Kirkcudbright Academy Parent Forum
Minutes of Parent Council Meeting
26 November 2015
Present:
Mrs Tanya Austin-Baird (Treasurer), Mrs Chris Baty, Ms Judith Galloway (Parent Forum), Mrs E
Goodare (Chair), Ms Mandi Houfe, Mrs Jane Maitland (Councillor), Mrs R Macpherson, Ms
Sharon Makepeace (Parent Forum), Miss Isabel Newhouse (Head Prefect), Mrs S Powell
(Secretary), Mr Alex Reynolds (Parent Forum), Ms Shameen Syed (Parent Forum) Mr Anthony
Tuffery (Rector, in attendance)
Please note: due to some unforeseen circumstances, the meeting did not follow the
published agenda.
Action
1. Opening: EG opened the meeting by asking everyone to introduce themselves and
their link to the school.
2. Apologies: Mr Alastair Millar (Teacher Representative), Mrs Patsy Gilroy
(Councillor), Mr K Cooper, Mr Paul Tebay (Rotary Representative)
3. Address by Isabel Newhouse, Head Prefect
a. IN explained that 8 prefects have been appointed this year with herself
and one other, appointed as Senior Prefects.
b. The Prefect Team has chosen Cancer Research Teens and Kids as their
charity.
c. After the tremendous amount raised by last year’s Prefect Team, this
year’s Prefect Team have made the decision to not to try and beat this
amount but instead change the focus and become more involved in the
school, such as playground duties, UPS time, school clubs, after-school
clubs, assisting with less-able pupils, etc.
d. The Prefect Team will also be extending their input to the wider
community such as the Senior Citizen Friendship scheme and to the
worldwide Rotary micro-financing project.
e. The Prefect Team would like to work with the PC too and this was
welcomed by the meeting.
f. SP asked AT to forward IN’s email address to her so that SP could
contact the Prefect Team and the Prefect Team can contact the PC.
g. IN left the meeting at 8pm.
AT
4. Matters arising from minutes of last meeting on 1 October:
a. EG has not yet written to D&G Council re how the proposed budget
saving will impact on KBT Academy infrastructure improvements.
b. SP confirmed she will not present costs for stocking the Cochran Hall
kitchen for PC events until the next meeting.
c. SP apologised for not yet circulating PC contact details.
d. AT confirmed the actions assigned to AM and Mrs Nicky Poland
regarding the school kitchen are ongoing.
e. EG reported she has not written to the GTCS due to a contact she
recently made.
f. TAB confirmed she had met with SP and made the relevant monthly
draws.
g. EG confirmed she issued an invite to the Parent Forum to give their
opinions on the proposed D&G Council savings via Survey Monkey.
h. SP and EG met with the KHAM team re the chip system and this is
ongoing.
i. All other actions completed.
j. Minutes of meeting on 1 October proposed for acceptance by RM and
seconded by CB.
5. Correspondence: EG reported that she had received a letter of resignation from
Alan Johnstone. SP confirmed that the Constitution does not contain rules regarding
the election of a new member.
6. Situation regarding buses for pupils from Newton Stewart: JG, AR and SS
addressed the meeting.
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a. JG, AR and SS are part of a parent group who has undertaken extensive
research into many possible alternatives following the sudden stopping
by ABC of the bus service that brought pupils to and from Newton
Stewart to KBT Academy. The group is called Kirkcudbright Academy
Newton Stewart Parents Transport Club (KANSPTC). They gave a brief
summary of events and their actions to date.
b. The short-term issue is that from Tuesday 1 December 2015, the bus
provided as an interim solution by D&G Council will only be made
available to S5 and S6 pupils and to those S4 pupils who are studying
Metalwork. A matter of grave concern is how or who will determine a
student’s eligibility for the bus, as, at the time of writing, D&G Council
has been unable to notify parents directly. There was some discussion
on the very real possibility of some families having one or more of their
children accepted on the bus and another child, or more, rejected. This
could mean the bus runs with less than its intended payload as parents
may choose to take all their children to school themselves rather than
split the family.
c. The long-term issue is that this bus service will be stopped at the end of
May 2016.
d. There was some discussion by the meeting of the impact on the affected
pupils, their families and the long-term impact on KBT Academy if 50+
pupils leave en masse.
e. There was some discussion by the meeting of the cost-effectiveness of
D&G Council providing transport for those pupils who receive funding for
the bus service and whether spaces on that bus could be offered on
“grace and favour” terms.
f. There was some discussion by the meeting on the differing prices per
student per day using the bus in the past, present and future.
g. AR emphasized the NS parent group have no wish to neither
compromise pupil privacy nor engage in negative comments or actions
regarding any aspect of the NS student transport situation. A solution
must be found and must be found amicably. The meeting noted his
comments.
