18 Jan Minutes of CF Committee Meeting – 17 January 2020
Present: Lorraine Gerrard, Elizabeth Mackie, Andi Voros, Fran Iannaccone, Georgia Norton, Melanie Solomou, Sarah Wiley, Leon Choueke, Andrew Day, Alan Midgely, Joanna Shakhmin, Marielle Drier, Enrico da Vita, Ayla Us, Leon Choueke, Louise Foulkes.
Silent Disco
- Sales have been very good again.
- The only problem is what we have 90 families waiting. And some feel that it’s unfair because it sells out so fast.
- We are limited in numbers by Fire Regulations
- For next year we could run 3 sessions instead of 2. That might also mean running slightly shorter ones. It’s too late to add an extra session this year.
- It might be possible to have more people in there if all the Fire Exits are accessible. This would involve having an extra volunteer stationed to make sure that nobody goes into the corridors (unless there’s an actual fire, obviously). Leon will find out if there is any leeway here.
Quiz
- The regular quizmaster couldn’t do the original date. It was decided to move the date to the 28th February.
Finance
- Autumn term – main profits from Fireworks (nearly £7k) and Winter Bazaar (c. £3k), £2k from t-shirts, water bottles and hats. Also significant donation to CF. Plus c. £4.5k to LEF including Gift Aid.
- Main expenses are on the playgrounds, green screen and the play
- £58,000 of £75,000 for the playground has been allocated on Phase 1 which is now complete. See also Leon’s updates on the playground below.
- See the other attachment for the full figures.
Playground Phase 2
- The good news is that Haringey Council is finally getting going on with their part of the project.
- The process of tendering for an architect and garden designer has started. Three have been shown around the site and were keen to do the work. Unfortunately only one of the companies submitted a proposal. Leon and Debby Kuypers (Governor) have been involved in looking through their tender document with Haringey.
- The work by Tipping Point proved very useful and was been used to inform Haringey and the tender process.
- Once the planning has been done, it will become clear what extra works CF might need to fund: whatever Haringey won’t cover or some extras.
- The plan is that Phase 2 will run from Aug 2020 to Oct 2020.
- There are a few things leftover from Phase 1. For example, some planters need to be removed, the edging needs checking.
New Building Works – Workshops and Toilets
- The big news is that the toilets on the Junior side need refurbishing. The estimated cost is £80 000 and it’s going to be difficult to find this from the school budget – though that is where it’s supposed to come from.
- We discussed whether families would be happy for money already raised to go towards the toilets. The general opinion was that if the money couldn’t be found elsewhere, it was a good use of funds, as the environment is not nice for the Y3 and Y4 children.
- The ‘Scummy Mummies’ comedy night could be a dedicated toilet fund raiser!
- As well as the toilets, there is a new idea of a workshop. This would be a facility that Darren and Paul could use to build more things on site. It would also double-up as a Design Technology facility for the children. It could be a useful investment for bringing down the cost of work around the school as it will mean that Darren and Paul can do more of it themselves.
- Leon is going to write a proposal for both of these big new projects.
- Leon re-iterated that CF helping to fund the bigger projects is very valuable.
Environmental
- Clean Air Coleridge meeting the school in next couple of weeks re green wall, classroom air quality, and impact of Liveable Crouch End.
- £5k of the c. £7k raised by CAC has been spent on the ivy planting for the green wall, which now runs from the gate on the East side round the corner into Haslemere Road. Although it’s a bit straggly now, hopefully it will fill out once we get into the growing season.
- There are still lots of good ideas coming in for ways that our events can be greener. These include: solar-powered generator, less colourful fireworks, a Promise stand at the Winter Bazaar where children can get a certificate where they promise to e.g do the washing up, to save on the plastic/pound shop stuff we get so much of. (See also the ideas in the minutes for the meeting on 1st October)
- Reusable and biodegradable cups are now being used
- We’re still looking for the best way to co-ordinate these ideas with the organisation of the events. The more people with green initiatives can be on the committee and/or the teams putting the events together, the more progress we can make.
Steve Howe Night
- Georgia told us that Steve has had to postpone this to the following term as his schedule is really busy.
Cultures of Coleridge
- This is going ahead on Friday 27 March. Miss Foulkes sent out an email to families on 14 January and has had some replies from people interested in doing stalls to represent their culture. If we could all chat to other parents about it and see if they are interested, that would be helpful. The aim is to get participation from a broader range of people and include some new families. It’s not a fund raising event but something to help the school make everyone feel welcome.
Succession Planning
- With Elizabeth looking to step down soon, we agreed that it would be best if she did this in the course of 2020, rather than wait until she’s no longer a parent at the school in 2021!
- We agreed it’s unlikely that anyone will step up to do all the things that Liz currently does. Some of those things could be delegated away from the Chair to other office holders if they were willing. It is a good opportunity to start doing that and reimagine the role to make it a bit more manageable for 1 or 2 people.
- Committee members who’d like to be involved in planning for Life After Liz are thinking of holding a meeting dedicated to that topic. Andy will communicate with everyone about this so if you are interested in being part of that conversation look out for the email.
AOB
- We granted a funding request for the Ally Pally book awards – £150 for a workshop and books.
Andy Day Jan 2020