Minutes of Parent Council meeting 19th March 2014
Minutes-of-19-Mar-2014-1 (MS Word .docx file)
Roslin Primary School Parent Council
Minutes of Meeting on 19th March 2014
- 1. Present: Jo Wilson (JW), Darren Swan (DS), Andrea Berry (AB), Pam Stewart (PS), Rhona Farren (RF), Lynne Young (LY), Zoe Fergie (ZF), Kim Blair (KB), Simon Bullock (SB), Anna Hulton (AH), Shelley Kay (SK), Angela Newton (AG), John Phillips (JP-Chair), Claire Witney (CW_Treasurer), Alex Clark (AC-Secretary/Minutes)
Apologies: Sarah Keer-Keer (SKK), Annie Douglas (AD) Juliet Ridgway-Tait (JRT), Lynne Harrower (LH), Mairi Needham (MN), Sam Hamilton (SH), Jon Steele (JS)
Welcome: JP welcomed everyone and introduced new members/visitors.
- 2. Minutes of meeting held on 22 January 2014 accepted. It was decided that minutes would be available on the website as a draft version before the following session to allow more time for people to view them.
- 3. AOCB:
– Minutes : KB asked if it was possible to pay someone to take minutes in the future if necessary.
– Fundraising: SK said she was given information for fundraising via somebody to make tea towels. This idea will probably be revisited in the future.
– JP had attended a meeting at Beeslack about a Midlothian Council consultation on school catchments in Penicuik. It was suggested that this might have implications for the future of Beeslack.
– RF asked if it would be possible to align more closely school and nursery hours or to have somewhere to shelter when waiting for siblings coming out of school at different times.
- 4. Matters arising
a) Rag Bag: A collection point has been delivered to the Bilston Annex but there seems to be some issue with its location, it should be relocated if possible. A competition can be entered to win a money prize depending on the amount of donations. Action CW
b) Charitable status: CW has looked into getting charitable status and said it looked quite straight forward. We would need to review our constitution and keep account books and receipts.
c) School disco: Thanks to the very generous donation of venue and disco from the Bilston Miners Club. A profit of £207 was made from ticket sales and tuck shop with 156 tickets sold. Everyone agreed it was a success and the children were well behaved, maybe more structure and games are necessary for the infant area. Another disco might be organised near the end of year, possibly on a Thursday.
d) Outside lighting/Heating: JW confirmed that the school didn’t have to pay for outside lighting. Heating can be switched on for events like the Christmas fair but advance notice is required. JW will look into the possibility of adjusting the settings as it can sometimes be very hot in the classrooms. Action JW
e) Bus: JW had a meeting with parents at Bilston. There was a good turnout and a contract was agreed and signed by parents and children. The majority of children are generally well behaved and get rewarded with stickers and house points. There is also a nomination box and mention at assembly. Warnings are issued in case of misconduct and will result in losing their bus pass for a week if they reach 3 warnings. So far the effect has been positive, it has been a lot quieter on the bus.
f) Christmas cards: KB has been contacted by AFPS who offered a discount of 5% for next year’s Christmas cards if we decide to go ahead now. Everyone agreed it was a success and we should pre-book for next year. Action KB
g) Lunch money: PS was approached by a parent asking about ways to change how pupils pay for their lunch. It was thought the school could be more flexible and JW will investigate the different options. Action JW
- 5. Planning gain
JP announced that Owen Thompson from Midlothian Council will be coming to the next Parent Council meeting to discuss this issue.
JP highlighted that there was a consultation at the moment (closing date 4th April 2014) which was mentioned at a meeting in Beeslack. JP will talk about it at the end of the meeting.
- 6. Numeracy/Vision for maths
General comment: JW took a team from Midlothian Council around the school and they were shocked to see the state of the school in some areas especially the changing rooms and the gym hall. The provision of new flooring and benches is under way in the changing rooms, new lines have been painted on the gym hall and some of the sinks will hopefully get replaced in different areas.
Numeracy: Inspection might be due in the near future but is not imminent. The authority works alongside Education Scotland. Schools are informed by their School Group Manager when an inspection will take place. The school will carry out a self-evaluation, one has been organized by AB with the pupil council and 2 members of the Parent Council on Friday 21st March in order to give feedback in different areas (Numeracy, Outdoor, Reading..). There will also be learning walks where every member of staff will be observed and observe others, this process should be completed by the end of May.
Numeracy will be revisited and consolidated with an emphasis on the following points: numeracy teaching 4 times a week, bringing maths into topics, real life skills, variety of resources, different contexts for learning, assessment at the beginning of the year to identify gaps.
- 7. Fundraising wish list
AB commented on the addition of the new stage and how great it was for the school. She was asked to think of a wish list for future spending and came up with a few ideas after discussing with staff:
– Visualisers. 2 are available at the moment but it would be good to have one per classroom so teachers can view pupils work on the computer, books, or other material.
– Tablets. The school has very poor digital cameras for the children at the moment. Tablets can be loaned from ICT but there is a very big demand and bookings must be made months in advance. The Parent Council thought we should explore this idea further (price, different options, education apps and insurance). Action AB
– Reading books, novels and math games. More books are needed so a list of books will be prepared. Action AB
– Fundraising. AB mentioned the possibility of registering the school free of charge to easyfundraising.org to get donations to the Parent Council every time people use the website to do their shopping. AB will ask about pros and cons. Action AB
- 8. Communications
School gates: a complaint about the change of the school gates has been received.
Training courses: Information was circulated about training courses
Art for children: KB mentioned the idea of a year book as an idea for fundraising
Parent Council Funds: currently over £2000, the Parent Council will probably provide fruit for the sponsored walk.
- 9. AOCB
Shelter: to be added to next meeting’s agenda
Midlothian Consulation and online survey (www.midlothian.gov.uk/penicuik-catchments): reorganisation of catchment areas with implications on Beelslack funding if the intake goes down. JP asked if anyone could attend Thursday 20th March meeting in Beeslack.
Next meeting is on Wednesday 30th April at 6.30pm in Roslin Kirk Hall
