CARNOUSTIEHIGH SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL

NOVEMBER2013 MEETING

Minute of the Meeting held at 1900 hours on Wednesday 13 November2013, in the Conference Room, CarnoustieHigh School.

Present

Mr Alistair Crozier, Parent Member, Chair

Mr Kenny Lee, Parent Member, Vice Chair

Mrs Fiona Morgan, Parent Member, Treasurer

Mrs Anne Clark, Parent Member

Mrs Gwen Farquharson, Parent Member

Mrs Shona Geekie, Parent Member

Mrs Gail McBride, Parent Member

Mrs Amanda Robertson, Parent Member

Apologies

Mrs Kaye Banks, Parent Member

Mr Mike Butchart, Parent Member

Miss Jackie Clark, Parent Member

Ms Jackie Goodwin, Parent Member

Miss Angela Morton, Co-opted Staff Representative

Mrs Lesley Ritchie, Parent member

In Attendance

Mr Fraser Booth, Head Teacher, Adviser to Parent Council

Mr Malcolm Finlayson, Secretary

Mr Alistair Crozierin the Chair

057/13MINUTE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 10 SEPTEMBER 2013
The Minute of the Annual General Meeting held on 10 September 2013 was checked for accuracy, and would be submitted at the 2014 AGM for approval.
058/13MINUTES OF MEETINGS HELD ON 3 JUNE AND 10 SEPTEMBER 2013
The Minutes of the Meetings held on 3 June and 10 September were read and approved.
059/13ACTION POINTS UPDATE
Noted.
060/13CHS HEALTH AND WELL BEING POLICY
In response to a comment from Mrs A Robertson regarding the use of abbreviations, Mr F Booth advised that the Policy was for use by teaching colleagues who would understand such terminosity, rather than a parent audience. However, an appendix had been added which explained the abbreviations.The school had recently been re-accredited as being a HealthPromotingSchool and one of the features highlighted by the accreditation team was the revised policy.
061/13CARNOUSTIE ACHIEVERS
Mr K Lee reported upon a very successful initiative.
124 applicants had received awards, with approximately 500 people attending the awards ceremony, from which feedback was excellent.
Publicity would follow, and Mr F Booth had asked the achievers to present themselves with their certificates for a group photo to appear in the local Press subsequent to an article to be inserted by Mr K Lee.
Mr J Ramsay would be invited to future award ceremonies to take photographs.
Positive comment had been received from Mrs H Oswald, Provost of Angus, and members of the community council had also attended. Members of the Gala Committee had a previously organised commitment.
Mrs G McBride considered the occasion to be lengthy, with which Mrs A Robertson concurred, who noted that Barry House were called forward in a different order to the others. Responding, Mr F Booth considered that it would be difficult to shorten the actual ceremony owing to the logistics, but that consideration could be give to condensing the speeches. He reported on a remaining group of four pupils who had been unable to attend. These pupils will receive their certificates and badges during the next round of House Assemblies.
Speculation followed on whether some pupils would progress through the four levels, and the likely uptake in 2014. To this end, Mr F Booth had encouraged those who had not taken part in 2013 to consider participating next year.
Tentative arrangements were discussed, including the possibility of using a larger venue, adhering strictly to the timetable, along with the timing of the commencement of the process, all of which would be discussed in the course of forthcoming meetings. In this respect, “Carnoustie Achievers” would be regarded as a standing agenda item.
By letter, Mrs H Oswald had been thanked for her attendance, along with Mrs F Dalziel, who had arranged for the Guides to supply refreshments at short notice.
062/13PARENT COUNCIL TRAINING EVENTS
Details of training events organised locally by the SPTC In November, December and February, had been circulated to members, with Mr M Finlayson acting as recipient for expressions of interest.
Mrs S Geekie intended to participate, and would report at the next meeting.
063/13CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED
Receipt of the SPTC newsletter was noted, along with an offer of increased insurance cover.
Various blog notifications from the Education Department had been circulated.
064/13HEAD TEACHER REPORT
Mr F Booth tabled his Report, speculated that the school roll would stabilise between 750 and 760,and spoke of the necessity of using staff to cover for long term staff absences. The local authority intends to advertise for staff, both permanent and temporary, in March.
In response to a query raised by Mrs G McBride over study leave, Mr F Booth advised upon discussions being held by Head Teachers with the Director. An adjacent Authority had terminated study leave, but consensus would be reached by Head Teachers in Angus at a meeting to be held on 12 December 2013.
It was intended to publish the prelim S4 timetable in January 2014, with the S5 and 6 in February.
Mr F Booth reported upon 60 to 70% of pupils wearing uniform,and that he considered that more parents should claim the school clothing grant.
Mrs G Farquharson would draft a letter in support of the School Uniform Policy, to be distributed for parents, for consideration at the next meeting.
Mr F Booth would advise of the date of the School Improvement Planning Review Group meeting via Mr M Finlayson, and invite Parent Council involvement.
A suggestion by Mr F Booth that the Carnoustie Achievers photograph could be included in the forthcoming Carnoustie Chronicle was welcomed.
The publication would be distributed in pdf format to all on the e-mail distribution list, placed on the website, and be available in the library.
Progress would be reported upon at the next meeting.
065/13BANK ACCOUNT
Referring to item 034a/13 of the Minute of 3 June, Mr K Lee reported that the Clydesdale Bank required a letter from the school and the Parent Council Treasurer, Mrs F Morgan, advising that the account should be closed in order to release the outstanding balance to the school for which a levy of £30.00 would apply.
The members welcomed a suggestion from Mr F Booth that the charge could be avoided by the bank transferring the amount directly to the Parent Council account by BACS payment.
066/13SUPPLY OF I PADS
The school has purchased a number of iPads but due to externally imposed technology constraints it is not possible to use the iPads in classrooms. Mr Booth reported that he hoped the technology constraints would soon be removed thus allowing staff to use this new form of ‘tablet technology’ to support learning & teaching. Mr Booth hoped that next session it would be possible for pupils to use their own IT devices on the school’s wireless network.
It was noted that the Scottish Government had funded I Pads for use in Portobello, Edinburgh, which had proved of value, but necessitated the devices being recharged at home.
067/13 FIRE ALARM EVENT
Mr F Booth reported upon two false fire alarm events, where the school was evacuated within three minutes.
On one of the occasions it took 25 minutes for Tayside Fire and Rescue to arrive, and difficulty was experienced in locating the sensor which was in an unusual position, resulting in staff and pupils being obliged to wait outside the building for a protracted period.
068/13TEACHER OF DIFFERENT SUBJECTS
In response to a query raised by Mr K Lee, Mr F Booth confirmed that a teacher in the school was qualified and competent to teach both Mathematics and Geography.
069/13COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES OF SCHOOL CAPTAINS
It was noteworthy that the School House Captains had assisted with the marshalling arrangements of the Carnoustie Service of Remembrance, and that the two School Captains, Jenny Forteath, and Jack Mulholland, and had been invited to switch on the Christmas Lights.
070/13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be held in the Conference Room, CarnoustieHigh School, on Thursday 30 January 2014 at 1900 hours.
Malcolm J B Finlayson
CHSPC
19 December 2013 / ACTION
MF
KL
FB
MF
SG
GF
FB
FB
FB
KL/FM

1