Braidwood Central School

The BCS P&C has a very important and diverse role within the Braidwood Central School community, providing parents and carers with the opportunity to understand, become involved with, and contribute to, a number of important aspects of their children’s education.

The P&C provides a means for parents and citizens to meet, to discuss the needs of the school community, to promote the interests of the school, to run the school canteen, and to carry out fund raising activities to assist in providing resources and equipment for the school.

The latest news from the P&C, including upcoming events, calls for volunteers, and announcements about forthcoming meetings are published in the BCS newsletter.

If you have any questions or feedback relating to the activities of the P&C, please feel free to contact the P&C committee. Contact details for all current P&C committee members can be obtained from the school front office.

Office bearers 2008-09

President:		Bidda Jones
Vice-Presidents:		Cathy Owen Noelene Cargill
Secretary:		Belinda Lawson
Treasurer:		Jenny Daniher

The P&C usually meets on Wednesdays in Weeks 3 and 8 of each term. Meetings are held at 7.00 pm, normally in the BCS School Library unless otherwise advertised. We need a minimum of 5 members to hold a meeting (a quorum).

We are a dedicated but small group, so new faces are always very welcome. Remember, it’s your school too – if you want to have a say, help out and get involved in P&C activities, then the best place to start is by coming to a meeting.

If you are unable to come to meetings, but you would like an issue raised on your behalf, you should contact a member of the P&C committee or leave a message with the school front office.

Annual General Meeting
The AGM of the BCS P&C is held in Week 8 of Term 1 each year. At the AGM elections are held for the positions of President, Vice-President (2 positions are available), Secretary and Treasurer. This group, known as the office bearers, together with up to six elected financial members form the Executive Committee.

Information on the roles of P&C office bearers is provided on the NSW P&C Federation website.

Voting
To be eligible to vote at P&C meetings you need to have been registered as a current financial member at the last meeting of the P&C prior to voting. You can become a financial member by making a gold coin payment via the school office or directly to the P&C Treasurer. The Secretary keeps a list of all current financial members. Payment for membership is required annually.

The school canteen is run as a service to the school community by the P&C. The canteen is open every day at recess and lunchtime. Lunch orders can be placed at the front office in the morning before school starts, or directly at the canteen at recess.

Lunch orders should be written on a paper bag with the student’s class and name.

The current canteen menu and price list can be downloaded here.

The canteen aims to provide nutritious food at a reasonable cost, while catering for the needs of students from Kindergarten to Year 12. In addition, the menu is designed to meet the requirements of the Fresh Tastes at School NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy.

To keep the canteen going, the P&C needs volunteers every day to help out. Helping out involves preparing and serving food for recess and lunch. The work starts at about 9.30 and finishes at 1.30pm. There is always someone else around to work alongside and show you the ropes. Remember, it’s our kids that use this service – please help keep it going by volunteering!

If you have any questions about the canteen, or would like to volunteer to help out, please call the Canteen Manager, Susan Crisp on 4842 2251.

The P&C supports the wearing of school uniform by all BCS students and assists the school in reviewing aspects of the uniform from time to time.

The current primary school uniform requirements can be downloaded here. The current secondary school uniform requirements can be downloaded here.

The P&C values the input of all parents and carers and encourages new (and existing) parents to get involved in school and P&C activities.

The P&C welcomes all new parents to the school community with a morning (mourning) tea at the start of the school year, traditionally held on the first day of school for Kindergarten students.

Prospective parents are also welcome to contact the P&C if they have any questions about the school prior to making a decision to enrol their child.

Each year the P&C puts out a special request to teaching staff to apply for funding for specific projects, to enable the P&C to allocate existing funds and set its main fund-raising targets for the year. Projects that provided long-lasting improvements to the school and that benefited large numbers of students are especially welcomed. In 2008, over $28,000 in total was allocated to a range of different projects including:

The majority of this money was raised over the year, with the remainder coming from funds previously raised and not allocated.

The P&C is grateful to all parents and carers who contribute to improving our school by helping to raise money or by supporting the P&C's various endeavours.

Grant applications and funding for the school
The P&C is also active in applying for and receiving funds for the school through various grant applications to government and other sources. These range from small equipment grants for catering supplies, to major projects such as a grant of $114,620 (plus GST) from the Australian Government Investing in Our Schools Programme to build the kindergarten play area, tree-house adventure playground and outdoor learning centre in 2006-07.

Identifying potential sources of funding and putting together applications for grants, and supervising the use of the funds is a time-consuming process. The P&C is extremely grateful for all the hard work put in by members of the school community that has made these projects possible.

The P&C offers a range of services for catering events ranging from the hiring out of tables and catering supplies, catering for school events, catering for the annual Braidwood Show and providing place settings and decorations for large functions.

A price list for hiring can be downloaded here.

The P&C offers a small grants program to assist individual students to carry out educational activities that are not eligible for financial support from the school.

Grants are available for any amount up to a maximum of $100 per term in total. Applications need to be made in writing to the P&C and will be discussed at the next available meeting. Applications should preferably be made by the student themselves and should include an explanation of the purpose and expected cost of the activity.

NSW Public Schools rely on the support of parents and carers through the P&C as well as through the payment of voluntary contributions (school fees) direct to the school. All voluntary contributions stay within BCS to provide better education opportunities for our children. They provide an important source of funding to the school that supplements the money raised by the P&C.

As a P&C organisation wanting the best for our students, we urge all parents & carers who are able to do so, to make their voluntary contributions and before the end of Term 2. The money raised through voluntary contributions helps the school in the following important areas:

purchasing of additional textbooks
new resources for primary classrooms
new books for the library
more technology – including computers

Parents and citizens who are interested in the achievements of the BCS P&C throughout 2008 can download the annual report here. Previous years' reports are also available: