Minutes from Previous Meetings

In attendance: Dugald Campbell, Mary Dodds, Julie Livingstone, Laura Millers, Gillian Rattray, Carol Rose, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Claire Waite, Suzanne Westwood, Morven Withers

Apologies: Paula Morrison, Linzi Low, Dave Pritchard, Gill Amatt, Jim Gemmell, Hamish Bell, John Flood, Jacky Moss and Moyra Murray

WELCOME
Julie Livingstone welcomed everyone to the meeting.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Gillian Rattray informed the Parent Council that as of 31/02/10 there is a balance of £1396.

SCHOOL GROUNDS
DC updated the group with regard to the work on new entrance to the school. Work has recommenced, and DC wished to acknowledge the efforts of Hamish Bell, who has been encouraging the progress. The boarding that was being used has now been removed as the grass was becoming spoilt. The new entrance gate has been formed and the tarring process is scheduled for the 29th of March to be completed by the end of the Easter break, weather permitting. There will be no extra cost to the council because of the delays. After completion, parents and pupils will be no longer able to use the ‘big’ gate and will enter and exit from Stormont Road. DC will liaise with PKC Roads Dept as to reconfiguring the markings and adding a barrier at the edge of the pavement.

TRANSPORT COSTS
JL informed the group that the school had requested £170 towards the P7 school trip to Glenshee. It was suggested that an annual donation of £500 towards school trips should be gifted to the School from the Parent Council at the beginning of November each year. Everyone felt this was a good idea. DC asked members if they felt they were paying too much for trips in general. All members felt parents were happy to contribute in order for their children to gain experiences they might not necessarily get.

CHAIR’S MEETING
JL attended the chair’s meeting which addressed budget cuts over the next four years. The council are striving to do their best to protect health and education. Ideally they are working towards introducing smaller class sizes, increasing nursery times and creating free breakfast/brunch clubs for P1-P3. The council may have to make at least 35 million pounds of savings over the next 4 years, which is likely to be felt from 2012 onwards. Due to this the most achievable aspiration which the council are working towards is to reduce class sizes to 18 in P1-P3. Any strong feelings about this can be passed on to JL which will then be voiced via the National Parent Forum. DC pointed out that the delay to ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ mentioned in the press is likely to refer to the presentation of the new exam system for S4-S6.

SCHOOL FAIR
Morven Withers updated on her correspondence for the school fair. The Fire Service has confirmed that they will be able to attend. The Territorial Army are proving difficult to get any firm commitment from. Stagecoach would be happy to replace the usual no 7 service with the Vintage bus.

Claire Waite updated the group on the celebration Tea Towels. Laura Millers had successfully gathered all the drawings from each pupil in the school. CW is now laying out both the Junior and Senior tea towel designs and altering the school logo to fit. The designs will be submitted at the end of the week and all being well the final tea towels will be with us at the beginning of May. 500 have been ordered. They will be sold at £3 each or £5 for 2.

Gym bags will be ordered with the school badge and including a space for names and class. Colours are still to be confirmed. Pupils could choose or we could assign certain colours to certain year groups. Let form is nearly complete and will be submitted to the council after confirming times and facilities with JL.

Dugald Campbell presented the group with some design options for the celebration mugs. The group made a selection and DC will order 500 mugs to be sold at £3.50 each or 2 for £6.

Suzanne Westwood gave an overview of the variety of stalls and activities scheduled for the event. She has held a meeting with the all the school run stallholders and everything is progressing well. Further parent volunteers would be welcomed.

AOB
Councillor Simpson disclosed that there is potential change to the no7 Bus route. Stagecoach is due to have a major review in the near future.

Permission has been granted for the building of flats behind Kinnears pub, which will prompt the opening of the crossing opposite the New Scone Church.

A crossing patrol person is likely to be installed in Angus Road (top end) in the first instance. Mapping of pupil residences on that side of the village is under way to strengthen the argument for a more permanent crossing.

MEETING CLOSED 8.20pm

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Hamish Bell, Dugald Campbell, Louise Cunningham, Mary Dodds, John Flood, Paul Fraser, Julie Livingstone, Laura Millers, Jacky Moss, Moyra Murray, Kate Ramsay, Gillian Rattray, Carol Rose, Dave Shackles, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Claire Waite and Suzanne Westwood.

Apologies: Linzi Low, Dave Pritchard, Gill Amatt, Avril Turner, Morven Withers, Rosie Vallance and Jim Gemmell.

WELCOME
Julie Livingstone welcomed everyone to the meeting.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Gillian Rattray informed the Parent Council that as of 31/01/10 there is a balance of just under £1400.00. A donation of £100 was given to the Boys Brigade in December, on behalf of the Parent Council, in memory of the Owen Family.

