Newbridge Primary School Association
No, legally-speaking the NPSA is a registered charity (Charity no. 1014793) and not a PTA (parent teacher association). We are required to have charitable status because we raise more than £5,000 per year.
The reality is that Government funding does not cover the cost of everything the school needs. Once salaries are paid and essential costs are covered, there is little left over for new equipment and for extra events and activities that support our children’s learning and development. The NPSA aims to help fill this gap.
Every parent or carer of a child at Newbridge Primary School is automatically a member of the NPSA, as are all members of teaching staff at the school. Other people with an interest in the school who support the objectives of the NPSA e.g. grandparents, support staff, local residents, can apply to the Committee to become ‘Friends of the School’ and members of the NPSA if they would like to. They are entitled to participate fully as members, with the exception that they cannot hold the office of Chair.
NPSA meetings are held at least once per term (that is, 6x in the school year). They are held at school in the evening; all NPSA members are welcome to attend.
Dates of meetings are publicised in the NPSA newsletter, and sent directly to all class reps, along with an agenda. All class reps are encouraged to share the agenda with parents in their class, so that parents can either attend the meeting, or contribute via an email or via their class rep.
Minutes of NPSA meetings are circulated directly to all meeting attendees, and to all members of the school community via class reps. The minutes are also available here
The NPSA is run by a Committee.
Collectively, the Committee aims to organise sufficient fundraising events throughout the year to enable the NPSA to meet its ongoing financial commitments as well as the funding objectives identified by the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) at the start of each year. In particular, and as a minimum, the Committee undertakes to organise an annual Christmas Fair and Summer Fair.
Although event organisation is undertaken by the Committee, it should be noted that events can only take place with sufficient volunteer support from the wider school community to run them.
To become a member of the NPSA Committee, you need to be nominated and seconded for your preferred role (you can nominate yourself) and voted in by a majority of those attending the AGM, or attending an ordinary NPSA meeting if a vacancy arises at another time of year.
On being elected to the Committee, all newly appointed members will have a handover and brief induction with the previous incumbent of their role. They will also be given access to the NPSA Dropbox folders, which is where all the NPSA documentation is filed.
As a Committee member, you are required to attend termly meetings.
If you are interested in joining the Committee, it is a good idea to attend meetings and volunteer at events, to get an understanding of how the NPSA works and where your skills might best fit. You can find out more about the available roles by emailing npsabath@gmail.com and requesting a job description.
Committee members are automatically Trustees, other Trustees are usually former Committee members and/or those who are very active volunteers.
Trustees share responsibility for governing the charity and directing how it is managed and run. The 6 main duties as defined by The Charity Commission are:
1. Ensure your charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit
2. Comply with your charity’s governing document and the law
3. Act in your charity’s best interests
4. Manage your charity’s resources responsibly
5. Act with reasonable care and skill
6. Ensure your charity is accountable
If you are interested in becoming a Trustee, please email npsabath@gmail.com
You can find a current list of Trustees here and this information is also published on the Charity Commission website.
The Board of Governors is separate from the NPSA.
The Governors work closely with the school to advise and support but also to hold the school accountable for financial performance, educational performance and to ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction. As many of the Governors are current Newbridge Primary School parents, there is usually a Governor representative involved in NPSA meetings, and we aim always to have a ‘link’ Governor to ensure good communication between the Governing body and the NPSA.
No, there are not. All roles are voluntary and all money donated and fundraised goes directly to the school, after costs.
You can find an up-to-date list of class reps here.
The role of the class rep is to share information from the NPSA and to coordinate volunteers to help support events.
Some reps do more than this e.g. providing reminders about forest school, PE, parents evening booking etc; sharing information from class teachers; organising nights out. However, the primary role of the rep is as a conduit to share information and to give your class a voice at NPSA meetings.
You can find out about the role of class rep in the document below.
If your class has only one rep, then perhaps ask her/him if they would like some support – the answer is usually yes!
Attending NPSA meetings, which all parents/carers are welcome to do, will enable you to see how the NPSA functions. At the end of the school year, your class rep should ask to see if anyone else would like to take on the role for the following year, and that will give you an opportunity to put your name forward.
Everyone is welcome! Taking an active part in the NPSA is a great way to meet new people, especially from other classes/year groups. You can find out more about how to get involved here.
If you have a fundraising idea and you are prepared to get involved in making it happen, please email npsabath@gmail.com or speak to your class rep.
New ideas are always welcome and often very successful – recent examples include the Scarecrow Trail (now an annual event), the Comedy & Curry night, a ceilidh, the Pumpkin Competition, and Winter Windowland – but please do bear in mind that it isn’t always possible to implement an idea. The Committee will consider all suggestions and provide clear feedback if for any reason it is not possible to go ahead.
Yes, there are lots of ways to ‘do your bit’.
Our primary aim is fundraising, and there are lots of ways to contribute – some don’t even cost you anything!
