Prestonpans Infant School Parent Council AGM

Approved Minute

3rd September 2015

Present – Alison Cameron, Heather McBirnie, Ann Clark, Zoe Inglis, Katie McVitie, Leanne Campbell, Ashley Smith, Carrie McLean, Lynn Paton, Fiona Dryburgh, Laura Manson, Sarah Lusk, Gillian Neilson, Jill Brown, Lynsey Shepherd, Gareth Williamson, Andrew Stevenson, Nicola Dickson, Johanne Watson and Kirsten Thomson

Apologies – Holly Scott, Jennifer Welsh and Elaine Anderson

Minutes / Action By
Approval of Minutes
· Minutes of previous meeting were discussed and approved.
Election of Office Bearers
· Chair – Laura Manson – was nominated by Gillian Neilson and seconded by Fiona Dryburgh
· Vice Chair – Andrew Stevenson – was nominated by Lynn Paton and seconded by Gareth Williamson
· Treasurer – Gillian Neilson – was nominated by Jill Brown and seconded by Gareth Williamson
· Fundraising Officer – Fiona Dryburgh – was nominated by Gillian Neilson and seconded by Laura Manson
· Fundraising Officer – Gareth Williamson – was nominated by Jill Brown and seconded by Lynn Paton
Senior Management Team Report
· New Children – 132 P1 children started in August, who appear to be happy and settled. The nursery is settling in 84 new starts across the morning and afternoon groups. The school roll, including nursery children, is now 455.
· Staffing – The school welcomed 7 new staff to its team. In the nursery we have Sarah Lusk who joined as new Principal Teacher and Lesley Laydon as a 0.5 permanent teacher. Johanne Watson also joined as a Principal Teacher and is teaching P1/2. Douglas Fraser is an NQT in P1c. Harriet Bristow is job sharing in P1a with Ruth Bell. Gordon Richerby is teaching in P3b. Claire Aitchison is the new Dining Hall Supervisor. Mairi Robertson is due to start on 14th September as Business Support Assistant.
· Head Teacher – Sheila Laing will be off for the next 4 weeks as she continues to support her husband as he recovers from the illness he contracted during the Summer holidays. Alison Cameron and Heather McBirnie will continue to lead the school forward in the meantime.
· Dynamic Earth Golden Ticket – our school has been selected as a winning school for the Dynamic Earth Golden Ticket, as a result all classes in the school will receive free entry and travel to Dynamic Earth. More details will follow in due course.
· Vandalism – sadly the school continues to be vandalised on almost a nightly basis by groups of young youths. Continuous Police involvement has been sought along with support from PL to discourage this behaviour. The school will be asking parents/carers to report anything untoward to the Police.
· Outdoor Play – all P1-P3 children will be asked to wear/bring to school outdoor clothing – wellies and waterproofs, that they can wear in all weathers. It was suggested the school could have a waterproof / wellie amnesty for outdoor play.
· P3 Lines – for safety reasons, a walkway has been introduced, to ensure children are not being barged about by parents/carers who are exiting the playground. These arrangements will be reviewed as the school roll grows. P1e have already moved where they line up.
· Paper information – for children who have siblings in school, only one paper copy will be given to the oldest child to take home. For parents living apart, 2 copies will continue to be issued.
· Children’s success and achievements in school – the School Management Team agreed this needs looked at in more detail, to ensure children’s achievements both inside and outside school are being consistently measured in each class.
· Action for Children – will be based in Haddington and will offer a therapeutic counselling service to children who need it. Sue Kennelly who worked previously with Place2Be has been appointed a part-time position with the organisation. An action plan is currently underway on how best to take this service forward.
· Cauliflower Cards – this event was run last year by the Parent Council, and was a huge success. It was agreed to run this event again this year, but to include Nursery children as well. Fiona will email cauliflower cards for the correspondence and then arrange a get together to finalise the details.
· Yearly Calendar of Parent Council and School Events – the new fundraising group are going to get together to discuss and set dates for their fundraising meetings.
· Aviva Bike Ride – the UK’s biggest cycle race will pass through Prestonpans on 9th September 2015, and is open to P2 and P3’s only. The children will walk down from school at approximately 9.50am to see the cyclist’s race through Prestonpans High Street at approximately 10.15am. 3 parent helpers are required per class. The Management Team will ask for more parent helper’s to assist.
· Ceiling Charge for School Trips – it was discussed and agreed that a ceiling charge of £6.00 per child will be applied to school trips. The school will cover the costs incurred for any trip monies over and above the £6.00 per child. If a trip costs less than £6.00 then the lower amount will be charged. The Innerwick Residential trip will be going ahead this year but will be reviewed for next year. It was agreed that the Parent Council will subsidise the Innerwick Trip and also the blue reading bags.
· Charities to Support – it was agreed the school will support one local and one national charity. Lynn Paton will do a survey monkey to gather parent’s views on what local charities we could support e.g. Cuthill Park, Dad’s work. A Harvest assembly will be held in school in September with all donations going to the local Food Bank and Women’s Aid.
· Parental Involvement Survey - The survey was passed for comment and discussion.
AOB –A parent session on “how safe is your child on the internet” will be held on 29/9/15. This is open to all parents/carers. Email correspondence has been sent out to the parent body by school admin as instructed by Heather McBirnie, DHT.
East Lothian Area Partnership – The council are currently doing an audit on parking around all schools in East Lothian, gathering together statistics and information on what the main issues are. This is a top priority for Prestonpans Infant School. The key focus could be the introduction of a one way system or restricted driving time zones at school drop off and pick up times. More information to follow once project develops. Any suggestions or comments around how congestion may be eased in Prestonpans should be directed to Zoe Inglis.
Community Council – local groups in the community meet twice per year to discuss the local priority budget. Proposals for Community Council funding applications can now be made to support local projects. Applications can be submitted to Zoe Inglis.
Chimneys Demolition – this will take place at 12pm on 26th September 2015. Alison Cameron confirmed the school would be willing to issue any leaflets / paper information received for this event.
ELAPCM - Laura Manson will be attending the first meeting which will be held on 23rd September 2015 at the Eskrooms, Brunton Hall, Musselburgh.
Diary Dates – Parent Council meetings are set for 1/10/15, 12/11/15, 14/1/16, 11/2/16, 10/3/16, 14/4/16, 12/5/16, and 9/6/16. The Christmas Shopping night will be on 26/11/15, next year’s Summer Fair will take place on 21/5/16.
Treasurer’s Report
· Gillian confirmed as at 31 July 2015 there was £511.60 in the bank, however, a cheque for £500 which was given to the school was still to clear. £15.28 was received in. £402 still to come in for Jill’s sponsored run. £250 still to come in from Jill’s work.
Minute Taker – A Clark
Next Meeting – 1st October 2015 – PINS 6.30pm – 8.30pm