RDM 75 MEMENTOES /TEATOWELS
Claire Waite handed out information on the options for producing a school tea towel to celebrate the school’s 75th Anniversary this May. The tea towels would be sold to parents through the school, in order to raise funds and commemorate the occasion. Pupils would all do a small portrait that would appear on a tea towel. Dugald Campbell suggested that two tea towel designs were produced; one featuring the drawings of Nursery through to P3, and P4-P7 (approx 250 pupils per towel). Towels are approx £1.50 to buy and could be sold at £2.50. 500 would be ordered. The committee looked at a sample from the company and two from previous years.

Claire Waite passed over the paperwork to the school and will liaise with them before the end of February to obtain final decisions re: colour, design etc.

It was decided that further mementoes such as mugs, pencils and possibly other items would be decided upon and purchased by the Parent Council to sell at the School Open Day and Summer Fair. The committee and fundraising group will meet in the near future to finalise ideas and do costing. It was suggested that a photo mug with the school picture and some text would be a more contemporary design for the mug. CW agreed to look in to unit costs for production. Jacky Moss suggested that we use her business account for purchasing as she gets a discount with the company involved.

75th ANNIVERSARY SCHOOL OPEN DAY
Dugald Campbell shared information regarding the proposed Open Day on the 26th of May 2010. The school is to be opened to the public from 9.30am-12am and 2pm-3pm. Times will be confirmed nearer the event. The school will have a variety of displays and attractions to engage the public. The Parent Council will be represented to sell mementoes and programmes for the School Fair, and to serve tea and coffee. Information about the event can be found on the school website and will be communicated to parents and the wider public in the week’s prior to the day. Other things the school have organised to celebrate the 75th birthday include a P4-P7 concert, Whole School Photo (28th May kids/Staff), a meal for staff past and present with a ceilidh too.

SCHOOL FAIR
CW handed out a list of roles and responsibilities that had been allocated to various individuals at the last informal committee meeting for named individuals to check that they were happy with. There are still tasks that need to be adopted by helpers. John Flood enquired about school groups such as ‘Brass/String’ taking up a slot of time on one of the stages at the Open Day. DC agreed to pass on the invitation. DC will check insurance status for the event. JL and CW will liaise with the Health and Safety department of the council to update the generic risk assessments we have received and support us with any further risks to be assessed.

Suzanne Westwood informed the group that we have had 20 people volunteering to run school stalls and 13 small businesses looking for stalls with still more take up expected. Businesses have been asked to provide their own floats and wet weather precautions. 25 big tables are available from the school for stalls. Leaflets are to be distributed to private nurseries and the playgroup advertising the day. Carol Rose agreed to manage the Book stall with her P7 class.

The Committee and any others are welcome to attend the next School Fair Meeting at the beginning of March (date still TBC).

BUDGET CUTS - EIS MARCH
Carol Rose invited the committee and wider parent body to attend the Educational Institute of Scotland March against budget cuts in schools, on Saturday 6th of March, in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow. Transport will be laid on from Scone. The authority faces massive cuts in the next 4 years that will impact upon our children’s education. 18million pounds over the next four years cut from budgets will see a potential reduction in specialist and support staff. CR encouraged the group to encourage as many people to march as possible, with their children. Leaflets and Posters will go around the school in the next couple of weeks. If you require any further information please contact crose@robertdouglas.pkc.sch.uk

AOB

The Eco Committee’s ‘Book Swap’ was a huge success with 1400 books donated and funds raised for Haiti.

P6/7 Parents met with the Rector of the Academy, Andy Smith, to receive a presentation on the Curriculum for Excellence and the changing exam system. Parents of the same year groups have been invited on the 1st of March to Perth Academy to hear Sheena Devlin (Primary and Nursery Service Manager) and Lorraine Sanda ( National Parental Involvement Coordinator) talk about The Curriculum for Excellence.

Councillor Lewis Simpson updated the group on the Angus Road Crossing; it seems that the plans being passed to construct flats behind ‘Kinnears’ would necessitate the activation of the second crossing on the Angus Road.

Traffic/Pedestrian counts are ongoing. Several counts are taken to allow for bad weather.

John Flood asked about the progress being made constructing the new path on school grounds. DC had spoken with the authority; however no deadline or working schedule is currently available.

MEETING CLOSED 8.05pm

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Paula Morrison, Claire Waite, John Flood, Julie Livingstone, Dugald Campbell, Hamish Bell, Dave Shackles, Fiona Whittet, Moira Lumby, Morven Withers, Gillian Rattray, Mary Dodds, Councillor Lewis Simpson and Moyra Murray.

Apologies: Jim Gemmell, Rosie Vallance, Gill Amatt and Jacky Moss.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising – Note that 50 parents attended the Health Evening. Thanks were given to all those who had made the evening possible.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Gillian Rattray informed council that there is a balance of approximately £3000.00, including a £500 ‘Into Action’ grant for 09/10 from Scottish and Southern Energy.

EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S SERVICES
Julie Livingstone informed the group that she has a copy of the Education and Children’s Services Quality and Standards Report 2007/08 from the Council should anyone wish to read it but it is also available online at www.pkc.gov.uk

SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
Following quotes from three companies, members of staff, the Parent Council and a representative from Perth and Kinross Council, who is responsible for school grounds, selected the firm (ESP) to take forward the Trim Trail developments. Dugald Campbell presented the plans, including site maps and apparatus drawings to the group. Projected costs for the completion of the project are £21,000; this includes a 15% discount that was negotiated in order for the firm to promote their reputation in Scotland. The firm guarantees the maintenance of the equipment for a year, the wood used is guaranteed for 25 years. DC received positive references from other groups that had employed the company.

The school are holding a sponsored fun run for pupils, from Nursery to P7, on Friday 5th of June, in order to raise funds to contribute to the cost of the venture. DC urged the Parent Council to raise awareness and enthusiasm for the event. This is the first sponsored event that the school has held in the last 7 years. Parents will be invited to come and cheer on the young people and will be made aware of the event by Groupcall. It is hoped that the equipment could be installed as early as first term of the next academic session. Letters have been sent to a variety of sources including individuals, trusts, businesses and charities in order to raise funds for the playground.
Council Members suggested setting up a ‘Just Giving’ account so people could donate over the internet, advertising in the Perthshire Advertiser, approaching the Earl of Mansfield/racecourse and Stagecoach for donations.

FUNDRAISING PROPOSAL
Julie Livingstone announced that Jacky Moss and John Flood are proposing to take over the chair of the Fundraising subgroup.

WEBSITE
There was a discussion about the function of the website and communicating via website. A Discussion Board was suggested but DC pointed out the dangers of this and that a monitor would have to check this regularly. It was noted that although the meetings and minutes were updated regularly on the site not much had changed since inception. It was also agreed this was down to both a lack of communication between subgroups and also not much happening to report especially on fundraising front.

JL advised that we had paid £60 to maintain the site for another year. It was agreed that it was difficult to take further at this meeting as no one was present to represent the communications subgroup and they have the specialised knowledge of the website and what can and can’t be done. Dugald Campbell welcomed any feedback on the RDM website.

BALL COURT
Councillor Lewis Simpson told the members that the open evening for the Ball Court was well attended and received. The last bits of funding are being put in place and planning permission is to be applied for. They are still working towards the end of 2009 for completion of the project.

AOB
Scone Village Association Newspaper – Jacky Moss has agreed to become involved on behalf of PC with the production of the newspaper. The first two editions will be free to PH2 postcodes and will be available there after at a nominal price. A grant of £7500 has been secured from the Big Lottery fund towards making this happen.

Julie has ‘Making Partnership Work’ documentation available to council members and there will be a seminar in Hampden Stadium, Glasgow on Saturday June 13th 2009. Julie appealed for at least one member representing RDMSPC to attend. The Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop is the keynote speaker. There will also be a series of workshops regarding ‘Curriculum for Excellence’. A crèche will be available.

Dugald Campbell advised that as the next meeting is the AGM that this would be a good opportunity to evaluate the structure and performance of the Parent Council.

MEETING CLOSED 8.05

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Julie Livingstone, Claire Waite, John Flood, Dugald Campbell, Morven Withers, Suzanne Westwood, Carol Rose, Laura Millers, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Mary Dodds and David Findlay.

Apologies: Gillian Rattray, Moyra Murray, Rosie Vallance, Dave Pritchard, Avril Turner, Gill Ammatt, Tracy Scott, Jacky Moss and Jim Gemmell.

WELCOME
Julie Livingstone welcomed members.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising.

TREASURERS REPORT
In Gillian’s absence, Julie reported a balance of £842.54

STAFFING
DC reported that sadly the school are losing; Louise Thomson currently in Nursery has accepted a post at Kinross Primary School Pauline Smith currently teaching P4 has been seconded to Kinross Primary to take on the role of Deputy Head teacher. Aynsley Devlin continues with her secondment at Glendelvin Primary School Sean Curran will be leaving the Autistic Base.

Interviews for posts will be advertised shortly and will be covered by supply teachers in the short term.

SCHOOL GROUNDS
DC informed the group that excavations of the grounds to host the new entrance to the school are well underway. The job should take approximately 3 weeks and will provide the school with a second entrance off Stormont Road. The existing Nursery path and the new entrance will be furnished with a waiting area, for parents picking up their children, inside the school grounds. P1 & 2 will also be able to play in these areas at break/lunchtime. The topsoil that has been removed will be used in other parts of the grounds to create areas of interest. When the path has been constructed the Big Gate on Spoutswell Road will no longer be available to parents for dropping off and picking up children. All work is being funded by the authority.

ANGUS ROAD CROSSING
Councillor Simpson updated the group on progress re the new crossing. The council are planning to carry out further counts and are proposing to put in a school crossing patrol person further up the Angus Road nearer Highfield Road.

SCHOOL FAIR
JL proposed the date of 5th June 2010 for the Summer Fair. She had met with Margaret and Jim Nicol, who coordinate the Fair at Scone Old Church. They were able to give her lots of useful ideas and advice on running the Fair which she shared with the group.

