Brechin High School Parent Council

Minutes of Parent Council Meeting held on Wednesday 19th March 2014

Attendees: Patrick Yates (Chair), A. Bathgate (Headteacher), Alan Joiner, Alison Reid, Elaine Sim (Teacher Rep), Fiona Gill, Jim Welsh, Kay Cameron, Kirsten Hoggins, Lynne Howe, Yvonne Sommerville

Parent / Carer: Paula Spence

Apologies: Claire Murney, Jackie Williamson, Liz Calvert, Sarah Mathieson

1)Presentation by Academy Uniforms MPC Ltd / Who / When
Alan Hiddleston of Academy Uniforms MPC Ltd, East Kilbride, a specialist supplier of uniforms to Primary and (mainly) Secondary Schools, was invited by Mr Bathgate to present their range of uniforms to the Parent Council.
Of particular interest was their ‘Blazer’ which, at £28.00, is considerably cheaper than the current school blazer. However, the Parent Council also liked the full range of uniform items they were shown and it was agreed that Mr Bathgate would take this to the next stage of teacher and pupil input.
The Chair requested that the Parent Council be shown the preferred uniform options before any changes were made. At that time proposed timescales for any changes would also be agreed.
Plan is to have blazers for all S4, 5 and 6 pupils – although there was a suggestion, which met with general approval, that the whole school should ultimately wear blazers.
It’s feasible to have ‘braid’ stitched to the blazers – this was thought a possibility for the Prefects – but there would be an additional cost of £12.00 for this. Mention was made that this might be something the Parent Council could pay for – but more information would be required before this could be considered. / Mr Bathgate
Mr Bathgate / On-going
2)Minutes of previous meeting (6th November 2013) and matters arising / Who / When
Approval of minutes of last meeting proposed by Kay Cameron and seconded by Elaine Sim. Agreed by all.
No matters arising.
3)Treasurers Report / Who / When
Pat Yates reported on behalf of Jackie. Balance is currently £534.
4)Head teacher’s report / Who / When
Mr Bathgate advised he had only been head teacher for 6 weeks which was not really long enough to be able to give more than a quick update of the key issues he has addressed since starting. These were
−Focus on the uniform (he was greatly impressed with how quickly the pupils took his requests to start wearing the proper uniform).
−His plan to engage with parents more.
−Now meeting with 5 or 6 pupils each Monday during the Form Class period for their feedback.
−Has set up the Prefect Journalists whose objective is to get articles to do with the school community into the Brechin Advertiser most weeks if at all possible.
−He has found that the school community is ready for change and are prepared to move forward.
−Pupils now coming up with ideas for him to consider.
−Alison Ward – now working on recognising pupil achievements (of all kinds, not just academic).
−Looking at re-structuring the Form Classes to make them more effective.
−There will be moreattention given to consistency in teaching.
−Message now out to the Principal Teachers that expectation all round is BEST. Nothing less is acceptable.
−Channel of communication – ‘Care’ issues to PCS and ‘academic’ issues to the House Deputy Head Teacher. (Farnell – Mr Funai, Menmuir – Mr Mills, Careston and Dun – Mrs Lowe.)
5)HMiE follow on visit (4th – 6th March) / Who / When
Initial draft of letter has now been received for review / comment by the Head teacher and Chair of the Parent Council. At this time they cannot show it to anyone else, but both confirmed they were happy with what it contained and HMie will be issuing it in time.
Mr Bathgate confirmed he had requested another follow up visit in approximately 1 year at which time it would be much easier to see and quantity the anticipated improvements he believes will have been made by then.
From the answers given to the following questions in the Parent Questionnaire section of the follow up visit - the school keeps me informed; the school asks for my views and the school takes my views into account – the school needs to make some improvement.
Mr Bathgate will, therefore, be introducing
−Parent Focus Groups (groups of 6 or so parents invited to meet to discuss various issues)
−A more relaxed, chattier newsletter. Initially these may be issued every month but later this would reduce to every two months (6 per year).
−Improving the school website. Mr Flood (PT of ICT) will be leading on this.
6)School improvement Priorities / Who / When
Mr Bathgate issued a document briefly (and broadly) summarising his improvement priorities for the years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16.
The four key areas were
  1. Improve the quality of learning and teaching
  2. Develop the design and rationale of the curriculum
  3. Implement a whole –school approach to self-evaluation
  4. Establish a new statement of shared values and embed these values consistently in all areas of the life of the school.

7)National 5s – not enough time to complete coursework / Who / When
Some parents have expressed concern that their children are not going to have enough time to complete their National 5 coursework before the exams in May and June.
Mr Bathgate reported he has been looking into reducing the number of some classes (e.g. RE and RSE) to enable this coursework to be completed.
Also looking into Revision Days for some subjects.
On a longer term basis he is also reviewing Form Classes to establish how they may be more effectively used for the age groups attending.
8)Fundraising / Who / When
Agreed date and place for sub-committee meeting – Tuesday 25th March at the Caledonian Hotel.
9)Pupil behaviour / disruption in classes / Who / When
Due to lack of time this could not be discussed beyond noting that one of the Parent Councillors was concerned at the impact on the rest of the class from the disruptive behaviour of one pupil.
10)AOCB / Who / When
  • The lack of communication to the Parent Forum about this meeting was mentioned and the Chair undertook to ensure future meetings would be much better communicated to the wider Parent Forum.
  • Dates of next two meetings – both at the High School starting at 18.45.
Wednesday 30th April 2014 and
Wednesday 4th June 2014