The Parents' Association

The Glendower Parents’ Association was founded in 1986 as an association for parents only (as opposed to a parent/teacher association) and as such staff are not represented on it. The Constitution decrees that the Committee is composed of not less than seven and not more than nine members who shall be elected at the Annual general meeting, with each member having his/her own function and being in charge of a specific area e.g. Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, responsibility for organising the Bookfair, responsibility for arranging Heads’ Night, liasing with Peter Jones regarding queries about school uniform etc. A list of the current Committee Members and their responsibilities appear in the Handbook. These positions are held for a two year term.

The Parents’ Association works through a system of Form Representatives and their Deputies who are appointed annually by each year group. There is one full meeting of the Committee members and Form Reps each term (two in the winter term). The AGM is held in the summer term.

Functions

LIAISON

The Parents’ Association acts as a liaison between the parents and the school on non academic issues only, and issues can be raised by any parent through the Form Representative or a member of the Committee. Examples of the sorts of things that might be raised through the Parents’ Association are:

  • Uniform
  • The development project
  • Food

There is also a notice board inside the basement entrance to the school with useful information – e.g. advertisements of open days at senior schools. Parents may sometimes use the board for notices but all notices must be placed through the School Office.

EVENTS FOR THE CHILDREN

  • Christmas Bazaar– Held in December and open to family and friends. Money raised is given partly to charity and partly to the school for the purchase of luxury items.
  • Book Fair –Held in the spring term in conjunction with a local bookshop which sets up shop in the school for two days, usually in March. Children bring in money and each form has a shopping period when they can come, browse and choose the books they want to buy. Advice is on hand from the staff. The bookshop gives a percentage of takings to the school library and there is also a donations table at which parents can buy a book to be donated to the school library by their daughter. There is an opportunity for parents to visit the Book Fair on each of the days after 3.30 pm.
  • Author visits –The Parents’ Association, in conjunction with the English teaching staff, arranges for one or more children’s authors to come to the school for the day to speak to each year group about their books and the inspiration behind them. The children can buy signed copies of books by the authors.
  • Party –In the summer term the parents of the children who are leaving form 6 organise a leaving party for them. The Parents’ Association gives £300 towards this. There is also a Christmas Party for the Upper school (form 3, 4, 5 and 6) held on the last day of the winter term, which the Parents’ Association similarly organises and contributes to.

EVENTS FOR PARENTS

  • Mrs Bowmanspeaks at the Parents’ Association Meeting once a year. This is usually an evening function in the winter term. Drinks are served.
  • Heads’ Night.This is an evening event, organised by the Parents’ Association usually in the Summer term. The Head Teachers of approximately four senior schools (day and boarding) are invited to come and talk to parents about their schools. Each head will speak for 10- 15 minutes. Questions may then be taken from the floor and there is an opportunity to meet the heads individually at the end of the meeting.
  • Secondhand Uniform Sales.These are held once a term by the Parents’ Association, usually at St Augustine’s Hall on a weekday morning.

FUND-RAISING

The main fund-raising event is the Christmas Bazaar, although the Book Fair also raises some funds for school library.

  • Fund-raising for charity.Each year a charity (or charities) is chosen for the school to support. Recent charities have included the Down Syndrome Educational Trust and the Children’s Trust. A percentage of the proceeds from the Christmas Bazaar (up to 50%) is donated to the chosen charity.
  • Fund-raising for the school.Money raised from the Christmas bazaar which does not go to charity and is not needed to keep the Parents’ Association afloat, goes towards buying luxury items for the school. Each year the individual departments submit a wish-list of things that they would like. The Parents’ Association then agrees with the school on which items should be bought. An example of something recently bought for the school is the new playground equipment and Drama stage scenery.