Dalkeith High School Parent Council

Tuesday 22 September 2015

Present: Allyson Dobson (AD), Caroline Pearson, Bill McQueen, Morag Ryan, Anne Murray, Julie Darling, Parbesh Khatri-Chetri, Amanda Mackay, Steven Mackay, Donna Lothian and Deborah Slater

Apologies: Steve Kelly, Marianne Flockhart, Jane Richardson, Stephanie Heasman, Jacqui Fitzpatrick and Anne Williams

Welcome: Chair welcomed everybody especially the four parents new to the PC

Approval of previous minutes and update: school prom provisional booking for Fri 17 June at Hilton Grosvenor, Haymarket.

Notification of AOCB: School musical

PTA: Update on stained glass: artist (Kate Henderson) currently coming into school every Tuesday to work on project with S2 pupils. Positive feedback from all.

PTA contact: an oversight of the AGM was to vote in a PTA contact. Jane Richardson is willing to stand again, she was nominated by Caroline Pearson and seconded by Deborah Slater.

Recruitment strategies for Parent Council /PTA:

·  text on day before each meeting (DS to liaise with school office). The cost will be met from the Parent Council budget

·  School to promote use of app and website so this will help Parent Council promotion too

·  Promote Parent Council at P7 open evening and at P7 induction evening

·  Take every opportunity to promote PC to current parents e.g. at evening in November to discuss senior phase curriculum (explained later in the minutes), Christmas concert evening, etc.

·  It was also suggested that we have a blurb on the website explaining what the Parent Council does along with photos of events, pupils working on the stained glass, etc.

·  Representatives from the Parent Council could attend P7 parents evenings to promote the DHS Parent Council before pupils made the transition

·  Explore the potential link between Parent Councils at our cluster primaries and our own Parent council.

PTA finances: It has now been agreed to leave all of the centenary fund-raising in the school account and pay for the stained glass project directly from there. The shortfall of £500 will be paid from the PTA account. The PTA fund-raising for the stained glass will be acknowledged. PTA need to fund-raise this year as the account will then be empty.

Developing the young workforce: Allyson Dobson (Head Teacher) presented information to the Parent Council on this important initiative by the Scottish Government to reduce youth unemployment and so contribute to a strong economy by developing employability skills. See documents attached.

In DHS this will involve departments bidding for money (budget of £7000 allocated to school) to develop vocational courses. Partnerships with local employers will also be key to the success of this. A second tranche of money will follow and it is recommended that this is used to promote STEM subjects.

AD made a request for parent representation on the strategic group working on developing the young workforce. Bill McQueen offered to join the group and this was gratefully accepted. This is an open invitation, there is not necessarily a limit on the number of parents who could join the group.

Senior phase curriculum S4 -S6 (see attachment) AD introduced the idea of a senior phase curriculum, that is an S4/ S5/S6 model so pupils are choosing from the same columns in each of these years. The extra flexibility allows for pupils who might be able to gain higher qualifications early whilst also giving the opportunity for some to develop leadership skills, do volunteering and work experience, all of which adds to university applications and employability. It also gives these opportunities to kids that are not encouraged to do activities outside of school. The school can play more to pupils strengths and aspirations. In the past some courses have not run because of a lack of numbers but these are more likely to fill with possible takers from three year groups instead of one. The new column options might also allow kids to do three sciences, arts or humanities over several years. AD is concerned about S4 attainment. This model could help address this issue with S4s studying six subjects instead of seven allowing more depth of study in those six subjects. It is possible that the seventh subject could be re-gained using the PE and PSE periods in the timetable. Currently there is a ceiling on attainment in S4 because of the column structure so this needs to be urgently addressed.

AD showed the Parent Council examples of course choices from other schools using this model. She pointed out that all schools receiving inspection reports of very good or excellent, had moved to an S4/S5/S6 model. AD suggested an evening in November when parents would be invited to the school to find out about the new qualifications and exam structure, developing the young workforce and to discuss the possible senior phase curriculum changes. The evening could involve breakout groups led by SLT and guidance teachers to facilitate discussion in smaller groups.

At this point the Midlothian Development Plan was brought up and the potential impact this could have on Dalkeith High if another high school is built at Shawfair. There was a brief discussion around this and the potential time-line for this happening. The conclusion was that this should not hold the school back from making changes now.

S6 issues: A parent (via email) had queried the timing of the S6 induction day last term due to a clash with the PE Higher. She also had a question about S5 work experience. AD was able to answer both questions and will communicate directly with the parent.

AOCB: School show: the Parent Council wanted to praise the school, on record, for last year's school show. The show was a great success, a very high standard and an excellent experience for all involved, those on-stage, back stage, front of house and catering. It was a huge team effort and a great credit to the staff and pupils involved. The show creates a buzz in the school from the moment the academic year starts right through to the end of the year. Long may the school show tradition continue in Dalkeith High. AD agreed and added that even more departments in the school would be involved in the show this year.

The meeting was closed.

Parent Council meeting dates 2015/2016:

10 November 2015

12 January 2016

23 February 2016

12 April 2016

17 May 2016