Wideview Public School P&C Association
General Meeting
Minutes- Monday 31st July 2017
Chair: Karen Truskett-Jones Minutes: Sarah Palmer Venue: Staff Room
Attendees: Steve Smith, Jackie Blair, Suzanne Kenyon, Jay Esson, Michelle Bowden, Ingrid Robertson, Alison Glendining, Mary Savage, Ruth Wicks, Sally Freeman, Lisa Poole
Staff: Mal Harpur, Kim McTernan, Tom Carlos
Apologies: Kylie Nawotka, Ian Thomas, Kate Glenn, Di Stoddart, Caroline Fredriksson, Caroline Blakey, Penny Street
Guests:
Agenda Item / Discussion/ motion / Action / Person responsibleMeeting opened / Welcome; attendees and apologies / Record attendance / Sarah Palmer
Previous minutes / Follow up:
*WOOSHC separation of alarm for toilet in Vacation Care. Security won’t allow this separation (Kim). Library is already separate, so they use this. Suggestions made about building one in the WOOSHC building seeing as plumbing is there for the kitchen.
*Tree Check: Completed by Murray Bolan of “Bolan’s Tree Services”. All is safe. / Accepted / Alison G, Jackie B
Principal’s report / See attached report
President’s report / *Discussion about fete’s (yesterday) success and thank you. Announced this is the highest fundraising profit in 10 years! ($36K). Karen also stated that there was then a comment on the P&C Facebook announcement asking if that meant we could get air conditioning now? Karen replied that we are still $160,000 short, (we are not eligible for a grant as previously stated)
*Involvement Room sorted and cleaned out. Rodents found dead and removed and area cleaned.
Finance report / *Bank account is looking good. Contributions are looking good, mostly paid.
*P&C Federation Membership and Insurance was paid today.
*PayPal account was set up. (used for fete) Jackie needs time to work out the payments that are coming in (silent auction winners). Discussion of keeping Paypal and using it for other events in school or just specific events (fees included)
*Uniform stocktake needed – only ever done one last year. / Motion agreed to use for specific events eg Showcase
Volunteers needed: Karen is keen on Fridays / Accepted: Steve Smith
Seconded: Ruth Wicks
Band / Mal:
*Accounts are looking good. ($12K)
*Band meeting has been had to look at spending some money. Band committee and parents agreed to spend money on:
1. Updating the lights and hanging microphones in the school Hall (benefit everyone for assemblies as well as performance) Approx $3-5K
2. Purchase more and different band instruments eg euphonium to get a well-rounded range of instruments
3. More music stands etc as everything that Merrilee uses in the Music Room is her personal property.
Mal is getting quotes at the moment. He will use Jim (who Mal knows) as he did a brilliant job at the school fete on the Bendigo Stage.
Suggestion
*(Lisa) to add a Cajun drum. Response: We have a couple in percussion.
*Suggestion and discussion about perhaps reducing band term fees ($70) if there is that much profit in the account (Jay). Response: Hard to gauge as this year we have a lot of kids in band, but enrolments fluctuate. Discussion followed but no motion passed.
*Band Instrument rentals discussion: who pays for repairs if broken. Answer: the parent with the hire agreement. But band need to have spare funds for maintenance of instruments.
* Discussion of fete and acoustics. Tongue in cheek mention of an amphitheatre installation in Primary. (4.2x4.5m space).
Uniform Shop report / See attached
*Need to address the lack of a regular volunteer. No backup means if Kate can’t be there, the shop is shut.
*Need volunteers for stocktake
Suggestion: (Suzanne) Has it been suggested to close shop and go online only? Response (TCarlos): Not in 17 yrs. Karen: Look at in the future after review and stocktake (also will be able to see if Uniform Shop is profitable) / Karen to start stocktake with Kate
WOOSHC report / See attached
*WOOSHC building discussion. Steve said the roof will go first in the building 13-15yrs from now. Need a building fund.
Canteen report / See attached including price increases.
