FOMS

FOMS (Friends of Meonstoke School) is the parent-teacher association for Meonstoke C of E School.

In case you didn’t know, there is a primary education funding crisis in the UK.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said in 2018:

“Removing teaching and support staff is gathering pace, parents are regularly being asked for money, subjects are being dropped from the curriculum, school trips cancelled, books and resources are not being replaced and class sizes are rising.”

This is the bottom line: If you’re new to Meonstoke school or you want to contribute to the kids’ education and make some new friends at the same time – get involved! FOMS is a great place to get all of this.

What do we do?

Our mission is to:

• Maintain a great relationship between the staff, parents, and the wider community;
• Do cool fun things that support the school and advance the education of the pupils attending it, whilst including the children and their families; and
• Help provide facilities, experiences, or items for education at the school (not provided from statutory funds) that are agreed between the committee and the school’s governing body.

 What have we funded recently?

• Weatherproof outdoor classroom
• Sunny spot pond area
• New canopy / play surface outside classrooms 1 & 2
• Updated Year R outdoor area
• African Drumming
• Milk
• Ukulele classes
• School Trips
• The Wizard of Oz production
• Hinduism Workshop
• Nature Day
• Nativity production
• Art Workshop

“Our kids are like sponges at this age and we need to give them as many life-enriching experiences and skills as we can. All it takes is a bit of time, some chit chat, and a big cup of enthusiasm.”

FOMS Chair, Sharon Sherfield.

How do we do it?

Fundraising

FOMS organises a number of annual fundraising events at school and in the local community. Whilst the majority of these raise funds for the school, we also arrange and support fundraising events for other charities and organisations including the Exton/Meonstoke Church Fete.

Annual FOMS events include:

• Christmas Fair (December, at Meon Hall) including a silent auction, raffle and Fire Pit BBQ.
• Quiz night (early in Summer term);
• Film nights;
• School Disco;
• Christmas cards and Tea towels;
• Sports Day games, BBQ and refreshments
• Chit chat, cuppa and cake stall

In addition to helping set up, run, promote, attend and support these fundraising events, parents, family and friends can raise funds for FOMS at no expense to themselves.

Social Events

It’s not just about fundraising, FOMS also aim to build and maintain relationships between the school, parents and the wider community by organising social events. For example, the FOMS Quiz is very well attended by members of the wider community because it’s a great laugh. We are also looking ahead to informal Friday Family gatherings at the Bucks Head beer garden in the summer term and Class Reps usually arrange a night out for parents to get to know one another, particularly in the Reception Year.

Throughout the year, the committee also provide refreshments at school events: AGM; Christmas Show; Sports Day and welcome for in-coming reception parents during a school familiarisation event known as ‘The Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ (end of Summer Term).

Communication is a two-way process!

Why not follow FOMS on Facebook?

There are many ways you can find out what’s going on: social media, Parentmail and, of course, word of mouth.

There are many ways we often source donations for events, such as the bottle stall and raffle hampers at the Christmas Fair or the Chocolate Tombola we’ve run for some years at the Droxford Fair; when children are invited to ‘wear home clothes’ for the day in exchange for a donated item.

FOMS is a great way for new parents to become part of the school community. Between us we have many years of experience of the school and are happy to act as a source of advice, experience, skills and practical help for the governing body, staff and parents and an additional forum for discussions of issues affecting the school.

So if you can’t find your Class Rep, do catch any of us at drop off or collection, and you can always leave a message for us via the school office (adminoffice@meonstoke.hants.sch.uk).

The Committee

A new committee is elected each year at an AGM which takes place in school, straight after drop-off, fairly early in the Autumn Term.

The current committee:

Chair: Sharon Sherfield

Vice-Chair: Lucy Stewart

Treasurer: Danielle Brady-Collins

Angharad Thomas (Secretary)

Harriet Parker (Raffle Manager and Year 1 Rep)

Janet Eason (Reception Rep)

Sophie Milne (Social Media & excellent cake maker!)

Lucia Vasquez (Publicity)

Patti Carter (just stepped down as Co Vice-Chair)

Rebecca Weeks (Ideas generator)

Amanda Conroy (Year 2 Rep)

We need your help:

The committee is always made of those people that resist the temptation to shy away and let someone else do the work, but that means there aren’t many of us, so we need help.

Offers of help are always welcome, particularly at the Christmas Fair which is our biggest fundraising event. We hope you’ll consider joining the committee at some point during your child’s journey through Meonstoke School. Not only are the funds raised essential to the school but it’s a great way to get to know some awesome people!

A new committee is required for September 2020.

The current Chair, Sharon Sherfield will be stepping down along with Lucy Stewart, Vice Chair so it’s so very important that we have a new enthusiastic committee ready to come on board - please consider stepping up and making FOMS a continued success.  Danielle Brady-Collins, Treasurer will be staying on board and will be happy to help guide the team too.