AGM MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 2023
CCHS FOR GIRLS OLD GIRLS/ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION AGM,
CCHS DINING ROOM, NORMAN WAY, COLCHESTER, 22 JULY 2023, 11AM
Meeting preceded by tea/coffee and biscuits.
In attendance – 16 members + Kate Stubbs, CCHSG1.
1. APOLOGIES: Tina Powell, Eileen Warner, Margaret Howard (Sparkes), Jenny Crewdson (Lewis), Jenny Dennis (Walling)
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM AND MATTERS ARISING: Unfortunately, minutes of the last AGM had, in error, been omitted from the newsletters sent out this year. However, copies were made available to read on the day and were agreed by a show of hands by all present. A copy of last year’s AGM minutes has been appended to these minutes, with the committee’s apologies.
3. CHAIR’S REPORT (Liz White): All relevant matters have been covered in Jo’s report (see below).
4. SECRETARY’S REPORT ( Jo Edwards): Well, we are back at the School, thanks to Kate Stubbs, who sorted this out for us. We really are enormously grateful. Incorporating our AGM into the Garden Party, which we have done over the last couple of years, was lovely, although we were very reliant on good weather. However, it distanced us from the School, which was wrong. We obviously want to maintain a good, strong, link with our Alma Mater and our annual visits certainly help us to achieve that - as does Kate! I would like to formally record our thanks to her. She is amazing! She really is our link with the School, keeping us up to date with news, writing articles for the Newsletter, attending as many of our events as she can, distributing surplus Newsletters: you name it, she does it. Nothing is too much trouble. Always charming and eminently approachable, she is an absolute gem! Thank you, Kate!
Liz has, again, attended the Leaving Girls’ Assembly to give a short talk about the OGA and to present the School Leaving Award. I will leave Mary to elaborate on that. However, shortly afterwards, I happened to meet a girl who was at that assembly who told me how much she and her friends had enjoyed and appreciated what Liz had said. Apparently they were also highly amused.
We have had several events since the last AGM, making up for lost time! For those who still think of Grey Friars as their school (North Hill is rarely mentioned!) we have had a coffee morning there and another, surprisingly well-attended one, at the Officers’ Club. A select few enjoyed a splendid Chinese lunch and we also returned to the Colchester Institute for lunch as well, sadly to the Balkerne Restaurant rather than the Colne Restaurant which has closed. Such a pity as we liked it very much - and it was cheaper! And, of course, we had our annual garden party at the home of Liz and her husband, Alan, in Lexden Road. It was so good to see Kate and a group of leaving girls there too. We must thank Liz and Di for preparing and serving such gorgeous food, both at the garden party and here today. And we must thank Alan (Liz’s husband) for his hospitality and support.
Jean, of course, apart from being Treasurer, organises our programme and deserves a medal! Thanks to all of them. Mary will report on the School Leaving Award which she administers and the banking nightmare she has had this year, rather reminiscent of the one we had with our main OGA account a few years ago. Running bank accounts for small organisations is fraught with all sorts of unexpected and often totally farcical complications, all supposedly set up to prevent money laundering. In all honesty, do we really look like money launderers? And who in their right mind would use our small, insignificant accounts for such a purpose? Never mind. It’s immensely irritating at the time but, in retrospect, the conversations and correspondence we have had concerning our accounts have been so surreal that all we can do is laugh - and boy, have we laughed! Thank you Mary, for your quiet determination!
Mary also writes amazing Minutes - and she doesn’t lose them either. I will confess that I still haven’t found the ones for the AGM before last. I know I still have them and they will reappear. With the amount of paper I have in my house, as I am heavily involved in other societies as well, it is hardly surprising that I occasionally lose stuff but I admit that I am surprised that the Minutes haven’t turned up yet. I am sorry! Thanks, Mary, you are incredibly efficient and put me to shame.
Liz has produced two Newsletters this year. I will remind you that, despite Liz’s sterling efforts, a Newsletter is only as good as its contributors and I know she would really appreciate more copy! We particularly need news about younger Old Girls. What are you all doing? Where are you working? What amazing experiences have you had? Have you met up with your contemporaries, either just in small groups or a full scale reunion event? Have you recently married or had children? We would also love your memories of your time at school, particularly if you were at Norman Way. Were you involved in a school play with CRGS? As OGA Secretary, I have recently had enquiries about a couple of those. One was about the Knight of the Burning Pestle in the late 1960s, which, by incredible coincidence, was the only school play I was in, so I could answer that but the other was La Belle Helene, which was after my time and I could find nothing about it. Did you take part? If so, please tell us!
We did have an interesting time distributing the e-mailed versions of the first Newsletter this year. Normally Tina does this in her role as Membership Secretary but she was in India with very little internet access. Mary and I struggled. We tried to use the very good and detailed instructions left by Tina, who thought she’d covered every eventuality, but we failed dismally. Neither of us could get the password to work. We managed to contact Tina to confess. And so it was that the Newsletter was distributed to members via a very iffy internet connection from the Muna River in Pune. A definite first for the OGA!
