Ceres Primary School Parent Council Minutes of the Meeting held at 6.50pm on 5 October 2015 Present: Lorraine Brown, Lisa Burns (Chair), Sarah Cameron, Kirsty Cooper, Fiona Eason, Lisa Gilroy (Head Teacher), Linda Knight, Kirsty Lawrie, Linda McIntosh, Laura McNeilly, Jan Smyth Apologies: Angela Baker, Sarah Buttercase, Dave Conacher, Sarah Duncan, Helen Holden, Claire Luxford, Leigh McPhail Minutes of previous meeting: following amendment: These minutes were approved subject to the The comment regarding the P1 child feeling intimidated by parents outside the P1-P3 classroom is to be expunged from the records. Matters arising a. Workshop for Literacy Books – This remains ongoing. Mrs Gilroy is taking time to assess current stock and ensure any money spent will be put to the best use. b. Science and Technology – Miss Hanton, the P2/3 teacher is working with the Bell Baxter cluster schools on this project. There is a meeting in November and this matter will be discussed once further information has been received. c. Police Community Award – No further information available and this matter remains ongoing. d. Shows – Mrs Gilroy advised that the children had been spoken to and wanted everything to take place as normal. Mrs Wooldridge is speaking with the P6/7 class to try and get the children to rethink this. As previously discussed the children and teachers will have the final decision on this matter. Matter remains ongoing. e. Climbing Wall – In the minutes of 8 June Mrs Thompson said that she would check with the building inspector to see whether the outside could be used as a climbing wall. Mrs Gilroy would check whether this had happened. f. After School Clubs – Mrs Gilroy confirmed that the Chess Club and Stay and Play would be returning after the October holidays. Mrs Margaret Martin who was helping out with the Gardening Club has also intimated that she would like to discuss with the school whether a running club hopefully also involving parents would be of interest. It was also hoped that football would be able to restart after the holidays 3 parents have shown an interest in taking this on. g. Hen Update – Mrs Gilroy advised that the money was now available to purchase the hens and the Egloo. Miss Oliver would be meeting with Jocelyn Scott in the October holidays to discuss the purchase. Mrs Gilroy also mentioned that £4,000 of eco funding had been granted to the school and this would be used to purchase outdoor seating, outdoor picnic mats, outdoor toys for outdoor soft start and sensory items for the garden. SPTC Parent Council Health Check and Workshop The Chair and Jan Smyth had attended the workshop which they had both found extremely useful. They were asked to complete a health check questionnaire to see how the school were communicating with the parents and the following matters that they had picked up were discussed: Parent Workshops – it was felt that it may be a good idea to have parent workshops to show how for example English and Maths are taught in the school. A number of parents are concerned that they may be showing their children incorrect methods. Homework Policy – it was felt that there were differing homework policies between the classes and it might be a good idea for parents to be given an understanding of any homework policy in place. Videos – An idea shared was for Sharing the Learning lessons to be videoed to allow parents unable to attend the session to see what took place. This would give the parents a better understanding of what the children are learning and the methods of teaching undertaken. Some other schools in the area use a secure invite only youtube link to allow this to be shared with parents. This would be looked into carefully and parent permission and views sought before posting any videos. This method could also be used to video and share the workshops discussed above. Reports – It was felt that the end of year reports could be explained better to give parents more of an understanding of how their children have performed throughout the year. There is a help sheet available on the SPTC website called “A list of acronyms used in Scottish Education” which may prove helpful. Positive Messages - Mrs Gilroy explained that the action of teachers sending home positive messages about pupils on a regular basis was geared more to Senior School. We are a growth mindset school and do speak to children differently, encouraging rather than praising all the time. Internet Safety – Mrs Gilroy was speaking to the Police regarding this matter and it was hoped that someone would come in and speak to the whole school regarding this matter. Homework Hotline/calendar/planner – This could possibly be incorporated into the school website. Development of Website – There is a need to update the School website and Croft Primary was given as an excellent website to view for ideas. School Policies – More integration required. School Improvement Plan – Parental Involvement Mrs Gilroy provided a booklet detailing what the School Improvement Plan is for 2015/16. There were 3 priorities that the school wished to focus on moving the school forward. These are 1. ensuring numeracy pathways and planned and taught at all stages inc nursery 2. Embed and extend growth minset to inc emotional health and well being in school and nursery. 3. Continue to develop summative and formative assessment practices across all aspects of learning. Inc self and peer assessment The following areas were also discussed Communication with parents – Mrs Gilroy indicated her desire to improve communication with parent and made it clear that she operated an open door policy. To give parents an opportunity to see what is going on in the school and leave feedback. An interactive board had been set up in the hall near to the school office and parents would be encouraged to put their views up on this board when visiting the school. It was agreed that the website needed to be more up to date and become more user friendly. Curriculum guidance – taking numeracy and literacy the matter of how to support homework would be looked at for the whole school. Policy and guidance – it was hoped to involve children, parents and teachers when devising school policies and a small working group of parents has already been set up to look at this. They were also looking into the anti-bullying policy and restorative approach. It was suggested that a questionnaire be sent out to parents for them to let the school know what they wished to see happening and the school would then look at this with the working group to try and adopt some of the measures. A question was asked why Sharing the Learning had not taken place this term and Mrs Gilroy advised that due to staff illness it was felt that it should be postponed to the beginning of next term. Fundraising Sarah Cameron had looked into the alternatives to Christmas Cards as a fundraiser for the school. She had found tea towels and bags which could be decorated with the childrens’ artwork. The bags would cost £2.20 if ordering 100 or £1.85 if ordering 200. Sarah would order an art pack and get the ball rolling. Sarah had also found out that certain banks and post offices supported their employees at fundraising events. If their employee worked on a stall at a fundraising event then the company would match whatever was made on that stall. It was felt that this was worth promoting to the school. Jan said that the Under 5’s group would be doing the Christmas Fair this year. Kirsty Cooper was still looking into alternatives for bake sales. She mentioned that a parent of a nursery child had commented that perhaps bake sales were not a good idea as it isn’t the best way of making money due to it not being the healthiest option. Also the nursery are currently looking into healthy eating and it was felt that it may portray mixed messages. Parent Council Communication Ideas This matter would be discussed at the next meeting. Trees The Chair advised that a parent had brough it to her attention that some of the trees next to the road had died and it had been suggested that a couple of trees; possibly cherry could be bought by the Parent Council and planted. Mrs Gilroy had heard of a free planting initiative and she would look into this. If this is not available it was agreed that the parent council would donated funds for the trees and the gardening club would take the lead in purchase and planting. Hopefully the children could be involved in selection. This matter will be taken further when Mrs Gilroy reports back about the free planting initiative. Treasurers Report Please refer to AGM minutes AOCB Mrs Gilroy advised that the school were one of only a few in Fife where the children did not order their food for lunch. This meant that on occasions there have not been enough hot/cold options for children at lunchtime. After the school holidays there is a new menu starting and the school will be getting the children to decide what meal they would like for lunch in the morning and then order the requisite amount of food for lunchtime. This will not only ensure that each individual gets what they would like to eat but it will also save on wastage. Kirsty Cooper asked whether any school trips organised could be more educational. She would come back to the next meeting with suggestions and any other ideas could be passed to the Parent Council. Date of Next Meeting – Meeting Dates for the Year The dates for future meetings were set and are as follows: Monday 7 December 2015 Tuesday 2 February 2016 Monday 18 April 2016 Tuesday 24 May 2016