PRESTON LODGE HIGH SCHOOL
MINUTES OF PARENT COUNCIL
MEETING
HELD ON
THURSDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2009
AT
PRESTON LODGE HIGH SCHOOL
Present: Mr D Munro, Parent Representative and Chair
Mrs L Morgan, Parent Representative and Treasurer
Mrs M Stuart, Parent Representative and Vice Chair
Mr J Berg, Parent Representative
Mrs L Robertson, Parent Representative
Mr R Devine, Parent Representative
Mrs A Black, Parent Representative
Mrs H Patterson, Parent Representative
Mrs K Menzies, Parent Representative
Mr J Duffy, Parent Representative
Ms K Carson, Teacher Representative
Mr G Clark, Head
Cllr W Inness
Cllr M Libberton
Mrs J Dunlop, Clerk
Mrs Fiona Torrance, Parent
1,
APOLOGIES AND WELCOME
Apologies were intimated on behalf of Ms Angus and Mrs Turner. Mr Munro welcomed
everyone to the meeting.
2.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting of 8 October 2009 were a true record.
3.
ELC BUDGET PROPOSALS
The Council have issued a document entitled “You Pay Have Your Say” which is available on
their website. There was also a roadshow at Prestonpans which Margaret Stuart, Dave Munro
and Hazel Patterson attended. There was disappointment in the number of people who
attended, with only 17 members of the public in attendance. It was noted that there is not
enough information to enable members of the community to make informed decisions on the
budgets. Cllr Innes noted that Councillors were instructed that they would not be allowed to
give members of the public any information but were instead to refer them to members of the
Council who were in attendance. The Labour Councillors therefore decided not to attend the
meetings and have issued a Press Statement to this affect. The Parent Council noted that they
have to defend the Education Budget and would urge parents to look at the website and leave a
comment.
Mrs Stuart reported that the ELAPC group are now up and running and will take action similar
to that organised last year. They aim to have representation at all the Roadshows and also have
representation on the financial committee which is meeting next week. It was agreed that if all
the Parent Councils pull together it will be to the benefit of all. They have a letter which is
produced and ready to be issued should it be required.
Cllr Innes noted that the Council do not know what budget they are getting yet from the
government and that they may have been a bit hasty with regard to consulting with the
communities. He noted that if the Council could raise Council Tax even a small amount this
would alleviate many of the financial problems. However the local authorities have signed a
concordat with the government freezing council taxes over three years. If they raise them there
will be a penalty.
Mr Clark noted that he was disappointed to have been quoted as being in support of
Educational Trusts and all the secondary schools teachers have received an apology regarding
this quotation. He noted concerns on budget cuts and the implications which this would have
for the school as the cuts would have to come from staffing. It was noted that currently the
council are not making any permanent appointments.
Cllr Innes noted that schools were also being penalised by the reducing in the carry forward
allowance as money could be saved for leaner years.
Mr Clark would like the authority to support any difficult decisions which have to be made, for
instance reduction in Higher courses available, due to budget constraints.
It was agreed that the Parent Council would submit a response to the Council and Dave Munro
agreed to draft a letter and circulate around the Parent Council. (Action Dave Munro)
4.
EXAM PERFORMANCE
Mr Clark distributed a copy of a paper he had prepared measuring the departments in the school
against each other on exam results. These figures were to be used solely for the Parent council
meeting and he noted that they should not be taken out of context. He noted that due to the
format of the statistics there will be departments which will be below average. He noted that he
is meeting with the Heads of Department to discuss the exam results and a key part of his job
will be to increase understanding why high performing departments are working well.
Different departments were discussed. Mr Clark explained that there is a Quality Assurance
process for all departments and he suspects that there will be an HMIE Inspection at Preston
Lodge next year. Overall there is a positive feel in the school about attainment.
5.
SUB-GROUP UPDATE
a) Fundraising – There was a chocolate break held which raised £202 for the school. This
was well received and some press coverage was obtained.
There is a Christmas Fair planned for Tuesday 1 December and posters are being put up in
local communities. There are various stalls and raffles.
A bag pack is organised for 5 December at Marks and Spencers to raise money for the
Badminton Team.
The fundraising sub-group are looking at various grants which may be applied for by the
Parent Council.
b) Communication – a formal meeting has not been held but there will a press opportunity
when the Duke of Edinburgh presentations are held. Mr Clark agreed to invite the press to
this presentation. It was noted that there has been some good press coverage recently.
The school will host the Big Question Time which is a Radio Scotland live broadcast. This
is the first time that it will have been held in a school. This will take place on Friday, 4
December and Brian Taylor from the BBC will host and there will be a panel of 4 Scottish
politicians/celebrities and parent council members were invited to this.
c)
2000 Club – Mr Clark agreed to contact Viv Donaldson to see if there had been an increase
in membership following the recent publicity. Mr Clark also agreed to find out the process
which is gone through to distribute the money. (Action Mr Clark)
d) Financial Costings – Mr Clark distributed a sheet giving details of the proposed spending
of the excess carry forward money. Many departments had made bids and one of the
biggest projects was possibly going to be the glazing over of the overhang which is beside
the Maths corridor. This should provide a safe environment for approximately 300 pupils.
Mr Clark explained that the school is lacking in social areas for pupils as the PPP project
only gave space for 60 pupils when the school population is over 1,000. Additional
resources for departments will also be purchased to help with any financial constraints over
the next few years. It has been suggested that a flagpole be purchased to help with the
school’s identity and it may be that there are flags for becoming an eco school and a health
promoting school. This additional money is due to the doubling of the 6th year to 120
pupils and will be a one off.
Display areas around the school will also be improved and a lot of archived material is
being brought out. Going forward it is hoped that the Parent Council would be able to
fundraise to help with the improvements in the displaying of pupils work.
Mr Clark reported that the Senior Management Team will ratify the list of purchases and
then the Finance Committee will approve.
6.
SCHOOL WORKING GROUP
It was agreed that the Parent Council should become involved in the School Improvement
Group and Mr Clark agreed to send around the dates of these meetings to see if anyone would
be able to attend to represent the Parent Council. (Action Mr Clark)
7.
STUDENT COUNCIL/CLASS REP SYSTEM
Each register class will have a class representative who will feed comments to the two
representatives per year group on the student council. The class representatives list will be
published shortly. Mr Clark is hopeful that the Student Council will focus on learning.
8.
AOCB
a)
5th Year Parent Consultations – Mr Munro and Mr Duffy will be in attendance to represent
the Parent Council at the consultations.
b) John Bellany Tryptage – the name of the tryptage is “Idyllic Childhood Memories” and it
was agreed that a plaque would be bought.
c)
Previous Expenditure – Mrs Morgan agreed to provide Mr Clark with the list of money
which had been allocated and this will be put on the agenda for the next meeting. (Action
Mrs Morgan)
d) Christmas Concert – Mr Clark reported that invites have gone out to all members of the
Parent Council to attend the Christmas Concert.
e)
Website – the Parent Council gave approval for their names to be listed on the website.
Future Meetings:
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Thursday, 4 March 2010