*Discussion about “going Green”, prices will increase again as buying bamboo cutlery and alternatives for “crystals” cups are more expensive but can be composted. / Research more environmentally sound methods in the canteen
Motion passed: Prices will increase with more green approach. / Di Stoddart
Agreed: Karen TJ
Seconded: Steve Smith
Grounds report / No report but compliments of the new art installation near the front gate on the wall. (Flower stems painted on the fence and painted hubcaps as flower heads).
*Tiff Bets and Sarah Flarey, working bees are going well.
*Tiff Betts is looking at applying for a Landcare grant ($1K) which will be used to beautify the garden outside the Admin Office, amongst other things.
*Brendan Wicks mowed the lawn the day before fete, thanks.
*Thursday last week, caution tape around equipment – why? Answer: it was cordoned off due to an accident from a sibling of a school child. Needed to be cleaned properly due to spillage of blood.
Fundraising report / *Father’s Day stall:
Anyone want to help Karen purchase, not much needed, let her know.
Roster needed for Stall day – discussion at next meeting.
*Father’s Day BBQ 1st Sept (agreed with staff) – planning at the next meeting
* Fete Wrap Up by Ruth: Great day, thanks to everyone. Thought about the date – July always driest month, nothing to clash with other schools and sport. Pre-sale tickets and sponsorship was high. Ruth negotiated a better deal with rides company Planet Entertainment so that the school got a percentage of sales on the day of the fete too. Rachel (fete committee) from North Shore Mums had some great contacts for publicity and marketing. Profit making class stalls and also meant that 90% of parents in the school was involved and at the fete all day. Corrie (fete finance) is still balancing accounts for final figures.
16 teachers and Principal attended. Fantastic to see. 5 months to organise.
Karen: Impressed with the clean-up – no rubbish left this morning!
Acknowledge the Yr 6 kids and Tom Eisner for their help on the day. (Fete committee are refunding his ride band as he didn’t get to use it)… Suggest Principals Award. / Michelle Bowden liaise with Karen about stock spreadsheet from 2016 / Karen to purchase for stall
General business / *Sarah told Kim: broken “O” ring on the hose of one of the school BBQs, needs replacing (discovered at Band Camp 2017)
*Council elections (9 Sept):
Suzanne to ask President of Apex if they will do the BBQ, if not we need a roster. Sold 600 sausages last time and ran out, community not impressed, order more this year.
*Peter Mudie Invoice ($120) – Discussion on whether to pay his invoice as he claims he did a quote and work and prep regarding fete and then was not booked for the job. His response on social media was appalling, he bad mouthed the school and teachers; emailed Sally (fete committee), and the P&C several times further bad mouthing and angry emails and demanding payment. Discussion on whether or not he did do work and whether or not he should be paid.
Discussion: Fete committee (Ruth, Sally) agreed he did a 30 min site visit explaining what had happened previous years and up to 6 emails discussing fete related matters and may have been given the impression he would get the job. Mal recommended No, due to the defamation of the school and staff.
Steve stated that if we didn’t pay and Peter took it further. He could take it to Small Claims court which would cost him $120 and our response $30. Steve is happy to do that if needed. Ruth stated: To be fair and in a business sense – Pay this invoice but write a letter, make it clear his pay is for the work he did for this fete and that there will be no further work in the future.
*Uniform Survey Results by Suzanne: (read attached)
What does the community want? 70% say they are happy but 50% want change. Do we need a secondary survey? (Sally)
Policy states next step comes from the school. Need to prepare data and give to Kim via Karen and Angela Griffin
*Portable air-con units in classrooms. Discussion on cost and electricity requirements. Question directed to Kim from Steve: Belinda was going to look into the cost & requirements, do you know anything about it? Kim replied: No.
Proposal from Steve that he knows a group of people who are willing to buy 1 unit per classroom (as a donation to the school, units cost approx. $1K each) that their child are in, and so in a few years the whole school would have air-con. No motion passed or decision made. Discussion on repairs, asthma issues with filters, and what happens when they break and those parents have left the school? Expectation to be replaced. Running costs are paid for by P&C.
Sarah noted: 16 classrooms = $16K to use air-con for 2 weeks a year.
