Minutes of St Bernadette’s Parent Council Initial Meeting 30/10/2012 6.30pm
Attendees:
Cathy Quinn, Pam Angus, Leigh-Anne Bridgeman, Francine Stewart, Debbie
O’Donnell, Marianne Savage, Martin Craigen, Veronica Walker, Sarah Clark, AnneMarie O’Connor, Mandy O’Donnell, Darren Green, Olivia McLay, Audrey Duncan,
Craig Beer, Frances Burke, Roisin Fulton
Guest :
Diane Cherry (Falkirk Council)
Item
1
Subject
Establishing St Bernadette’s Parent Council
The proposed constitution was adopted by the Parent Council
(PC), unanimously. Diane Cherry described the roles of the 3
office bearers, which were then appointed as follows:
Chairperson – Roisin Fulton
Vice Chair – Leigh-Anne Bridgeman
Treasurer – Darren Green
Once the parent council is more established, a communication
role may be added. It is intended this group will meet approx.
every 4-6 weeks.
There is also a fundraising subgroup. The PC will need to draw
up rules of engagement. Diane to send materials to us for
drawing this up.
The volunteers for this group are:
Francine Stewart
Frances Burke
Veronica Walker
Debbie O’Donnell
Sarah Clark
Nadine Brown
Action
Diane to send link to
documents for setting
up fundraising
subgroup. (This has
been done)
Darren to set up bank
account and get admin
fund from council.
Office bearers to meet
with Cathy. Roisin to
organise a time.
Fran said that there were others who are interested but
couldn’t make the meeting. If we could get their names, then
they could be included in sub-group communications/meetings.
This fundraising group will be more flexible and will meet as
much as is required to organise fundraising events. First
meeting for this will be on Monday 5th Nov at 11.30 am in
community room, to organise Family Quiz for Friday 30th Nov.
2
School website
A new school website is currently being developed, with input
by the kids. It will probably be the end of the school year before
it is up and running. The current blog will be used in the
meantime. Cathy will organise for a page to be set up for the
Parent Council. Cathy will also organise for someone from the
PC to get access for updating our page. Cathy also talked about
getting a survey monkey set up to get opinion from parents on
what is going well so far in the school, and what could be
Cathy to get a page set
up on the blog for PC.
3
improved. This could give the PC ideas on what to focus on in
the coming year.
Stars and Wishes
Diane went round the group asking everyone for a ‘star and a
wish’. Here is a summary:
Stars
School has lovely ethos.
Mass/Halloween disco/parent lunches were excellent.
Communication from school been great.
Active literacy is working really well, kids loving
learning, see it as fun, not work.
Everyone’s kids are really happy, and settled in quickly.
Teachers taking part in Halloween disco (and fashion
show.)
Parents being patient with set up of school and policies.
Design and architecture of school is excellent, inducing
a happy and fun environment.
Children excited about prayers and RE.
How ICT is being incorporated into everyday learning.
All the staff are so dedicated to the best methods of
learning, Curriculum for Excellence is very evident.
Nursery also excellent, forest trips a great opportunity.
Uniform is great, good the school is encouraging pupils
to wear correct uniform.
Happy made the decision to change to this school,
really trust the staff, and their decision on school
resources.
Kids are really polite and well behaved.
Wishes
Somewhere for parents to put comments/questions on
homework journals.
After-school activities for younger kids.
More info for parents on ‘active maths’
Glow2 – access to new Glow platform when it’s
established.
To continue to have parent lunches, so those who
missed out first time, can get a chance to go.
To establish strong and positive connections with the
surrounding community. Ensure we inform them of any
building/roadworks that are happening.
Links with those supporting the school stay strong like
First for Kids and Bus Company.
More outings
Focussed centralised IT resources for learning, so less
time wasted searching for information.
Communication to remain good, 2 days’ notice for
Halloween disco wasn’t great, however this was
arranged at last minute by Asda so couldn’t be helped
People accept the school is here, and that our children
don’t have to experience bigotry from others.
School discos could be staggered as it was a bit
overwhelming and loud for some of the younger
children.
Parents to get an overview of the topics for a term, so
know what child will be doing. One class got a
newsletter; this would be great for every class.
Develop the wildlife garden.
Recreation and leisure time on Fridays rather than
golden time.
4
Fundraising events
First suggestion was a Christmas Fayre, however it was felt
there wasn’t enough time to organise, so will have a fayre in the
springtime.
Sub group to meet on
Monday 5th at 11.30
Contact Andrew
Sutherland about BYOB
(Cathy has done this)
Family Quiz - Friday 30th November
Almost all the details of the quiz ready. Just need to organise
fundraising events for the night –raffles, prizes, etc. Group
meeting on Monday at 11.30; please tell anyone else who may
be interested in organising event. Try and think of any other
ways we can raise funds and have fun on the night.
5
6
PC E-mail address
Central e-mail address account for Parent Council, which PC
office bearers will have login access to, to be set up.
Community Open Night
This evening is open to parents to come as well as the local
community, so if you are free, please come along Tuesday 6th
Nov 6-7pm.
Next PC Meeting: Tuesday 4th December at 6:30 staff room
Chair: Roisin Fulton
Minutes: TBC
Agenda to be sent out by Tuesday 28th November.
Anne-Marie to set up email address.