Chairperson Report 2012/13

Chairperson’s report May 2013

I am pleased to submit my second report as Chairperson of the Westlake Girls High School Parents Forum to the Annual General Meeting.

The last AGM was held on April the 30th 2012. Present were Principal Roz Mexted, 16 parents and Parents Forum members. Nominations were called for Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. The following office holders were elected- Barbara Scholten as Chairperson, Bridgette Ferguson as secretary and Beth Porteous as treasurer.

We are encouraging parents to become members of the Parents Forum because being part of it can be a very rewarding experience as it provides opportunities for you to hear about what is going on in the school, get involved in activities and to hear interesting speakers. It is our goal to bring the school and the community closer together. The number of parents signing up and helping us has increased during our monthly meetings. As some of you might know we work together with the WBHS PTA and supporting each other events. We are also planning another social evening out to increase this relationship.

2012 has been a great year. Our main event in was the “Style Doctors” which was a big success and we all had lots of fun.   Alison and Trudy thought us what to wear and how to wear it.

We would like to thank all the supporters, helpers on the night and the sponsors for all their donations for the raffle.  We raised: $ 2.100. All the funds raised are going towards the PF Hardship Fund. In the beginning of this year we have donated $ 2000.00 to the school and are expecting much more to come. Thank you so much to those who made this event possible.

In November we organized our famous Teachers morning tea. This event gives us the opportunity to thank the teachers for everything they have been doing for our daughters. The staff do many extra hours outside of their contract which enables Westlake Girls to run activities such as sports on the weekend, music events, weekends trip, outdoor educational activities just to name a few. Also here the response from the parents was overwhelming. The decoration was beautiful and the food was amazing. This year it will get even better. This shows how grateful parents are for all the efforts the teachers put in our girls to give them a good grounding for the future.

From beginning 2012 to today, our page on the website has had 6854 visitors, which is incredible and shows that the interest in what we are doing is growing. On our page you can find important information, the dates and times of monthly meetings, upcoming events and the minutes of the previous meetings. Thank you so much Murray Douglas for all your help.

This year we had our first ‘welcome” for the new parents. Doing this enables us to get more parents on board and getting to know their skills. Several of the new parents have already contacted me and are available to help at the upcoming event which are:

-      Our guest speaker for this term is Ro Lange on Tuesday the 28^th of May at 7:30 pm: “Understanding teenage girls’ friendships and friendship conflicts

-      Our main fundraiser will be : Mid Winter Christmas on Friday the 5^th of July at 7:30 pm. More information will be released in the next PF new letter.

Furthermore we are preparing USB sticks with girls in WGHS uniform which will be a long term project. They can also be used at presents, internationals gifts etc.I have printed some pictures so you have an idea what we are talking about. These USB sticks will be available in about 2 months’ time and will be selling for around $ 20.00.

Again this year the funds raised are going towards the PF Hardship Fund.

I would like to thank so many people. First Roz Mexted and all the Senior Leadership Team, thank you so much for your support, kindness and dedication.
Your input and support is fundamental.

My sincere thanks to you PF girls and all the students reps, I would like to thank you all so much. Everything we have done and are doing, would have been impossible without you. We have had a good 2012 and beginning of 2013. You all have made the efforts worthwhile. I know that some of you will continue to be involved and new parents will arrive. Again your support is very much necessary and appreciated.

Thank you and have a lovely evening.