Minutes of the Meeting of Strathblane Primary School Parent Council
Tuesday 12th May 2009
Present:
Staff: Carolyn Randall, Anne Spencer, Morven Bulloch, Anne Scott
Parent Council: Debbie Bolton, Fergus Mitchell, Cathie Moir, Gun Orgun, Andy Thompson
Parents: Victoria Aitchison, Libby Brittain, Paul Brogan, Nikki Corrigan, Elaine Holmes, Iain Horrocks, Kim Jones, Sandy Kennedy, Iain Macrae, Mandy Malcomson, Mandy McCarron, Jennie McCutcheon, Pamela Smith, Bronagh Ewart (clerk to the parent council)
Other: Sandra Logan (Incoming Head Teacher), Patsy Fischbacher (Community Development Trust)
1. Welcome
Andy Thompson opened the meeting and welcomed everyone especially Sandra Logan, the incoming Head Teacher. Each person present briefly introduced him/herself.
2. Apologies
Apologies were received from Rachel Allen, Linda Barclay, Charlie Haggerty, Traci Leven, Jane McCallum and Sheena Mylles.
3. Minutes of Meeting held on 24th March 2009
The minutes were accepted as a true record.
Matters Arising: All matters arising will be covered in this agenda.
4. Appointment of Head Teacher
Andy introduced Sandra Logan who will be taking up the position of Head Teacher in August. Sandra thanked the PC for the appointment and gave a brief summary of her background in education including her current post as Head Teacher of Killin and Crianlarich Primary Schools. She commented on how delightful it was to meet the pupils in Strathblane and how impressed she was with the confidence of those on the Pupil Council. She then answered questions from parents and spoke about the importance of educating children to be citizens in society and engaging parents in their child’s learning in the widest sense.
(Item 6 on the agenda was discussed at this point)
5. Reports
5.1 Chairperson
• Andy asked Debbie Bolton to give an update on the proposed extra-curricular science club. Debbie reported that Robin Hoyle is able to provide materials and Stirling Council can help to set up a club with the support of a member of staff. Lynne Arrol has expressed an interest in being involved as staff member. Jonathan Owens has provided information about science workshops run by PhD students of which the school could take advantage. Andy reported that the extra-curricular French class is running smoothly and a Spanish class will start next year.
• The recent Ragbag collection raised £216. This has been donated to the school to fund 50% of the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” theatre production.
• Andy will distribute a letter to all parents inviting nominations for the Parent Council. All current members have served two years and can choose to either stand down or go forward for re-election. There was some discussion as to how best to maintain continuity and whether a staggered changeover would be beneficial.
• There is a Parental Involvement Conference in Hampden Park on Saturday 23rd May 2009.
5.2 School
Carolyn Randall reported that on the recent additional in-service day the staff worked on connecting the learning (Curriculum for Excellence) and critical thinking skills. Carolyn and Anne Spencer have looked at samples of writing, moderated these with staff and are in the process of collating findings. These will be incorporated into next year’s Improvement Plan. Primary 6 have organised Health Week which started well yesterday. Netball markings will be drawn in the playground next Monday. These have been secured free of charge. The Health and Safety officer spoke to pupils in Primaries 1, 3, 5 and 7 recently. The children raised concerns about the zebra crossing and he agreed that the council will make the markings more visible. There is still no news regarding a lollipop person. Sports Day will be held on 29th May or 12th June if it is wet. If it is a dry day but the grass is too wet then some events will be held in the playground. Carolyn thanked the PC for donating 50% of the cost of the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” theatre production. This will take place on Thursday. Parents have been asked to pay £1 per child towards this and the school will also pay a percentage. Carolyn is liaising with Linda Barclay who is organising the Summer Fair to ensure that any concerns regarding security and safety in the school grounds are being addressed. From August, Stirling Council is extending nursery provision from 2.5 to 3 hours. The school is currently in consultation with the council as to the implementation of this.
Pupil Council
Anne Spencer reported that the Pupil Council enjoyed being part of the interview process for the new Head Teacher. Each candidate was asked three questions and the pupils then gave feedback to a Stirling Council representative. The pupils organised the interviews very well and it was most beneficial for them to be involved.
5.3 Strathblane Primary Fundraisers
Andy gave an update on the Summer Fair on behalf of Traci Leven. The Fair is on Saturday 23rd May and is being coordinated by Linda Barclay. The theme is North American and various events will take place throughout the day from 10.30am – 9.00pm. The sum of £850 has so far been received from grants and donations. Most of the events will take place in or around the school and contingency plans are in place in case of wet weather. This will be the last fundraising event for this school year.
5.4 Treasurer
Gun Orgun reported that the current balance of the SPF account is £4447.65. A new colour printer was recently purchased for the school at a cost of £332.60 and £216 was donated towards the forthcoming theatre production. The recent ceilidh made a net profit of £359.02. The school has asked for a contribution towards the P7 leaving party and the Pupil Council have requested bibs/strips for sporting events and picnic tables for the playground. Gun will speak to Ruth Reynolds about pricing PE kits and the possibility of adding these to the uniform order list. It was suggested that sports strips could be sponsored by a local business.
6. MUGA/Greenheart
Andy reported that Linda Barclay has worked hard to progress the MUGA project. Things need to move quickly and significant progress needs to be made by July, otherwise a grant of £15,000 will be withdrawn. 1000 surveys were sent out in the last edition of The Blane. The response was lower than hoped with a return of 11.2%. There will be another opportunity to fill in questionnaires at the Summer Fair. Patsy Fischbacher stated that the Community Development Trust was happy to give support and advice but emphasised the need for all interested parties to come together in order to take this project forward. Key issues which need to be addressed as soon as possible are the positioning of the MUGA and the long term maintenance of the facility. Some concerns were raised including a lack of consultation with local residents and the fear that the Greenheart play park project was being pushed aside. Patsy assured the meeting that all necessary consultations will take place – this has simply not happened yet due to the need to move forward quickly in order to secure the £15,000. Patsy also confirmed that the CDT is still supporting and making grant applications for the Greenheart project. Andy proposed that the PC pledges £5000 towards the MUGA and emphasised the need for helpers to get involved. A meeting will be arranged for all those interested. The date of this meeting and further detail concerning the MUGA project will be posted on the PC website www.strathparentcouncil.org . Andy thanked Patsy for coming to the meeting.
7. AOB
Andy informed the meeting that the PC would welcome contributions, either written or podcasts, for the website. Gun encouraged everyone to register email addresses on the website as any updates would then be automatically sent out.
8. Date of Next Meeting
Monday 15th June 2009 7.45pm in the school.
Andy Thompson closed the meeting, thanking everyone for coming. Sandra Logan thanked the PC for inviting her.