They were also able to give the name of contacts as well as lending Bunting and staging. JL asked DC to what degree he anticipated the School Fair being run in partnership with school staff. DC said he and the staff would support the Fair however it should be largely led by the Parent Council.

DC has gained the support of the owners of ‘The Maltings’ in Perth who can provide Burger stalls for the day and raffle prizes for school events.

There was some discussion whether to charge an entrance fee for the event or a small amount for the programme. It was decided just to charge for the programme. The group brainstormed ideas for stalls and organisations might contribute to the fair. Ideas included Margaret Stewart Dancers, Fair City Singers, Boys Brigade, Majorettes, Samba Drumming, Pipe Bands, Police Dog Teams, Fire Service, Territorial Army, Beat the Goalie, Coconut Shy, Bash the Spud, Lucky Dip, Books, Cake and Candy, Toys, Gardening Stall, Inflatables and Ice Cream.

CW suggested producing tea towels, bags for life, mugs etc for sale to celebrate the school’s birthday. We looked at examples from previous years incorporating the portraits of the pupils. CW agreed to look into pricing and options for the next meeting. It was suggested that the timescale for the fair should be 1pm-4pm in order to provide plenty time to set up. The floats for stalls would be kept in the school safe. It was agreed that a list of proposed stalls would be put out to parents to opt into and make suggestions. They would then organise their own teams.

AOB
DC invited members of the group to attend a Parent Council get together at Viewlands primary school on Wednesday 28th at 7.30pm. Next meeting will include a small cooperative learning group activity!

MEETING CLOSED 8.15

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Paula Morrison, Claire Waite, John Flood, Julie Livingstone, Dugald Campbell, Jim Gemmell, Morven Withers, Gillian Rattray, Suzanne Westwood, Moyra Murray, Laura Millers, Mark and Tracy Scott

Apologies: Rosie Vallance, Avril Turner, Gill Amatt, Hamish Bell, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Jacky Moss, Paul Fraser, Kate Ramsay and Dave Pritchard

WELCOME
Julie Livingstone welcomed members.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising. TREASURER’S REPORT Gillian Rattray informed council that there is a balance of approximately £1,080 including a grant of £734.00 from Perth and Kinross Council to cover the running and administration costs of the Parent Council.

SCHOOL REPORT 2008/9
Dugald Campbell gave members a draft copy of the School’s Report for the last academic session and outlined the main elements within it. The Report highlights the successes of the school year and gives details of attainment and achievements, including successfully gaining the Eco School’s Green Flag and Health Promoting School status. It gives parents information on the implementation and future planning for the Curriculum for Excellence and statistics relating to 5-14 levels based on Primaries 3, 4, 6 and 7.

The outstanding sum of £11.249 was raised by pupil sponsorship in support of the Trim Trail Fun Run. 20% of Parents completed an audit on various aspects of school life of which 96.3% showed appreciation of all aspects covered, 99.3% in the school Nursery.

DC asked members to read and offer feedback on the draft by the end of the week for submission to the authority. The final draft will be received by parents at the end of September. Priorities outlined at the end of the Report for the next academic session are expanded upon in the school’s Quality Improvement Plan.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2009/10
DC gave the Parent Council ten copies of the Improvement Plan for consultation and briefly talked the group through the content. The document is made up of three main areas: Achievement, Leadership and Learning.

STAFFING
The school welcomes two new members of Staff this year, Miss Pettigrew and Miss McLean. Mrs Jolly has retired. Mrs Shanks has been granted a two year leave of absence and her post will be advertised in due course, in the interim Mrs Allan is in on supply. Mrs Thomson has moved from P1 to the Nursery and Mrs Ponder from Nursery to P1.

Early Childhood Practitioner time has been cut from 6.5 to 5 members of staff. The impact is being felt across the school with a third cut in both the autistic base and the mainstream school. The Nursery has to maintain its ECP levels in order to meet with pupil/teacher ratios.

DC is currently in communication with the authority in response to this.

FUNDRAISING
Julie Livingstone instigated a discussion about this year’s fundraising events suggesting the continuation of the Fancy Dress Disco in October, a beetle drive or bingo tea in February and a Summer Fayre in early June. It was suggested that there be a move to a more ‘party style’ event for the P1-3 disco as it was felt that the noise levels were a bit overwhelming for some children. John Flood offered to DJ at the events and was looking for equipment to borrow. Tracy and Mark Scott offered equipment. Julie and John agreed to organise the event and will hold a planning meeting in the next few weeks with all those who would like to be involved. The hall holds 150 pupils for this kind of event so more parent commitment would be required to lead the games. The P4-7 event would follow the usual format. The annual Fancy Dress Disco has been pencilled in for Saturday the 31st of October. CW to complete Let form and speak with Jock.

Julie expressed a desire to work in partnership with the school to organise and run the Summer Fayre in celebration of the school’s 75th birthday. It was agreed that the next Parent Council Meeting (26th Oct) would be used brainstorm ideas for the event and clarifying person/persons who will be coordinating /leading the various areas within the event. The meeting on the 7th Dec used for firming up ideas and commitments.

