THORNLEIGH-WEST PUBLIC SCHOOL
P&C Meeting
Tuesday 10 May 2011
1.0
Opening and Apologies
Meeting held at TWPS library, Thornleigh. Opened at 8.05 pm.
Attendees: Dana Logiudice, Lisa Patchett, Kelly Belcastro, Gordon Dracup, Stuart
Bidwell, Helen Roberts, Veryan McAllister, Paul Miller (Principal), Hannah Grummett,
Tony Smallwood, Laurelle Knight, Alex Ravaillion, Lesley Ziegler, Kerry Smart, Jenny
Chaplin, Megan Williamson, Chloe Lorente.
Apologies: Finbar O’Doherty (Assistant Principal), Suzi Knowles, Lisa Whittaker,
Janda Tanner, Anne Bassett and Michele Wood.
2.0
Confirmation of Previous Minutes
Meeting minutes of 15 March 2011 confirmed.
Proposed: Lisa Patchett Seconded: Veryan McAllister
3.0
Business Arising from Previous Minutes
Uniform Shop
Action: Mr Miller to investigate who used the hall in the evening of Tuesday 8 March
2011.
Mr Miller to look into this to find out who gained access to the Uniform Shop as it is a
security issue.
Timing of Scripture Lessons
Action: Mr Miller to investigate alternative scripture times with current helpers with a
view to changing them.
Mr Miller advised that the local churches co-ordinate the roster as to available
helpers for the various schools in the area and there is no option to change them at
this time.
4.0
Correspondence
Letter received from Kylie Duncan dated 10 May 2011 resigning her position as
Canteen Convenor.
Resignation duly noted.
Page 1
5.0
Principal’s Report – Paul Miller
Dinner Dance
Mr Miller congratulated Janda Tanner & her team on a very well organised dinner
dance held on Saturday 7 May. All feedback he has received was very positive and
it was a great atmosphere to relax and mingle with parents.
NAPLAN
Being held this week with the writing task the same for years 3, 5, 7 & 9. NAPLAN is
a continuum as DET are wanting to see how the students are progressing through
their schooling through all years.
Upcoming Events
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NAPLAN – 11 & 12 May
X country – Friday 13 May
Yr 4 excursion to Parramatta Gaol – 17 May
Yr 3 excursion to Parramatta Gaol – 18 May
50th Birthday celebrations – 19 May
Interactive Whiteboards
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Interactive whiteboards have been signed off for installation in all four BER
classrooms (Year 2). We were included in Phase 1 of the installation program.
This should be completed by early Term 3.
Five additional whiteboards have been ordered. Due to arrive later this term.
This will mean all classes from Year 2 – 6 will have an IWB by Term 4 (& 4 of our
K/Yr 1 classes).
Our Strategic Implementation Plan is a 3-Year Plan and is well under way.
Official BER ceremony
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We will have an official opening of our new facilities at school – a large school
assembly with relevant dignitaries invited.
This will be at a (yet to be decided) date in Term 3.
There are still a number of works to be completed – these are being addressed.
50th Celebrations
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“Proud of our past…confident of our future”
Dinner/Dance was a huge success – thanks to Janda and the team
o 50th Birthday party next week
o Hellium balloons around school (blue/yellow)
o Premiere of special song
o Cutting of the cake
o Medallion mememto gift for each child
o Hornsby Advocate are doing a story on the day & will be attending for
photographs.
o Parents invited in the afternoon for cake & showing of slide show.
50th Back to TWPS – planned for Term 4 (5th November)
Uniform Shop/Canteen
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Thanks to Suzi Knowles for her outstanding contributions in these roles.
Thanks to Dana for her work filling these positions through the merit selection
process.
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6.0
Other Reports
6.1
President – Dana Logiudice
Dinner Dance
The P&C would like to congratulate & thank Janda Tanner, Nicole Weston, Lyn
Tadzik, Ingrid Nitchell and Christine Corke for their efforts in organising such a
fabulous night. Dana advised that she will include a thank you in her column in the
Wednesday Weekly publicly thanking them for their efforts.
Canteen
We are currently recruiting for the role and in the interim Dana & Annemarie Hoek
are filling in as the Canteen Manager. Dana reiterated how grateful she was for
Annemarie helping out.
Dana apologised for the need to close on Friday last week however this was beyond
her control as there simply were no volunteers to assist in the canteen. Those that
were rostered on that day were either interviewing or organising the dinner dance.
Uniform Shop
At this stage the Uniform Shop is under interim management by the P&C Executive
Team. The plan is to sort things out so as to open next week. We are chasing an
outstanding order and looking at getting good quality items in the 2nd hand pool as
another option. We are aware of parents frustration and are doing everything we can
to try re solve the stock problems.
