BHS PTA 2024/2025 Highlights

The Parent Teacher Association of BHS (PTA) are pleased to highlight a year of success! We had a full calendar of events, including the much-loved Halloween Fair, Primary & Secondary Popcorn Recess, the famous Primary Dance Party, three Secondary Dances, Bingo, Tote Bags and Tea Towels!

The BHS PTA contributed $75,000 to BHS during the 2024/2025 school year, allocated as follows:

The BHS PTA raised $76,926 during the 2024/2025 school year ($131,743 during the 2023/2024 school year), as follows:

Other 2024/2025 Highlights and Contributions:

• In celebration of World Teachers’ Day on Friday, October 4th, 2024, teachers and staff were thanked with an ‘Academic-Themed’ Cake & Cookies from the BHS PTA.
• The Halloween Fair on October 11th, 2024, was once again a big hit with 800 people in attendance, bringing in a profit of $18,669. We had to host the event in the gym due to the weather; however, that didn’t hold anyone back!
• The BHS PTA organised a potluck holiday lunch for the staff in December, where parents donated lunch items and treats. We also collected donations for raffle prizes from parents and had a holiday raffle for the Secondary teachers and administrative staff with 18 prizes valued at over $1,500.
• Teacher Appreciation Day was recognised on Tuesday, May 6th, 2025, with the traditional Fourways lunch for the BHS staff as well as a cake from Supermart, which was very well received.
• The PTA provided $1,500 to the Y13 Prom, Y11 Semi-Formal and Y10 Boat Cruise events, with each event receiving $500. Additionally, Year 13 volunteered to sell Cotton Candy at the Halloween Fair and received 50% of the profits in the amount of $553, which they put towards their Prom. Year 11 followed suit, volunteering to sell Popcorn at the Halloween Fair and received 50% of the profits in the amount of $291, which they put towards their Semi-Formal.
• The PTA also provided $500 to Year 6 for an ‘end of year’ pizza & ice cream party in celebration of ‘Moving Up’ to Secondary.
• Along with the BHS Leadership Team, the PTA hosted two Parent Education evenings, with the first being a workshop with Jen Cort discussing Parenting in an Anxious Generation. The evening was interactive, and parents were very engaged in the presentation. The second workshop was by Deanna Puccio from the RAP Project, Raising Awareness & Prevention, particularly as it relates to social media safety. Deanna Puccio also gave presentations to two year groups at BHS.
• The PTA provided light refreshments for a presentation for Rising Year 7 Families, and PTA Exec members were on hand to answer questions that Year 6 families might have regarding Year 7.
• This year, the BHS PTA participated in the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship Birdies for Charity Programme. This programme allows local participating charities to pledge profits through Bank of Butterfield and receive up to 10% matching dollars for $50,000 in max profits. Profits submitted were limited to funds raised between August 29th and November 29th, 2024. With the success of the Halloween Fair, Charleston Wrap and Popcorn Recess at the beginning of the school year, we successfully reached the goal of $50,000 in profits and received 10% for a total of $5,000.
• Mr & Mrs William Soares made a generous donation to the PTA, with matching donations from ArchRe and RenaissanceRe totalling $4,000.
• The BHS PTA received external gifts of $5,210 towards the Bermuda High School PTA Excellence Prize Fund, which is invested at the Bermuda Community Foundation. This Fund was created in 2013 and is made up of contributions by the PTA of $12,750, external gifts of $10,210, and a $5,000 permanently restricted gift from the RenaissanceRe Charity Challenge Fund. Each year, the Fund is entitled to receive a grant from BCF, and the intention is to use this grant to give a student(s) the Award at the end of each school year. As part of the Award, the student(s) receive the privilege of allocating the funds from the Award to improving BHS. The recipient selected for the seventh Award for the 2024/2025 school year is Vongai Benza in Year 9. She took a lead role in coaching the middle school public speaking students. Vongai will get to decide where to spend $1,000 at BHS.

Governance, Compliance & Privacy:

In accordance with the Bermuda Charities Act 2014, a Charity is required to maintain appropriate governance and compliance practices, including the appointment of a trained Compliance Officer where the charity meets certain thresholds under the Act. This year, the PTA Compliance Officer advanced several key initiatives to ensure alignment with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Anti-Terrorist Financing (ATF), and data privacy standards. Highlights include:

•  AML/ATF training for all Executive members
• Implementation of a Payment & Reimbursement Policy
• Drafting of a PTA Privacy Statement in line with PIPA 2016 (in force as of January 2025)
• Formalisation of SOP for Internal Suspicious Activity Reporting

The PTA Compliance & Privacy Officer confirms that appropriate systems and controls are in place and that the PTA remains in good regulatory standing.

Appreciation:

Throughout the year, the PTA Executive worked diligently in collaboration with dedicated school staff, enthusiastic volunteers and generous donors to create an array of successful fundraising initiatives. These events not only provided financial support but also fostered a strong sense of community and engagement among parents, teachers and students. The PTA is greatly appreciative of all its BHS families, students and faculty/teachers who help. 

A special shout-out to the following volunteers for leading the 2024/2025 PTA events listed below:

The PTA would like to thank all the BHS families, teachers/staff and students for all your support and hard work during the past year. We are so grateful and appreciative of all the volunteers for the various events, and we hope everyone had a lot of fun along the way!

We wish you a wonderful summer!



Kind regards,

The BHS PTA Executive Committee