JL presented Jacky Moss’ idea to take forward the Spree books on behalf of the Parent Council as the school were not doing it this coming year. Jacky was unable to attend the meeting, it was agreed she could take this forward following discussion with the school re administration.

SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
DC announced that the Trim Trail is now paid for in full thanks to the pupil fun run sponsorship money and grants from 12 external sources including £6,000 from the Gannochy Trust. Full details of all who contributed can be gained from the school. Any further monies raised will be used to enhance other areas of the playground.

It looks as though the local council will give the go ahead for another entrance to be created onto Stormont Road, parallel to the small nursery gate. It will include a gathering area for parents within school grounds. The current nursery path will also be altered to include a gathering place. Following its construction the current main gate will no longer be used by parents and pupils during the school day.

AOB In the absence of Councillor Simpson JL informed the group that the Angus Road Crossing traffic count would take place in the next 3-4 weeks and that the Ball Court application was likely to be approved in the next couple of weeks. The Scone Village Association is offering taster sessions for adults on Thursday 24th September in the school to promote classes including Spanish, Bicycle Maintenance and Salsa Dancing to name a few. The first edition of the Scone Village Association newsletter will be made available to everyone in PH2 postcode and will be available for sale thereafter.

MEETING CLOSED 8.15

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Paula Morrison, Pauline Smith, Claire Waite, John Flood, Julie Livingstone, Dugald Campbell, Emma Hay, Hamish Bell, Craig Ramsay, Gillian Rattray, Mary Dodds and Morven Withers.

Apologies: Laura Millers, Linzi Low, Dave Pritchard, Gill Amatt, Jacky Moss, Moyra Murray, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Avril Turner, Dave Shackles, Paul Fraser, Carol Rose and Jim Gemmell

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising

TREASURER’S REPORT
Gillian Rattray informed council that as of 31/01/09 there is a balance of £2544.51.

MESSAGING PILOT
The School are taking part in a pilot for an administration system that allows the school to contact groups of parents via text message. There are six schools in the pilot, three will pilot the ‘Groupcall’ system as used at Perth Academy and three will trial ‘Seemis’. Texting will be used in the main to contact parents in the case of unexplained absence of their child/ren but may also be used to give information regarding school trips, events or to advise insufficient dinner money funds. Dugald Campbell asked the Parent Councils opinion about them contacting the police in the situation where a child is absent from school and the school has been unable to contact both parents and emergency contacts. The majority felt that this would be a necessary precaution in the case of a missing child.

NATIONAL CURRICULAR UPDATE
Dugald Campbell gave a presentation on the rationale and priorities focused on in the move forward with ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’. The Curriculum is aimed at developing courses that are designed for 3-18 year olds. Perth and Kinross Council’s progress so far is recognised and well regarded nationally. Final Outcomes are due to be published in May/June. The school have embraced many initiatives including good practice visits for staff and the evolution of the planning format to expand upon the ‘Four Capacities’ and ‘Assessment is for Learning’ techniques.

HEALTH WEEK
Members of the Curriculum Subgroup met to discuss the programme of events for ‘Health Week’ for the pupils and the ‘Health and Wellbeing Evening’ for parents. Pauline Smith outlined the wide range of contributors offering stalls or workshops and the exhibitions that will be put on in individual classrooms for the evening event. A programme for the this will be distributed to parents nearer the time. The Parent Council agreed to offer refreshments on the evening. Parental involvement would also be appreciated for the Friday afternoon (3/4/09) when pupils will be parading around Scone Park as a build up to celebrating the raising of the Eco Flag on the school grounds. A note will be issued to parents nearer the time to invite them along.

SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
Caledonia Play has sent in proposals and quotes for the work in the playground. PKC are in the process of assessing the suitability of the ground and looking into the finer details of health, safety and maintenance of equipment. Other possible sources of funding the equipment are also being investigated. All going well, the work will go out to tender later this term.

No.7 BUS
Julie Livingstone and Dugald Campbell met with Bill O’Driscoll (PKC Transport), a representative of PKC Road Safety unit, two representatives of Stagecoach and Cllr Lewis Simpson to address concerns about the safety of our children, as the buses travel both ways along Spoutswell Drive after 9am. They are investigating various options and will meet again in March. Also being looked into is the possibility of creating a separate exit out of the school onto Stormont Road and not use the main gate as an exit/entrance for pupils. It was noted that the double yellow lines have been renewed at the junction of Spoutswell Dr and Stormont Rd and have also been added at the corner further along Spoutswell Dr near Spoutswell Rd. Parents had stopped parking on the corner but it has been observed there are more now parking in front of the school, across drives/garages nearly nose to tail, particularly at home time. It was felt that it was time to promote parking at ‘The Wheel Inn’ again but advising that care is required when crossing the car park which is getting busier as more people are using both the recycling facilities and ‘The Wheel Inn’ itself.

AOB
Options were discussed for encouraging a person or group to take over the role of Fundraising chair.

