Chairs Report

St Andrew’s School, Inverurie AGM

Welcome

All members, introduction of other people present

Apologies

Gayle Taylor, Gavin Henry, Laura Henry, Elaine Anderson

Matters Arising

During the course of the year we have had 2 resignations by committee members- Melanie Davidson and Kelly Davies (Chair November 2016-March 2017). I would like to thank both ladies for the contributions that they have made in the school, and wish them well in their future endeavour

Chairs Report

Welcome to St Andrews School first Parent Council AGM.

The PC was set up in Nov 2016, and its objectives were

To work in partnership with the school to create a welcoming school, which is inclusive for all parents
To promote partnership between the school, its pupils and all its parents
To develop and engage in activities which support the education and welfare of the pupils
To identify and represent the views of parents on the education provided by the school and other matters affecting the education and welfare of the pupils
To participate in the appointment of Senior Staff within the School

It has been a busy year at St Andrews and the Parent Council has been involved in many projects.

Set up the basic workings of a Parent Council. Committee, Constitution, noticeboard
Appointment of Deputy Head Teachers Position. Gavin Henry and Joanne Jamieson represented the Parent Council and with the rest of the interview panel, appointed Vicky Ward as Deputy Head in March of this year.
Website. This was one of the first areas that we decided to address. The current website is terribly dated, and does not do our great school justice! As a result, Donna Johnstone and myself looked at best practices across other School Websites, and reworked the design and content of the website. All of the information has been submitted, and our “new look” site will hopefully be on-line very soon
Proposed Relocation of St Andrews School to Inverurie Community Campus. The Parent Council have attended numerous meetings regarding the proposed relocation and have looked in depth at the design & overall proposal. As a PC, we felt that it was important that the Parent Forum was informed as much as possible about the proposal, however, due to the logistics of our school. E.g families with children attending school from a wide geographical area, and lack of “school gate” talk, we found it difficult to gauge the general thoughts and feelings from parents. After the Consultancy period, we felt it was important to inform the wider Parent Forum on facts regarding the proposed move. We presented the plans and outlined all of the benefits and concerns regarding the Relocation and then asked Parents to circle a simple YES or No to the Proposed move. This was issued in a letter to all parents. Out of 89 potential votes, we got back 48. 11 people voted to move, and 37 people voted to remain. It is fair to say, that through this, we gauged that some parents were passionate about moving to the new Campus, and others were equally passionate about staying. However, as the majority expressed a need to stay on its current site, I presented our findings to the Education and Children’s Services (ECS) Committee on 14 June 2017 at Woodhill House in Aberdeen outlining specific concerns within the parent forum, and possibly alternatives to the relocation.

The relocation was given unanimous approval by the board of councillors with the proviso that there should be a Key Stakeholders group set up, consisting of parents and teaching staff. Myself and George Mitchel are the Parent representatives within this group. The PC are also on board with supporting the School and Council Representatives, to ensure that we create the BEST school available for our children.

Engaging and communicating with the Parent Forum going forward

With the relocation going ahead, it is important that the Parent Forum are well informed to developments. A facebook page has been set up solely for the purpose of relocation information. This is not an “information only” page, and parents can ask questions and give feedback. This page has been well received.

I would also like to thank Mrs Drummond for her open door policy to parents and her positive outlook on creating solutions for our childrens care and education within St Andrews school.

25/09/17

PRESENT

Gina Drummond, Jane Keenan, Joanne Jamieson, Gayle Taylor, Isla Laing, Donna Wilson

APOLOGIES

Gavin Henry, Laura Henry, Elaine Anderson, Donna Johnston, Ruth Cranston

WELCOME

Sharon Nicol, Katy Milne, George Mitchell, Iain Cameron

AGENDA

Website

Jane and Donna have worked really hard to get the website ready. It is all set to go.

Create links to twitter, website and any useful websites

Facebook

A new page has been created where parents can buy and sell pre-owned resources and equipment

Contact with Parents

A lot of parents don’t feel they know what the PC do or have done.

Look at possible ways to connect with parents and keep them up to date – emails, text, newsletter, facebook, twitter

Will discuss further at next meeting

Out of Hours Activities

Gina in process of setting up a booking system for the use of the swimming pool on Saturdays

After school ideas such as SPARK, Charlie House siblings group

Consider making a handbook to inform parents & new parents of the school

CALM/TACPAC Training

Parents have expressed an interest, may offer spare spaces to parents

Chairperson Report

(See Janes Report)

Head Teacher Report

(See Gina’s Report)

Treasurers Report

£263 currently in bank account

Laura to check re changing details

We will need an external auditor once PC starts spending money (Tina?)

Appointment of Committee Members & Posts

Welcome to permanent new members Sharon, Katy & George

Jane to remain as Chairperson (proposed by Joanne, seconded by Isla)

Joanne to remain as Vice Chairperson (proposed by Jane, seconded by Gayle)

Isla to remain as Secretary (proposed by Joanne, seconded by Jane)

AOCB

Look into how parents could help out in school, skills of parents – arty, musical, etc…

Next Meeting Monday 6^th November 2017