HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
Minutes of Meeting
Purpose of Meeting:
Parent Council HCHS
Date of Meeting:
14 May 2013
Place of Meeting:
Holy Cross High School
Hamilton
Present:
Justine Docherty - Chair
Anne Marie Mulder - Vice Chair
Geraldine El Masrour - Secretary
Linda & Graham Hamilton - Treasurers
Pauline Aird
Janice Byrne
Margaret Clark
Claire Docherty
Gail Dolan
Carol Ann Douglas
Marie McRoberts
Arthur McWilliams
Winifred Ritchie
Mari Smith
John Reilly - Head Teacher
Apologies:
Agnes Carlin
Councillor Davie McLachlan
Vicky O’Hanlon
Distribution:
Date and Time of Next
Meeting:
Councillor Lynn Adams
Alison McGuire
Helen Giusti (Teacher)
As above
Father Patrick Duffy
Anne Wilton
4 June 2013, 7pm HCHS
HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
Justine noted the great number at the meeting and welcomed everyone.
ACTION
Minutes of previous meeting:
1.0
Mr Reilly confirmed 2 mirrors had been installed in the girl‟s toilets with the
boy‟s toilets yet to be done. There should have been a wall of mirrors
above the sinks in both Boys/Girls toilets from the school‟s official opening
day.
Noted
1.1
The 2013 Year Book is nearly ready and awaits the Prom photos. The
2012 year book is almost ready and awaits a “Good Bye” letter from the
Head Boy/Girl from last year.
Linda offered various ideas on how the book could be ordered/collected.
It was agreed Mr Reilly would arrange a letter to be posted out asking
those who want to purchase the Year Book to phone the school and
arrange payment approx £15/£20 to be paid directly to the school office.
Noted
Mr Reilly thanked Fraser for his hard work in helping get the Year Book
organised and will personally write to thank him.
Mr Reilly
1.2
1.3
ECO Group
Miss Hands in Biology has organised recycling bins and they have already
started appearing around the school. The school will work towards a
Bronze Flag but ultimately will aim for a Green Flag.
Mr Reilly
Noted
Mr Reilly confirmed there had been no information relating to the web site
from South Lanarkshire Council. Mr Reilly has spoken to S1 pupils who
will look at the web project in conjunction with some of the older pupils
when the exams are finished.
Mr Reilly
The concertina Prayer Book quote is too expensive; Mr Reilly will arrange
for another quote. The Pastoral Team agreed the existing prayer book
would be issued to S2 and upwards. The new S1 pupils will receive the
new prayer book which should fit into the top pocket of the school blazer. It
was suggested that the Parent Council should contribute to this cost.
Noted
1.5
The Nutshell Documents will be uploaded onto the web site and promoted
with a new tab „Curriculum for Excellence”.
Mr Reilly
1.6
Mr Reilly confirmed he had not received the e mail from Justine regarding
the ICT quote as there had been some IT issue in the school for a period
of time. Mr Reilly confirmed he had received Justine‟s second e mail but
advised that the idea of purchasing tablets was on hold pending more
consultation with staff.
Noted
1.4
HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
1.7
Noted no further S2 questionnaires had been handed in to school, Justine
to complete analysis of the questionnaires across all year groups and
provide update at future meeting.
JD
1.8
Pre Printed Permission Slips can be arranged via Seemis. Jim Reid will
help with this procedure in the school.
Noted
1.9
PC Andy will be attending the June meeting.
Noted
The April minutes were recorded as accurate and can be uploaded onto
www.holycross.s-lanark.sch.uk
Noted
2.0
Correspondence
2.1
Justine read an e mail from South Lanarkshire Council confirming
the new Parent Council Insurance Policy covers home baking.
3.0
Head Teacher’s Report
Mr Reilly updated the meeting on:
3.1

April Events
S6 Leavers Mass on Monday 22nd was a success with a great
attendance by parents and young people. The mass offered
everyone an opportunity to mark 6 years at Holy Cross.
Mr Reilly discussed how their presence was already missed and
they were an “Outstanding Year Group”.
3.2

Prom
A fantastic night was had by all with a very healthy turn out along
with 40 staff. It was labelled “The Best Prom Ever!” The Prom
Awards were a hit too.
3.3

Missio
Michelle McManus had visited the school on behalf of Missio and
all young people had been given a set of Rosary Beads by Missio.
3.4

Whole School Improvement Plan 2013/2014 Priority Areas
Mr Reilly will discuss in detail at the June meeting and will e mail us
or send a letter for discussion in the next session.
The priority areas remain the same as they are core to the school
targets:
Raising Attainment
Noted
Mr Reilly
HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
Learning & Teaching
Curriculum for Excellence:- Curriculum, Literacy, Numeracy, Health
& Wellbeing, IDL
Improvement through Self-Evaluation
Faith & Learning
Partnership Strategies Enhancing the School Ethos
Rights Respecting Schools
A selection of staff from the School Leadership will bounce ideas
which will descend to all
3.5

ICT Group Update
Mr Reilly confirmed the school insurance does not cover i pads, i
phones etc. The User Agreement forms have been issued by Mr
Ward and Mr Reilly.
A questionnaire will be issued to staff to gauge what purchases
would be the best use of resources.
A long discussion took place on ICT as it is impossible to police.
Our young people are already using their smart phones and
deserve credit for using them appropriately.
This technology is another teaching strategy used by the staff and
accepted by Scottish Government.

