P&F Report 2021

Leonie Vincent, Callie Hewitt and Lisa Carrick (Friends of Tennis and P&F Committee)

Matt Brown, Leonie Vincent, Katherine Dewhurst, Lisa Carrick and Anthony Wolfenden (P&F Committee members) Jack McCarthy, Dave Gemari, Nick Walton and Radji Gemeri (Friends of Tennis)

Rach McLeod, Bec Nelson, Ness Hewson, Elise Wallace (Friends of Gymnastics and P&F Committee)

Mrs Katherine Dewhurst

TSS P&F President

Our 2021 year began on a high with the P&F Welcome Cocktail Party with our, Headmaster, Mr Andrew Hawkins, along with Deputy Headmasters Karel Bos, Jo Inglis and Jeff Symms (Head of Preparatory School), all looking forward to the year ahead and welcoming TSS families and boys back to school. Gathering together to celebrate the return to School, drinks flowed as our first support group fundraiser of the year kicked off supported by the Tennis and Gymnastic Support Groups. It was a fun night with everyone catching up after a long hot summer holiday and new families welcomed and encouraged to join in the fun of what promised to be a great year ahead.

Our Term One sports got off to a great start, with the TSS Cricket team winning the GPS Premiership. The Friends of Cricket have always been great supporters of Steven Baker (Director of Cricket) and the TSS Cricket program, funding amongst other things, new cricket nets and more recently, upgrading an area in the Centenary Centre for indoor cricket training.

The Rowing Support group always do an amazing job to support the boys this year has been no exception. They continued with their commitment to feed the boys breakfast and undertake the massive task of catering at Lake Wyaralong, with many rowing parents volunteering to make this happen. The RSG is continuing to fundraise for boats and equipment to support the TSS Rowing program.

The Friends of Sailing also had a great season. Thank you to all the parents that have supported the boys this year. Friends of Sailing have also donated $5,000 towards the purchase of six Tacker boats for the younger boys to use to learn how to sail. The Friends of Prep also contributed $5,000 to this project, with the new boats due to arrive in August.

The Friends of Prep also contributed $40,000 to air-conditioning the Pearce Theatre at the Prep School. This was an outstanding contribution and completed the transformation of this outdoor space into an enclosed useable area for the boys. A big thank you is extended to the Friends of Prep committee for their generosity and commitment to this very important project that will benefit generations of TSS boys to come.

During Term One the P&F contributing over $20,000 to the restoration of the organ in the St Albans Chapel. This is a project that the committee was very passionate about to ensure the repairs were completed in readiness for the 100 year anniversary of the St Albans Chapel this year.

The start of the new school year also saw the opening of the Uniform Store in its new location adjacent to the Ferry Road Car Park. I’m sure we can all agree that Perm-a-Pleat have done a wonderful job with the store fit out and the new store is a great addition to the School.

In store you will also notice that there is a large range of TSS supporter wear that is now available. A big thank you goes to Leonie Vincent from the TSS P&F committee, who has worked hard to source this new range which includes supporter shirts, polos, umbrellas, drink bottles, cooler bags, picnic rugs, towels, rain jackets and chairs. And keep a look out for some other new items that are coming soon.

Term 2 saw many of our Support Groups in action. The Friends of Music supported the Performing Arts Festival at the Senior School with committee members also forming part of the Community Choir at the fantastic

Jen Hawkins and Yvone Faber (Friends of Cricket)

Katherine Dewhurst ( P&F President) and Matt Wright (Past P&F President)

Katherine Dewhurst ( P&F President) and Steve Dewhurst (Friends of Tennis) Lennard and Leisa Blok (Friends of Football) Phantom of the Opera performance. There were also two very successful Prep Music concerts at the Prep School with money raised going towards the Prep Music program.

The Friends of Football also ran a very successful canteen during the Football season with many parents volunteering on the day to help out, which was wonderful to see.

In Term Two each year, the P&F holds its Annual General Meeting where the President and Treasurer report on the previous years’ activities, successes, challenges and financial position. This year, I was voted in as President of the P&F again for a second year and welcomed Richard Melbourne as our new Treasurer and Joy Brown as our new Secretary. Joining us are the P&F committee members for 2021, who are Anthony Wolfenden, Leonie Vincent, Lisa Carrick, Sophie Tompkins and Elise Wallace.

Many thanks go to Matthew Brown, our outgoing Treasurer, who guided the P&F for the past three years and made some important and meaningful changes in the way the P&F operates.

Matt and the previous committee identified areas that needing changing and as you will see from the list below, there were some great achievements.

• an efficient and transparent accounting system for the P&F and the 14

Support Groups which now provides a better reporting method to the School • resolved urgent legacy P&F audit and risk matters • the P&F became a registered charity under the Australian charities and not for profits commission (ACNC) • a new P&F Constitution and Charter aligned with the P&F’s obligations under the ACNC rules and guidelines • a new arrangement with Perm-a-Pleat for the supply of uniform, sports and supporter wear • worked with Mr Greg Rix, the School, and Perm-a-Pleat to deliver an impressive new School Store, with ample storage and a dedicated meeting room for the P&F Executive Committee and Support Groups.

Thank you to Leonie Vincent for her year of service as the P&F Secretary and we are very grateful that she is continuing to be part of the P&F committee in her role as Supporter Wear coordinator.

In previous years, our School Patron has been the Deputy Headmaster Mr Andrew Hawkins. We congratulate and extend best wishes to Mr Hawkins on his appointment as Headmaster and welcome Mr Karel Bos as our School Patron and congratulate and extend best wishes to him on his appointment as Deputy Headmaster of the Senior School.

A function of the P&F is fundraising to support all the young men of TSS. It has been a challenging environment for fundraising, while being very aware of the economic hardships this year and last year have presented to many of us. The Support Group Presidents and Committees have worked tirelessly to make the experiences the young men and parents of the School have enjoyed over the years to continue wherever possible while always mindful of making the best of a challenging environment. The P&F Executive Committee thank the Support Group Presidents and Committees for their ongoing support.

If you would like to be part of one of our 14 Support Groups, please visit the TSS Website and go to the P&F page. Each of our Support Groups have a section on this page where the contact details of the Support Group President, Secretary and Treasurer are listed. They will let you know how you can get involved and all volunteers are warmly welcomed. Each Support Group also has a Facebook group that you can join to keep up to date.

We look forward to successful second half of the School year.