h. There was some discussion on possible solutions such as KANSPTC
buying their own bus, contacting Creetown Initiative, requesting a
previously discontinued service bus be reinstated.
i. There was some discussion on the impact the bus service withdrawal will
have on parental choice.
j. JG stated that the NS students currently affected by the bus situation
wish to stay at KBT Academy and do not wish to attend Douglas Ewart
High in NS.
k. JM stated her belief that the situation on Tuesday 1 December will sort
itself out but the main concern should be the long-term. She reported
that D&G Council want the situation resolved and will help as much as
they can.
l. JM strongly advised KANSPTC to give D&G Council a list of the facts
relating to student numbers etc. and the various solutions that have been
researched.
m. JM stated that the Council has no funds to make available. JG, SS and
AR stated they know this and do not expect council funding.
n. JM advised KANSPTC to contact SWTrans and Stagecoach for advice.
o. JG, SS and AR have arranged a meeting at the Cochran Hall for Monday
& December at 5pm. They would appreciate the attendance of AT and
as many PC members as possible.
p. EG, on behalf of the PC, gave the NS parents and KANSPTC the PC’s
full support.
q. JG requested full support from the school too. AT reported that Colin
Grant (Head of Education at D&G Council) is fully aware of the situation
and is very sympathetic but he has to work within policy.
r. AT to ask N Carruthers for details on the students affected by the
restrictions placed on use of the bus. The school is unable to buy a bus
as a possible solution as the school as it is part of D&G Council.
s. JM left the meeting at 8:15pm after thanking the KANSPTC parents for
coming to the meeting and wishing them well.
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AT
All
AT
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7. Price of Candlemas ticket: SP proposed this be kept at £10. Agreed by the
meeting. SP to look at a previous Candlemas Facebook page and revise as
appropriate.
8. Chair’s Report: Not tabled as most of the relevant items are agenda items.
a. EG confirmed that she had informed the Parent Forum of their right to
give their views on the proposed Council savings via the SurveyMonkey
link. She is unsure of how many parents did. MH reported how insulting
she found the survey. AT commented that it gave constituents the
opportunity to express their views.
b. EG informed the meeting that she had recently met a friend of the head
of the GTCS. Her contact has said he will forward the PC concerns
regarding the problems non-Scottish trained teachers have in working in
Scottish schools.
c. AT confirmed EG is currently populating the new website with the data
he has supplied and he tabled his thanks to her.
d. EG reported that the moves to introduce the chip system to the halfmarathon and 11k races are well underway.
9. Rector’s Report: Not tabled due to the imminent Inspection.
a. AT reported that the rooms in the Cochran Hall designated for the
Community Centre are ready but may not be moved into immediately.
He is hoping in time all the rooms in the Community Centre will be freed
up for the school to use for Music. But, this will require a massive
commitment from the school to make the Community Centre rooms fit for
purpose and suitably equipped.
b. The imminent Inspection is one of the new “try-out” models and the
school was given two weeks notice rather than two days.
Questionnaires were sent to some parents and RM and SS confirmed
the Inspection team has contacted them. SP complained that as her son
had been out of school at a school sporting event, she did not get a
questionnaire. AT reported that the tight timescales involved mean it
was not possible to check the relevant parents had been contacted. The
inspection will last for 2 ½ days and due to the unique style of the
inspection, the school will receive an assessment grade but will be told
of its strengths and areas of improvement.
c. AT confirmed a preferred candidate has been chosen for a permanent
position in the English Department. Confirmation of the appointment is
expected in due course.
d. AT advised the meeting that there are still staffing issues in some
departments and the office and that he still has recruiting problems.
10. Treasurer’s Report:
a. TAB informed the meeting that the bank balance at the date of the last
statement is £5,245.04.
b. TAB informed the meeting she met with SP in November to do the
August, September and October draws.
c. TAB confirmed she has applied for both the bar license and the gambling
license.
d. CB drew the November and December winners - Mr J King and Mrs Julie
Lauder respectively.
e. TAB was asked to remove Mr Edward Shamash’s name from the
monthly draw.
11. Any other business:
a. AT confirmed that once the website is live, all school letters and
newsletters will be available thus bypassing the dependency on letters
being collected or making it home.
b. Mr Paul Tebay will be invited to make a presentation of the work of the
Rotary at the next meeting. AR said how great this collaboration has
been. SP to advise him of the date.
c. EG to inform the parent body of the vacancy on the Parent Council.
TAB
SP
EG
12. Date of Next Meeting: Thursday 7 January 2016, in the library. SP booked the
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janitors as she left the meeting. Meeting closed at 9:10pm
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