Minutes of Parent Council Meeting on 25 February 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.