Minutes of Meeting: Parent Council
Date: Thursday 16 November 2017, 5.00pm – 6.30pm in A12
Present: Eddie Playfair, Beth Harris, Emma Wood, Miklos Sarosi, Kerry Boe, Md Mozibur Rahman, Taofik Olajobi,
Momodou Sanyang & Kasia Enahoro
Apologies: Anthony Johnson & Sheeba Vasudevan
Chair: Tracy Oko
Minutes: Jacqui Granby
Issue / Action / Staff Responsible / Time Scale /1. Welcome and introductions / · Introductions were made by the staff and members of the parent council
· Eddie welcomed the new Parent Council members and thanked the parents who were also members of the Parent Council last year for their valued and continuing contribution.
· Eddie spoke about the fact that this is a time of transition for young people as they move from school to college. Parents can help can help their children by finding a way to communicate with them in a more ‘grown up’ way especially regarding their college work
2. Sports Academy opportunities / · NewVIc invests heavily in opportunities for our students and the Senior Leadership Team are very supportive, although there have been significant funding cuts in recent years
· 30 minutes of physical activity each day is recommended as it significantly impacts on boosting memory, reducing stress and anxiety and aiding sleep
· Only students with 90% attendance and above can take part in competitive sports and all coursework must be up to date
· Newuvic programme was launched this year encouraging students with the aim of retaining participation
· Circus skills being started in the new year and a new skateboarding activity outside the college entrance is going well
· Swimming lessons taking place at Newham Leisure Centre
· To date there have been almost 800 students clocking up 6,000 attendances
3. Tutoring and Safeguarding / · The Parent Council took part in the safeguarding activity where the top 5 issues facing our students were selected by each member. How to do well in exams and how to make choices about their future were the two top answers
· The Tutorial programme key themes and values:
· There are 1:1 sessions and whole group tutorial each week
· Some member of the parent council said that their son/daughter often spoke with them regarding themes that are discussed during tutorials eg FGM, British Values, mental health and wellbeing.
· The parent council would like mental health to be more in-depth with self-confidence and careers included in the tutorial programme
· The parent council would like to be emailed with information on what is being covered as part of the tutorial programme and for the parents section of the website to also include this
4. Ofsted questionnaire for parents / · Tracy asked the parent council members to complete the Ofsted questionnaire for parents / TO
5. Parents evening feedback and 18 April 2018 parent forum event planning / Parents evening feedback:
· The parent council felt it went fairly smoothly, that picking up reports from the link was good and that tutors are very good at contacting parents when required
Parent council suggested the following for the Parent Forum event:
· Progression to universities, apprenticeships and how to encourage career conversations with their children
6. Any other business and suggestions for the next agenda: 18 January 2018 / · Suggestions for the next agenda included information on apprenticeships, feedback on the student issue exercise and information regarding how the college helps to encourage forming healthy relationships. The parent council would also like a tour of the new LRC and it was agreed that this would take place at 4.45pm before the next meeting commences
· A member of the parent council raised a concern regarding young people spending too much time on-line and the need to be encouraged to spend more time with the family
· Lyn Brown, MP for East Ham briefly visited the parent council meeting and the issue of littering was brought up, Lyn said she will find out if the council are doing any educational programmes regarding the littering issues