The first meeting of the new School year took place on Wednesday 29th September. The agenda included a demonstration of the new Parent Council website, and results from last year's Parental Survey.

Aberfoyle Parent Council

Meeting Minutes 29 September 2010.

Attending: Karin Bowie, Ros Dingwall, Jane Jackson, Jane Dunlop, Cindy McLoughlin, Julie Glen, Jackie Bell, Ruth Kennedy, Maxine Barwick

Apologies: Fiona McLean, Kerry Gibson, Jillian McLean

1. Reports from groups

Communications: Jane Dunlop unveiled the new website to universal applause.  It was agreed that this was ready to launch to all parents/carers.  Jane commended the hard work of Kevin Jackson in designing the website.  Jane will announce the website via the PC newsletter to be issued Thursday 30 Sept.  We will need parental consent to place photos of children in the gallery.  Maxine agreed to include PC consent in the school’s consent form to be issued shortly.  Jane agreed to add password protection to the gallery page.  The new Parent Council newsletter was praised by the group.

Learning: Jane Jackson reported that class reps are now in place for all classes plus the Eco and Health groups. Reps have been meeting with teachers to discuss parental involvement.  Maxine agreed to run a draft paper on involvement past the teachers before publication on the website. The Learning Group plans to meet once per term to generate ideas.  Jane noted that Katie Harris has volunteered to provide music sessions tailored to the curriculum, eg making instruments from recycled materials for the Eco group.

Fundraising: Karin provided an update on the Halloween disco and Ragbag collections.  For the disco, the Dounans Centre has kindly agreed to loan us a PA system and the Coop has donated crisps and diluting juice.  The pupils have provided a list of song requests.  Carla Duggan from The Dance Connection has donated music files.  A flyer will go out just after the October holiday for ticket sales. This will include a request to parents to help set up, chaperone and clean up.  We also need decorations and competition prizes.  Karin will email parents about this.  Julie will advise whether decorations from the village hall can be used.  The Ragbag collection this year will be continuous instead of in two drives.  The collection box is now in the school porch.  Karin thanked the school for letting us put it there as it is big!  Parents are invited to drop off old textiles and shoes, in plastic bags, any time the door is open.  It was agreed that we would monitor use in the first term and add a drive in the second term if needed.  Jane will announce the collection in the PC newsletter.

2. Head teachers report

Health Promoting group: This group has elected new officers and will start offering healthy tuck on Friday 1 October using funds of £177.  A SLA (Support for Learning Assistant) will help but Maxine asked if any parent could help out on Friday mornings so that the SLA can be deployed in the classroom.

Eco Committee:  The school achieved the Silver level and an award of £250.  They are aiming for Green Flag status this year. They need a parent to attend one meeting per term.  Karin asked if the Silver achievement could be announced to parents; Maxine agreed that this would be done in conjunction with an announcement of the committee’s plan for reaching Green Flag status.

School Budget:  Maxine shared the school’s budget figures.  As in past years, the budget has to be spent cautiously as Stirling Council expects the school to find savings of £2,700 across the year.  This is likely to hit the Educational Supplies budget hardest as this is the most flexible line item.  Karin noted that we are fortunate that budgets have not been cut this year but they are likely to be cut next year. This underlines the importance of the Parent Council’s fundraising.  Maxine noted that photocopying is a substantial part of the budget.  The school is saving money by using recycled paper for photocopying. She would like as many parents as possible to receive notices by email.  It was noted that the Parent Council has its usual centrally-allocated budget of £330.  Typically this has been spent on Disclosure and photocopying.  Disclosure will be needed for any parent in regular contact with the children, eg TOPS, healthy tuck.

Nursery handbook: The nursery would like parental feedback on a new brochure. It was agreed to put this on the website and email PC members with the link.

Sexual Health and Relationships: Stirling Council is rolling out a new sexual health curriculum for all years.  There is some local discretion in how this is taught.  Liz Haughey will convene a small working party of parents to review the materials.  Their recommendations will be taken to all parents for consultation. This will be pursued this year with teaching to start next year.

Parental Survey Results:  The full results will be published to all parents shortly with a joint commentary by Maxine and Karin, as in past years.  Maxine noted that overall, results were positive though response rates for the school were low; possibly this indicates general satisfaction.  A strong 94% said their children felt safe at school, a reassuring figure given concerns about bullying expressed in past years. Some negatives appeared on measures relating to parental involvement and school management.  These will be addressed with the increased activity of the Parent Council.  Mild negatives on pupil confidence and being informed about a child’s progress were difficult to interpret from the survey comments.  Maxine will appeal to parents to approach class teachers with any specific concerns on these points.  Ruth noted that if it was felt that the confidence issue required school-wide action, the school might consider the emotional resilience programme ‘Friends for Life’.  The S1 year at McLaren are participating in this.

3. Proposed response to consultation on Inversnaid closure

Karin reviewed the draft paper circulated in advance.  Maxine noted that the teaching materials at Inversnaid would transfer to Aberfoyle in the event of closure.  Karin reported that at the Inversnaid consultation meeting it was stated that Education Services are reviewing all schools with fewer than 50 pupils. This will include Port of Menteith, Gartmore and Trossachs.  The PC’s paper asks Ed. Services to tell us the timeline on these reviews.  The group approved the paper.  Karin will forward this to Education Services.

4. Next meeting: Tuesday 30 November at 7pm

5. Any other business

The Council noted that Andy Malcolm and Liz Macgregor had resigned from the Parent Council.  Karin will write to express the Council’s thanks for their past involvement (and cakes!).

Maxine expressed the particular thanks of the school for the new Parent Council website.

Julie invited the Parent Council to take a fundraising table at a Memorial Hall Christmas table top sale (Sunday 12 or Sat 11 Dec).  Karin and the fundraising group will consider this.

Out of School Club: Karin noted that the OSC is in danger of closing due to low numbers.  Discussion suggested that there are no perceived problems with the OSC, merely limited demand.  Take-up might be boosted with taster sessions, including nursery-age children, or allowing parents to book half-sessions or to take sessions at short notice.  Karin agreed to write to the appropriate manager with these suggestions.

Class photos: Disappointment was expressed that the photographer last week did not take class photos.  Maxine agreed to try to fit this in next year (the photographer is at the school for just 3 hours from 9 to 12).  It was suggested that a local photographer might be willing to come take class photos this year.  Karin will forward details for the Gartmore photographer used for the local dance class photos.

P1 photo: Jane agreed to put the reference details for the Stirling Observer photos into the newsletter.

School crossing to field: Ruth asked if a school crossing to the field had been pursued in the past.  Ros reported that this had been pursued but regulations have prevented anything being done other than the speed bumps.  Ros will note the concerns of parents to the Community Council.  Ruth agreed to investigate ‘Safer Routes to Schools’.  Jane noted that Callender have a Safer Routes programme on their website. Karin will forward a personal contact on this to Ruth.

Rural funding opportunities: Ruth asked if the PC had explored rural community funding sources.  This will be taken up by the fundraising group.