MINUTE OF WHITHIRST PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL MEETING HELD
ON MONDAY 2ND DECEMBER 2013 AT 7:00PM
PRESENT
Mr P Cordiner
Mr I Boyd
Mrs J Collins
Mrs L Gibson
Mrs K Mathie
Mrs E Wright
Mrs L Taylor
Mrs G Hoffman
Miss E Magee
Mrs J Aitken
Chairperson
Vice Chairperson
Parent Member
Parent Member
Parent Member
Parent Member
Parent Member
Parent Member
Head Teacher
Teacher Representative
APOLOGIES
Mr A Gray
Mrs L Sim
Treasurer
Parent Member
The Chairperson opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.
Minutes of the previous meeting were approved.
CORRESPONDENCE
1. National Parent Forum of Scotland Newsletter was received. Mr Cordiner
had already forwarded this to members. He advised that the content of this
was mainly around the Curriculum of Excellence in secondary schools and not
particularly relevant to primary school Parent Councils.
2. Mr Cordiner reported back following his attendance at a meeting of Parent
Council Chairpersons in Kilwinning Academy.
He advised that a
representative from Police Scotland was there and spoke about internet
safety – they are looking for assistance from Parent Councils on potential
ways to become involved in educating parents regarding online security
protocols, raising general awareness in relation to keeping children safe
online.
A discussion followed covering a variety of functions on the internet including
email, facebook, cyber bullying, twitter, Instagram and access to inappropriate
material. During the discussion is was acknowledged that there may be some
parents who lack enough knowledge of how to ensure adequate security settings
have been activated to protect children when they are online. Members decided
that the Parents Evenings scheduled to take place in February 2014 would be a
good opportunity for the Parent Council to gauge the level of interest and it was
decided that the presence of Police, together with information leaflets for
distribution amongst parents, would be helpful in this process. It was also
agreed that a link to information on Police Scotland’s website could be posted on
the school website and Parent Council facebook group. Mr Cordiner agreed to
contact the appropriate person and progress this on behalf of the Parent Council.
Mr Cordiner also reported that he had attended a meeting of cluster primary
Parent Council’s in Kilwinning Academy – it was noted this was poorly attended
with a lack of representation from a number of schools. Mr Cordiner informed
that during this meeting it was acknowledged that whilst the P7 Transition Trip is
a positive thing to undertake, only one year group is involved and it was felt that
the focus of any fundraising events should be across the whole school. Mr
Cordiner advised that it was suggested that a “big” joint fundraiser, across all of
the cluster primaries and Kilwinning Academy be undertaken for the next P7
Transition Trip.
Miss Magee was able to advise that this had also been discussed at a cluster
meeting of Head Teachers’ and she requested confirmation that Whitehirst Park
Parent Council were in agreement to donate £100 towards this, as in previous
year. Members unanimously agreed to donate £100 towards this venture in
2014.
Miss Magee also advised that P7 pupils have been invited to a fundraising disco
in Kilwinning Academy next week and will be contributing to this fund via ticket
sales and tuck shop sales.
Mr Cordiner will feedback at the next meeting and will pass on any further
information regarding the format of the “big” joint fundraiser as this becomes
available.
HEAD TEACHERS REPORT
Miss Magee reported the following:
Christmas Parties
Party dates have been circulated
Panto
P1-P4 Wednesday 4th December – performed by students from Ayrshire College.
Showcase
P2-P4 –Tuesday 10th December – 3 performances at 9.30am, 10.30am and 11.30am
Nativity
Wednesday 11th December – P1 – 9.30am
Xmas Lunch
Wednesday 11th December – whole school
Victorian Games
P1 participating in play session
Text Santa Appeal
Some pupils from the Charities and Action Committee will begoing to Morrison's to
Bag Pack for this charity
Panto
P1-P7 – Tuesday 17th December - SECC – Dick McWhittington
Clubs
All clubs have stopped for Christmas and will recommence in January 2014
Christmas Holiday
School closes at 2.30pm on Friday 20th Dec and re-opens on Monday 6th Jan 2014
Television
Flatscreen Television has been purchased – to be located in school foyer.
FUNDRAISING SUB-COMMITTEE
Mrs Collins reported the following:
Christmas Fair was a great success – an enjoyable event that resulted in a profit of
£1126 with some stall holders being more successful than others. It was
acknowledged that provision of a free raffle ticket with entrance reduced the
number of raffle tickets sold inside the hall.
Next event is the Valentine Disco – date to be arranged. Mrs Collins advised that
there was no Christmas Disco arranged to prevent clashing with other events
organised at this time of the year. She also advised that the Fireworks Event fell
through due to a lack of volunteers.
Mrs Collins enquired about the amount to be donated to the school for the Panto
outing and Miss Magee will advise about this. It was agreed that this information
should be included in the school Newsletter and website to keep parents informed.
TREASURERS REPORT
There was no report available. Mrs Mathie advised that she has not yet signed
documents to become a signatory and Mr Cordiner agreed to chase this up with Mr
Gray.
A.O.C.B.
Roast Dinner Day
Discussion took place re this matter, organised by the Catering Manager. It was
acknowledged that due to overselling, some people were disappointed not to get
their roast dinner. Miss Magee will highlight to catering staff that in future they
should be aware of how many people would like to participate in order that no one
is disappointed on the day.
Television
Miss Magee informed that this has been purchased and wall mounted in the school
foyer. She advised that installation was delayed until after the Christmas Fair and
there are one or two technicalities to be ironed out – this should be up and running
sometime in January.
Weblinks
Mr Boyd enquired about this following discussion at the last meeting. Miss Magee
advised that Mrs Dickinson was the person who was in charge of activating this.
Miss Magee has passed on information on Action Aid and Eco Committee to Mr Boyd
who will update the website.
Parent Council Newsletter
Mr Cordiner requested feedback from members regarding the annual newsletter.
Everyone present agree this was an excellent document and were happy for this to
be distributed to parents. Mr Cordiner will liaise with Miss Magee regarding this and
hopes to get this onto the website and facebook before the Christmas holidays.
Parent Council Membership
Miss Magee agreed to look at parents who previously expressed a note of interest
and hopefully will be able to maintain representation at each stage of the school.
Christmas Boxes
Mrs Taylor raised this topic and expressed concern regarding this appeal for the
charity Samaritan’s Purse. She made members aware of her concerns and it was
agreed that Miss Magee would take this on board and investigate information on
their website. It was acknowledged that there are local charities running similar
appeals.
Car Park
Mrs Collins raised concern regarding a recent incident whereby the bus used by a
local nursery caused severe congestion at the drop-off point. Miss Magee agreed to
speak to staff from the relevant nursery about this matter.
Facebook Group
Mr Cordiner advised that a partial audit has been undertaken, however, it was
acknowledged that there is more work to be done, in conjunction with the Head
Teacher. It was agreed that this should be an ongoing exercise that should be
undertaken on an annual basis.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will take place on Monday 13th January 2014 at 7:00pm.
FUTURE MEETINGS
Monday 24th February 2014
Monday 24th March 2014