P&C Meeting 6/2013Minutes
MEETING:TERM 3 WEEK 8
Date:Wednesday 11 September 2013
Time:7.30 pm – 9.30 pm
Location:Forrest Primary School
- Welcome, introductions& apologies President
The meeting began at 7:35pm. Attendees were Robyn Calder, Perdi Mitchell, Kate Hambly, Yasmine Gray, Karen Gardner, Tui Davidson, Simone Mills, Chris Pilgrim*, Kurt Holweg, Christine Thambipillai*, Jo McAlister,Sally Troy and Nicole Richardson*. An * indicates staff.
Apologies were received from Raeline George.
- Teachers’ Forum
a. Japanese ProgramChristine Thambipillai
“Mrs T”, as she is known to the students, gave a very engaging overview of the Japanese program and a mini-lesson. Teaching of a language other than English is a requirement for the IB Primary Years Program (PYP). Her aspiration is that students not only learn some Japanese, but that they also develop a love of learning any language. Christine mentioned the DVD “Totoro”, which is very addictive. Parents thought it would be very useful that words to songs and a list of vocabulary learnt would be very useful for parents to reinforce learning at home.
ACTION: Christine to investigate if possible to put words to songs and a list of vocabulary on the school website or sent home as handouts to parents.
b. Principal’s reportChris Pilgrim
Chris spoke to her report, tabled and at Attachment A, highlightingthe success of the Family Maths Night. Other items discussed were the information evening on BYOD (Bring your own device), the thank you afternoon tea on 27 September, and the RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan) Community Activity on 21 October. Chris also spoke about communication improvements, emphasising that communication is a joint endeavour. There was praise from Chris and parents for Hayley Singh’s and Jo Talwar’s efforts. Chris clarified that, although there would be an official handover and opening events for the Deakin Preschool in the next couple months, teaching would not begin there until February 2014.
ACTION: Chris to send feedback from the BYOD Info Night to the P&C.
ACTION: Robyn to invite the Chief Minister and education Minister to the thank you assembly in her thank you letters to them about the toile refurbishments.
ACTION: Chris to check with Raelene if it would be possible to hire some afterschool care staff as babysitters for the RAP Community Event from 6pm on 21 October.
ACTION: Sally to help school staff review email contacts and newsletter distribution.
ACTION: Nicole to check on app push function (also see related action under agenda item 4d).
ACTION: Simone to develop (through Communication Committee) request/incentive to parents to download app (also see related action under agenda item 4d).
- Standing items
a. Minutes of last meeting & action list review (10 min)Secretary
The Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as true and correct, with minor corrections.
ACTION: Yasmine to make corrections and email finalised Minutes to Kurt Holweg to load on the P&C webpage.
Detailed review of the action list was deferred.
ACTION: Attendees to send Yasmine any updates of status of action items.
b.President’s report President
Robyn gave her report, which included:
- Changeover of book keepers at the start of the year resulted in lots of catch-up and clearing up outstanding payments. All is completed now.
- The Finance & Administration Committee met last week to discuss term 2 and year-to-date finances, which were solid & consistent. The canteen made a profit in term 2, offsetting some losses in term 1, and on track to break even for the year. There should be an overall profit of $120,000 for the year, coming primarily from the before, after and vacation care programs.
- There will be a one-day training day for staff. The training will be on a Saturday so not to disrupt care, with staff donating their time for the staff development.
- Robyn hopes to engage the department about refurbishing the remaining toilets later in the years.
ACTION: Attendees to send Robyn any comments on the letter she and Perdi drafted and circulated during the meeting.
c. Deakin Preschool liaison report Nicole Richardson
Nicole updated the P&C on the Turbo movie fundraiser. 80 tickets have been sold so far, with 100 needed to be sold to break even. 147 tickets are available. The preschool kids started yoga two weeks ago, which is going really well. The Preschool Committee is planning an event for World Teachers’ Day on 25 October. Chris mentioned that the Director General of the Department is coming to Forrest Primary at 11am on that day and any extra congestion should be avoided around that time. The Preschool’s end-of-year function will be held at the Deakin Soccer Club in early December.
d. Board report Sally Troy
Sally reported that most of today’s meeting was spent discussing goals/targets and ways in which they and their benchmarks are set in the annual operating plan.
e. P&C Council report Perdi Mitchell
The ACT is negotiating a contract with flexischools to service all public school canteens in the ACT.