Canteen & Uniform Shop Managers
Dana mentioned that Suzi did a lot of unpaid work when she held both roles. We
need to be aware that an outside person will seek to be paid for all hours they do
which is only fair. We therefore need to understand we may need to do more
fundraising, specifically directed to wages, due to this increase in work hours.
6.2
Treasurer – Stuart Bidwell & Assistant Treasurer - Gordon Dracup
Gordon Dracup presented his financial report to date as follows:
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Thornleigh West Public School P&C
Financial Report 8th May 2011
We are $4,000 ahead of budget due to better than forecast P&C subscription
receipts and the canteen fridge costing less than expected.
Balance cheque a/c
Balance deposit a/c
CR
$49,482.52
$19,019.00
Outstanding cheques
DR
$3,31.80
Adjusted Total Balance
$65,189.72
Budgeted Balance
$38,272.00
Variance
$26,917.72
Main Variances
Canteen Fridge
Learning Support
P&C Subscriptions
Dance Group
Class Money/Expenses
Air Conditioning
Budget
$8,000.00
$5,833.00
$15,000.00
$500.00
$2,000.00
$11,000.00
Actual
$3,000.00
$0.00
$16,697.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Totals
Variance
$42,533.00
$19,697.00
$22,836.00
Actual Variance
$4,081.72
Stuart Bidwell then advised that we are organising a move away from MYOB which is
what the canteen & uniform shop currently use. He is keen to simplify things and
have all bank accounts and invoices raised from one place.
He discussed the on-line ordering system called Flexi-schools that the P&C would
like to implement. It is an on-line system which can be used in the canteen, uniform
shop and various other areas.
This will mean a cashless lunch ordering system but still have cash for over the
counter sales. All orders will come into the canteen on-line; picked up by the canteen
manager and organised appropriately. A printer is supplied so a label can be stuck
onto each student’s order.
It will be rolled out slowly to the school with information nights planned to let people
know how the system works and the benefits it will bring to the school.
This system will go a long way in cutting down the administration involved re
financials in both the canteen & uniform shop. It will also mean we can streamline
the bank accounts of all sub-committees – another good step forward. The new online system will also be easier from a bookkeeping perspective.
Stuart also advised that he has visited BASC and confirmed it is a good operation.
The group has an amount of cash put aside to be able to deal with the space issues.
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Gordon highlighted that we are spread very thinly across the sub-commmittees so we
need to streamline the financial processes.
6.3
Uniform Shop – Suzi Knowles
Suzi was unable to attend the meeting however provided the following financial
information to be presented at the meeting.
Figures as at 9 May 2011
Financial Position in a snap shot
Cash in bank
Orders Placed waiting for delivery
Outstanding debit to suppliers
$42,520.00
$34,091.20
$0.00
Kelly Belcastro & Lisa Patchett from the P&C Executive are teaming together to
endeavour to sort out the uniform shop, the current outstanding order from our
supplier and manage orders from parents. Please contact either of them with any
specific issues and they will do everything they can to help.
6.4
Canteen – Suzi Knowles
Suzi was unable to attend the meeting however provided the following financial
information to be presented at the meeting.
Figures as at 9 May 2011
Financial Position in a snap shot
Cash in bank
Owe to suppliers
6.5
$7,173.82
$529.31
MDFDGG – Dana Logiudice
The MDFDGG hope that all our mums had a lovely day on Sunday and were pleased
with your gifts from the Stall. Only one or two children resolutely refused to buy
things from their list, so we hope all the other mums were happy!
We had a great day on Thursday with lots of wonderful mums helping out with gift
wrapping, and one dad who brought along his cappuccino machine, much to
everyone’s delight! We are extremely grateful for your help. The day went off without
a hitch and there were never more than about 4 children in a queue waiting for gift
wrapping. We could not run the stall without you so generously giving up your time.
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you to the Kerry Smart & Susan Jacobson, who did most of the organising of
the Stall and all the other MDFDGG mums, Judy Reilly, Kathleen Allen, Therese
Downey, Helen Roberts, Kathy Stanfield, Bel Wilson, Margaret Liddle, Michelle
Heard and Heather Steele. We’ve all been working hard for months to ensure there
was a great range of gifts for the students to buy.
Thank you to Robert for setting up the tables and to Mr O’Doherty for giving us space
on the school’s website, drawing up the class visit schedule and for saving the day
when we thought we might run out of wrapping paper at 2.30!
