Friday, 30 October 2009
HALLOWEEN DISCO MONDAY 26 OCTOBER 2009
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Minutes of Meeting on 7 October 2009
Attendees: Audrey Ross, Julie Moran, Anne Williamson, Michelle McArthur, Barbara, Sherry Houlihan, Jeff McGhie, Amanda Arkell
Apologies: Rachel Byrne, Vicky Carr, Avril Knox,
■ Introduction/Welcome
Mrs Ross thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.
■ Appointment of Chair for 2009-2010 school year
The new joint Chairs appointed were Sherry Houlihan and Jeff McGhie. Congratulations to both of them and we look forward to working with you in the future.
■ Income and Expenditure for 2008-2009
Now that the figures have been finalised, I attach a copy for those of you that have not received this information. The balance left in our account is £1,262.77.
■ Halloween Disco
We spoke about arrangements for the proposed Halloween Disco. Details of what was agreed are shown below. We appreciate all the help you can give to make this event a success for the children at Cowie Primary School. We hope to get more parents involved on the night to ensure that this runs as smoothly as possible;
Task Who’s doing what
Date/Time Date agreed was Monday 26 October 2009 (slightly earlier than
normal, so that we could secure disco and let for the hall).
Times (P1-P3) 6.00pm – 7.15pm
(P4-P7) 7.30pm – 8.45pm (again slightly earlier times than
before as it’s a Monday night).
Ticket Price £1.75
Letter to Parents and
Design of Tickets Rachel agreed to do this. The letter will need to be issued to parents
on Monday 19 October 2009 and tickets will be on sale after this
date.
Rachel, can you arrange this communication and hand into the school
or e-mail for copying for this date?
Theme/Decorations Mrs Ross will speak to Bernadette about decorations we used for the
last Halloween Disco. If anyone has decorations we can use, please
hand into the school so that we can decorate the hall and dining area.
You may also want to carve a pumpkin and bring this along on the night
for display purposes? We need volunteers to decorate the hall/dining
area on Monday 26 October, before the disco starts – please can you
help with this???
Organise Let for hall Mrs Ross will organise the let for the hall for 26 October.
Disco/Music/Lights Michelle confirmed that Gavin was free to do this on 26 October.
Drinks/Snacks Amanda offered to get snacks/crisps. (Amanda do you also have the
sweetie cauldron from last year??)
Michelle offered to get diluting juice and cups and will speak to
Christine/Vicky re this.
Games/Prize Amanda suggested using games from the last disco as they were a
success. She agreed to dig out resources for these games for both discos
(approx 3 games for each disco).
Julie agreed to get prizes for best dressed for girl & boy at both discos
and party game prizes.
Touchy/Feely Boxes As these worked well last year, we agreed to do them again. Anne and
Michelle offered to do 2 boxes each with things like jelly, spaghetti,
foam, custard etc instead (and spiders and worms). They will arrange
these for each disco.
Posters/Flyers Julie suggested that Rachel may have posters/flyers from last year,
and agreed to ask if she could print a few off to hand into the school to
advertise the event.
Ticket Sales P1-P3 – Avril/Michelle offered to help sell the tickets
P4-P7 – Anne/Julie agreed to help sell the tickets.
Agree Responsibilities/
Roles on the night We didn’t have enough people at the meeting to agree actual roles for
the night, on who would take tickets at the door, serve snack, help with
the disco and party games, supervise the boxes, watch over the toilets
etc. We need to ensure we have enough helpers on the night at both
discos so they run smoothly. We will do a checklist nearer the time and
ask other parents to be involved.
Accident Report Audrey will have this at the discos to note any accidents that take place.
Invite School Staff Audrey agreed to do this.
Eastside News Audrey agreed to contact them about this event.
Apples To be honest we spoke about apples and the mess the water made the
previous year. No decision was made about the apples. Let me know
your opinions, and if anyone wants to offer to get them if we agree to go
ahead with the ‘dooking for apples’ (with a fork, of course)?
As Treasurer, Anne will reimburse any of your costs, so please provide receipts of your expenditure direct to her.
■ Future Fundraising
We briefly spoke about future fund raising ideas and agreed to have a think about this so that we could do a fund-raiser early next year. Some of the suggestions mentioned were a bettle drive, race night, sponsored events, bingo etc. We could discuss this again at our next meeting.
■ Date of Next Meeting
The date of our next meeting is Wednesday 18 November 2009 at 7pm in the school. Hope to see you all there. Please pass your agenda items to Julie Moran before this meeting!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Minutes of Annual General Meeting on 2 September 2009
Minutes of A.G.M. on 2 September 2009
Attendees: Keith MacAskill, Audrey Ross, Julie Moran, Bernadette Wheatley,
Anne Williamson
Apologies: Amanda Arkell, Rachel Byrne, Michelle McArthur, Vicky Carr, Avril Knox,
Scott Ferguson
■ Introduction/Welcome
Keith welcomed and thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.
