Minutes of Parent Council Meeting on 28 November 2007
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Attendees: Michelle McArthur, Audrey Ross, Debbie Innes, Amanda Arkell, Rachel Byrne, Julie Moran, Bernadette Wheatley
Apologies: Vicky Carr, Keith MacAskill, Avrix Knox, Anne Williamson, Christine Fairbairn
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Introduction/Welcome
Michelle welcomed and thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.
Amend and approve minutes from last meeting on 17 October 2007
1. Action: Keith to update the group about the funds left over from the Parents Association.
2. Mrs Ross suggested that the Parent Council look at the brochures available in the school before ordering a notice board. This is something we agreed to re-visit at a later date.
3. In total 26 completed questionnaires were returned to the school. The winner was Robbie McArthur in P4 and both he and his parents received a prize for returning the questionnaire within the agreed time. The top five results showing what we do well at Cowie Primary School and what we could do better were communicated to the group in graph format.
Action: We agreed to look at the results in more detail at our next meeting in January 2008 and possibly canvass opinions at the next Parent Consultations in February 2008, due to the poor response.
4. The group discussed the Halloween Disco and Mrs Ross commented this was very well organised. It was well attended by both children and teachers. We agreed that we could make some small improvements next time, but on the whole it was a huge success.
5. Debbie mentioned about the school gates which are not locked. The decision to lock the gates was made by Stirling Council as both the locks and gates were being vandalised.
6. Action: Rachel will follow up the previous action point and speak to Bob Wylie about the £10,000 grant mentioned during an earlier Pupil Council Meeting.
7. Action: Keith to update the group after speaking to Iain Binning about the School Travel Plan and Cycling Proficiency Courses. Children at St Margarets School have already started their Cycling Proficiency Courses, which are free of charge, and the plan is that all children will be put through this training. Claire Stevenson, parent at St Margarets, confirmed that the waiting times for these courses was quick, but this depends on P.C O’May’s commitments.
8. Action: Mrs Ross and Scott Ferguson will continue to progress the set up of the school
web-site and update the group on its progress.
9. A letter was sent to Central Scotland Police, P.C O’May the Community Police Officer, Iain Binning the School Travel Co-ordinator, and Margaret Brisley the Provost, about the concerns over pedestrian safety on Mount Oliphant. Elaine Smith of the Police Road Safety Unit has since been to the school to observe the problems. A response was received from P.C O’May who agreed with the issues we raised. He has requested more patrols by the Community Traffic Wardens and has agreed to monitor the situation. Margaret Brisley has confirmed that our concerns have been passed onto the Head of Roads and Transport Services. She will contact Julie again once she has received a response.
Action: P.C O’May suggested that some members of the Council address the concerns over pedestrian safety at a Community Council meeting.
10. Action: Debbie agreed to speak to the ’Book People’ about setting up a stall at the next Parent Consultations in February 2008.
A.O.B
1. The Parent Council asked the school how they could help with the Christmas Concerts and parties. Mrs Ross asked if we could co-ordinate and organise the raffle. Rachel mentioned that some costumes may need ironed after speaking to Miss MacDougall.
Action: Rachel agreed to purchase raffle tickets and £5.00 strips will be issued to all pupils to try and sell. We also agreed to issue a reminder to parents to hand in raffle prizes to the school as soon as possible. Julie agreed to contact all the local shops in the village to ask for a prize to be donated for the raffle. Parent Council to sell remainder of the raffle tickets at the Concerts.
2. Mrs Ross confirmed that a £250.00 donation was received from Cowie Enterprise to be used for Christmas activities. Mrs Ross confirmed that the individual class parties will probably be held in the Gym Hall. Rachel and Bernadette will speak to teachers and co-ordinate any help that is needed for the parties on the agreed dates. The school will communicate to parents nearer the time the dress code to be worn on party days.
Action: Mrs Ross agreed to organise Christmas tree, decorations and anything else needed for class parties using this donation.