MEETING CLOSED 8.10

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Rosie Vallance, Claire Waite, John Flood, Julie Livingstone, Dugald Campbell, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Hamish Bell, Jacky Moss, Paul Fraser, Carol Rose, Gillian Rattray, Moira Lumby, Craig Ramsay, Pauline Smith, Mary Dodds.

Apologies: Paula Morrison, Laura Millers, Linzi Low, Dave Pritchard, Gill Amatt, Moyra Murray, Jim Gemmell, Avril Turner and Morven Withers.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising

TREASURER’S REPORT
Gillian Rattray informed council that as of 30/10/08 there is a balance of £2541.43 which includes the profit from the Fancy Dress Disco held at the end of October and the ‘Into Action’ grant from Scottish and Southern Energy for £500.

SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
Dugald Campbell, Julie Livingstone, Laura Millers and Rosie Vallance met with a representative of Caledonia Play, on the 25th of November, in order to discuss possibilities for the ‘trim trail’ play equipment that the Parent Council and school are fundraising for. There were some good ideas suggested and a detailed plan/proposal/quote will be put together for us to work towards. There will be a variety of activities suiting all levels which will be phased in over the course of three years or earlier depending on finance. The key element will be budget, a minimum of £8,000 is proposed, £5,000 from school funds and an estimated £3,000 from fundraising by the Parent Council. Dugald Campbell wrote to the Gannochy Trust asking for a £20,000 grant towards the development of the playground. They have deferred making a decision until they know what the council’s view of the plans are and if they have any available monies to contribute, they would like to see detailed plans and competitive quotes for the work. Hamish Bell advised asking the Gannochy Trust for as much money as required for the whole development as we were likely to only have one chance of receiving a grant.

PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Feedback from the Health and Wellbeing audit which were given to a cross section of parents was extremely positive overall. The staff are engaged in analysing the responses and compiling a questionnaire to go out to a percentage of the student body in order to further identify any issues and put together action points to take forward. This is a rolling programme over four years where another cross section of the school population will be targeted next year to garner their responses to the same questions.

PROPOSED BALL PARK
Councillor Lewis Simpson informed us that the community had indicated their preferred position of the Ball Park within the Scone Park, which is next to the Skateboard ramp and Children’s Play Park.

ANGUS ROAD CROSSING
Councillor Lewis Simpson told members that no real progress has been made since the last RDMPC meeting in October. A transport count has been carried out but pedestrian count is yet to be completed.

NO.7 BUS
Following two serious incidents involving dangerous driving by the No7 Bus drivers, Julie Livingstone emailed Bill O’Driscoll (PKC Transport) to pass on concerns about the safety of our children, as the buses travel up and down Spoutswell Road during busy times at the school. It was proposed that we try to obtain as much evidence as possible, using mobile phones to photograph any incidents of concern, as well as lobbying Stagecoach to have a change of the bus route in order to avoid the ‘large gate’ all together. Another alternative may be to create a separate exit out of the school onto Stormont /Road and not use the Large gate as an exit/entrance for pupils.

RDM DEVELOPMENT WORK
Dugald Campbell introduced a power point presentation highlighting the wide variety of initiatives going on at the school over the past term. Pauline Smith gave members a brief update of curricular initiatives the school was undertaking. These include:
Cooperative Learning Academy
Motivated School
Health Promoting Schools
P7 Residential Trip
P7 Wiki Space and Keeping Myself Safe
Perth Academy Cluster Interschool Good Practice visits and stages work
Quality Improvement Planning
Planning for ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’

AOB
Pauline Smith indicated that the Curriculum Sub Group would be involved in the planning of the Health Evening and would meet mid-January.
Hamish Bell asked about the response to the ‘In the Know’ booklet developed for the P6/P7 last year. Pauline Smith said that all pupils had taken a booklet and they would be using it again this year.

MEETING CLOSED 8.10

Minutes taken by Claire Waite (Secretary)
Amended by Julie Livingstone (Chairperson)

In attendance: Gillian Rattray, Rosie Vallance, Paula Morrison, Claire Waite, John Flood, Dave Shackles, Mary Dodds, Julie Livingstone, Carol Rose, Dugald Campbell, Councillor Lewis Simpson, Kaehoa Cunningham, Lee Cunningham, Moira Lumby, Moyra Murray, Jim Gemmell and Pauline Smith

Apologies: Jacky Moss, Paul Fraser, Linzi Low, Avril Turner and Dave Pritchard

WELCOME
Chairperson Julie Livingstone welcomed everyone to the first Parent Council Meeting of this academic year.

REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING
No matters arising

TREASURER’S REPORT
Gillian Rattray (Treasurer) informed council that as of 13/08/08 the Budget for 08/09 had been received of £734, £500 towards the administration of the Parent Council and £234 towards a clerk’s fee, giving a total balance of £1463.18 in the bank account at the beginning of this session.

STRIKE ACTION
Dugald Campbell explained that the authority must be given seven days notice of any impending industrial action. The Council is looking at the impact of last week’s Unison members strike on the service.

