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DRAFT Minutes of the General Committee Meeting of the Westonbirt Association held at Westonbirt School,

on Saturday 5 October 2002, at 2:45pm

Present: XXXX XXXX (President, in the Chair), XXXX XXXX (School Head), XXXX XXXX (Hon. Secretary), XXXX XXXX (News Editor), XXXX XXXX (News Finance), XXXX XXXX (Governor), 17 Section Reps (1, 2, 3, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 24, 25, 27, 28, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 46, 47, 48, 56, Current Staff) and XXXX XXXX (School Development Manager).

1. Apologies for Absence were received from XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX (Staff, 4, 7, 8, 16, 21 / 22, 26, 31, 37, 53 / 54, 65).

2. Minutes of the previous meeting held on Sunday 7 October 2001 were approved by those present and signed by the President, after the attendance record of the section 47 representative had been deleted.

3. Matters arising from previous meeting

   None.

4. Re-election of President XXXX XXXX was re-elected unanimously as President for a further three years. She was thanked for all she had done in the previous five years.

5. Confirmation of appointment of Treasurer In 2001, the General Committee delegated authority to the Executive Committee to appoint a new Treasurer. The President expressed the Association’s gratitude to XXXX XXXX for her work as Governor over the previous three years, and for deciding not to stand for re-election, but to offer her services as Treasurer instead. Her appointment as Treasurer was confirmed by the General Committee.

6. Election of Representative to the Governors XXXX XXXX (section 47) was elected as the new Representative to the Governors.

7. Election of Networking Facilitator A number of people had taken the Guidelines for the Network Facilitator in 2001. Two had contacted the President. Both had had experience that required discretion and counselling skills.

   It was agreed that the decision should be left to the Executive Committee. It was hoped that it would be made in the following few weeks.

   (There had been one enquiry, which had been dealt with by the Secretary with the Database Officer.)

   The Association was to make it clear that it, and its officers, took no legal responsibility for any advice and results of an enquiry.

8. Matters for Section Representatives Section representative changes were announced informally, in advance of being reported to the AGM.

   Labels from database

   There was general enthusiasm, both from those at the meeting, and from those that had contacted the Secretary before the meeting, for the provision of mailing labels twice a year.

   It was felt that labels for active and inactive members would be useful, even if inactive members were not being sent mail. Labels would not be provided for those for whom information of death or a request that mailings should cease was held on the database.

9. Section Representatives’ Business and Reports

   Two reunions were occurring at the 2002 AGM.

   XXXX XXXX (section 28) said she had been pressed to organise a reunion, and suggested the AGM. She wrote to her section, and the adjacent sections, and used the address list. 14-15 had come.

   XXXX XXXX said that they had had a reunion 20 years after leaving. For the 25th anniversary, she had sent out a questionnaire to determine what would be best (October / June; School / London; cheap / expensive). As a result she had suggested the AGM day. 12 had come out of a possible 35.

   A brief discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of email contact led to the suggestion that the President should point out to leavers that it is often possible to find someone after many years with a slightly incorrect or out-of-date address, but impossible with a similar email address.

10. Possible position of Vice-Chair The President said that, even though there could be few situations worse for a President than that she had had the previous year, with her husband’s illness and death, and even though the Executive Committee had covered her absences, she still felt there was a need for a Vice-Chair. A job description would go to the Executive Committee and then be sent out to the General Committee.

11. Appeal This matter was to be dealt with at the AGM.

12. Any Other Business

    None

The President thanked the section representatives for all their work.

On behalf of the meeting, XXXX XXXX thanked the Executive Committee.

The meeting ended at 3:15pm