3. The church service will take place at 11.00am on Friday 21 December 2007. Mrs Ross mentioned that the local vicar/reverend will not be able to take this service and as a result the P7 class may lead the service.
4. After speaking to Bob Wylie, Julie raised the poor response from P2 & P3 classes for the after school Top Sports club, which is running on a Tuesday from 3-4pm. Only four children and their parents attended the last session. Bob mentioned he will send out a further communication.
Action: Rachel suggested a mobile notice board which could be set up at the school to advertise these types of events and to try and get parents attention. Rachel and Julie to organise this and pilot to see how this works.
5. Mrs Ross confirmed that new furniture has been ordered for P4 - P6 classrooms.
6. Mrs Ross mentioned that more than £2000.00 was in the Pupil Council account which was raised earlier this year to help improve the school playground. Due to the refurbishment work which is underway the money cannot be used for the playground at the present time. She asked the group how we felt about using this money to purchase an interactive whiteboard, and replace the funds later next year with money raised from further fund raising events. The school currently have five interactive whiteboards and aim to get a total of eight.
Action: Mrs Ross asked that we informally ask parents how they would feel about this and discuss at our next meeting.
7. Rachel suggested using the Community Centre as a Gym Hall in the summer months, as the current Gym Hall is too small for playing bigger games.
Action: Mrs Ross agreed to think about this suggestion.
8. Julie spoke about the position of Treasurer in the group, as one has not been appointed. The money raised for the Halloween Disco was banked by the school for security reasons. Parent Councils can either set up a separate bank account altogether, or use an account within the school set up specifically for Parent Council funds. The advantage of keeping it within the school is you don’t need to get the accounts audited, you only need to keep a record of income and expenditure and update the group regularly on this. The group agreed keeping the account within the school would be the easiest option. Both Bernadette and Debbie agreed to be signatories for this account.
Action: We agreed to discuss possibly appointing a treasurer for the sole purpose of keeping a record of income and expenditure, at out next meeting.
9. Dining/Seating arrangements at lunchtime for packed lunches was raised. Mrs Ross confirmed that some children had to sit on benches due to the lack of space for tables and chairs in the Gym Hall and the situation is not ideal. She also mentioned that SLA’s, Support for Learning Assistants, were trying to encourage children to sit at tables, but some preferred to sit on the benches. This situation may improve once new tables are installed in the dining room. Mrs Ross also mentioned it may be considered in the summer months for children to take their packed lunches outside.
10. Julie raised the cost of the Christmas CD which is £8.00 (£6.99 for the school to buy this and only £1.01 raised for school funds). Mrs Ross confirmed that the CD was very professionally made and value for money. This was not intended to be used for fund raising. Mrs Ross mentioned that the making of the CD would be advertised in the Stirling Observer.
11. We discussed that class photographs be taken, with parents permission, of the children in their Christmas Concert costumes. These could be sold separately or made into calendars. We suggested that these be on view to parents/carers and orders taken and paid for at the Christmas Concerts.
Action: Mrs Ross to look into this further and update the group at our next meeting.
12. Debbie mentioned if the Parent Council members should be updated on information before this is communicated to other parents, i.e amount collected for fund raising events. If this coincides with a meeting then this will more than likely be discussed by the group. If not the communication will be sent to all parents at the same time.
13. Mrs Ross suggested we think about a ‘slogan’ for Parent Council Communications.
Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting has been set for 10 December 2007 to discuss last minute arrangements for the Christmas Concerts. This will be held in the school dining area at 3.30pm.
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Welcome to Cowie Primary Parent Council Blog
Minutes of Parent Council Meeting on 17 October 2007:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attendees: Michelle McArthur, Audrey Ross, Keith MacAskill, Avril Knox,
Anne Williamson, Bernadette Wheatley, Christine Fairbairn, Rachel Byrne, Julie Moran, Debbie Innes, Brenda McPhee, Amanda Arkell, Isobel Munro
Apologies: Vicky Carr, Scott Ferguson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction/Welcome
Keith thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and introduced Ishobel Munro, from Stirling Council, to the group.