Kim noted that the wiring of the school is from the 50’s & 60’s so this may cause issues and also suggested if you do it, reverse cycle would be ideal.
Kim suggested getting an air-con consultant to come to the school and give advice.
*P&C meeting times to change back to original timings. / Replace O ring
Motion passed: Pay Invoice, draft letter to say no further work
Prepare data and present to Principal
Investigate portable air-con units further and consult air-con specialist
Meetings to be 3rd Monday of the month / Kim (Principal)
Vote cast by show of hands, Majority ruled Yes Pay, and letter.
Karen to draft letter, approval by Kim (school), Jackie (finance) and Steve (legal)
Karen TJ
Kim McTernan
Accepted: Karen TJ
Seconded: Ingrid Robertson
Next meeting / 21st August 7pm
Meeting closed / 9pm
Principals Report:
Thank you to Mal for the great job he did in the Interim.
Future Directions: Next 3 yrs Future Directions regarding school Management Plan. The planning process to be successful needs community involvement. The “Tell them for me” survey will open soon which enables parents to give feedback regarding school practices and management. We would like parents to be involved in the planning process. How do we gain more representation in the planning?
Fete: Thank you to Ruth and the Fete committee for the excellent day. From my point of view it was great to see not only most of our school community in attendance, but also many visitors from the wider community. I applaud their idea to have stalls/activities across the school as it forced people to look at all the school. Some of those in attendance would be prospective enrolees in future years.
Education Week: As Education Week and Book week are so close together, we are holding open classrooms in conjunction with the book parade. This alleviates parents having to take extra day’s odd work and enables them to attend the Book Fair.
UNSW Test: English administered tomorrow and the Maths on the 15th. The results from the Computer Test show great progress in Year 4, but in 5&6 our Word processing results were disappointing. Science results were really pleasing although, across the board our investigation questions were poorly answered. These results will be taken into account when forming our strategic directions.
Nesa: Staff and executive will be taken through the new processes required for school registration over the next few weeks. The school registration is a checks and balances to ensure all schools are compliant with the DET policies and procedures. There are two check mechanisms in place, one being a random selection of school with 4 days’ notice, and the other giving a number of weeks to prepare data for presentation.
The uniform shop is running smoothly as we get into term 3. It seems difficult to identify our busy periods from week to week. I will be calling out for volunteers in this week’s newsletter. I have not been happy with our Scags supplier in providing Winter tunics. The dress pattern was not changed upon request and the supplier ran out of fabric to supply size 8, 10 and 12. We had asked that the tunics be made longer as they are too wide and short. The rep is visiting this week to discuss and come up with a solution for next year. With many different body shapes and sizes (eg tall and lean or short and stocky) of children it is difficult to come up with a style that can suit and be functional for all girls. I believe that providing an optional uniform and stocking culottes in the uniform shop can answer this issue but we need to complete the uniform review surveys before moving forward. Summer dresses will need to be ordered from the supplier in the next few weeks as they take 6-10 weeks to manufacture. We are very low on stock of summer dresses. I will be asking parents to pre-order either on Munch Monitors or send an email so as we can ascertain order numbers. Kate Glenn.
Wooshc : Vacation Care (Tues-Thurs x2=6 days) went really well. Good feedback. Most sessions booked out. Thurs not as popular. Will run Mon-Thur and Tues-Thurs 7 days in the next schl holidays and then review for 2018. Mad approx. profit $3k which will be put to a building fund (discuss at next P&C meeting to create it). There are a handful of vacancies in some sessions of regular wooshc, not enough to worry about and provides flexibility to offer casual spots and makes it easier to offer positions for 2018. Toileting issues for staff in Vac Care: Kathy (Wooshc Director) and Kim (Principal) resolved it : Staff will be able to use library toilet.
Canteen:
Menu Items (list your menu items) / Unit Cost Price ($) (what 1 serve costs you^) / Mark Up % (see table to right) / Suggested Selling Price per item / Current Selling Price (for comparison only) / Mark-up / Mark Up % (factor to multiply the cost of one item by) / This will give you a Gross Profit of: