Pollokshields Primary School Parent Council
Minutes of Monthly Meeting – 1:30pm 8 December 2014
Present
Carolyn (Head), Fozia, Iffit, Maria (Treasurer), Mohammed, Sadia, Sam (Secretary), Shabnam, Shamim,
Yasmeen (Chair),
1. Apologies for absence
Ilaria, Yasmine
2. Confirmation of minutes of AGM held at 1:30pm 10 November 2014
The minutes were approved
3. Review of Actions since previous meeting
 Glasgow Parent Council Forum 10 November (Yasmeen T)
- Yasmeen reported that there had been little of direct relevance to our school
 BEMIS/Gathered Together “Involving All Parents” event on 19 November (Yasmeen T, Sadia, Rachel)
- This was a good workshop – our PC are already following many of the best-practice
recommendations
- We will look into getting a notice board for the playground(s) to communicate direct to
parents
- [Post-meeting] Kathryn Farrow forwarded by email a document from BEMIS with more good
practice ideas
 Book Week (Yasmeen T, Yasmine C, Fozia, Sadia, Maria)
- See item 8
 Social get-together in Cafe Coco (All)
- Was enjoyed by all and gave us a chance to get to know each other better
 PVG Training Workshop - Thurs 29 January 1pm at school (Yasmeen T)
- This will cover the purpose of PVG checks and the process surrounding them
 British Science Week (Maria, Sam)
- Sam submitted a grant application for £200 to cover a trip for two classes to Glasgow
Science Centre
- [Post meeting] We were informed that the application was unsuccessful due to a large
number of high-quality applications
 Wise Women self-defence/confidence building workshops (Yasmeen T)
- One-off workshop will take place in February
 Health Week preparation (Yasmine C)
- Yasmeen has invited Citizens Advice Bureau, Roshni and the Daisy Project to participate
 Website (Carolyn)
- See item 8
 Local Area Committee funding application (Carolyn)
- See item 7
4. Treasurer’s Report

Summary of income and expenditure since last meeting (Maria)
- Maria informed that £54.01 was spent on the social get-together
- Maria will be added as a third signatory on the account (Yasmeen and Shabnam already
signatories)
5. Cuts in English as an Additional Language (EAL) Provision
 Information sharing with other schools, Campaigning (also re: nursery provision)
- Carolyn informed that EAL teachers perform an essential role in the school – helping children
gain academic as well as social language; modelling language interactions with class
teachers; and allowing class teachers to dedicate more focused attention to pupils at
different levels of English
- 15 EAL posts are being cut across Glasgow at the end of this term - as a result Mrs Gajree will
leave the school, so the school’s EAL provision will have been reduced from 5 in 2009 to 1 in
2015
- It was agreed that the PC should seek ways to express their dissatisfaction with the situation
to Glasgow City Council and other relevant people/groups
- One suggestion was to contact other local Parent Councils and collectively request a meeting
with Nicola Sturgeon or anyone else who could be influential
- [Post meeting] Yasmeen and Sam met Irfan Rabbani (Nicola Sturgeon’s Constituency
Assistant) who sent letters on our behalf to Angela Constance (Cabinet Secretary for
Education) and Maureen McKenna
- [Post meeting] Rachel and Sam attempted to contact PC chairs at St Albert’s, Glendale and St
Brides to invite them to join us in discussing the cut with Anas Sarwar
6. School Catering
 Parental survey (Yasmeen T/Rachel)
- Yasmeen expressed dissatisfaction with the snack option available at break time –
particularly toast and jubilee (frozen fruit drink)
- Yasmeen proposed sending a survey to parents to gather views on the snacks
- Yasmeen and Rachel will draft the survey questions – any ideas for specific questions should
go to Yasmeen
- Liz from Cordia will attend a future meeting whenever this item is discussed further
 Payment system
- Some other schools have a pre-load card system to pay for school food, which avoids pupils
having to take cash every day with the risk of it going missing
- Disadvantages of the system were noted, such as children being able to spend lunch money
on snacks earlier in the week and then requiring additional money for lunch
7. Local Area Committee funding application(s)
 Grant to support Ladies event, Father’s event and Health week
- Carolyn will write a single application on behalf of the PC for the next Local Area Committee
meeting
- [Post meeting] This application should be submitted 4-6 weeks before the meeting, which
will be on 4 February
8. Head Teacher’s Report
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Management team
- Mrs Donaghy (Depute Head) has been off long-term sick and may remain so for some time
- This has impacted on the workload of Carolyn and others on the management team
- Carole Wood has been acting Principal Teacher
- The number of management points allocated to the school has increased as a result of a new
assessment which took into account both the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)
and numbers of pupils who do not have English as a first language
- As a result two Principal Teacher posts have been assigned to the school which may be filled
in time for the new term
Book Week
- £809-worth of books were sold, which allowed Carolyn to order new books for the school of
the same total value
- Carolyn expressed her thanks to all those who gave their time to work on the stall
Website
- Carolyn has not had time to set up a PC area – carried over to next meeting
Building work
- The work on the roof of the Albert Drive building is complete
- Next steps will be the roof of the Herriot Street building and the windows
9. Upcoming dates
 Dates agreed for next two meetings: 1.30pm Monday 12 January, 1.30pm Monday 16 February
- Carolyn, Yasmeen T and Rachel/Sam will meet to set the Agenda on Tuesday 6 January and
Tuesday 3 February
 Other upcoming dates
o P4 Pirate Assembly: 11 December
o Christmas Assembly: 1.30pm 17 December
o Dyslexia Workshop: 10am 12 January
o Scotland Assembly: 16 January
10. Any Other Business
 Bake sale
- Yasmine C had suggested this as a fund-raiser and it was agreed to be a good idea
 Holiday Playscheme
- Yasmine C proposed the PC organise activities for children during the holidays
- It was felt that East Pollokshields Out-of School Care (EPOSC) provide a very good service
and we should only consider arranging an alternative if their provision is lacking in some way
 Recruitment and Selection Training
- Glasgow City Council offers training regular courses
- These are essential for PC members involved in recruitment and/or selection of
Headteachers and Deputes
- Courses will be run on: 10am 21 January, 7pm 3 March, 10am 30 April, 7pm 6 May
- Places can be booked using the booking form sent by Kathryn Farrow by email
 Material for sew-and-sew club
- The PC agreed to use money from the Persona Doll account to buy material to make
graduation gowns for P7 pupils and bags for play-along maths equipment