Keith discussed some correspondence he had received addressed to the Parent Council. The only action point to take from this was a letter from Mrs McClure, Deputy Head at the school. She asked the Parent Council if they would consider funding half of the money needed to get a professional plan drawn up to develop school grounds. The other half is being funded by the school and the estimated total cost is £200.00 - £500.00. The letter mentions that this outlay is essential for dramatic changes to be made to the school grounds.
Action: A response has been sent to Mrs McClure to confirm that the Parent Council will support half of the funds needed for this plan to be drawn up, as mentioned above.
A thank you card was received from the P7 class and their teachers, for the leavers night the Parent Council organised to the Buzz and Pizza Hut. They all had a great time!
■ Income and Expenditure for 2008-2009
The target we set to raise as a group last year was £2,000.00 and this has been smashed! The Income and Expenditure report is still being finalised and will be distributed to the group once this is available.
■ Office Bearers for the new school year
Due to poor attendance it was not possible to fill all roles needed at the meeting. The roles that were filled are as follows;
Secretary – Julie Moran
Treasurer – Anne Williamson
Rachel as Vice-Chair of the group last year, was nominated to be Chair by Julie, seconded by Anne. However, as she was not able to make the A.G.M. this will be confirmed at the next meeting.
Mrs Ross thanked Keith for the tremendous support he has given her. Keith mentioned that although he is no longer Chair of the Parent Council, he is easily contactable if we need his help in anyway. He also mentioned Scott is happy to assist with any questions or help needed to improve the school website.
■ Headteacher’s Report/Update
This is attached for your information, which Mrs Ross discussed at the meeting.
■ A.O.B
1. The condition of the boys toilets at the upper end of the school was mentioned and how wet the toilet floor is when the children are getting changed for gym. Raised by Anne on behalf of Michelle.
Action: Mrs Ross will look at this.
2. We agreed that we need to try and get more parents engaged in the life of the Parent Council and to look at different ideas for future meeting to boost numbers, i.e. cheese and wine, offer crèche facility. So that we can discuss plans for the Halloween Disco a meeting has been set for Wednesday 7 October at 7pm in the school. This meeting will be low key and refreshments will be available, tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes.
Action: Mrs Ross agreed to target parents and issue a flyer a week before this meeting to try and drum up some interest. Mrs Ross will organise the let for this meeting. She also asked the group to consider the purchase of cup holders, which we have previously loaned from Bannockburn Primary School. Julie will organise refreshments and will look at the cost of cup holders.
■ Date of Next Meeting
As mentioned this has been set for Wednesday 7 October at 7pm in the school. Hope to see you all there!
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HEADTEACHERS REPORT
Parent Council AGM
Wednesday 2nd September 2009
Staffing
Mrs Fleming now working 3 days per week covering teacher non class contact time.
Mr Kearney working in the P4 class along with Mrs McClure
Mrs Gentleman from the nursery promoted to Senior Early Childhood Educator at Fintry, Mrs Gernon has replaced her.
Miss Bradley now working for 2 hours each day in the nursery to support the three hour entitlement for every nursery child.
School Roll
The school roll is currently sitting at 143 in the school and 60 in the nursery.
Refurbishment
Toilets 5/6 week programme of refurbishment. Disruption is kept to a minimum.
Parental Engagement Opportunities
Two curriculum evenings planned throughout the session
Parental evenings planned for November and February
Two parental focus group meetings planned for January and March
Request in newsletter for parental helpers and e mail addresses
Challenges
Out of school lunches – children still not bringing in notes indicating that they are an out of school for lunch.
Poor response for Dalguise – only twelve children paid a deposit. Initial letter went out in February 2009. Several letters and phone calls since.
Thanks to Parent Council for all the events planned last year, for their financial support towards the cost of school trips and also for the new school calendars.
Wishes for this session;
Fundraising for remaining IWB
Rainy day boxes for each classroom, in particular P1, P2 and P3
Continued support for school trips at end of year.
More parents engaged in the life of the school.
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Minutes of Parent Council Meeting on 27 May 2009
Bernadette Wheatley, Fiona Ferguson
Apologies: Avrix Knox, Christine Fairbairn, Debbie Innes, Amanda Arkell, Vicky Carr,
Anne Williamson, Tammy Laird, Scott Ferguson
■ Introduction/Welcome
Keith welcomed and thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.
■ Amendment to Minutes of 25 February 2009
A proposal has not been put forward to Grounds for Learning for a wooden play area in the playground. The area with the wooden snake is currently being looked at, at the front of the school, and perhaps the school may access Grounds for Learning funds to help improve the area.