Very sadly, we have lost some Old Girls during the year. We were so sorry to hear of the incredibly sudden death of OGA stalwart Pauline Millatt, who, only a short while before, had been really enjoying herself at the Grey Friars coffee morning. Pauline had four daughters who were all at the School. Mary will report that Pauline left money to the School Leaving Award Fund.
Again, we must be immensely proud of our association with the School. I was contacted by a Sixth Former a few months ago. She wanted some information about the Dutch Quarter that she thought I might have as she was writing about it as part of her ‘A’ level Geography coursework. I did have the information she wanted and arranged to meet her - at Grey Friars, of course. We had a long chat and I was able to introduce her to a friend of mine who was able to give her far more detail than I could. I made some suggestions about further sources and left her to it but not before asking whether I could read the essay when she had finished it. She duly contacted me. I read what she had written and was absolutely stunned! It was an extraordinary piece of work. It was at that point that I realised why the School has the results it does. She said that her teachers were wonderful and extremely supportive, which was really good to hear. With a few notable exceptions, I can’t say that I had the same experience, I’m afraid, but, as I have said before, I can happily bask in reflected glory and say ‘I went there!’ when the girls again excel and achieve superb exam results as well as succeeding in all sorts of other challenges. Well done to them all!
Post-meeting update from Jean Johnson: We were sad to read in the Standard (21/7/23) that Ann Heathfield had died. She had moved from Mersea to live with her daughter at St Osyth a few years ago. Our thoughts are with Ann’s family.
5. TREASURER’S REPORT, 2022–2023 Accounts (Jean Johnson): The AGM was postponed last year but I had actually completed the accounts as usual for the end of June, so I have continued that timing, although we are still a few days away from the end of the month. Some members have already paid, and either refunds were given or donations given to the OGA. Although I was not at the AGM I had suggested that we give the School Leaving Trust Fund a donation and this was duly passed by members. This year I realised we had been rather generous and am rather horrified to see that we have had to transfer quite a lot of money from our savings account to our current account. £400 was, of course, for the School Leaving Fund, and just over £200 was to pay for money owing from the previous year (the latter was mentioned in last year’s accounts). The annual insurance bill is an additional cost.
You will see that by subsidising the Grey Friars Coffee Morning we lost over £30. The Colchester Institute lunch, Bamboo House Lunch and the Colchester Officers’ Club Coffee Morning more or less broke even, and we are grateful to Liz for making us an approx. £20 profit on the Garden Party.
This year, we have offered Grey Friars Coffee Morning at the price they have quoted - £10 – albeit with only 2 cakes instead of 3, but still unlimited coffee or tea, and we will assess whether the increased price makes a difference to the numbers attending.
There is a notable absence of income from printed newsletters, probably because the over 80’s are sent one free. We still have printing, stationery and postage costs to cover the events and newsletter mailings. In view of this sad look at our finances this year, I am proposing that if we have a collection today the amount raised is donated to the OGA funds rather than to the School Leaving Fund, I will leave Mary to tell you about my reasoning for that when she talks to you.
There are some copies of the accounts circulating (also appended), and if there are any questions please feel free to ask.
QUESTIONS ON THE DAY:
1. Monica asked if Grey Friars is the best location for a coffee morning if it is so expensive. Those present thought that as there are so many OGA members who have fond memories of Grey Friars, and as there is always such a good turn-out at this venue, we should continue for the time being.
2. There were no objections to donations collected at the AGM going to OGA funds this year. Jo stressed that anyone who wanted to donate to the School Leaving Fund was, of course, still welcome to do so!
6. SCHOOL LEAVING AWARD 2022/23 (Mary Softley (Rickard)): Every year, the School is asked to nominate a student who has made extra effort outside of their studies, or has who supported fellow students, overcome personal difficulties, or displayed some similar qualities of merit – this is not an academic achievement award. The Association currently awards £100 to the chosen student, presented by Liz White at their end-of-year Leavers’ Assembly.
This year, the School chose Kaavya Chandrasekar. She was nominated for her activities as Charities Co-ordinator for the Head Student Team and for her extensive work outside school as a volunteer for St. John’s Ambulance. She has also co-ordinated the involvement of St. John’s Ambulance volunteers in training CCHSG students in first aid.
The School Leaving Fund was becoming severely depleted and last year at the AGM, it was agreed that £400 of the Old Girls’ Association income should be transferred to the School Leaving Award Fund. In addition, a collection held at the last AGM raised a further and very generous £120: thank you everyone. More significantly, following the sad passing of the much-missed Pauline Millatt, her family passed on a very generous bequest to the School Leaving Fund. Pauline’s kindness will enable us to continue to issue the award for many more years than we had anticipated. We are humbled and most grateful to Pauline and send our thanks and best wishes to her family.
This all means that as of 8th June 2023, the School Leaving Fund total sits at £2,142.52. This does take into account this year’s award to Kaavya. When updating the bank with details of my married surname, it transpired that NatWest were also holding incorrect details concerning the principal contacts for the account, despite having been informed in writing several years ago. It has proved very difficult and time-consuming to provide the evidence that they require, but (hopefully) this has now been done.
