Help, Commitee Problem !

[fimbo]

we are a sessional pre-school, run by a commitee.

our current commitee will be stepping down from sept, and have managed to find 2 people to replace, a treasurer who's child will not be starting pre school for another 12 months (so we will hardly see the new treasurer ) and a secretary who is not really a 'paperwork' person, and i dont think im being too harsh in saying they are not the sharpest tool in the box.

 

so my worry is -we have no chairperson, we will have a treasurer we will never see (and who doesnt have a child in playgroup -so will not be up to date and current with whats going on day to day) and a secretary (who we will see on a daily basis, but who will not be of much use !)

 

what are we going to do???

 

i know we have to have a commitee -but at what cost ?? i think the people who have offered to take the roles are the only volunteers -so the current commitee have thought they would have to do !!

 

i know its been asked before (but i cant find it !!) but are we able to run without a commitee ?

 

i can see this turning into an almighty mess

[Guest]

(Assuming you're a member) Ring PATA - should be in Business pack though

[Guest jenpercy]

The best comittees are those who you don't see very often and who you just report what you have done to!!!

[Guest]

[Rea]

It depends on your constitution really. Staff can be on the committee these days if you're with the PLA, although they cant be officers and obviously cant vote on some things i.e. wages.

Our commitee is running with me and one other who doesnt really understand much, bless her, but she is good at fundraising events.

In our case I'm slowly looking into changing our status to a Community interest charity, that way we wont need a committee but can remain a charity.

Have you thought about paying an administrator to do all the stuff like booking the room, writing letters, invoices etc?

[Guest]

We used to have problems finding enough people willing to be part of the committee and every year it became more of a struggle to fill the positions. We are now a trust run playgroup which means we can keep our officers in position for four years at a time.

 

We also employ an administrator who deals with the everyday paperwork for the playgroup and also takes minutes etc. at trustee (committee) meetings. Having her has helped a lot as it's taken a lot of the burden off not only the staff but also the trustees.

 

If it's any consolation our chair does very little and is really only a chair by name. We also have only one parent on the board of trustees (out of five members) and although it helps to have that link, I don't believe it's necessary as long as you have committee members who are prepared to pop in and see you from time to time and who are at the end of the phone/email for you.

 

Maybe you could advertise the committee positions in your local area? You might be surprised by who might be interested. There are a lot of community minded people out there.

[Fredbear]

Hi we are also committee run, are you part of PSLA ? if so you can ring for advice. Is your AGM held in September if yes can this be changed to a more suitable time in the year when new parent/carers have settled in and maybe more confident to come on board.

I have to say in all my years at preschool i only once have had to threaten preschool with closure if people were not able to come and help us.

Now PSLA constitution has changed and you previously had to have a larger quorum it is much better now.I also once had fewer than the amount needed to run a AGM, but the very next day was a concert and everyone had attended for this so i basically locked the doors and told them we were now going to hold the meeting, again only had to do it once but it worked. I do feel we need to engage with parent/carers throughout the year and get an idea of people that might like the challenge, plus the fun and frienships that can be made by being on a committee like ours, i have to say we do have great time whilst raising much needed funds.

[fimbo]

The best comittees are those who you don't see very often and who you just report what you have done to!!!

 

 

never thought of that , every cloud eh ?? !

 

tbh we probably do alot of the admin ourselves anyway -the treasurer makes up the invoices, wages and monthly accounts -the secretary takes minuites and types them up (we do all the other letters to parents etc etc).

 

i suppose we will have to see what will happen, i will contact Pata and see what would happen if.....

 

 

thanks as always for the good advice !

[Fredbear]

Sorry got to ask what is PATA

Edited July 14, 2010 by bridger

[thumperrabbit]

We also struggle.

Unfortunately for us our feeder schools have nursery classes, so we don't have many who stay for a 2nd year wiht us anymore. I do think you need a good 6 months as a parent to settle into playgroup life (particulary if it's your first time) and by then you only have a few months left to go before off to school. We look at our waiting list to see if there are any potential people, that can help sometimes

 

Not much help I know, but at least you know you're not alone

[Rea]

We have a box parents can tick on the application form which indicates if they would be interested in joining the commitee. I have to admit to not looking at it very often but thats a job just added to my list!

[Fredbear]

Good idea Rea i love this forum thanks

[Panders]

Is it a strict requirement that the committee member is also a parent of the pre-school? Are there no publicly spirited people in the community that would love to dedicate a little time to help out?

 

One committee run group I am aware of has had the same chairperson for years, she is now in her 70s, similarly the treasurer has been in position for a long time and her children are at primary school and beyond and the administrator is the newest member with a couple of years service. the Supervisor has been there 14 year to my knowledge.

 

They then only have to find 4 committee members from the parents each year, whose roles are not onerous.

 

Could there be any ex-staff you could approach to offer a post on the committee?

 

I know this is probably in an ideal world stuff, but sometimes I guess we cannot expect the parents to have that much interest in the running of the group in some areas and what a shame that is.

 

I became secretary for the pre-school in Norfolk when my son attended their toddler group - we moved before he even got the chance to go to the pre-school! I was looking for something to do - I was in a new area, with my first child and was loving motherhood but missing family and friends and - sadly- working!!!

[Rea]

If you have the PLA constitution parents have to make up 60% of the committee, but you can have people from the local community as co-opted members. I think I was told they have to pay a fee (it can be as littl eas 1p a year) but i've never implemneted it or know anyone who has. There used to be atime when officers had to stand down after 4 years I think but again if its the PLA constitution, thats recently changed. I think they are finally aware that committee run groups are struggling, although they still make it difficult to leave them from what I've read on here.

 

I've just looked at the applications that have come in over the last few months. Out of 20 only 2 have ticked the box!

[finleysmaid]

I have over the last two years taken much of the 'work 'away from the committee...i was beginning to feel that i was taking the mickey asking people to do these jobs for no pay when they were getting rather big. So now we have split the committee into management(governors in effect) and PTA. One of my members of staff wanted to work from home a bit more as her mum was ill so she has now taken on the roles for treasurer and admin (though she has a govenor to oversee her) We still have a parent committee member who does the admissions but this will soon be shifted too. So much more simple when your staff are doing it ( and more professional) as she has had training and knows the ins and outs of the business - we have had some great members in the past but also........ !!!

[Smiles]

Always have this problem every year. As a staff memeber I am now on the committee. Thought the minimum was five committee memebers, chair, secretary and tresurer and two others. Usually have to threaten closure if we dont have enough parents come forward. Sad really. Have also given up on parents rota tfor this September.

 

smiles

[lynned55]

The minimum is whatever your constitution says it is. Ours doesn't state a minimum number of members but it does say we need a quorum of at least 3 officers at a meeting to pass any resolutions. So without 3 officers i.e in the OP query with just a Chair & Treasurer we would not be able to pass anything or do anything.