St John’s Academy Parent Council AGM

Monday 6 November

Present:

Julie Flynn

Nikki McNaughton

Clare Monaghan

Jan Jack

David Bald

Sean Hagney

Tom Cameron

Lynn Cameron

Carol MacLeod

Nikki Tolmie

Donna Ploetner

Julie Stevenson

Action
1 / Welcome and Apologies
Julie welcomed everyone to the meeting. A special welcome to the new parents who joined the meeting.
2 / A report on the work of the parent council and committee
Julie gave an overview of the work of the parent council over the past year and the way forward. Julie advised that we need to ensure better representation from each year group and that it is our responsibility to make it a place parents want to come.
There are key positions that need filled tonight and parents can chose to be part of the wider parent forum if they don’t want to take on a role.
Being part of the parent council gives parents the opportunity to share the spirit of the school and get involved in the leadership of the school.
We aspire to have a stronger representation from parents.
Julie acknowledged the excellent work of the group around fundraising and how this money has been used to support pupils. With extra support from parents we could be doing even better.
Julie spoke on a personal note around how she felt the school has supported her boys and created an environment for everyone to aspire to. The partnership working has played a huge part in leading her boys to positive destinations and Julie thanked the teachers who have supported her boys over the years.
3 / A report by the Head Teacher on the work of the school
Sean issued a copy of the Standards and Quality Report and gave a brief overview.
Sean acknowledged how proud he was of the attainment of our young people.
Sean advised about the funding that the school has received to close the gap/raise attainment - £75k in Primary and £45k in Secondary.
Key priorities for 2017/18:
  • Our staff, children and young people are leaders of learning and change
  • Learning, teaching and assessment meet the needs of all learners
  • Our children and young people’s wellbeing is ensured through equity and inclusion
  • Attainment and achievement is raised for all and the poverty related gap is closing

4 / Selection of the new parent council
Chairperson
Julie proposed Donna Ploetner and Lynn Cameron seconded. Donna accepted the role.
Vice- Chairperson
Donna proposed Nikki Tolmie and Julie seconded. Nikki accepted the role.
Secretary
Lynn put her name forward for this role and there was a unanimous approval from the group. Lynn accepted the role.
Sean thanked the parents for taking on the roles and asked if they would meet with him over the next few weeks to have an informal discussion. Cheryl to coordinate the meeting – any evening at 4pm.
Julie thanked Niki McNaughton for continuing in the role as Treasurer.
5 / Discussion of issues that members of the parent forum may wish to raise
There was a general discussion around the table and further discussion to take place.
  • Need to plan ahead with speakers and think about the timing of speakers.
  • If a speaker is targeted at a specific year group thinking about how this is shared with parents
  • Organise a programme of events for the year and share this with parents
  • Discussion around visiting feeder primaries parent council to try and encourage potential new S1 parental involvement.
  • Parent council chair input into end of term newsletter.

6 / Update on accounts
Balance £2562.80. Bid from Maths challenge agreed.
Discussion around making bids to Common Good Fund for both the Primary and Secondary. Nikki to liaise with Lynn regarding this.
7 / Fundraising
  • P7 was a success and lots of parent helpers.
  • Easter Fayre – set up was an issue as MITIE did not use the plan provided and was very time consuming. Plan to be shared with Cheryl for future events to ensure this is actioned.
Donna will take a step back from the fundraising and Nikki to lead on this.
Halloween was brought up by a parent and it was agreed this would be discussed separately.
Trips – Donna provided an overview of the returns from parents. Agree that there has been an improvement in the class trips this year and feedback from parents has been positive but still work to be done on this. The cost of the school day document has been helpful.
Sean reiterated that we continue to have problems getting money from some parents for trips and issue with parent helpers and this limits what we can offer at times.
We need to work on this to get the balance right.
8 / Parent council budget return
Parent Council return submitted.
9 / AOCB
A huge thank you to Julie for dedication and support to St John’s RC Academy over the years. A night out to be organised to thank Julie informally,

D18-11