Re-Visit Community Plan
Isobel came to talk about the Community Planning process which has been drawn up. Isobel spoke about communities of regeneration areas and what they have done, i.e. Braehead looked at the National Health Service and access to services, and Fallin focused on the negativity in the village and what could be done to improve this. Community Council meetings have already taken place in Cowie. Isobel mentioned that the next step is to issue a survey/questionnaire to every household in the village. She was looking for volunteers to help distribute and collect these questionnaires. She was also looking for volunteers to take part in future focus groups.
Action: Isobel thanked the parents at the meeting and will contact members of the Parent Council who volunteered their services to help with this initiative.
Amend and Approve minutes of the last meeting on 12 September 2007
Keith went over the minutes of the last meeting as follows;
1. Keith has not had a response from Rosemary Nairns about the funds left over from the Parents Association.
Action: He will continue to chase this.
2. Information about the Parent Council was detailed in the recent newsletter issued by the school to all pupils in P1-P7 and the nursery.
3. After consulting Clare Stevenson, who is a member of St Margarets Parent Council, she confirmed that their notice board cost £284.00 including delivery and a further £20.00 to erect. This was supplied by Wilson & Garden and ordered through Charlie Wilson at Stirling Council, Viewforth.
Action: The Parent Council will need to make a decision about this and its location at a later date. It’s not an ideal time just now due to the refurbishment work which is taking place.
4. The questionnaire was issued along with the October 2007 newsletter to all pupils in P1-P7 and the nursery. This is to be completed and returned by Friday 26 October 2007, to be entered into a prize draw.
5. Anne, Rachel and Michelle updated the group on the progress for the Halloween Disco on
1 November 2007. Keith mentioned that the Liability Insurance should be in place by this date.
Action: Keith will arrange for the Liability Insurance to be finalised before the disco. He will also supply apples for the Halloween Disco and to the nursery children, as it was decided apples would be donated to the nursery after consulting Mrs McClure and Mrs Love. Michelle agreed to get juice and crisps for this event. Rachel will issue a note to P1-P7 pupils nearer the time about a prize for the best dressed, asking for volunteers to help on the night and to ensure pick up of children promptly after the event. The Parent Council will consult with Mrs Ross and decorate the hall a couple of days before the disco and discuss last minute arrangements at that time. Mrs Ross was asked to do a briefing to parents about ‘best practice’ before the disco takes place.
6. Mrs Ross asked for an amendment to be made to the minutes of the last meeting about the School Refurbishment. She confirmed that if there are extra funds available these ‘might’ be used to refurbish the gym hall, instead of these ‘will’ be used. The refurbishment has now started. There was some confusion about access points to the school, as the workmen arrived earlier than expected. Mrs Ross would like to thank all parents/carers for their continued support in using the new access points, while the refurbishment work is underway.
7. Parents have concerns about the security and vandalism to the school and its grounds. In the past, the school gates were locked. However, a decision was made by Stirling Council to keep the gates open as the locks kept getting vandalised.
Action: Rachel will follow up the action point from the last meeting and contact Bob Wylie to see who is eligible for the £10,000 grant mentioned during an earlier Pupil Council Meeting. This would go towards improving the grounds of the school.
8. Mrs Ross confirmed that the school playground should be swept every morning. Mrs Young who runs the Eco-Committee has now received the new ’pencil shaped bins’ for the playground. These will be put out and brought back into the school on a daily basis. The school hope to get larger bins from the Community Council after the refurbishment work is completed.
Mrs Ross mentioned that Iain Binning, School Travel Co-ordinator from Stirling Council, would like the Parent Council to take on the work of preparing a School Travel Plan and combine this with St Margarets School.