ACTION: Raelene and Fleur to monitor and ensure Forrest is able to join the wider contract if a better value than our current individual canteen contract with flexischools.
- P&C members’ updates & discussion items
a. Working with Vulnerable People Volunteer Check Policy Perdi Mitchell
There has been no progress from the ACT P&C Association on this subject. All school volunteers meeting criteria will need to have applied for the Working with Vulnerable People registration by 8 November. The meeting discussed ways to make the application process as easy as possible for volunteers.
ACTION: Chris Pilgrim to ask Odette Holweg to organise a day early in term 4 for volunteers to get required photos and signatures/authentications at the school.
b. Strategic Plan UpdatePerdi Mitchell
Actions under the Strategic Plan are progressing. The proposal for the P&C to contribute $20,000 to the school towards the library was approved.
ACTION: Perdi and Ali to visit Garran Primary, which recently upgraded its playground equipment, to get ideas and lessons learned for the Forrest playground upgrade.
ACTION: Perdi to consider holding a landscaping working bee in term 4.
ACTION: Perdi to discuss with Ali thepossibility of having an outdoor movie night in term 4.
c. Voluntary ContributionsRobyn Calder
Robyn circulated a proposal to increase the amount of voluntary contribution (for the first time in five or more years), which was supported by the meeting. This will start to address the low level of voluntary contributions at Forrest Primary in comparison to other primary schools in the ACT.
ACTION: Sally to circulate the proposal to the school Board and seek its support.
ACTION: Chris to talk to Yarralumla and Hughes P&Cs, which have much better voluntary contribution support, to get ideas (for example, having a single form for parents to provide voluntary contributions and contributions to the tax-deductible library trust).
ACTION: Chris Pilgrim to work with Ros Burge, Exec team and Sally to get on top of overall contributions and costs (“no more than” figures) in the year as context for further discussion on this issue.
ACTION: Robyn to give Chris a copy of the letter used by Deakin High School to solicit voluntary contributions.
d. Any other businessopen
Lost Property – This remains an unsightly and time-consuming issue for the school and volunteers such as Karen Gardner, who keeps the lost property cupboard in order and returns labelled property as best she can. The discussion focussed on finding ways for the kids to care about their possessions and the tidiness of the school grounds.
ACTION: Chris to progress use of class tubs for students to use for placing their belongings rather than leaving them lying around in the playground.
ACTION: Kate to write letter to the SRC asking students take the lead in finding a solution to this problem.
Teachers’ Forum – Chris asked if the P&C was getting value from the Teachers’ Forum.All agreed that the Teachers’ Forums had been of high quality and very informative; however, its goal of attracting more parents to the P&C meetings had not been achieved. It had been worth trying and all who attended had enjoyed them, but it would probably be a more productive use of teachers’ time to havestand-alone parents’ evenings once a term (such as the Maths and literacy evenings held earlier this year).
ACTION: Chris to pass on to staff the P&C’s heartfelt thanks and appreciation for their efforts in delivering the Teachers’ Forum.
ACTION: Sally to draft a formal letter to thank teachers for their efforts with the teachers’ forum, for Robyn’s signature.
Learning Journey Day Duty of Care – As discussed at the last meeting, the school has a duty of care for students during the entire school day, including on Learning Journey day. This meant that students would be expected to stay in school, with learning activities programmed, for the full day. Despite this, one parent reported that a note sent home from a year 5 class indicated that students could leave with their parents. Chris clarified that this would only be possible if parents chose to sign out their child, just as any other school day, and she would reiterate this to staff.
Shelving in Junior Hall – Raelene thanked Karen Gardner for her tremendous efforts in helping to clear out and organise the Before and After School Care Office and Junior Hall cupboard onto the new shelving.
Forrest Primary School app on android devices – This issue would need to be deferred to Michael Jandric on his return in term 4.
ACTION: Yasmine to email Chris with details of the android app issues to be forwarded on to Michael Jandric.
- Thanks & ConclusionPresident
There being no further business, Robyn Calder closed the meeting at 9:35.
The next P&C meeting will be in Term 4, Week 4, on Wednesday 6November at 7:30pm