EAGLESHAM PRIMARY SCHOOLPARENT COUNCIL

Minutes of Annual General Meeting(AGM)

Monday 12th June2017

Attendees / Apologies
Deborah McVey (Chair) / Karen Blakely / Samantha Morton - Secretary
Simon Calvert (Vice Chair) / Jaclyn Andrews / Lydia Rissman
Gillian Frew (Head Teacher) / Hayley Boyle / Sharon Forrester
Alison Livingstone (Deputy Head Teacher) / Paul McAtear / Laurayn McInnes
Mrs Johnston-Smith (PT) / Di Mackessy - Treasurer
Annette Pickering / Liam MacLeod
Kate Skellington-Orr
Lorna MacDonald
Douglas Hashagen
Alan Smith

1. Welcome and Introductions

The Chair welcomed everyone to theAGM. No introductions were required.

2. Apologies

Apologies were noted.

3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting and Actions Remaining

The minutes were agreed.

Actions from the meeting or carried forward from the previous meeting:

Communication

Survey - Mrs Few

  • The school's survey is due to close tomorrow (13th) with the results to be shared with the PC shortly after. Further discussions are required by the PC, at this stage, to agree the most appropriate forms of communication to the wider parent forum.

Policy - Communication Sub-group

  • Create a social media policy, using best practice from other PCs in the cluster e.g St Cadoc's

Twitter - Mrs Johnston-Smith

  • Agreed to share the twitter logo with Alan Smith to take forward and set up the PC twitter feed.

Notice Board - Communication Sub-group

  • Explore the idea of having a notice board, similar to the one at Montgomery Hall, at the entrance to the school.

Story Teller - Liam MacLeod

  • Action carried forward from last meeting - Liam to provide an update at the next meeting.

De- fib - Karen Blakely

  • The PC need to decide on whether they want to proceed with purchasing a de-fib to be retained in the school (with no liability for the school). If agreed, a further decision on whether this should be funded by existing funds or a separate fundraising event held.

Funding suggestions - all

  • KSO raised a suggestion of buying Tom, crossing patroller, a retirement gift from the Parent Council. Agreed at the meeting.
  • Mrs Frew raised a general request to support wider reading strategies across the school e.g. reading groups, boys focus on reading, book week Scotland in November, World Book Day etc. To be explored in the new term.

4. Chairperson's Report

Parent Council Membership & Meetings

Once again I am pleased to report that the Parent Council has had another positive and productive year. Membership levelled at 23 this year, with a couple of new members joining during the year. We had a change of venue and time this year which has made it challenging for all members to make every meeting.

We have met seven times this year finishing with our 2017 AGM tonight. Thank you to all of the Parent Council members who attended these meetings throughout the year. Thanks also to Mrs Frew, Mrs Livingstone and other staff members for attending the meetings giving up their time on the Monday evenings to come along, this was very much appreciated and always added to the value of the meetings.

Where issues have been raised we have found these have been taken seriously and dealt with promptly by Mrs Frew and Mrs Livingstone, and other staff, and updates provided at further meetings where required. The Parent Council has also considered points raised by the head teacher and staff.

Looking Back at 2016/2017

It has been another busy year for the Parent Council with involvement in a variety of areas such as:

  • many parents and carers supported Careers week
  • members joined staff on sub-groups focussing on outdoor learning (Jaclyn & Lorna) and the school improvement plan (Sam, Lydia, Douglas & Kate)
  • supporting the school with financial requests in addition to the regular items we fund such as;
  • funding the Education City home licences for all pupils and an animation software licence
  • funding and provision of outdoor learning boxes including orienteering maps for each stage
  • funding of c20 new outdoor suits for the nursery
  • met the cost of new pupil of the week trophies
  • paid for the buses for the annual Christmas Theatre trip P1-7 and the nursery in house show
  • members took part in de-fib training provided by Karen Blakely, one of our members
  • members attended the Parent Council Chair Meetings (Simon and myself) and the Equalities Forum (Kate) and fed-back to the meetings as appropriate

Correspondence received and shared with the Parent Council during the year ranges from ERCs admission policy consultation material, SPTC supporting information, ERC's Main Issues Report, the Quality and Standards Report and the Local Improvement Plan and the Government's Governance Review.

Much of the efforts of the Parent Council are focussed on fundraising activity to support the school financially, however, being involved in these other areas ensures we are well informed to support the school and the children's experiences overall.

Fund Raising

A huge thank you to the Fundraising Sub-committee, led by Lydia. The team (Di, Katy, Karen and Kirsten) have had another great year raising funds for the school and ensuring the children have fun at all the events run.

Lydia/Karen will provide a more detailed update in their sub-committee report shortly.

I would just like to say (on behalf of the Parent Council) ‘Thank You’ to all the parents and carers for their help and contribution to our fundraising activities throughout the year. The financial support we provide to the school not only adds value to the educational experiences the children gain but also provides enjoyable and memorable social occasions and none of this would be possible without your continued support, which we very much appreciate!

Office Bearers

Also a vote of thanks to our Office Bearer's, for their contribution again this year; Simon (Vice Chair), Samantha (Minute Secretary) and Diane (Treasurer). The term for Chair and Treasurer roles have come to an end and nominations will be tabled a bit later in the meeting.

