P&C President’s 2021 Annual Report

P&C President’s 2021 Annual Report

 2021, like 2020, has of course been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. At the start of 2021, Fort St slowly emerged from the first wave of the pandemic, even to the point where the IMP were able to present their midyear Concert in June, however shortly afterwards we went into the second lockdown, which has only just lifted. School and P&C activities have been severely disrupted – our children have missed out on not only the usual excursions, sport and music, but major events the P&C would usually have been involved in such as FortFest and the planned presentation of the musical Matilda.  

Despite all this the P&C has pulled together  to support the school  community and  we are pleased to highlight some positive notes: 

Yet again, we are impressed and amazed at how, with calm, uncomplaining, efficiency, Ms McMurray and the Fort St teachers and staff dealt with the complications and vicissitudes of the pandemic. The school smoothly swung into on-line learning mode. Rules and recommendations seemed to change weekly, yet they were able to adapt with a minimum of fuss.  

Last year, Robyn Elmslie and Ethel Talty organised a GoFundMe campaign which raised over $5000 for a thank you lunch and welcome to the new school year breakfast for Fort St Staff. We have just launched a campaign to recognise their efforts this year, and it seems that we on track to raise a similar amount. To help keep spirits up the P&C has distributed chocolates to the staff, as well as a free, high-quality, washable Fort St face mask. 

Our finances are healthy this year, with funds of approximately $325,000 in our accounts. In the first part of the year we spent some time rationalising the P&C’s bank accounts, and setting up some term deposits to maximise interest. I’d like thank our Treasurer Hung Ngo, and Co-Treasurer Kenny Chee Chung for their hard work, as well as our bookkeeper Donna Cormford, and auditor Sara Wickert. 

Particular thanks is owed to Elizabeth Kenyon for her enormous contributions over this year, not only as the fundraising co-ordinator, but across all P&C activities. Thanks also to Robyn Elmslie for organising the Entertainment Book which has been another great fundraising source 

I acknowledge our incredible P&C Secretary Peter Bestel works so hard to make sure that notices go out, everthing is done when it should be, and generally maintains that thin line between order and chaos.

We have been pleased to see Ms McMurray take advantage of the lockdowns to push forward a number of major projects such the new lecture space, sandstone terracing and covered outdoor learning area. The P&C has contributed to these improvements through: 

  • Renovation to library foyer, with new bag storage security cameras, painting and beautiful mural, funded by a Community Building Partnership grant of $23,000 secured for the P&C by Elizabeth Kenyon; 
  • Purchasing materials for the new school kitchen garden, again funded by a $6000 grant from the Inner West Council secured for the P&C by Elizabeth Kenyon 
  • Providing funding for the installation of an outdoor gym, supported by funding from a raffle organised by the P&C 
  • Moving the Uniform Shop to spacious new premises outfitted by volunteer parent labour led by the indefatigable Teresa Matthews and very handy volunteers Tony Canning, Tom Clausius, Helen de Wolfe, Samantha Mar, Felicity Price, Chris Wong, Priscilla Pun, Neroli Butt, Lindsay Badham, Ryan Badham and Christina Wong. 
  • Purchase of 14 Air Purifiers + spare filters to ensure air quality and protect against spread of coronavirus. These will be delivered in January 2022 and donated  to the school for use  in under-ventilated areas. Thanks to Tasha Prabhakar and Sally McCausland for arranging this. 

With events cancelled, and parents unable to enter school grounds for a large part of this year, it has been a struggle to develop and maintain the sense of school community. However, we have had a focus on maintaining and developing our communications channels this year.  

Special thanks to Tracey Chen for running the WeChat channel for Mandarin-speakers, and to Kirrily Druery for her work on the P&C Facebook pages. In order to find out how we can further improve our communications, especially for speakers of languages other than English, Kirrily has also put together a fantastic survey which has just been released in English, Mandarin, Korean and Vietnamese, and which I encourage everyone to respond to. 

Kalanie Prabhakar from the Student Representative Council attended every meeting and did a fantastic job connecting the P&C and the SRC, keeping us updated about their activities and helping us to provide support. 

Following a presentation in July this year by Fort St teachers Jenny Xu and Kylie Salisbury, the P&C sent letters to the NSW Education Minister and other relevant politicians to support a response to the recent Gallop Inquiry into the Future of the Teaching Profession. This inquiry highlighted the current problems afflicting the profession, such as increased administrative burdens, lack of career certainty and low salaries which are deterring potential teachers. The Fort St P&C supported calls by the NSW Teachers Federation to address these problems 

I would like to thank our Uniform Shop manager Gladys Ko for her fantastic work this year – handling the difficulties of adapting to various coronavirus restrictions, dealing with the havoc caused in relation to the fittings for new students, straining the capacity of the online ordering system, and managing the transition to her new premises. Gratitude is also owed to the co-ordinators Teresa Matthews and Suzanne Trimmer, and their volunteers.  

Sally McCausland has continued to organise the Second Hand Uniform Shop which is now integrated into the new premises. Sally has also overseen the handover of the operation of the Second Hand Uniform Shop to the Year 10 SRC, who have volunteered on the stalls this year and  can now decide where and how the funds raised will be spent for the benefit of students. 

 

The P&C’s IMP subcommittee has supported Matt Manchester and his team through another very tough year of lockdowns. The Fort St IMP or instrumental music program, is the largest co-curricular program in the school,  with over 300  students. It is essential to what makes Fort Street  a special place. Unlike many other public school music programs, the IMP has survived this year intact, its membership healthy and ready for bigger things in 2022.  

This year the IMP refined and streamlined its adaptable teaching methods, ensuring that musical tuition was delivered continuously in whatever form was permissible. It also took advantage of the brief windows of opportunity for live music.  In addition to pulling off  band camp in term 1, the IMP also staged the mid year concert. Those of you who were there will remember the atmosphere – the hall jammed to the brim with families, the fabulous performances and the excellent food catered by the school community. Thanks to all  the IMP subcommittee members – Francine Cutler as convenor and the other committee members Suzanne Dang, Adam Murphy, Sally McCausland, Suzanne Trimmer, Lucia Evangelista, Magdalena Rosza, Heather Kelley, and Tania Koit. Thanks also  to  all the parent volunteers who stepped up to assist at camp and the mid year concert in so many ways, in particular Rowena Mabbott for undertaking the huge job of arranging the catering. Tania Koit is stepping in as convenor for 2022 and we know she will do a great job. 

We will shortly be running our elections for the new committee. I encourage everyone to consider nominating themselves for a spot of the committee. It is a great way to see how the school runs, and to make your contribution to the school community. If you have a particular concern or area of interest, it is the best way to bring it to the attention of the P&C and the school.  

Finally I would like to highlight some goals and areas I believe could be the focus of P&C funds, energy and resources in 2022: 

  • Promote the communications survey and use the data to improve our communications across the school community; 
  • Assist with the rescheduled presentation of Matilda in Term 2 of 2022, including running the ticket sales and catering 
  • Continue to fund school improvements: one idea is the possibility of upgrade of the acoustics and sound system in the school hall, and music studios 
  • Develop a school sports strategy, prepare for the return of school sports next year 
  • Reinstitute Information Sessions for 30 mins prior to monthly P&C meetings 
  • Review Digital Devices strategy. 

 Thank  you to everyone for your contributions through the year. I look forward to a better and  brighter 2022.