exists to provide closer links between home and school and it is an excellent way to bring staff, parents, friends and the local community together socially in support of the school, working towards a common goal.
Lamerton School PTA (Friends of Lamerton School/FOLS) is a registered charity, number 1056785.
We are always looking for input and suggestions on what else we can do to support our fabulous school. If you have any comments or suggestions please do not hesitate to let us know. We look forward to hearing from you.
Aims
Our aims are to:
Fundraising
In recent years we have raised incredible amounts of money whilst keeping a balance between this and bringing the community together and providing special events for the children. Our main way of raising money is through a series of regular social events for adults and children which include:
Please refer to the Treasurer’s Report for more specific information.
Your support is vital to the success of the PTA. Without the generous donations and contributions from everyone who attends the PTA events as well as the support of local businesses we would not be able to provide everything that we do.
You can also regularly support our fundraising efforts by using Easyfundraising and Amazon Smile to shop – see below. Please spread the word to your family and friends!
How we use the funds we raise
Mrs Sterry and the FOLS team meet each year and regularly keep in contact to consider and plan our fundraising events and ways in which the funds raised can be used to enrich the children at school. FOLS expenditure each year is usually by means of:
The funds are spent on the ‘extras’ that are not provided by the school’s budget to directly benefit our children. In the last few years, funds have been used to pay for:
Please refer to the Treasurer’s Report for more specific information.
Big Projects have included £1200 spent on new books for school (2017/2018 and 2021), £2000 on Chrome Books (2020).
When a member of the school team wishes to apply for funds from FOLS, they request this from FOLS in writing and this is agreed and approved by key FOLS committee members in accordance with our constitution and processed accordingly.
Keeping you updated
Our Annual General Meeting is held at the beginning of the academic year and provides an opportunity for all parents, staff and friends to come along and hear in more detail about our work, the events we have run, the funds we have raised and how the money has been spent. It is also the occasion when we elect our new committee members and discuss our upcoming fundraising events.
Our subsequent meetings are held at least termly. Minutes of the AGM meetings will be saved on the website and will include a roundup of recent events, details of the total amount raised this school year and any items we have bought for the school.
We will also write to you via Parent Mail and try advertise upcoming events via Facebook so that these can easily be liked and shared with friends.
We will keep you updated after an event to let you know how much was raised, and if we can, we tell you what the money will be spent on. This information will be shared via ParentMail or via the school website.
For informal updates and information, we have a FOLS WhatsApp Group. If you would like to be added to this group, please pass your mobile number to us and we will ensure you are included.
Ways to get involved
Every parent or carer at the school is a member of the PTA and there are lots of ways parents can get involved.
Why we are a Registered Charity?
The Charities Act 1993 requires organisations such as ours with an annual income in excess of £1,000 to register with the Charity Commission. As a Charity we must abide by Charity Commission rules and regulations and we are bound by a Constitution. Our Constitution lays down rules about how we operate as a PTA and how we conduct ourselves. Being a Registered Charity gives us many extra benefits.
Links with local businesses
We have, over time, developed strong links with the local community and are always well supported by both residents and businesses, for which we are very grateful. Many of our local businesses are very generous providing donations for raffle prizes, auction items etc and some have taken part in our Christmas and summer events.
Committee Members
Chair – Esther
In October 2020 Esther became the new chair of FOLS. She loves working with the parents and coming up with ideas to have some fun, raise funds to support the school and give our kids some fantastic experiences.
Esther has her son Fred in Class 1 and her son Jack in Class 2 who love being at Lamerton School. Esther lives with her husband, Adam. She and her family love spending time outside, completing ongoing renovation on their farmhouse and spending time with family and friends. Esther works part time at a local distillery.
Treasurer – Alice
Alice has been the treasurer of FOLS since September 2018. She has her son Rowan in class 1 and her daughter Scarlett has recently left Lamerton to move onto secondary school.
Her role as Treasurer is to maintain accurate financial records and ensure best practice procedures are followed. She provides regular financial updates and end of year reports for our AGM, as well as supporting Esther and Katie to organise and run events. She have just completed an Accounting and Finance degree so has detailed knowledge in relation to accounting for our charity and having completed this now has more time to give to our fundraising activities.
Secretary – Katie
Katie became the secretary of FOLS in September 2021. She has her daughter Evelyn in Class 1.
In her role as Secretary, Katie supports FOLS in organising events and also dealing with the background administration and social media that goes into this. Katie loves organising events for us to enjoy as families and raising money to support our children. Katie works in catering and in the holiday industry as well as helping in school to run our after school club. Katie loves going on adventures with her daughter and seeing friends and family.
Fundraising Events and News
We plan events based upon ideas and feedback from parents. We try to put on a variety of events to reach as many of our school community as possible and not all our events are for profit. There are some firm favourites with the children and parents but always opportunities to try new things.
All our events require a significant amount of planning by the event organisers who give up their free time and skills to ensure the events run as smoothly as possible.
We are always looking for helpers to get involved both on the day and in the planning stages so, if you want to register your interest, please do let us know.
Easyfundraising
One way in which we can all help to raise funds for our children is by using Easyfundraising for any online purchases. Organisations signed up to the scheme can make a donation to our school each time you make purchases. More information can be found on the link below:-
Lamerton CofE (VC) Primary School Fundraising | Easyfundraising
News
We aim to provide information regarding any events that have recently taken place. These may be saved in this section or in the School’s main website. These can also be shared to parents direct via MCAS.