■ Headteacher’s Update/Report
I attach a copy of this for your information. As you can see this also covers some of the outstanding/action points from our last meeting, i.e. Community Council Planning Group donation received by the school, as video presentation done by children on the village of Cowie. Also access to the school from the Community Centre has been restored.
■ P7’s Leavers and Dance-Fit Day
Rachel spoke about the P7 leaver’s party and Dance-Fit Day. She had previously issued an update to all on the Parent Council about these events to keep everyone in the loop.
P7 Leaver’s Party
The children had decided they wanted to go to Megazone and then onto Pizza Hut. Rachel looked into the costings for this which you all have a copy of. We opted for Buzz, which is the new laser/soft play complex recently opened in Falkirk. The date for this party has been set for Thursday 25 June and a communication will be sent by Rachel to the children in P7 so that we can finalise numbers/cost.
Action - Audrey will communicate this event to all staff at the school, as they may wish to attend the meal at Pizza Hut. If any member of the Parent Council is interested in attending, please contact Rachel to let her know.
It was also decided that we wouldn’t go to the expense of purchasing disposable cameras for the P7 leaver’s party. Instead Audrey suggested that we use the school’s digital camera/flip video.
We spoke about buying autograph books as a gift for the P7’s. After looking into this, the cost was £1.79 + V.A.T. per book and a small delivery charge. The group agreed this was a good idea and the children could use the books on their last day to get teachers/friends autographs and messages.
Action – Julie has agreed to order the autograph books and Audrey has agreed to arrange for a photo of the P7’s to be taken to put in the inside cover of the books. Rachel agreed to organise certificates for the P7 children so they can be presented to them along with the autograph books at their last assembly. Bernadette will also liase with Rachel to arrange the certificates.
Dance-Fit Day
Again details of this event, following a previous meeting with members of the fund raising group that attended, have been communicated to you by Rachel. As you know this event is to try and help raise funds for the Parent Council, which will be used towards school resources and to subsidise future trips etc.
A letter and sponsor form has since been issued to every child at the school and nursery, which gives further information. Audrey has kindly agreed to facilitate this danceathon event, with assistance from Active Stirling. As you know, all children who return their sponsor sheet and money will be entered into a free prize draw, to win a school shirt signed by the Scotland Football Team.
Action - Rachel is trying to source bottled water for this event. She will also contact the Eastside News to try and arrange press coverage of this event. Julie will communicate with Airth Primary School, as they have a moveable stage which they have kindly agreed to let us use on the day.
If you can volunteer your help on the day this would be much appreciated.
■ A.O.B.
1. Rachel and Julie spoke about the Parental Involvement Conference, which they attended with Amanda on 23 May 2009. David Cameron hosted this event and spoke about the Curriculum for Excellence, attempts to develop this, why change the way children learn, engaging parents in Curriculum for Excellence, and showcasing Curriculum for Excellence using Riverside Primary School as an example. There was also an opportunity to ask questions and for small group discussions.
Lesley-Anne Livesey, who helped organise this event, has collated the action points and these will be circulated once available.
2. A National Parent Conference: Making Partnership Work, is being held at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Saturday 13 June 2009. I have circulated copies of this event to those on
e-mail to see if interested in attending. If you want paper copies of the information about this event if you are thinking of going, please let Julie know ASAP.
3. Keith spoke about meetings that he and other parents had attended about the transition from P7 to Bannockburn High School. He mentioned to the group how useful he and others found the meetings and it’s a good way to get involved with the transition. He encouraged us to attend these in the future, if we get chance to.
Keith also spoke about the lollipop crossing cover which was secured, following Anne’s husband who recently passed away. We agreed that we would send a card to Anne, from the school and parent council, at this sad time to let her know that we are thinking of her.
4. Audrey asked if the Parent Council would like to organise and produce a calendar, which would be issued to all parents at the start of the new school term and would include dates of all planned events taking place at the school throughout the year.
Action – Audrey will pass the dates to the Parent Council by the start of the summer holidays and Rachel agreed to get an example of this calendar from Bannockburn Primary, as they do something similar.
Audrey has also asked that we think about disco dates for 2009/2010, avoiding certain school dates. Any future fund-raising events will need to be considered and slotted into the calendar once it’s available.
■ Dates of Next Meetings
The dates of the next meetings are as follows;
2 September 2009 – AGM (Annual General Meeting)
18 November 2009
3 February 2010
21 April 2010
2 June 2010
Friday, 13 March 2009
Minutes of Parent Council Meeting on 25 February 2009
Attendees: Scott Ferguson, Keith MacAskill, Audrey Ross, Rachel Byrne, Julie Moran, Bernadette Wheatley, Fiona Ferguson, Michelle McArthur, Tammy Laird
Apologies: Avrix Knox, Christine Fairbairn, Debbie Innes, Amanda Arkell, Vicky Carr, Anne Williamson
■ Introduction/Welcome
Keith welcomed and thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.
