Bridge of Allan Primary School
F.A.S.T. General Meeting Minutes
Friday 20 November 2015
Present: Lina Horsburgh, Julie Russell,Jo Allan, Jane Corbett, Paula Douglas, Victoria Buchanan, Lee Deane, Kathleen Clark, Lynne Paterson, Ewan McQueen, Rachel Blackburn, Maura Imrie, S Beaton, Christina McMillan
Apologies:Emma Beveridge, Yvonne Huntly
- Jane welcomed everyone to the meeting.
- Minutes and actions from previous meeting were agreed.
- 50th Anniversary Celebrations
The school will be looking for help from parents and staff to help with the celebratory events.
Action: Jane is meeting the Events Group on Friday 4 December to discuss plans for the events and merchandise for 50th year.
- Fundraising
The calendar photo days went well. Orders are good, so far £738 in orders and £500 in sponsorship received.
Christina showed the group the calendar proof, all agreed on the changes required.
Discussion was had on how many to order from the printers and where else to sell.
Action: Christina to feedback changes to printer.
Action: Paula and Yvonne to order 500 calendars.
Action: FAST to buy each class a calendar.
Action: Calendars to be given to each sponsor, sold at Xmas Fair and Church Service. All orders to be in by 30 November.
Halloween disco was a success with over £270 raised. Good feedback was given on the light and introduction of games at the junior disco, with a few lessons learned on the games! Paula said they were open to using other more helpful DJs.
Action: Speak to Willie Cameron about DJing and games at next disco.
Sparkle Night was a great success as a social night and a Fundraiser with approx. £400 raised. Again good feedback was received about the night and it was agreed it is a good event to grow next year. Cornton PS held a similar event the night before. Discussion was had regarding the insurance received.
Action: Lynne to speak to Becky Robertson at Cornton to find out how they raised more.
Action: Third party insurance to be arranged to cover stall holders etc.
Xmas Fair is on 5 December. Games and internal stalls only. Raffle is going to the printers to be given out in school bags Wednesday 24 November, with the brown bags. Discussion held about what each class is doing to support the Fair and food stalls.
Action: School to send email to parents to let all know about raffle and brown bags.
Action: Julie to ask each class what they’re planning for stalls.
Action: Jane to approach Rafa about pancake stall. If not possible then school will do hot dogs.
Action: Julie to check on let of hall and crockery.
- FAST Expenditure
It was agreed FAST money this year will be used to create a pot for IT improvements in then school. Wifi has been installed but is not working yet. Lina is working with council on a way forward for IT that is suitable to both parties.
- Grounds
The grounds day went well. Thanks to all who helped out working really hard:
- All benches repaired and most of them painted.
- Rails and wooden door panels painted at front entrances.
- Bulbs planted in all planters.
- General weed and sweep up.
- Posts removed from P1/2 play equipment.
- Broken rope removed from play equipment, a replacement needs sourced.
- Boards added to back of FAST cabin as holes appearing. Looking to board this over completely.
- Approximately £180 was spent on paint, wood, bulbs and compost.
- Unfortunately there was very little response to appeal for donations for compost and bulbs.
Lyne has made contact with Mike Elderton at Prudential who has offered to help. Lynne and Emma to arrange with him in New Year. Discussion was had about the Wildlife Garden, playground painting and offer from Russell Tod to visit schools he has worked with.
Action: Decision on Prudential project and any major works to Grounds is pending decision on MUGA and Council Options Appraisal on Nursery.
Action: Another Grounds Day will be held in Spring before the Golden Day.
- MUGA
We are still waiting on planning permission for the MUGA. This is dependent on a further flooding report on the greenfield run off. Julie continues to speak with the council and the preferred contractor to push for progress.
- Mile a Day
Feedback from parents was given that the Mile a Day is fantastic but there are concerns over footwear, particularly since the bad weather has hit. Lina confirmed there is no one rule regarding wearing of wellies for the Mile a Day. This is because the age and stage of each class is different. The activity encourages children to assess the risk involved and choose an appropriate route. It was acknowledged the surface of the trim trail is deteriorating in places. Its repair needs costed and could be a possible project for Prudential.
- Communications
A discussion was had on the use of the FAST FB page and whether we should have guidelines about what types of posts are appropriate and whether it would be better as a noticeboard. One possible improvement would be to narrow the audience for some posts by having dedicated groups for each grade.
Action: Lee is attending the forthcoming Council Communications meeting and will seek guidance on the use of Administrators on the FAST Facebook page.
Action: Lee is taking on the vetting of new requests to join the FB page.
Action: Lee is planning a parent survey and will ask for parents’ views on having a FB page for each year.
Action: Lee still to meet with JMT Communications Group.
DOJO
Lina confirmed use of DOJO is currently down to teacher’s choice. Those teachers who do use it think it works well, feedback from parents is similar. Lina said the school will work towards all teachers using DOJO by August 2016. This may be basic use in some cases, guidelines will need to be put in place and training given.
- Health and Safety
P1 and P2 poles have been taken down in quiet area.
Discussion held around child protection and the recruitment of parent volunteers at FAST events.
Action: Victoria to draft a Child Protection Guideline for FAST.
Action: Lee to ask about similar guidelines at the Council Communications meeting.
- Finance
Ewan informed the group that he is now authorised to sign cheques. The committee agreed to authorise Victoria and Lynne to become signatories on the account too. Further consideration on a staff member becoming a signatory is ongoing.
Action: Ewan will email up to date Finance report once prepared.
Action: Ewan to update insurance to include third party for stall holders.
Action: Ewan to check with Yvonne if float included in Sparkle Night monies.
- AOB
Julie encouraged all parents to attend emergency life support training on 30 November.
The pupils raised over £1000 for Children in Need. Victoria to arrange a speaker from CHAS to speak to the school about the support CHAS gets from Children in Need.
Congratulations to the Primary Twos who donated 60 toys to Cash for Kids ‘Mission Christmas’ appeal.
Mr Craven is leading on the Rights Respecting School initiative and possibly taking forward support for Refugee crisis.
Reassurance was given that all pupils would be involved in and benefit from the 50th Show. This will be a special event to mark the anniversary. The break in the annual Nativity production would be used to look at the Nativity and think about how it could be improved.
- Date of next meeting:
F.A.S.T General 14 January 2016, 7pm