Looking ahead to 2017/18

The Parent Council plan for next year will be driven in large by the continued focus

on the school's improvement plan, working in partnership with the school. We should also keep up to date with Scottish Government's National Improvement Framework understanding how any changes such as Standardised Testing may impact our school and children.

I believe the focus next year should be on areas we have discussed this year but not quite implemented yet such as e.g. introducing story tellers as part of children's' learning, communication with the wider parent forum - including developing a social media policy - taking into account the survey results from the school's survey. In addition, looking at areas of spend to enhance the children's experiences.

Also, as in previous years, efforts to continue to maintain membership of the Parent Council, should also be made - ensuring each primary stage has representation and encourage new parent helpers (and or) fund raising sub-committee members to ensure the long term success of the Parent Council.

Closing

2016/2017 was another excellent school year with strong collaboration between the Parent Council, the staff, the parents and pupils of Eaglesham Primary and also the wider community. We are in the very fortunate position of having our school part of a great village community where there are strong links to the library and groups such as Toddler Groups, Scouts, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Boys Brigade.

In closing, I would like once again thank Mrs Frew, Mrs Livingstone, the teaching staff and to all of the parents, grandparents and carers who have been involved over the past year and helped ensure that the children had the best time possible at Eaglesham Primary.

5. Fundraising Subcommittee Report - by Lydia Rissman

Lydia was unable to join the meeting but submitted this report:

This is the Fundraising report for the year 2016/7. We have had a great and successful year and have enjoyed all the planning and organising.

Our first fundraising event was the sponsored bounce in October. This was a great success as always and we raised a huge amount of money. This is always our biggest fundraiser for the year and the kids love doing it!

At the end of October, we held the first of two discos of the school year, the Halloween disco. All the children had a ball and both the younger and the older discos were very very busy and the children made a huge effort with all their costumes.

The school calendars were a big success and sold out at the November parents’ evenings. We then took orders for more and sold the remainder at the Christmas Fayre.

The Christmas Fayre was held on Saturday 4th December. There was a fantastic turnout with everyone having a good time and as usual Santa’s Grotto and the raffle were the main attractions. We also had our own stand again this year and sold bits and bobs and this stall made a good profit.

Next was the spring disco, again a great turnout and all children really enjoyed the night.

Last Saturday was the Car Boot Sale and despite the weather, we still had around 20 cars turn up to sell their goods. Thank you to Mrs Frew, Mrs Livingstone and Kirsten and Hayley for coming to help make tea!

Before the end of term, the Parent Council will also be organising the inflatable obstacle course fun day on 19th June and finally the P7 leavers’ ceilidh on 22nd June. We look forward to seeing all the primary 7’s at the ceilidh as we say goodbye and good luck to the two classes.

We would like to thank all the parents and staff for their help and support during the year. Without everyone’s help, these events could not take place. This has been our second year on the fundraising committee and it has been a very enjoyable and successful year.

On that note, if there are any other volunteers that would like to join the committee then please let us know, there is a lot to organise but it is a very rewarding role to have.

To finish up, on behalf of Dianne Mackessy, Katy MacKinnon, Karen Blakely, Kirsten Moore and myself, we would all like to say a big thank you and look forward to next years fundraising.

6. Treasurer's Report - by Diane Mackessey

Diane was unable to make the meeting but submitted this year's account schedule. The closing balance is £8,537.06. A copy of the schedule will be issued alongside the minutes.

7. Future Meeting Dates

The following dates were proposed and agreed including making the 2nd October 2017 a daytime meeting as a trial to ensure access for all and i.e. parents who cannot make the evening meetings. If successful consideration will be given to holding more meetings during the day.

In the meantime, it was agreed to keep the start time at 6.30pm and the venue as Montgomery Hall. This will be reviewed during the term.

  • 28th Aug 2017
  • 2nd Oct 2017 - daytime, in the school
  • 13th Nov 2017
  • 22nd Jan 2018
  • 19th Mar 2018
  • 14th May 2018
  • 18th June 2018 AGM

8. Elections for Office Bearers

Nominations were tabled for the Chairperson and Treasurer roles. With Simon appointed into the Chair role Hayley was subsequently nominated for the Vice Chair role.

  • Simon Calvert was nominated as Chairperson, seconded by LM and KB.
  • Hayley Boyle was nominated as Vice Chair, seconded by KSO.
  • Kate Skellington-Orr was nominated as Treasurer, seconded by LM. Kate agreed to continue to be the PC representative on the Equalities Forum also.

9. Head Teacher Updates/Discussion Points

  • Funding suggestions - support for reading strategies going forward - to be discussed at the next meeting.
  • P7 residential venue - Mrs Frew proposed a change in venue to Lochgoilhead for next year's trip which would provide the same level of experience for the children at a cheaper cost. The PC were supportive of this.
  • Mrs Frew advised the parent consultation meetings will be brought forward in the academic year to early October and early March to ensure communication with parents is more timely during the year.

10. Vote of Thanks & Close the AGM

The Chair thanked attendees and wished everyone a great summer break before closing the AGM.

11. First Meeting of the new Term:

Monday 28th August 2017 at 6.30pm in Montgomery Hall.

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