The bike racks offered to the school by Iain Binning were free of charge. Mrs Ross confirmed the school are not liable for accidents, damage to bikes in the school playground and can’t enforce children to wear helmets. The Parent Council will need to consult with parents at a later date to gauge their views on this. It was mentioned that Recyke-a-Bike in Fallin do Cycling Proficiency Courses in conjunction with the Police.
Action: Keith agreed to contact Iain Binning about the School Travel Plan and the Cycling Proficiency Courses. Isobel Munro later confirmed that the Community Policeman, Malcolm O'May, and a representative from Recyke-a-Bike in Fallin will be attending St Margarets School at the beginning of November, about Cycling Proficiency. Julie will speak to Clare Stevenson for further information about this.
9. No action taken forward from the previous meeting about School Uniform.
10. The school are once again collecting Tesco vouchers and also tokens from Nestle cereal boxes. Posters are in the school to advertise this. Mrs Fleming who collates the Tesco and Sainsburys vouchers, will inform parents when the resources purchased last session arrive in the school to let them know what these were used to buy.
11. No action taken forward about joining the school and the community together.
12. Mrs Ross confirmed that the outward bound course in Perth for P7 pupils has been booked for 16 May 2008. Approximately 11 pupils are taking part in this and deposits have been paid. It is unlikely that funding for this course is now needed from the Parent Council, as teachers/parents may be asked to take their own cars as opposed to hiring a mini-bus.
Actions: The set up of the school web-site is progressing. Mrs Ross will pursue the progress of this with Scott Ferguson.
13. Some Parent Packs were returned so that these could be shared with other parents.
Homework Policy
The current homework policy was written in 2004 and does not appear to have been shared with parents. Mrs Ross has decided to re-visit this policy. She has already had discussions with teachers and the new homework policy, called Independent Homework Selection, is being piloted in P5. It is hoped it will be rolled out to the rest of the school through time. The teacher decides on a variety of homework tasks set in meaningful situations for the children, and in P5 this makes up a 16 square grid. The teacher selects the tasks he/she wants the children to attempt and the children get to select tasks alongside this (a minimum amount of tasks are chosen, and the children can complete as many tasks as they want). The completed work has to be handed back to the teacher over a 4 week period.
Mrs Ross asked parents at the meeting to brainstorm the purpose and expectations of this new homework concept. The outcome was very encouraging. Mrs Bairner, the P6 teacher, plans to run a homework club on a Tuesday for P4-P7 pupils. This will help support children if they have problems doing homework and gives the children who attend the club the chance to use the computers and other resources for research and presentation purposes. There are plans to extend this club, depending on the interest of the children.
Debbie mentioned homework satchels which some children already use to carry their homework in, instead of the plastic folders which are provided by the school and tear easily. They can be bought from Logo-Xpres for £3.99.
Action: The homework satchels are something the Parent Council can consider at a later date, if they felt it was a priority for the children.
Traffic Problems
Avril and other parents at the meeting had serious concerns about the safety of their children, due to the traffic congestion on Mount Oliphant. There has always been congestion on this road and the refurbishment work at the school is only adding to this problem. Avril has already reported a recent incident to Bannockburn Police Station.
Action: Julie agreed to write to the Community Policeman and Bannockburn Police Station about the concerns parents at Cowie Primary School have.
A.O.B & Close
Debbie mentioned the ’Book People’, a book supplier, who are very competitive and the quality of their books are excellent. They work on a commission basis where the school receive 10% of the sales. The school already have a book supplier called Scholastic.
Amanda asked if the school were participating in a Harvest Festival. Mrs Ross confirmed not this year.
Action: Debbie will provide more information to Julie about the Book People, who will pass this onto Miss MacDougall to consider.
Date of the next meeting
This will be decided shortly and communicated to all parents who have children at the school.
