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Seven Hills Meeting
– Wednesday 4th February Present: Alys Mendus, Jenny Owen Apologies: Kath, Ursula, Frederica, Nicola, Kay, Erica (snow and ice made attendance difficult) Agenda: - Update on existing groups and projects - Marketing and Funding issues - Future Projects Updates: Email from Erica with update on Parent and Child groups read out. Points Arising: - Sheffield groups very successful, attended by approx 10-15 people, though fluctuating due to Christmas/bad weather conditions. - Funding issues – for marketing and rent on a new venue. - Venue issues – Still in need of a new venue. Sharrow School manager still unable to commit for length of time. Also hall space is too large, playground is unsuitable to take little ones into, and children need to come into Class 1 classroom to use facilities. However, Erica points out that we need more clarity about what we are looking for and where money will come from to pay for it. ACTION: Need for a working group to co-ordinate? Jenny to ask email out. - ACTION: More materials needed – especially toys, cushions and muslins to decorate and soften the space. (Any donations welcome) - Thanks to Ursula for great and successful doll making workshop. Email from Kath with update on Hathersage, and business plan for new Kindergarten read out. Points arising: - Kath has put together a detailed plan, which was presented to the Tintagel Trust at a meeting last Saturday. The plan involves an outline of the market – currently no such provision in the area; potential staffing costs and staffing structure; other costs and details of venues, and general progress of the project. - New potential venue is Hathersage Business Park, which has several empty lots and is an ideal space. Kath is liaising with Michael Shuttleworth to look into this. - Costs for setting up here, including a year’s rent are £7500. Tintagel were encouraging and offered support, but suggest definite need to contact Freeman for help as well. - ACTION: Freeman College to be approached for help with set up costs for the Hathersage Kindergarten, Alys to contact. - Group in process of joining the Preschool Alliance. - The toys used in the Hathersage and Sheffield groups are now insured. - Will be called ‘Hathersage Steiner Kindergarten’ - Kath currently doing a lot of research and administrative work to get the kindergarten off the ground. Tintagel very supportive, and are paying her £1000 for the work she has done, and is continuing to do. Update on Alys’ group provided. Points Arising: - Longshaw group still very successful, beautiful space. Now only on the last Monday of each month – group is in Hathersage Memorial Hall all other Mondays, also a great space. - Tuesday & Wednesday Group – Attendance is very sporadic, with many parents unable to commit to the necessary amount of sessions to make the group viable. Only one child lives in walking distance of the school, others come from a wide variety of areas across Sheffield, Beeley, Doncaster, Bradwell, Buxton and more. - Group works very well when attended by 7 or more children, as occasionally it is. - But often it is under attended, meaning that the large amount of work that has gone in to planning the session cannot be put to full use. - This is partly due to parents all home-schooling, so committing to an ongoing structured lesson system does not appeal. - Venue issues – venue is not entirely suitable, for same reasons as with P&C group. - Alys is currently spending a vast amount of time planning and delivering lessons, and running the admin side of the group: collecting fees, marketing the group, liaising with Tintagel and Freeman College. This is mostly done with no payment, although Tintagel have again agreed to give Alys £1000 as a part payment towards the work she has done. - The group will end in its current format on 11th Feb. There is a possibility it could continue into March, but would probably need to be in a different location, closer to the children who attend, or possibly roaming? ACTION: please contact Alys if you are willing to commit to bringing your child to such a group, stating your preferences and how long you can commit for. Jenny to add this to general email. - If the group were to continue money would be needed for materials, venue hire and teacher wages. Other points: It was agreed that there is a lot of energy and demand in the Peak District for the creation of a kindergarten. It was agreed that Seven Hills should offer its full support to this movement, whilst also wanting to express its recognition of the need for a Sheffield Kindergarten, and its willingness to support any movements in this direction. It is felt that two kindergartens would be a great step towards the creation of a school in Sheffield or Hathersage. There are currently enough children attending the parent and child group in Sheffield to necessitate a kindergarten. This would provide more children for a School group, overcoming the existing problem that there are just not enough children attending from the Home School Network to make the group viable. Open Day: It was also suggested that holding an Open Day in the school holidays so that parents of children in mainstream education could attend, would be a good way to recruit people for a full week schedule. However there are several problems with this: 1. The group is not currently strong enough to support an Open Day. 2. It is felt that moving towards a five day schedule would be essential to recruit children who are currently in mainstream school. However the current venue is not available for 5 days, and as previously mentioned, it is unsuitable for our needs in the long term. 3. We are unsure whether there are enough people with the energy/time in Sheffield to undertake the lengthy process of applying to become a school. Funding: Several suggestions were made to increase funds: - ACTION: Jenny to apply to the University RAG (Raising and Giving) Society for extra funding. The Society supports charities and community groups in the local area. If we do get finding e.g. towards setting up the kindy, or supporting the parent & child groups, we will be able to do a free press release through the University, going out to local papers and radio stations. - The bank account situation needs to be looked into further. It was suggested that one way to raise money is to encourage Seven Hills members and supporters to make monthly standing orders to the group, for whatever they feel they can afford. ACTION: Erica to carry on with process of opening an account. - Sarah Jay has offered to organise a fundraising gig possibly at Burton St. Project. ACTION: Jenny to ask her about this at school. Business Plan - Noted necessity for creating a good business plan for the Sheffield movement, if we are to apply for funding etc. Constitution - Needs updating – to discuss at next meeting when more people present. Venue The main problem for the Sheffield groups is still the venue. In order to start and kindergarten, and to ensure the future of the Parent and Child groups, we do need a new venue. - The cost of rent for this should hopefully be covered by Freeman College: they did initially offer to give us the amount they would have spent on rent for the old Kindy space. However, obviously the cheaper the venue is the better. - It would also need to have toilet and kitchen facilities, and space outside, or nearby for children to play. ACTION: If anyone knows of anywhere please let us know. Email to ask people to spread the word. Working group to help move this forward? |