St. Augustine’s Frimley PTA Constitution

1. The Parent/Teacher Association formerly known as “The Friends of St. Augustine’s Catholic Primary School” shall be changed to “St Augustine’s Frimley PTA” following a majority vote at the Committee AGM held on 24th September 2013.
2. The object of the Association is to advance the education of the pupils of the School by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities for education at the School (not normally provided by the Local Education Authority) and as an ancillary thereto and in furtherance of this object the Association may:
a. Foster more extended relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the School, and
b. Engage in activities which support the School and advance the education of the pupils attending it.
3. All parents and guardians with children at the School together with teaching staff shall automatically become members of the Association. Others interested in the School may be accepted and shall be entitled to full membership with the exception that they may not hold office although they may serve on the committee.
4. The President of the Association shall be the Head Teacher.
5. The Chair shall be a parent with a child at the school. The Chair shall be responsible for the conduct at all Annual General Meetings, Extraordinary General Meetings and full committee meetings.
6. The Association shall be managed by an Executive Committee consisting of the Chair, Vice Chair, Hon. Secretary, Treasurer and at least 4 members, plus two members of staff. Nomination and election of Officers and members of the Executive Committee shall take place at an Annual General Meeting. The staff members shall be the choice of the staff. The aim of the committee is to have at least one representative from each of the Catholic parishes which the school serves.
7. All elected Committee members shall retire after a period of one year. Retiring members shall be eligible for re-election. The Officers of the Executive Committee (Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary) shall not stand in any position for more than 3 successive years unless approved otherwise at an Annual General Meeting.
8. The Committee will be vested with powers to appoint Officers and Committee members if vacancies occur during the school year. If deemed necessary, the Committee may also co-opt additional members at their absolute discretion.
9.
a. 7 members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for
meetings.
b. 10 members of the Association shall constitute a quorum at the Annual
General Meeting.

10.Association funds shall be administered by the Committee. The Committee shall apply the funds having regard to the aims of the Association. Cheques drawn by the Association shall bear the signatures of 2 of the following: Chair, Vice Chair, Hon. Secretary, and Hon. Treasurer.
11.
a. The Secretary shall keep a record of all proceedings and resolutions which
are passed.
b. The Treasurer shall keep a full and proper account of all monies paid to
and by the Association. These accounts shall be made up to 31st August each year and submitted to an independent Auditor in sufficient time to enable these accounts to be presented to the Annual General Meeting. The current details of income and expenditure shall be reported at each Committee meeting.
12.
a. The Committee shall have the power to appoint Sub-Committees/working
parties as necessary to deal with special projects. Minutes shall be made of all action and proceedings of such Sub-Committees/working parties. A report shall be made to the Committee as soon as possible.
b. The Chair of any Sub-Committee/working party shall be a member of the Executive Committee.
13.Not more than two persons from any one family shall be members of the Executive Committee. Not more than one person from each family shall be elected an officer.
14.Committee meetings shall take place at least twice a term. In addition, one Open Committee Meeting shall be held once a term.
15.
a. The Annual General Meeting shall be held in the Autumn of each year.
b. The Annual General Meeting shall transact the following business:
(1) receive reports from the Officers on the work of the
Association in the previous year.
(2) elect the Executive Committee for the new year
c. Notice of the resolutions to be discussed must be received in writing by the Secretary at least 7 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.
d. At least 14 days notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to the parents of children in the school.
16.An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association may be convened at any time by the elected Committee or by written notice to the Secretary by any 10 members of the Association not less than 14 days preceding the date fixed for such a meeting. Agenda and motions submitted shall be circulated to all members.

17.No alterations of the rules may be made except at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting called for this purpose. No alternations or amendments shall be made to the ‘objects’ clause or ‘dissolution’ clause which would cause the Association to cease to be charity at law.
18.The Association may be dissolved following a majority decision at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting.
19.Any assets remaining on dissolution of the Association after satisfying outstanding liabilities shall not be distributed amongst members of the Association, but shall be given to the School for the benefit of the children of the School in any manner which is exclusively charitable at law.
20.
a. Any matter not provided for in the Constitution shall be dealt with by the Committee, whose decision shall be deemed final. Such decision must be reached by a majority vote following a ballot of all registered committee members.
b. Any such matter which relates to the dispersion or donation of any funds of the Association shall be limited such that only children of the school may benefit from any such dispersion or donation and in a manner which is exclusively charitable at law.
c. Any monies raised or activities organised to be shared with or raised for another charity or cause shall be agreed by majority vote by the committee members present at the time of the vote. The other charity or cause will be clearly communicated in all relevant correspondence and advertising prior to the event.
d. The Head Teacher shall be responsible for identifying those facilities for which funding is required to enable acquisition or improvement to existing facilities and shall have the ultimate decision on designating priorities for such acquisitions or improvements.
21.No member of the Association shall purport to represent the Association in any way whatsoever except with the express authority of the Committee to do so.
~ October 2014 ~