Parents’ Associations

Brighton College Prep School Association

It's been another successful year for the BCPSA committee. As well as overcoming terrible weather conditions to create two Christmas events - Christmas basket sales and a January fair - the committee also organised an array of social activities for all the children at the end of a long, hard working year.

The committee's job is to fund raise and organise social events throughout the year as well as run regular second hand uniform sales. There are four annual meetings as well as smaller sub committees that run individual projects. We are also a point of interaction between parents and Mr Melia and take relevant questions into committee to which Mr Melia then responds according to school policy. All responses are published in the school newsletter to keep a healthy dialogue between parents and the school.

This academic year the Christmas fair was derailed by snow. After a regretful last minute cancellation due to the horrific weather, the parents' committee rallied and took the decision to split the fair into two events. The gorgeous gift baskets which members had spent a day creating were sold in the hall at the end of the Michaelmas term. Parents flocked to buy these stunning baskets as Christmas gifts for friends and family, creating record sales for this stall. The second part was a rescheduling of the actual fair in January. Children and parents attended in droves despite it being January and enjoyed the wonderful array of stalls, games and activities including an excellent and creative selection of year 8 stalls which were hugely popular as always. The silent auction did very well with some top prizes including a trip to Glyndebourne and a day's sailing course. Many thanks to all those parents and businesses who donated prizes and gifts to the auction and the stalls in general. Without your generosity this event could not take place.

After the money was counted the BCPSA had raised over £8000 for our chosen charities, Tenderfoot school in Kenya and Adventure Unlimited, a local Brighton charity. The cheques were presented to the respective charities at the end of January in a wonderful assembly. The children were able to see firsthand where their efforts go and it was a great moment for all concerned.

Due to the disruption of the Christmas fair there was no second event this year but we are looking forward to the return of quiz night next year. However, one parent, Mr Patel, very kindly supported the Tenderfoot appeal by arranging a wonderful stay at the Grosvenor Hotel in London as a fund raising prize. This boosted our funds and enabled us to further help the charity. It is this kind of action that makes the BCPSA so rewarding.

And so to the end of the year and the childrens' social activities - events that are looked forward to throughout the school. The disco for years 4-7 was a huge hit with all the children dancing until they dropped. Josh spun the decks and kept the kids on the dance floor. The usual fare of hot dogs and juice went down a storm and a great time was had by all. Even some of the parents committee threw some shapes! The year 8s had their usual cinema trip, this year to see Yogi Bear, to celebrate the end of exams and prep school. Popcorn and other treats were consumed with glee.

As well as our chosen charities, BCPSA also raised money for the new sports pavilion, an amazing resource for the whole school. The BCPSA has a healthy balance of funds to put towards next year's event and activities.

The wonderful Margaret Chaudhari has been an excellent Chair and we are now looking for someone to replace her. Margaret has enjoyed her time and says 'It's a great job and an excellent way to really get involved in school life. I'd recommend it to anyone'. If anyone is interested, please get in touch.

Finally, we'd like to thank everyone involved in the committee. Your help and support has been invaluable. Special thanks to Caroline Charman and Zahra Mack who have both been long standing members and without whom the committee would not be what it is today. Also huge thanks to Mr Melia for his support and time to the committee, Miss Hills for her energy and enthusiasm, Miss Nicoll for her innovative ideas, Mr O'Donoghue for his resourceful thinking and all the year 8s for their work on the fair. And of course all the teachers who work so hard behind the scenes to make the BCPSA function so well. We appreciate all your support, especially when you work so hard in the day!

We look forward to another busy and successful year with as much support as possible from all the parents.