A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to Caterham School and to the Parents’ Association (“PA”) website. The aim of this note is to give you an overview of the role and objectives of our Association.

The Role of the PA
The main aims of the PA are to foster a feeling of ‘community’ amongst the parents through its social events whilst at the same time raising funds for the benefit of the Pre-Prep, Prep, and Senior schools. The PA Committee meets twice a term and includes parents, members of staff and the Headmasters of both the Senior and Prep schools. In addition, each and every form or tutor group in the school, from nursery to upper sixth, has a parent representative or “Form Rep”. Form Reps also meet twice a term and play a vital role as a link between the Committee and the parent community, thus keeping everyone informed about the various events being organised or issues being discussed.

Our Events
The PA organises a variety of events throughout the school year, culminating with a themed ball at the end of the Summer term which is also attended by pupils from the Upper 6th. This year’s planned events include a Welcome Supper, to give all parents an opportunity to meet new and existing parents, a Fireworks evening and a Christmas Dinner Dance. We also hold a bi-annual Summer Fete the next of which is planned for June 10th 2007. All our events are listed in the school calendar issued to all pupils and event details and application forms can be found via the PA link on the School website.

For the past three years the PA has funded the provision of a School Directory to all families throughout the school. The Directory includes not only pupil contact details but also staff contact details in addition to a wide variety and other useful information. Parental feedback tells us that the Directory is now considered a ‘must have’ for each family and so it is planned to re-issue it again this year as early into the new academic year as possible.

Your Suggestions
We would be delighted to hear your suggestions for fundraising or better still to welcome you as a Form Rep or Committee member. Nomination forms for the Committee are sent out at the end of the Summer term with our notice of the AGM which this year will be held on 19th September 2007. Please do come along and support the PA effort. Your Form Rep will keep you updated and details of the current PA Committee and For Reps are posted on the “contacts” section of this site and in the School Directory.

Our sponsored charity
The PA nominates a chosen charity every two years donating to them a proportion of the profits from our fundraising events. Since September 2006 we are delighted to have been supporting The Garwood Foundation’s Rutherford School an independent day school for 25 children aged 2-12 years in South Croydon. The children have profound and multiple learning difficulties and our support goes a small way to helping to provide just some of the specialised equipment needed by the children. Rutherford School can be found at www.garwoodfoundation.org.uk/centres/rutherford/. Previous chosen charities have included The Croydon Opportunity Pre School Group, The Orpheus Trust and the Lisa Thaxter Trust.

I do hope the above encourages you to want to know more about the Parents’ Association and I look forward to meeting you at one of our forthcoming events.

With best wishes,

Michael Prewer
Chairman
Caterham School Parents’ Association