Friends of St Mary’s School (FOSMs) is a charity that exists to support St Mary’s school - helping make St Mary’s community something we are proud and pleased to be a part of as well as raising much needed funds for the school. It is similar to a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) but welcomes all who are associated with the school and school life - Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and family friends are all welcome.

The funds raised by FOSMs allow the school to purchase items or undertake projects that cannot be funded by their central budget. FOSMs purchases many of the subject resources used in school every day such as Twinkl, mathletics and other subscriptions. In previous years we have funded the new playground equipment in the main playground, updated the computer suite and purchased interactive white boards for the school.  The children benefit from the money raised by FOSMs every day.

Use our links to find out more about upcoming events, services run by FOSMs and some fantastic fundraising schemes, which will not cost you a penny!

FOSMs - Who we are and what we do!

FOSMs and its events are kept going by a committed group of volunteers, who give their time behind the scenes. Some of these have official roles and titles (see below) but the bulk of the work is done by parents from every year group who volunteer for all sorts of jobs at the events we run. The time and dedication given by these volunteers to improve the school experience of each St Mary’s pupil is much appreciated and, by its nature, rewarding for parent and child. If you’ve not joined the ranks, please do! 

You can put your hand up to get involved in specific events, come along to the termly meetings, approach anyone you know is already involved such as those below, or email us on fosms.amersham@gmail.com. Whether you can give an hour once in a while to sell ice creams or preparing raffle tickets, or are happy to do more, we’d love to hear from you! 

FOSMs needs YOU to get involved by...

• Come and have some fun at our events, fundraising schemes and services to make them a success!
• helping out setup and clear away events - an hour here and there really helps
• suggesting new ways to raise funds
• helping to organise/run events

Any help is always welcomed and greatly appreciated.

You can get in touch, with any queries, offers, concerns or anything else in the following ways:

• by email to fosms.amersham@gmail.com
• via the FOSMs box in the office reception
• on facebook - it’s a private group so please email us asking to be added
• through your Class Rep
• by attending our meetings
• talking to organisers at any events
• talking directly to the committee anytime 

We’d really love to hear from you!

FOSMs Committee roles

The Friends of St Mary’s – we hope that every person connected with the school is indeed a Friend of it but there are some more defined roles that organise things to ensure this group can serve its purpose.

Chairperson (Lou Hernando) Vice-Chair (Leanne May)

The Chair provides leadership for the Friends, sets the agenda for meetings and manages our termly meetings. The Chair welcomes input from all parties, ensure that issues are properly debated and an agreement is reached. 

We look to the Chair to create a team spirit that welcomes new members from all classes within the school and together we can achieve great things and raise lots of funds.

The Chair is not responsible for every event but should be there to support the lead person on any particular event, helping to gather a team, ensure lessons of the past are passed on etc and ultimately deciding if an event should proceed or not.

The Chair needs to work closely with the Treasurer and Secretary to ensure that FOSMs is run effectively, including writing the annual report in co-operation with the Treasurer.

Secretary (Beckie Gray)

The Secretary deals with any correspondence that the PTA receives and helps the Chair ensure that committee meetings run smoothly. The Secretary applies for licences for events as required (eg alcohol and noise licences).

Key responsibilities:

• write up and circulate the minutes of meetings
• prepare agendas
• call meetings - giving plenty of notice
• keep a record of attendance at meetings
• secure event licences 

Treasurer (Gary Richards)

A key role for all event organisers is to manage and control the funds FOSMs raises. The Treasurer plays a vital part in helping us carry out these duties properly.

The Treasurer should record all income and expenditure. The Treasurer should record details of the amounts received and spent and have the details available for every committee meeting plus:

• the balance of funds
• committed expenditure
• income, expenditure and profit from each event held

If the Treasurer or Deputy Treasurer is unable to attend a committee meeting, a written report should be sent to the Chair ahead of the meeting. The Treasurer also

• liaises with the bank
• pays money into the bank account and reconciles bank statements
• advises the bank of agreed changes to the bank mandate, ie those authorised to sign cheques
• raises and signs cheques with a second committee member co-signing.  The person co-signing must see what is being paid for before signing.  The Treasurer should sign last and keep all original invoices
• withdraws money to provide a cash float for events
• monitors funds held on account and discusses with the bank or building society, the use of higher rate investment accounts.  Any decision to use an investment account, including the amount to be put in the account, should be taken by the whole committee.
• ensure regular payments are made on time to guarantee benefits and take advantage of any discounts
• reimburse agreed expenses incurred by parents on FOSMs business

• maintain the financial records
• count and bank monies at events
• charity registration and Gift Aid
• draw up the annual accounts

Deputy Treasurer (Chris Longman - outgoing)

• To support the PTA Treasurer with controlling the PTA finances
• Attending major events like school fairs to assist with preparation of cash floats, the counting and banking of money raised. 
• Assisting with the collection and banking of incoming funds from various fundraising initiatives.   

Independent Auditor (Seeking new auditor) 

FOSMs submit an annual return to the Charities Commission. The accountant who has done it for us for the last 4 years can no longer and so we are looking for a new volunteer to take on the role. It entails : 

Producing a signed independent auditors report following an audit of the accounts including 

• reviewing the CC16a versus the bank reconciliations and analysis of income & expenses (from Treasurer), 
• reviewing the reconciliation of the Voucher accounts & statements (from Vouchers Coordinator) 
• reviewing copies of Minutes from the 3 FOSMs meetings (from Secretary)
• reviewing the Trustees Annual Report for accuracy
• verifying the FOSM's page on the Charities Commission website is up to date (re current trustees/officeholders/members) 

If you think you could help us please get in touch.

Ordinary Committee Members

Ordinary Committee Members work alongside the Officers, contributing ideas, helping at events, and sometimes running with smaller projects.  They also have an important role to play alongside the Officers of FOSMs in ensuring good communication with the rest of the school, encouraging participation and enthusiasm for events organised. If you are interested in joining the committee, please get in touch at any time.

Supermarket Vouchers Co-ordinator (Beckie Gray)

Members of the scheme have gift cards for either Tesco, Sainsburys, M&S or Waitrose. Each month they pay into the scheme; the money is loaded onto the gift cards generating a 4% or 5% commission for the school.
See the dedicated area for Shop with St Mary’s for more information and details on how to sign up.

Second-Hand Uniform Sales (Sarah Harper)

This is a service for parents providing a much cheaper way of dressing your children for school at just £1 a piece and they also benefit from funds raised.

Please don’t throw away what yours have grown out of, donate their old uniform to our good cause and get the next size up from us too! Donations are welcome via the office throughout the year.

Regular sales are held throughout the year or contact us via the office. 

_{Christmas cards (Lindsey Mitchell)}