Alison Noble (AN)
Angela Christie (AC)
Lucy Gallagher (LG)
Claire Ford (CF)
Norman Brown (NB)
June Underwood (JU)
Jane Davidson (JD)
Guy Morgan (GM)
Bruce Cameron (BC)
Elke Vermessen (EV)
Alison Platts (AP)
Apologies:
David Cross
David Coombs
Tasneem Irshad
Michelle Wilson
Clem Friend
Sean Byrne
Welcome and introductions.
Members were welcomed to the first meeting of the Sciennes School Council for 2008/09.
Planning
The main topic of the meeting was planning the activities of the Council for the coming year. A number of different areas were discussed and it was decided that a number of last year’s activities should be carried forward including Clubs and Events and the Sick Kids group. On the latter GM reckoned that most of this year would be taken up with producing a feasibility study into what might be possible with the Sick Kids site. JD agreed to find out the latest position within NHS Lothian regarding the site and the move to the RIE.
One of last year’s areas of activity was around Health Promotion. After discussing this, it was felt that the School itself was well placed to take this forward through the Health Promoting School initiative, calling on parent volunteers as required.
A suggestion was made that, as the School is already an Eco School with a Green Flag and has an active eco group, one possible Council activity may be to look at whether it was possible to apply for a grant under the Climate Challenge Fund, and to develop a broader eco project.. NB agreed to distribute some links giving background on the Climate Challenge Fund.
http://www.infoscotland.com/ourfuture/61.html
http://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/ccf.asp
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/SustainableDevelopment/funding/ClimateChallengeFund/
http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/scot_ccfalliance.html
Communication was also discussed. It was felt that this could be further improved in various ways:
· Better distribution of minutes
· Small numbers of copies of minutes and other documents available at reception
· New school web site launched
· More parents signed up to receive information electronically
· Class lists
A number of actions were agreed including:
- AC to produce a class list template for use at the Parent Consultations (Note: class lists need to be owned by a parent rather than the School Council)
- Teachers to encourage parents to sign up for electronic communication at the Parent Consultation. NB will send a template to AC and AN for this purpose.
AN raised the issue of an audit of parental views which she would like to undertake during the year, and which she would look to the School Council to assist with, both in devising the questionnaire and in collecting the views of parents.
Election of Office Bearers
Volunteers were sought for the posts of Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary of the Council. The meeting agreed that NB would be Chair and AP Treasurer.
Last year there was no Vice Chair and there were no volunteers at the meeting. NB agreed to produce an overview of what the responsibilities of a Vice Chair were, to seek a volunteer.
The role of a Clerk was also discussed. This may be a paid role, and NB will confirm this with the City of Edinburgh Council, before a volunteer is sought through the Sciennes Flyer.
Headteacher’s Report
AN presented the Headteacher’s Report. Key points were:
Improvement Plan – key priorities are the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence and to continue to develop Assessment is for Learning.
Through the Comenius project the School is developing links with Poland, Turkey, Ireland and Belgium.
Attainment for 2008 was Reading – 94%, Writing – 89% and Maths – 94%.
Lucy Gallagher is acting DHT covering maternity leave.
The school office will try and maintain a blog at sciennesschoolbulletin.blogspot.com which will have the most up to date news and information.
Any other business
The issue of after school bookings and the school not being able to retain the income from these was discussed. This is an issue as this means the School incurs costs such as heating which it cannot recover. NB will write to the City Council.
School meals were discussed. The new system was seen to be very effective from a School perspective, both in reducing waste and also in ensuring a child has a well balanced meal.
Post the meeting, two members of the Council – Anna Skinner and David Cross – indicated that other pressures mean that they wish to step down. New volunteers will be sought through the Sciennes Flyer.
End of meeting.