SQA Examinations
The exams have started with Maths and English coming up.
All of the young people are working hard.

Lower School Awards Ceremony
A letter will be sent to the Parent Council inviting them on
Wednesday 19th June at 7.30pm. The format will be the same as
previous years. Please note this is a new date.
3.6
3.7
3.8

Fashion Show
The 3rd Fashion Show will take place on the 24th June. There is a
shortfall of £1,500 of the £7,000 kitchen for Malawi. The kitchen
will be named after the school. Mr Reilly spoke to the founder of
Mary‟s Meals, Magnus MacFarlane Barrow whilst he attended a
meeting for Catholic Heads of Schools. Magnus said he was
aware of the Holy Cross High School Fashion Shows and their
great contribution towards the charity.
Mr Reilly
HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
3.9

New Timetable
The current S1 to S3 will start the new timetable on the 3rd June.
S5 and S6 will return Thursday 6th June.
S6 will have one day‟s induction at the South Lanarkshire
Buildings.
The P7 induction days will take place on the 13th and 14th June. All
205 pupils will attend Holy Cross and follow the timetable. The
Welcome Mass will be on 10th June at 7pm

School Uniform Update
A special letter will go out from Mr Reilly thanking parents for their
co-operation in our young people wearing their school uniform.
The letter will also contain details of the blazer, black box pleat or
straight skirt, black trousers, white shirts/blouses, black tights and
black shoes. The letter will also inform parents which retailers
stock the blazers eg Alstons. The kilt will not be introduced this
coming session after a very full consultation.
Mr Reilly
Pictures and mannequins at the fashion show were discussed to
help promote the correct uniform.
4.0
4.1
Treasurers Report
Linda provided an update on the current balance of the Parent Council
account. We currently have £1,731.06 in the bank and £69.41 cash in
hand.
Noted
Noted that the music department had received their funding for sheet
music as agreed at the last meeting.
Noted
Allocation of Funds:
Mr Reilly to email Justine re‟ funding from Parent Council to pay for Missio
rosary beads.
Mr Reilly
The gold lettering for the DUX will be requested at a later date.
Noted
HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
5.0
Fundraising/Upcoming Events
5.1
Justine advised she had written to many local companies for prizes. She
received a £50 voucher from Argos, Andiamo said “No”; Sainsburys and
Italiano are to be contacted again nearer the time, Meal voucher from
Mustaqs.
Mr Reilly
The following to be asked again:
Avonbridge
Hilton
Roxburgh Hotel
Water Palace, Virgin/Esporta, M & D‟s could be asked too.
All members are asked to try to gather good prizes if possible.
All
Due to the current economic climate we may have to purchase the “Star
Prizes” if we are unable to get any via the school, parents etc.
Mr Reilly confirmed Mrs Giusti‟s husband has successfully got a signed
Celtic football.
Mr Reilly to confirm numbers of families for the purchase of the raffle
tickets and to send out a general letter to parents/friends of the school re:
obtaining prizes for raffle.
Mr Reilly
Final agreement on way forward for raffle books/prizes etc to be taken
forward at June meeting.
Noted
6.0
Membership -
6.1
Justine opened the discussion re‟ increasing the number of members in
the constitution from the current limit of 12. Justine noted that meetings
were well attended on an ongoing basis and she was keen to ensure that
the Parent council was seen as being welcoming and inclusive. Following
discussion it was agreed that the membership would be increased to a
maximum of 30 parents. Quorum for a meeting was agreed as 25% of the
membership and quorum for any vote taking place was agreed as 50% of
the total membership. Noted the current membership was 24 parents.
Changes to the constitution to be formally proposed at the AGM in
September.
6.2
Following an invitation at previous meeting Linda, Graham and Arthur
gratefully declined to be co-opted members. Both Justine and Mr Reilly
Noted
JD
HOLY CROSS
HIGH SCHOOL
6.3
7.0
officially thanked all three parents for their years of invaluable contribution
to the Parent Council.
Noted
Due to Linda‟s departure the post of Treasurer will become vacant and
members are asked to consider volunteering for this post, noted that we
are required by the constitution of the Parent Council to have a Treasurer.
Anyone interested in the post should contact Justine or alternatively advise
at the next meeting.
Linda confirmed her employers gave £250 contribution to the School fund
when she took up the post of Treasurer and noted that other companies
may make donations if they have an employee who holds a committee
position.
Noted Linda had just had written confirmation from The Bank of Scotland
regarding adding Justine as a new signatory to the PC account. Noted
that the bank is exceptionally slow in handling administrative matters and
this should be considered when making any future changes to the account.
All
Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 4th June at 7pm in Holy Cross
High School.
Noted
Noted
All