Post-meeting update – text of the letter of thanks from Kaavya. (Kaavya’sletter and photographs in Autumn 2023 Newsletter)
7. REPORT FROM THE SCHOOL (Kate Stubbs, Marketing & Communications Manager, CCHSG): Kate thanked the OGA for the presentation of the School Leaving Award by Liz to Kaavya. She told us that the students especially enjoyed Liz’s talk at their leaving assembly and were appreciative that the OGA were also encouraging non-academic aspirations and achievements amongst students. Kaavya Chandrasekar was most grateful to have been nominated for this year’s School Leaving Award and has written a letter of thanks to the OGA. She hopes to attend this year’s Garden Party on 8th September.
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We were reminded that the School publishes a regular newsletter on their website: https://www.cchsg.com/. Old Girls are encouraged to take a look, to find out what goes on at the School today, including their many non-academic activities. The School’s prospectuses can also be found here. Excitingly, the website includes access to a drone tour of the School (both outside and indoors!). Kate played this video to us at the end of the meeting, but it can also be found on the website here. There is also a video presentation of the School Sixth Form virtual open evening, again played to members at the end of the meeting, but available to view here.
Future School productions will be advertised on the website and Kate advised that Old Girls would be welcome to attend. The School has expanded considerably in recent years – from 750 students when Kate first started working at the School, to 1,200 students today. There is now six-form entry at year 7 (192 students), with 650 hopeful students sitting the entrance examination this year. In an effort to widen participation from feeder schools, and to encourage students who might not otherwise apply, CCHSG run an outreach programme to give confidence to those considering sitting the entrance exam. There are also currently 260 students in the 6th form.
At present, CCHSG students travel from as far away as Hackney. This means that they are subjected to a very long day. It is also considered that parents are less likely to attend events and the students themselves unlikely to participate in extra-curricular activities. The School’s admissions policy will therefore be changing in 2025: there will be a preference for applicants living within 12 miles of the School (i.e. a lower entrance exam score will be accepted from these students), although anyone from outside this zone will still able to apply. They hope that this change in policy will help to re-introduce more local families to the School. Full details of the admissions policies are available to read on the School’s website.
8. WEB SITE (Tina Powell): Tina was unable to attend the AGM but had no matters to report. Newsletters are added to the site when published. Current and past newsletters can also be found here. Members are encouraged to send in anything relevant to the Committee for inclusion on the website, or for the Newsletters.
The members are also reminded that the OGA/Alumnae Association host a Facebook page – search @CchsAlumnae in your preferred search engine.
9. MOTIONS: None received
10. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: There were no new nominations or expressions of interest. The existing Officers confirmed that they were all willing to stand in their current posts for another year if the members wished.
CHAIR – LIZ WHITE (BAILEY) (1960-66)
SECRETARY – JO EDWARDS (MABBITT) (1960-68)
TREASURER – JEAN JOHNSON (CUTHEW) (1951-56)
COMMITTEE – TINA POWELL (1968-75)
MARY SOFTLEY (RICKARD) (1969-76)
Proposed – Diana Rowe; Seconded – Christine Pettitt and Di Childs
The members present thanked the committee for all their hard work over the last year.
11. ANY OTHER AGM BUSINESS
1. Monica had some information about the daughter of a CCHS Old Girl, Vivien Baldry. Vivien’s daughter, Rue Baldry, has recently been given the Commonwealth Short Story prize. Monica hopes to write a piece about this for inclusion in the next newsletter.
2. Monica has been working on a memories project for Wakes Colne, including voice recordings. Three of the group are CCHS Old Girls and they are planning on talking about their memories of the School at their next meeting. They have borrowed professional recording equipment from Colchester Recalled. Everyone involved has had to agree to their voices being recorded and their stories are going to be archived at the Essex Records Office/Essex University (considered more appropriate repositories than the Society itself, as the valuable resource should persist, even if the group is disbanded in the future).
Monica rightly considers that residual knowledge and priceless memories are being lost. She had the exciting idea of recording the vocal history and memories of CCHS Old Girls in a similar manner. It would be a lot of work but might be something that the current School management could facilitate. It would also be an interesting project for any ‘budding journalist’ students at the School, as well as an incredibly valuable, historic and social resource.
Those present asked Kate if she thought it might be something that the School would be interested in facilitating as a joint and collaborative project between CCHSG and the OGA. This would be a good way to build on the links between the two organisations. The School may also have access to the high quality recording equipment and suitable data storage requirements. Those present were enthused about Monica’s idea, which immediately invoked many memories of school, including the terror that Miss King might have discovered girls eating doughnuts in the street whilst walking in their uniforms between sites!
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Action – Kate Stubbs will investigate further and report back to the OGA.
12. DATE AND VENUE FOR THE 2024 AGM: It was agreed that the committee would discuss suitable options at their next meeting and agree a final date with the School. Members will then be notified. All present thanked Liz and Di for all their hard work catering so deliciously, much appreciated by all!
The meeting concluded with videos from Kate Stubbs (drone tour of the School and sixth form virtual open evening), followed by a delicious lunch from Liz and Di.
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