SEEMIS
Dugald Campbell mentioned that the school is implementing a new management information system called ‘SEEMIS’. This system is used by most authorities in Scotland. Staff use this electronic system to take registration, record pupil levels, track absence etc….It is useful for transferring pupil information and curriculum data between schools. The school is presently uploading backdated tracking. All schools are working towards reporting to parents using this system. RDM has not been asked to pilot this scheme yet. SEEMIS allows the school to contact parents via email or text re a group-call system.

WORKS UPDATE
Dugald Campbell informed the group that a variety of maintenance work was carried out over the summer break including the replacement of the kitchen floor. Scaffolding is currently erected in the front of the building to allow workmen to fix the leaky roof. This should be completed within the next fortnight. Classrooms damaged by water leakage are to be decorated in the October holidays. He is continuing to campaign to get other maintenance issues seen to. Julie Livingstone suggested that perhaps the Parent Council could support this request by writing to the Education Department however Dugald Campbell welcomed this but thought we should wait for a council response on requests already made by the school.

STANDARDS AND QUALITY REPORT 07/08
Dugald Campbell would like feedback by Friday 29/08/08 on the Standards and Quality report handout for parents, which explains the progress made on last year’s Improvement Plan targets. Julie Livingstone suggested that where possible plain English should be used to make easier reading for parents. Dugald Campbell mentioned that statistics included in the booklet only include the mainstream school and not the autistic base. Published figures from the authority include the global school.

IMPROVEMENT PLAN 08/09
Dugald Campbell explained the purpose of the School’s Improvement Plan and discussed in detail parts relating to the Parent Council. Priorities such as Health and Wellbeing, Learning and Teaching and A Curriculum for Excellence all involve input from the Parent Council. Health Evening has been scheduled for the 1st of April and is to be arranged in conjunction with a Parent Council sub group. The ‘How Can I Help My Child in School’ handout for parents is to be revised. In light of Curriculum for Excellence development the school has decided to reduce class topic numbers from 6 to 4 in an aim to cover topics in more depth. The school has several whole school topics including ‘Journeys’. The ‘Health Week’ is scheduled for the 30th of March. Pupils will be involved in the planning. Parental audits relevant to the school’s improvement plan and school life in general will be carried out throughout the year.

FUNDRAISING
Julie Livingstone suggested that the Parent Council would like to identify early on exactly what we are fundraising for this session. Dugald Campbell indicated that staff favour low level play items for the playground. He would anticipate the cost to be several thousand pounds. It was agreed that a steering group would be put together including parents and teachers to identify exact costs and preferred items.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Dugald Campbell would like any dates for the diary to be passed on ASAP i.e. sub group meeting, as there is an implication for school lets. There are janitorial constraints this year with the school being open only on a Monday and Wednesday evenings for meetings and clubs.

PROPOSED BALL COURT
Councillor Lewis Simpson explained the history of the Balgarvie Ball Court debate. He proposes Scone Park as a location for the Ball Court and brought along plans for the Council to look over proposing three different locations within the park. He welcomed suggestions of an alternative location for the Ball Court reminding the group that school ground was not suitable due to funding issues.

ANGUS ROAD CROSSING
Councillor Lewis Simpson thanked the group for the emails he had received supporting an electronic crossing on Angus Road. Road Officers are to audit the traffic on the road and a reply is expected regarding the crossing within the next eight weeks. Police will also be present on Highfield Road monitoring traffic. The Angus Road crossing is in addition to the crossing to be situated in front of the New Scone Church when that section of the Balgarvie development is finished.

The group discussed other possible traffic calming measures for the area surrounding the school. Refuse collectors have been asked to avoid the school area during peak times. LS suggested that ‘Travel Planning’ funding may be available to the school.

AOB
Ceilidh planning underway.
School Spring Fair proposed

MEETING CLOSED 8.25

Introductions
Mr Campbell introduced the 2 staff members present – Mrs Whittet, Depute & Miss Rose, P5 and also welcomed Lewis Simpson,1 of 4 local councillors within the area. Mr Campbell further explained his capacity as Education Advisor and acted as Chair for this meeting only. Mrs Lumby agreed to take the minutes of this meeting.

Purposes of Parent Council
Mr Campbell summarised this as follows

• to support school in it’s work with pupils
• representative view of ALL parents – this could be a challenge for the council
• encourage links between school, pre-school, autistic base and wider community
• report back to the Parent Forum
• NOT to replace either the School Board or the PTA, this is a new body with elements of both.
  Comments were asked for, but none given

Appointment of Office Bearers
It had been decided in the initial set up meetings that there were to be no elections, but a commitment must be shown by those within the membership to the Parent Council and the Parent Forum.
It was assumed that those present at the first meeting wished to be on the Parent Council, but this did not exclude those unable to attend.

The group split into smaller groups to consider how to appoint office bearers, bearing in mind that both the Chair and Vice chair must be parents. The role of the Secretary would include putting together an agenda with the office bearers and Mr Campbell. The Treasurer would hold the cash box (from school board) and open a bank account for the Parent Council with 2 out of 4 signatures required for cheques, the signatories being any of the 4 office bearers.