Thank you to all TWPS parents for supporting the Stall, and for ensuring your
children knew what they wanted to buy and had back-up options if they didn’t get
their first choice.
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The day was a great success with a profit of $1600 raised and everyone involved
enjoyed themselves. We love helping the children to select their gifts and many
volunteer wrappers had a great time finding out from the children what they were
planning to do for their mums on Mothers’ Day and where they were going to hide
the gifts!
The MDFDGG now has a little “hiatus” until later in the year when we prepare for the
Fathers’ Day Breakfast.
Chloe Lorente thanked the MDFDGG for all their efforts and commented on the
quality of the gifts. They were very impressive in comparison to another school.
6.6
BASC – Report from Loryl Cook (BASC Co-ordinator)
Laurelle Knight, the BASC representative, read out Lisa’s report as follows:
Enrolments/Attendance
Attendance for the month has been steady with an average of 205 children attending
BSC per week and 396 attending ASC per week.
Finances
No financial report presented at the meeting.
Staffing
Lisa Whittaker has started as the new Coordinator and is settling in well and is
enjoying meeting all the wonderful children, families and staff we have at the service.
Lisa has come to us with a wealth of knowledge in the industry. She has worked in
Outside School Hours Care in Qld which has been under licensing requirements
since 2005 which includes many of the new change for 2012 so hopefully the
transition will be a smooth one.
Lisa and Loryl will be attending a two and a half day conference organised by
NETWORK on the 20th to 22nd May. This conference is a fantastic opportunity to
gather updated information on the upcoming changes to OOSH for 2012 and to
network with other professionals from across the state.
This term we have three staff members that will be away on Teaching placements
National Standards/Regulations
Space requirements are still an ongoing issue with the Hall being unavailable
especially during wet weather. As a priority we need to look for alternative options
so that we can operate within the standards for 2012.
Program
We had 25 children attend on the Staff Development Day on 27th April. Our planned
excursion however had to be cancelled due to wet weather. The Children still had a
wonderful day with many activities available to them.
Equipment/Maintenance
During the holidays the staff completed a working bee so that cleaning and
maintenance could be completed. One of the omega hot plates is not working and
will need to be repaired or replaced.
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Administration
The Family handbook has been updated to include Lisa Whittaker and to update the
fees as the current is outdated.
Laurelle Knight also confirmed, when questioned, that Loryl Cook has stepped down
to the Assistant Co-ordinator role with Lisa Whittaker accepting the position of Coordinator.
Kelly Belcastro enquired about BASC holiday care. Mr Miller advised that he told
YMCA that our hall was available if they needed it but nothing eventuated. Laurelle
agreed that it was definitely advantageous for us to offer it but at this stage it isn’t
available.
Kelly mentioned that she knows of other services that have 2 different lots of staff
(school & holiday staff) eg Normanhurst West has a very good structured system and
was keen for us to look at something similar. Using current staff would be good for
the children and if run by the school priority would be given to existing BASC
attendees.
Helen Roberts advised that she had asked Loryl this last week & she said Lisa
wouldn’t be interested however didn’t completely discount the idea. Loryl suggested
that an external company would need to run it. Helen then suggested to Loryl that a
survey could be conducted to gain community interest. Laurelle felt this was a good
idea and would discuss it further with Lisa & Loryl.
Action: Laurelle Knight to discuss the survey idea with Lisa Whittaker re
vacation care.
Stuart Bidwell then raised the issue of BASC bad debt due to parents not paying for
casuals. He confirmed that casual would now have to pay up-front which will ensure
this isn’t an issue going forward.
Fundraising – Janda Tanner
6.7
Kelly Belcastro passed on Janda’s apologies once again – still recovering from the
organization of the dinner dance! On Janda’s behalf Kelly confirmed that each child
would receive a medallion on 19 May in commemoration of the school’s 50th
anniversary.
Band – Anne Bassett
6.8
Financials
Bank Account Balances @30 April 2011
Cheque Account
$6,742.47
Cash flow as at 30 April 2011 was negative $1,482.28.
Notes:
1. proceeds from the Election Day (26 March) cake stall netted over $1400. Out
of this total, a small sum is owed to the Canteen for the lollies which were
also sold at the stall. Dana Logiudice had undertaken to reconcile the amount
and advise the Band Committee.
2. at the time of writing, Band fees invoices for Semester 1 (ie terms 1 and 2
inclusive) had not been sent – it is customary for these invoices to go out
early in term 2. A notice was included in this week’s Wednesday weekly
encouraging prompt payment; it was a follow up to last week’s explaining the
rationale and impact on cashflow.
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Fundraising
The fundraiser for Term 2 will be a Bunnings BBQ to be held on Saturday 14 May.
