Minutes of the Meeting of Strathblane Primary School Parent Council
Tuesday 17th June 2008
Present:
Staff: Jennifer Cunningham, Anne Spencer, Morven Bulloch, Sheena Mylles
Parent Council: Debbie Bolton, Fergus Mitchell, Cathie Moir, Gun Orgun, Bernd Schwahn, Andy Thompson
Parents: Elaine Holmes, Anne Horrocks, Val MacCorquodale, Jennie McCutcheon, Dawn Murray, Bronagh Ewart (clerk to the parent council)
1. Welcome & Apologies
Andy Thompson opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Apologies were received from Charlie Haggerty.
2. Minutes of meeting held on 6th May 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record.
Matters Arising: Andy Thompson reported that the MUGA project would be carried forward as a joint initiative between Greenheart and the PC, as discussed at the last meeting. Charlie Haggerty will attend the next Greenheart meeting and report back to the PC next term.
3. Reports
3.1 Chairperson
Andy Thompson summarised his report, a copy of which is listed separately.
3.2 Treasurer
Gun Orgun reported that the fundraising account at present has a balance of £10,984.36. After the school uniform invoice has been paid this will decrease to £9156.46 and a further £5000 will be spent on the playground adventure trail. A full copy of the audited accounts will be available to everyone at the AGM. The PC account receives £380 from Stirling Council in April every year. To date £100 has been spent on the new website and £60 on clerk duties.
3.3 Communications Officer
Fergus Mitchell referred to the survey mentioned in the Chair’s report as the initial means of communication with parents. An email address was set up as a further point of contact – this has been used four times. Articles have also been included in The Blane. Fergus hopes to have the PC website up and running within the next few weeks, after which he will be stepping down from the role of Communications Officer.
3.4 Strathblane Primary Fundraisers
Val MacCorquodale reported on the SPF events of the year. These included teas/coffees for new P1 and nursery parents, a very successful wine tasting evening in October, Halloween disco, Christmas Fair, organising hampers for the Christmas concerts, a very successful and enjoyable family quiz, Easter Bonnet competition, Rag Bag collection raising £472.50, Summer Fair raising £1200, sports days teas/coffees and uniform orders. The SPF also contributed to the Eco Action day by funding the assault course and acquired a noticeboard for the front playground. A full list of these events and money raised will be included in the audited accounts. The meeting approved a donation of £130 for the P7 leavers’ party. Val was concerned about the relationship between the PC and the SPF. She recognised that parents originally voted to have one body but felt that the SPF needed more independence than this. Four parents are interested in being part of the SPF committee in the new academic year. Appointments to this committee will be made at the AGM.
3.5 School
Jennifer Cunningham distributed the Headteacher’s report, a fuller version of which will be sent to all parents as the Quality and Standards Report next term.
Anne Spencer reported on behalf of the Pupil Council. Activities this year have included the introduction of a homework diary for P4-P7, being involved in the school meals survey, choosing new equipment for the playground and the football-free Friday initiative, currently running on a trial basis and soon to be voted on. The Pupil Council is also working on an anti-bullying leaflet for pupils.
Morven Bulloch spoke on behalf of the teachers. As a staff they feel more comfortable than earlier in the year and feel their opinions are more valued. They are all interested in the development of a MUGA and are grateful to all parents who come in to school to help in any way. A special thanks to everyone who has worked on the garden area.
4. MUGA/Greenheart
See item 2.
5. SNAG (School Nutrition Action Group)
Bernd Schwahn reported on the meeting held on June 2nd. He summarised the findings of the school meals survey, a copy of which has already been sent to parents. Bernd will email this information to Jennifer Cunningham who will adapt it to feedback to the pupils.
6. Parent Council Conference
Andy Thompson attended this conference on June 7th. Fiona Hyslop, cabinet member for education and lifelong learning, spoke at the meeting, encouraging the setting up of a national body to represent parent councils. At present there are two organisations – the Scottish Parent Council Association and the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. The government is supporting unification of these two bodies. Andy found the conference useful and it was interesting to hear various ways of working from other schools. He discovered that there were similar issues across the country to the ones experienced in our PC, in changing from the previous structure to the new Parent Councils. It also appears that only a very small minority have retained the former PTAs, with the vast majority preferring to bring them into the new PC structure.
7. AOB
A suggestion was made to display a two-monthly calendar of events on the playground noticeboard and also information about the vacancy for a Communications Officer and for those interested in the fundraising committee.
Fergus Mitchell wondered if school communication could be issued by means of a weekly bulletin rather than various letters which can be easy to miss in schoolbags.
The PC mailbox is still to be set up. This will be discussed at the next meeting.
Anne Spencer was concerned about a comment in the Chair’s report which stated that most parents were happy with the teaching. Andy Thompson replied that he did not intend this to mean that some parents were unhappy and there was no hidden agenda in this comment.
8. Date of AGM
This will be the first meeting of the new term and will be held in September.
Andy Thompson closed the meeting, thanking everyone for coming.