Minutes of Parent Council Meeting on 17 October 2007:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attendees: Michelle McArthur, Audrey Ross, Keith MacAskill, Avril Knox,
Anne Williamson, Bernadette Wheatley, Christine Fairbairn, Rachel Byrne, Julie Moran, Debbie Innes, Brenda McPhee, Amanda Arkell, Isobel Munro
Apologies: Vicky Carr, Scott Ferguson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction/Welcome
Keith thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and introduced Ishobel Munro, from Stirling Council, to the group.
Re-Visit Community Plan
Isobel came to talk about the Community Planning process which has been drawn up. Isobel spoke about communities of regeneration areas and what they have done, i.e. Braehead looked at the National Health Service and access to services, and Fallin focused on the negativity in the village and what could be done to improve this. Community Council meetings have already taken place in Cowie. Isobel mentioned that the next step is to issue a survey/questionnaire to every household in the village. She was looking for volunteers to help distribute and collect these questionnaires. She was also looking for volunteers to take part in future focus groups.
Action: Isobel thanked the parents at the meeting and will contact members of the Parent Council who volunteered their services to help with this initiative.
Amend and Approve minutes of the last meeting on 12 September 2007
Keith went over the minutes of the last meeting as follows;
1. Keith has not had a response from Rosemary Nairns about the funds left over from the Parents Association.
Action: He will continue to chase this.
2. Information about the Parent Council was detailed in the recent newsletter issued by the school to all pupils in P1-P7 and the nursery.
3. After consulting Clare Stevenson, who is a member of St Margarets Parent Council, she confirmed that their notice board cost £284.00 including delivery and a further £20.00 to erect. This was supplied by Wilson & Garden and ordered through Charlie Wilson at Stirling Council, Viewforth.
Action: The Parent Council will need to make a decision about this and its location at a later date. It’s not an ideal time just now due to the refurbishment work which is taking place.
4. The questionnaire was issued along with the October 2007 newsletter to all pupils in P1-P7 and the nursery. This is to be completed and returned by Friday 26 October 2007, to be entered into a prize draw.
5. Anne, Rachel and Michelle updated the group on the progress for the Halloween Disco on
1 November 2007. Keith mentioned that the Liability Insurance should be in place by this date.
Action: Keith will arrange for the Liability Insurance to be finalised before the disco. He will also supply apples for the Halloween Disco and to the nursery children, as it was decided apples would be donated to the nursery after consulting Mrs McClure and Mrs Love. Michelle agreed to get juice and crisps for this event. Rachel will issue a note to P1-P7 pupils nearer the time about a prize for the best dressed, asking for volunteers to help on the night and to ensure pick up of children promptly after the event. The Parent Council will consult with Mrs Ross and decorate the hall a couple of days before the disco and discuss last minute arrangements at that time. Mrs Ross was asked to do a briefing to parents about ‘best practice’ before the disco takes place.
6. Mrs Ross asked for an amendment to be made to the minutes of the last meeting about the School Refurbishment. She confirmed that if there are extra funds available these ‘might’ be used to refurbish the gym hall, instead of these ‘will’ be used. The refurbishment has now started. There was some confusion about access points to the school, as the workmen arrived earlier than expected. Mrs Ross would like to thank all parents/carers for their continued support in using the new access points, while the refurbishment work is underway.
7. Parents have concerns about the security and vandalism to the school and its grounds. In the past, the school gates were locked. However, a decision was made by Stirling Council to keep the gates open as the locks kept getting vandalised.
Action: Rachel will follow up the action point from the last meeting and contact Bob Wylie to see who is eligible for the £10,000 grant mentioned during an earlier Pupil Council Meeting. This would go towards improving the grounds of the school.
8. Mrs Ross confirmed that the school playground should be swept every morning. Mrs Young who runs the Eco-Committee has now received the new ’pencil shaped bins’ for the playground. These will be put out and brought back into the school on a daily basis. The school hope to get larger bins from the Community Council after the refurbishment work is completed.
