school mins nov 08

NORTH KESSOCK PRIMARY SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL
NOTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 11th NOVEMBER 2008

Present

Helen Barton (Chair)
Hazel Henderson (Head Teacher)
John Ritchie (Area Education Manager)
Jo Hazell
Susannah Leslie
Graeme Lyon
Iain Mackenzie
Alan McDiarmid
Alan Danson (staff member)

Apologies

Lesley McLachlan

Minutes of Last Meeting

Item not taken

Discussion of new cluster school arrangements

Mr Ritchie outlined the circumstances that had led to the staffing ratios being reviewed at the end of last term, and the arrangements that are now in place.
He confirmed that the current arrangement is a temporary arrangement and will stay in place until the end of the school year. A permanent arrangement will then need to be made, following consultation with all parents at both North Kessock and Tore.

At that stage, the options will be:

· Revert to the pre-cluster arrangements (which for us means Miss Henderson returning as teaching head, losing a full time teaching post unless pupil numbers increase again, with triple composite classes for some year groups)

· Confirm the existing clusters (North Kessock with Tore; Ferintosh with Rosehall) – this would also be subject to Miss Henderson’s agreement to taking on a permanent non-teaching role)

Mr Ritchie recommended that all parents would need to be formally consulted before Easter. The Parent Council are free to decide the most appropriate process, but it was recommended that the process is consistent with Tore to make sure that the parents at each school have the same detail of information available to them. It was agreed a combied meeting with Tore PC may be beneficial in the New Year to jointly consider options. Miss Henderson will raise at meeting with them next week.

During questions and answers, the following points were clarified:

· If the arrangements continue on a permanent basis, all teaching hours will be covered, and no further reductions to staff numbers will be made unless numbers fall to the next cut-off (69)

· The option to form a cluster only became available after the deletion of a teaching post had been announced due to a coincidental appointment of the Tore head to another position the during the same week

· The current probationer post will finish at the end of the current school year. A decision whether to replace the post will be made at the end of the year subject to pupil numbers. No commitment was made to whether it would be another probationer or a permanent appointment if made.

· A fixed term appointment will be made to cover Miss Henderson’s teaching duties for the rest of the school year. These are already being covered on a temporary basis and an appointment procedure is underway.

Mr Lyon advised that the parent council had still not received their funding allocation for 2008/09 which had been due in March. The clerk is due for wages invoiced but there are currently insufficient funds in the account. Mr Ritchie said he would look into the matter.

Miss Barton thanked Mr Ritchie for his attendance, & Mr Ritchie left the meeting.

Head Teachers Report

Miss Henderson reported the following:

· She is currently trying to spend part of each day at both Tore and North Kessock, although this has not been consistent depending on

· She hopes to receive additional clerical support to cover after Mrs Dey has finished and she is not in the school to deal with administrative matters. Mr Danson confirmed that staff were having to cover for some duties such as attending to tradesmen in addition to their teaching duties. It was also noted that there is a shortage of playgroud cover at lunchtimes on das when Mrs Henderson is not at the school. Mr Mackenzie suggested that parents could be asked to form a volunteer rota as has happened in the past – subject to disclosures and confidentiality requirements.

· Staff have received GIRFEC (Getting it Right from Every Child) training.

· Reading Curriculum information evening for parents being arranged for w/c 24 November

Feedback from Pupil Council Meeting

Miss Barton reported that she and Mr Mackenzie had a very productive meeting with the pupil council earlier in the day. The children had produced a list of priorities from each class. Miss Henderson circulated rough notes from the meeting. Overall priority from al classes was for outdoor climbing and activity equipment; more library books; greater range of DVDs.

Mrs Mackenzie confirmed that the community council would contribute £150 towards purchase of books, which he will arrange at CC meeting next week. Pupil council members are collecting wish lists from their classes, and Mss Henderson will then arrange to take some of them to a local bookshop to choose titles themselves. Mrs Leslie suggested that if the list is shared, families may also be able to donate other books to the supply.

Miss Barton advised on initial research about climbing walls. Website of Aviemore based company includes examples f walls supplied at a number of local schools. (http://www.schoolclimbingwalls.co.uk). Company to be contacted by email initially with photos of grounds and wall lengths to get initial design and cost options.

Miss Henderson will also ask the Janitor to try out the paint machine to mark up some new playground games. It was agreed that funds would be used to obtain new paints if required.

Fundraising and Treasurers Update

Mr Lyon reported on the two accounts.

· Parent Council account balance is £70.63. Invoice for clerks allowance outstanding.

· Fundraising account balance £1107. Bulbman orders raised over £200 plus 1 coach account for a curriculum trip still to pay. A substantial income expected from the tea towels, which have exceeded original expected orders. 280 definite sales to date. Surplus will be made available for sale at the Kitchen Ware cookery evening later in the month.

Future ideas for fundraising included the following:

· Coffee morning and baking stall in New Year
· Car treasure hunt and family BBQ around Easter
· Family Quiz
· Whether to run another Spring Fete to be decided at next meeting

New Members

No nomination forms received. Reminder that places available to be included I te next school newsletter. Miss Barton will email a copy of the nomination form to the school office for anyone who requires it.

Frequency and Dates of Future Meetings

Due to bust diaries and Miss Henderson’s need to attend meetings at two schools now, Miss Barton suggested that meetings are restricted to one per term, with telephone and email contact in between.

Dates for remaining terms were set as follows:

Tuesday 3rd February
Tuesday 12th May

Correspondence

Miss Barton has received a short information DVD about the Curriculum for Excellence. It was agreed this would be made available for parents to view at a future event. It is available for any PC members who wish to see it meantime.
(Post meeting note – it is also available to download from the Parentzone website at the following link: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/video/curriculumforexcellenceparents.asp )

AOCB

None

Meeting closed 9.20

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