Minutes of Parent Council meeting 4th June 2014

June 13, 2014 · by · in

Roslin Primary School Parent Council

Minutes of Meeting on 4th June 2014

 

 

Present:   Shelley Kay (SK- Chair person),  Alex Clark (AC-Secretary/Minutes), Andrea Berry (AB),  Angela Newton (AN),  Annie Douglas (AD), Claire Witney (CW-Treasurer), Dawn Robertson (DR), Emma Torrance (ET), Jo Wilson (JW), Julie White (JW1), Pam Stewart (PS), Rhona Farren (RF), Sam Hamilton (SH), Simon Bullock (SB), Zoe Fergie (ZF).

 

 

Apologies: John Phillips (JP),Jon Steele (JS), Juliet Ridgway-Tait (JRT), Lynne Harrower (LH), Mairi Needham (MN), Nina Sobecka (NS), Sarah Keer-Keer (SKK).

 

 

1. Welcome. SK welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

 

2. AOCB. It was decided to raise this item at the end of the meeting to discuss or include on the agenda for the next meeting to save time.

 

 

3. Minutes of meeting held on 30th April 2014 – accepted.

 

 

4. Matters arising

 

a)     School uniform

AB and JW reported on the outcome of discussions between teachers and pupils about their thoughts on school uniform. Children were very receptive and understood what was acceptable to wear and a few questions were raised. Below is an overview of the discussion, a more detailed letter will follow to inform parents/carers about the dress code.

– trousers, dresses and skirts: grey or black, summer dresses are OK, no joggers or leggings (except if leggings are worn as tights).

– polo shirts, shirts: white or burgundy

– jumpers: maroon, black or grey, no hoodies except for P7.

– tights, socks: white, black, grey, maroon or navy blue.

– shoes: indoor shoes should be plain white or black, outdoor shoes should be plain, no bright colours.

– accessories: hairbands should be discreet and plain, no jewelry except for small stud earings and watches.

 

b)     Sports Day

Pupils are very excited about Sports Day. A plan has been made with Evelyn Black. It will be held on the 6th June , with the 20th June as a backup, which is unfortunately the same as Bilston’s Sports Day. AN and KB have placed an order for food. No hot dogs will be served this year as it is no longer on the list of orders for the school. Children will be given a piece of fruit afterwards and children with no water or snack for Sports Day will be given something from the PC. More helpers are needed on the day but more will be available on the day.

 

c)     Suzanne Thayne’s visit (Schools Group Manager, Midlothian)

The visit was positive and important for the school. The objective was to look at Curriculum for Exellence levels and standardised results. The focus was on improving numeracy and maths, it is already showing positive results. The staff is working together to explain numeracy and engage with children, structure lessons and also bring numeracy to the playground. Levels will be standardised and assessments will be made from P1. Homework will also be clarified.

 

d)     Lunch money

The trial has been going well and parents using this method of payment are very pleased. As it has been successful, this system of payment will be made permanent so parents can choose to pay daily or weekly in the future.

 

 

 

e)     Music

The situation is uncertain as it is unknown if Mrs Martin (music teacher) will remain at Roslin school next year therefore making planning difficult. The various points made at the last meeting have been taken into consideration and will be reviewed when possible.

 

f)      Forest School

During outings it is necessary to cover for staff as Forest School only works with small groups. The outing on the 3rd June was very positive, the children loved it. Iain Dalgleish (retired headteacher from Kings Park), Mr Swan and parents came to help Mrs Goodfellow. Iain is very keen to help and is very skilled. The school will try to make the most of those resources in the future.

It was also discussed if parents were PVG checked if left alone with children. As the PVG accreditation costs £57 or £18 for renewal, it is not possible to get all parents checked but teachers will be present at all times.

 

 

  1. 5.  S.T.E.M. (Science Technology Engineering and Maths)

 

AH commented on our ideal location for science. She discussed the possibility of organising a 1 or 2 week event (possibly in January) based around Science and Careers with workshops, speakers, real life applications. AH will coordinate the event with the help of volunteers and staff. SKK is keen to be involved in any STEM event in school, work commitments permitting. AH, NS, CW, AC and AB volunteered to be part the working group, another teacher might join in.

CW discussed the email from SKK about the Midlothian Science festival in October  to encourage the school to be involved especially with workshops in the school and local events like the open doors at the Roslin Institute and the Dick Vet, and  also Science in the Glen, both on the weekend of 4th/5th October.

 

 

6. Grounds

 

Caroline Finlay, Chris Yapp and Gary Cormack had an update meeting about play equipment. Improvement to the top area was discussed with a view to create something similar to the P2/P3 playground area. Funding needs to be found and applying for a grant will be necessary, a contribution from the Parent Council might be considered. The location will have to be thought about in order to keep space for football or other activities.

CW asked what had happened to one of the mosaics as it seemed to be missing. This issue will be investigated further as the mosaic has been water damaged.

 

 

7. Official raffle

 

ET explained the benefits of an official raffle and the costs involved. The cost for setting up the raffle would be around £400 including a gambling license (£40 for a year), tickets, top winning prize… The PC voted in favor of funding an official raffle as it was thought that the profit would be quite substantial. AN would be the promoter, ET and DR would be members of society for the gambling license. A working group will have to be finalised, PS and RF volunteered to be included alongside AN, ET and DR. It was suggested that JRT and KB might be interested in joining the working party as they have been involved with fundraising in the past. Teachers will also be able to sell raffle tickets if they wish.

The working group will coordinate all fundraising activities and set up a calendar for social events including school sale, race night, disco…

 

 

  1. 8.  Dates of PC meetings

 

Wed 3rd Sept 2014 (Roslin Kirk),Thurs 13th Nov 2014 (Bilston), Thurs 22nd Jan 2015 (Roslin Kirk), Wed 18th Mar 2015 (Roslin Kirk),Thurs 14th May 2015 (Roslin Kirk), Wed 3rd June 2015 (AGM, Roslin school).

 

 

 

 

  1. 9.  Communications

 

CW circulated a copy of Backchat, a newsletter for higher levels.

CW thanked SKK for her hard work and her driving force at the Parent Council for the last 9 years. CW has invited SKK to remain involved with the Parent Council even though her children will have moved on from Roslin School.

 

 

  1. 10.  AOCB

 

CW confirmed the Parent Council’s agreement to donate £50 to Roslin Kirk for the use of the meeting room.

 

Roslin Fun Day: Roslin Fun Day will be on Saturday 6th September. The fundraising working party will plan a stall for this event on behalf of the Parent Council.

 

Disco: A disco has been organised for Thursday 26th June. PS, ET and AN are part of the organising team. More helpers are needed. It was suggested that nursery children could be included but more games need to be planned for the younger children.

 

iPad insurance and fundraising: AB enquired about insurance for iPads, Midlothian Council would not insure them but they will include a one year warantee.

Easyfundraising has been set up, AB will send instructions and a hyperlink.

 

Class set up: AH asked when parents would know the outcome of the class set up for the next academic year. JW replied that a list will be sent out shortly.

 

Next meeting is on Wed 3rd September at 6.30pm at Roslin Kirk.