Mrs Ross mentioned that Iain Binning, School Travel Co-ordinator from Stirling Council, would like the Parent Council to take on the work of preparing a School Travel Plan and combine this with St Margarets School.
The bike racks offered to the school by Iain Binning were free of charge. Mrs Ross confirmed the school are not liable for accidents, damage to bikes in the school playground and can’t enforce children to wear helmets. The Parent Council will need to consult with parents at a later date to gauge their views on this. It was mentioned that Recyke-a-Bike in Fallin do Cycling Proficiency Courses in conjunction with the Police.
Action: Keith agreed to contact Iain Binning about the School Travel Plan and the Cycling Proficiency Courses. Isobel Munro later confirmed that the Community Policeman, Malcolm O'May, and a representative from Recyke-a-Bike in Fallin will be attending St Margarets School at the beginning of November, about Cycling Proficiency. Julie will speak to Clare Stevenson for further information about this.
9. No action taken forward from the previous meeting about School Uniform.
10. The school are once again collecting Tesco vouchers and also tokens from Nestle cereal boxes. Posters are in the school to advertise this. Mrs Fleming who collates the Tesco and Sainsburys vouchers, will inform parents when the resources purchased last session arrive in the school to let them know what these were used to buy.
11. No action taken forward about joining the school and the community together.
12. Mrs Ross confirmed that the outward bound course in Perth for P7 pupils has been booked for 16 May 2008. Approximately 11 pupils are taking part in this and deposits have been paid. It is unlikely that funding for this course is now needed from the Parent Council, as teachers/parents may be asked to take their own cars as opposed to hiring a mini-bus.
Actions: The set up of the school web-site is progressing. Mrs Ross will pursue the progress of this with Scott Ferguson.
13. Some Parent Packs were returned so that these could be shared with other parents.
Homework Policy
The current homework policy was written in 2004 and does not appear to have been shared with parents. Mrs Ross has decided to re-visit this policy. She has already had discussions with teachers and the new homework policy, called Independent Homework Selection, is being piloted in P5. It is hoped it will be rolled out to the rest of the school through time. The teacher decides on a variety of homework tasks set in meaningful situations for the children, and in P5 this makes up a 16 square grid. The teacher selects the tasks he/she wants the children to attempt and the children get to select tasks alongside this (a minimum amount of tasks are chosen, and the children can complete as many tasks as they want). The completed work has to be handed back to the teacher over a 4 week period.
Mrs Ross asked parents at the meeting to brainstorm the purpose and expectations of this new homework concept. The outcome was very encouraging. Mrs Bairner, the P6 teacher, plans to run a homework club on a Tuesday for P4-P7 pupils. This will help support children if they have problems doing homework and gives the children who attend the club the chance to use the computers and other resources for research and presentation purposes. There are plans to extend this club, depending on the interest of the children.
Debbie mentioned homework satchels which some children already use to carry their homework in, instead of the plastic folders which are provided by the school and tear easily. They can be bought from Logo-Xpres for £3.99.
Action: The homework satchels are something the Parent Council can consider at a later date, if they felt it was a priority for the children.
Traffic Problems
Avril and other parents at the meeting had serious concerns about the safety of their children, due to the traffic congestion on Mount Oliphant. There has always been congestion on this road and the refurbishment work at the school is only adding to this problem. Avril has already reported a recent incident to Bannockburn Police Station.
Action: Julie agreed to write to the Community Policeman and Bannockburn Police Station about the concerns parents at Cowie Primary School have.
A.O.B & Close
Debbie mentioned the ’Book People’, a book supplier, who are very competitive and the quality of their books are excellent. They work on a commission basis where the school receive 10% of the sales. The school already have a book supplier called Scholastic.
Amanda asked if the school were participating in a Harvest Festival. Mrs Ross confirmed not this year.
Action: Debbie will provide more information to Julie about the Book People, who will pass this onto Miss MacDougall to consider.
Date of the next meeting
This will be decided shortly and communicated to all parents who have children at the school.
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