Band Camp
The Annual Band Camp is scheduled for 16-17 June at The Salvation Army Collaroy
Youth and Community Centre. Cost is $185 per student with sibling discount of $15.
The venue has changed from that used in most recent years (Cruaders Galston) in
order to only be away 1 night; minimum stay at Crusader is 2 nights from 2011.
2 teachers and 4 parent volunteers to attend and stay overnight.
Performances in Term 2.
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Wed 18 May Senior Band at PHHS Concert
Sat 21 May Senior and Funk Bands at the St Ives Show
Sun 29 May Junior Senior and Funk Bands at the Ryde East Music Festival
Sat 4 June Senior and Funk Bands at the NRL game at North Sydney Oval
Tues 14 June Funk Band at TCBC Morning Tea
Thurs 23 June All bands at Grandparents Day concert
Because of this concentration of performances, especially for Senior Band, it was
decided to not enter the Yamaha Festival (end June).
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Band Committee will be held in week 7.
6.9
Hall – Janda Tanner
Mr Miller advised that the council are still looking into the change of ownership of the
hall but it isn’t a priority for them so we have to be patient.
6.10
Catering – Michele Wood
No report tabled as no activity in this area.
7.0
Agenda Items
7.1
Formation of a Uniform Shop Committee
It was decided to form a Committee to help out and also bounce ideas off. Notices
have been put in the Wednesday Weekly asking for interested parties. Tasks will
include helping to sort out the pre-loved area now that we have to be a bit stricter due
to Health Regulations.
Chloe Lorente volunteered to go on the committee.
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7.2
Formation of a Canteen Committee
It was decided to also form a Canteen Committee to assist the Canteen Manager
who will be an external person ie. not a parent from the school.
Jenny Chaplin, Laurelle Knight & Chloe Lorente volunteered to go on the committee.
7.3
On-line Ordering System for the Canteen
Stuart Bidwell briefly touched on the Flex-schools system as he previously mentioned
in his report as Treasurer.
MOTION: That we purchase the Flexi-schools on-line ordering system for an
upfront cost of $695; we accept that there are 3% merchant fees charged and a
25c fee per order.
Proposed: Stuart Bidwell Seconded: Gordon Dracup. All in favour. Megan
Williamson declined.
Passed.
With regards to the Uniform Shop, an attendee suggested having appointment times
for all 2012 kindergarten starters. This would make it less stressful and easier on the
shop & parents alike. All agreed this was a good idea.
A suggestion was made to include the fundraising Mufit Days bring in into the P&C
subscription fee. Dana advised that as not everyone pays this it was hard to make a
call on this. The mufti day is also a voluntary activity so parents/students can decide
if they’d like to participate.
7.4
Grandparents Day
Dana had received a request that the date for Grandparents Day be notified to
parents at the beginning of the year. This was to enable better planning for those
that travelled interstate to attend the day.
Mr Miller advised that this date was included in the Term calendar which appears at
the beginning of each Term in the Wednesday Weekly. He will also pass this request
onto Mr O’Doherty as he is responsible for this event.
Action: Mr Miller to pass request to Mr O’Doherty that he advises the date of
Grandparents Day to the school community at the beginning of each year.
7.5
Gifts
Dana suggested that “thank you” gifts be organised for Suzi Knowles & Helen Foster
for their work in the canteen & uniform shop.
MOTION: A gift voucher + flowers be organised to the value of $100 per
person.
Proposed: Dana Loguidice Seconded: Gordon Dracup
Passed.
7.6
Working with Children Check
Dana advised that we are needing to do this for all sub-committees plus parents that
come in for reading and those going on excursions. One check has a fee involved
and is a criminal check as well. The other one is a declaration that you have no past
convictions with children.
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Action: Paul to re-confirm procedures going forward. Will also check that this
gets mentioned at the parent teacher night.
8.0
General Business
School Photos
An attendee asked when the school photos could be expected home. Mr Miller
advised that there was no date at this stage but they are expected very shortly.
Kindergarten 2012
Kelly Belcastro asked if Mr Miller had an indication of numbers for next year. Mr
Miller advised they were taking enrolments, would have the information night on 19
May and half-way into Term 4 they would have a better indication.
Tea & Tissues
Chloe Lorente commented that the tea & tissues session didn’t happen this year.
Chloe offered to host the morning tea next year as she will have a child moving into
Year 1 and felt this was a nice gesture. All attendees supported her volunteering in
this role.
9.0
Closing
The meeting closed at 9.40 pm.
10.0
Next Meeting - 8pm, Tuesday 14 June 2011
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