The group looked for relevant experience within it, considered if any absentees might want a role and it was advised that a lap top could be made available for minute taking.

Mr Simpson commented at this point that it was important to stress that the Parent Council were looking for a couple of years commitment – not a “life sentence”. He also asked if there was a clerk required and if there was central funding available.

The result was that Mrs Moss and Mr Fraser would share Chair / Vice Chair; Mrs Livingston would use her banking experience to act as Treasurer and Mrs Turner would be happy to help with the secretarial duties with the assistance of a clerk for formal minutes and administrative support. Mrs Moss emphasized that this team of 4 were a part of the larger team comprising the Parent Council which in turn were a part of the Parent Forum, and the objective at all times was open, visible and accessible co-working both together and with the School.

Ways of Working
The role of the teaching staff is to act in an advisory capacity for legislation, educational matters and to comment on the practicality of actually doing things whilst considering the staff and schools capability. They were also to bring questions to the Parents Council for their thoughts and feedback. As a councillor Mr Simpson will be an authority for community based ideas.

The group then split again to discuss how Sub Groups would work, how to gather and distribute information to the entire parent forum; how it would prioritise and respond to documents from PKC and the Scottish Executive, how to deal with parents approaching council members directly and how to encourage more “value added” parental involvement within RDM.

The following subgroups were suggested;

• Fund Raising and events – with focus on fundraising with a purpose and to then spend monies raised quickly, so that parents involved immediately saw the benefits.
  
• Curricular (eg Health and Well Being, in line with School Plan)
  
• Communications
  
• Environmental/ Eco
  
• Sporting and other special interest groups

It was suggested that sub groups may be in existance for a limited time as it was felt counter-productive to have too many; and that it may well be possible for an exisiting group to deal with matters arising that were similar to their purpose without setting up another.

Mr Campbell informed the meeting that there is an amount of money donated to the school from the PTA, some of which had been used to cover costs of the invites to this meeting and this can be used to help get the Council started before generating its own funds. He also stated that PKC must provide a clerk with remuneration if required by the Parent Council and they will also provide expenses for training and costs of carrying out it’s functions.

The sub groups would meet outwith the main group and it would be the Chair and Vice Chair’s job to pull the several groups together.

It was decided to look at immediate requirements and find volunteers for particular tasks. It was suggested a survey be sent out to parents asking for interests and willingness to help, considering both their time and individual expertise available eg first aiders, football coach.

Concern was mooted that the size of the Parent Council might hamper the decision making process and therefore the role of the sub groups spokesperson who then reported back to the main group was vital, as they would make representation on behalf of the group, to the Parent Council.

Communications
Parents may raise issues at any time for discussion by the Parent Council, who would then look for recurrent themes via either the website or traditional mail to raise at meeting. A sub group may be required to sort and respond to such notices.

The school newsletter will now contain a section for the Parent Council with dates of meetings and a regular call for matters for agenda and points of view.

Parent Council members who are approached directly by other parents should refer to these methods of communication in the first instance – it was generally felt that verbal communication was not the best way of sharing information and there is already an Open Door policy throughout RDM for specific child-related issues.

Should a Council member be approached it was felt essential to remind parents that specific concerns should be addressed directly with the school but that the Parent Council is an Open Forum and that parents are most welcome to attend meetings to express their concerns and opinions.

It was also suggested that the Parent Council could nominate members who could be approached, but this was felt to be too restrictive.

The Pupil Council should be included in a 2 way reporting system, with perhaps nominated parents attending the occasional meeting; and views from the Pupil Council brought to the Parent Council via paper or teacher representative, to avoid the possibility of intimidating the children!

Value added parental and community involvement is an essential aim – the Parent Council will actively seek to keep the community involved within the school, drawing on their expertise and willingness to be involved – and to investigate how the pupils can benefit from the community and the community can benefit from the school.

In Conclusion
Mr Campbell thanked Mr and Mrs Moss for their work regarding the graphics and website, and for all those who were involved in the initial discussions prior to setting up the Parent Council. He gave examples of things discussed at Previous School Board meetings as items that the new Parent Council might be involved with:-

• Staff and Management issues – eg appointment of Head and DHT
  
• Expressive Arts and PE, Speech Therapy, Budgets
  
• Classroom organisation at start of new sessions

The Constitution of the Parent Council is for reference. The Local Authority’s comment on our draft was that we should state procedures of how to terminate a member who undermines the rest of the group - Mr Campbell suggested that this is added in when we review the constitution in a years time.

The Parent Council should become a member of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council before we have our first event as they provide us with insurance.

Dates of future meetings are as agenda, Minutes to be agreed, then a draft posted on website before approval at next meeting.

It was proposed to publicise names of those present as members of Parent Council on next newsletter and 3 sheets were distributed for volunteers for Fundraising, Curriculum and Communications to take us up to the Christmas break.