- Sign up to Amazon Smile and The Giving Machine
- Join the 100 Club
- Attend events, buy or bake for your class cake sale – take part wherever you can
- Donate to Bag2School when those dates are publicised in the newsletter
- Read the newsletter so you know what is going on and can identify opportunities where you can get involved in a way that works for you
Anything you can do will make a difference.
To find out what is going on, read the agenda before the meeting (your class rep can share this with you) and let your class rep know if you have anything you want to add on any of the agenda items, or email your thoughts to npsabath@gmail.com
After a meeting, your class rep should circulate the minutes so you can see what has been agreed, as well as other subjects raised.
The NPSA sends out regular newsletters via email, and that is a great way to find out what is going on and how you can volunteer to help organise events as well as take part in them.
There are also NPSA jobs that can be done remotely and that require only a few hours per month, so do speak to your class rep or email npsabath@gmail.com – volunteers are always welcome.
We do understand that not everyone finds joining things easy, but we really do welcome new volunteers.
We know it can seem like everyone knows everyone and you’re the odd one out, but the regular volunteers know each other because they volunteer, they didn’t volunteer because they knew each other already.
The easiest ways to get involved are:
- Speak to your class rep, and come along with them to a meeting if you can.
- If you don’t know your class rep particularly well, perhaps you can find another parent to come to a meeting with you (we promise we don’t just pick people to run things – turning up to a meeting won’t commit you to anything.)
- Speak to a member of the Committee: they will all offer a warm welcome to new parents.
There is so much each of us can do to support the school: gardening, volunteering on a stall, admin jobs, sourcing raffle prizes, designing posters, helping with the newsletter... Whatever your skills we really could find a use for them.
This can often feel like a barrier, however, there are always people available to help who do know how things work. Also, we provide ‘how to’ guides for annual events and activities so that knowledge is not lost as parents move on. It may feel a bit overwhelming to begin with, but getting stuck in is the best way to learn.
Organising a big event is a significant time commitment, and – being totally honest – can be quite stressful in the run up to it and exhausting on the day. BUT it is also a fun, sociable and creative process, and it is ultimately incredibly rewarding to put together a successful event: to see families enjoying themselves and to raise lots of money is really satisfying.
However, you don’t have to organise a big event, and if you do then you don’t have to do it by yourself.
The best thing to do is start small and volunteer to help on a project or event that interests you – it’s a great way to learn from people who have done it before and see how things work.
The NPSA has a number of annual financial commitments, including:
- Subsidising forest school, and providing a small budget for forest school materials and maintenance
- Subsidising school trips
- Paying for the ‘Twinkl’ subscription
- Paying for the Y6 Life Skills training
- Paying for the Y6 leavers hoodies
In addition, the Committee, Trustees and Headteacher will – at the start of the school year – agree on fundraising priorities for the year ahead. Recently the focus has been on purchasing interactive whiteboards so that there will eventually be one in each classroom. In recent years we have purchased a new reading scheme, and new PCs for some classrooms.
From time to time we accrue funds for larger items such as the Forest School roundhouse.
In addition, teachers are able to submit requests, via the Headteacher, to the Trustees for smaller items of expenditure to support specific aspects of the children’s learning.
Funding priorities are defined by the Headteacher before being discussed and agreed with the Trustees. Provided those priorities are in line with the constitutional objectives of the NPSA, then the Trustees will support the Head’s funding requests.
Have a look a look at the finances here.
The Committee will agree a budget for any event, and the aim is always to ensure that we raise more money than we spend.
We ask for donations or discounts from local suppliers wherever possible e.g. when buying food and drink for a school event, or when putting together prizes for the raffle. From time to time we are fortunate to secure sponsorship from local firms for specific events e.g. Winkworth Estate Agents have previously sponsored Winter Windowland. Where we have to pay for materials for an event, we are careful to ensure prices are reasonable and no waste occurs.
All out-of-pocket expenses can be reclaimed from the NPSA with a valid receipt. We do not, other than in exceptional circumstances, refund travel costs.
The school community is everyone who is involved with the school from parents to carers, family members and friends, as well as former pupils and their families, and our neighbours. The more people who can come to the events the better for the school spirit and the local community. We embrace the school and everything that the people bring to it.
The school’s vision is: That Newbridge Primary School pupils will be academically and socially confident and will take their next steps as caring, creative and healthy young people who will actively and responsibly make a difference to our world.
Engaging with our local community, and contributing to it, is one way in which we can demonstrate the values we want to instil in our children.
Feedback is always useful as it helps us understand what works and what doesn’t, and enables us to improve events in future. In the first instance please email your comments to npsabath@gmail.com
If you are unhappy with something to do with the NPSA or a particular event, please email the Chair directly: katherinewellings@outlook.com
Please bear in mind that NPSA events are organised and run by volunteer parents, not by the school (although all events are planned in conjunction with the school).
Please note that we do not respond to anonymous feedback.