■ Points from the last meeting discussed/carried forward/outstanding
- Keith confirmed that the action points from the Area Parent Council Network meeting he attended will be circulated once available.
- Stuart Hislop from Cowie Community Planning Group has not been in touch with Mrs Ross since attending our last meeting. Fiona agreed to speak to Stuart and has since asked him to get in contact with Mrs Ross with his proposals as previously discussed.
- The fenced grassed area in the school playground will be used by the children when it’s not wet and mucky. Mrs Ross passed a leaflet about artificial grass to the Parent Council as this would allow children to use this area all year round, if sufficient funds were available. It’s always something to bear in mind for the future.
- Mrs Ross has contacted Colin Whiting about the entrance to the school playground at the Community Centre access point, and is waiting for him to get back in touch.
- Tammy mentioned the broken glass in the playground which is still a problem. Mrs Ross confirmed that a sweep of the playground is done before children arrive prior to 9.00am, and a further inspection is carried out after this. Tackling this problem is proving difficult. The vandalism, broken glass and rubbish is a community issue and it was mentioned is happening in other villages. Mrs Ross has since e-mailed the local community policeman, Malcolm O’May, about this problem and to pass on our concerns.
- A proposal has been put forward to Grounds for Learning for a wooden play area in the playground. It was also discussed a mural may be painted on the school playground wall by Stirling Council youth workers, which would also involve participation from children in the village.
■ Headteacher’s Update/Report
For those on e-mail, I’ll get a copy of this file from Mrs Ross and e-mail to you separately. I attach a papercopy of this for those not on e-mail.
■ Budget Update
Bernadette confirmed the amount raised from the Valentine Disco was £184.00, plus £890.59 raised from previous events = £1,074.59. There is also £330.00 which was allocated to the Parent Council by Stiring Council and is being held in the Devolved Budget.
■ A.O.B
1. Rachel spoke about the Pamper Night which is being organised by the nursery at the school. Rachel wondered if they had set up their own Parent Council/Group and if we could have helped with this event in anyway. Parents/carers who have children at the nursery were invited to buy a ticket for this event, and these invites may have also been extended to Primary 1 parents/carers. Flyers have also been put up to advertise this.
Action – Mrs Ross has since spoken to Mrs Love in the nursery about this event. Mrs Love has confirmed that this is not a fund raiser and is being used to develop a sense of community in the nursery. Mrs Ross spoke about providing an opportunity for the Parent Council to meet with new Primary 1 parents, with a view to getting them more involved in future.
2. Fiona spoke about the last fund raiser, being the Valentine Disco. For future events she thought it was a good idea to appoint a person to drive/steer the fund raising group. This would involve delegating and looking for volunteers to take on various tasks who are in the group, and want to be involved. Also pulling these tasks together before the event takes place. Fiona suggested Rachel to take on this role as part of the fund raising group. We agreed that Rachel would do the leadership role for the next fund raiser to see how things go.
3. Ideas were discussed for the next Parent Council fund raiser. We spoke about a ‘Danceathon’ on the same day as the school Fun Day, which is planned for the end of May.
Action - The fund raising group will consider this further and will liaise with Mrs Ross if this is going to take place.
4. The Parent Council normally organise the Primary 7 leavers party. Last year the Primary 7 class was asked what they would like to do to celebrate their time at the school. They decided to go to the Megazone in Falkirk and a meal at Pizzahut. This will need to be organised in advance if they decide this year, for example, to have a dance/disco.
Action – Mrs Ross agreed to speak to the Primary 7 class when they are at Dulguise, to ask them to have a think about what they would like to do this year. Fund raising group to link in with Mrs Ross to see what was discussed and to take this forward.
5. Keith asked what the group thought about using some of our funds for the Primary 7 class, as pocket money when they go to Dulguise (the trip has already cost them approx £110.00 each). As the Primary 7 sometimes get a leavers gift, we decided that we would consider this instead, i.e. autograph book.
Action – Fund raising group to consider Primary 7 leavers gift.
6. Keith spoke about the new hospital and the transport links to this. He expressed his concerns about the volume of traffic that would be diverted through the village and past the school, if the main road from Bannockburn Hospital to Plean was closed, i.e. due to an accident. He just wanted to make us aware of this for the future.
■ Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting has been set for Wednesday 27 May 2009 at 7pm in the School. Prior to this date, the fund raising and curricular groups may meet up and discuss issues they can then share at this meeting.
