A New Professional Association for Physical Education in Scotland

A new professional association for Physical Education in Scotland.

Note of meeting held at EuropaBuildingGlasgow

1 November 2012 @ 4.30 p.m.

Present: Charlie Raeburn; Karen McCubbin; John McFarlane; Elinor Steel; Karen Erskine; Will Kay; Colin Arthur; Martin Sangster; Barry Wilson; Gib McMillan; Alan Craw; John Millar; Stuart Forsyth; Donnie Macleod.

Apologies: Tommy Lennox; Olwen Fraser, Kevin Smith, Iain Stanger; Belinda Warnock; Greg Coburn; Alan Sturrock; Anne McEwan; Malcolm Changleng; Gillian Thomson; Mike Jess, Chris Wood; Suzanne Hargreaves; Theresa Campbell.

Matters arising: Martin Sangster had given his apologies for the previous meeting and this had not been noted in the account of the meeting.

1.1 The group talked around the draft constitution. We agreed that it provided a good starting point for a new association. Only one concern had been raised – in relation to clarifying the number of members that would provide a quorum (Colin Arthur). The group had secured a copy of the former SPEA constitution. It was thought that there were many aspects that could be usefully embedded into the constitution for the new association. Donnie would update and provide a working draft for the group for comment, prior to the next meeting when it would hopefully be ratified. The group decided to wait until the January meeting to finally agree the constitution.

2.1 There had been only one suggestion of a primary specialist - Karen McCubbin to join the group. All of the group agreed to try to identify earl years and primary practitioners who could usefully contribute in this way. Karen to take forward and provide some names.

3.1 Appointment of office bearers.The group restated it intention that in the interest of a strong association most of the roles should be taken up by practicing teachers. The group were pleased to confirm the following appointments.

• Martin Sangster proposed as General Treasurer by Donnie, seconded by Barry.
• Colin Arthur proposed as General Secretary by Donnie, seconded by Karen.
• Barry Wilson proposed as Senior Editor by Colin, seconded by John Millar.
• John McFarlane proposed as Subscription Secretary by Karen, seconded by Stuart.
• John Millar proposed as Web Manager by Elinor, seconded by Karen.
• Gib McMillan proposed as Assistant Secretary by Donnie, seconded by Martin.

The group decided that in the short term the roles of Senior Editor and On-Line editor would be combined with a view to separating the roles sometime in the future should the roles expand and become burdensome for the same person.

3.2 The group decided to delay the appointment of a President and Vice President until the January meeting. We discussed the best way of taking things forward and suggested that we needed national figures of prominence with necessary drive. Several suitable names were suggested. Stuart suggested that if the President was from the secondary sector we should look to appoint a VP from primary and vice versa to ensure all sectors were represented. That was agreed with wholeheartedly. The following actions were agreed by the group:

• All of the group to forward names of potential Presidents and VPs to Donnie by 14 November.
• Donnie to agree who would contact/approach each nominated individual to discuss their willingness to be put forward.
• Group to respond to Donnie with their confirmed names by end of November (30).
• Donnie to provide a confirmed list for the group to vote on their preference.
• Each member of the group to respond individually by email to Donnie by 7 December.
• Donnie to forward names of individuals to Stuart who will confirm with identified individuals whether or not they would be happy to take up the roles by end of December 2012.

We would look to appoint both the President and Vice President at the January meeting.

We discussed the role of the student representative and Will proposed a student focus group with all institutions represented with a nominee coming form that group.

4.1 Donnie shared with the group the positive news about both confirmed and likely sources of finance toget the association up and running.

5.1 The group discussed the possibilities around web site and web manager. The intention would be to have an area where materials could be placed for sharing perhaps with a community area and a kite marked area, but these would need to be quality assured. Gib urged for caution about the potential volume of material that could be generated particularly in relation to Wikis etc. The group agreed to give further thought to these aspects at future meetings .

6.1 Regional Representatives

Donnie already had interest expressed from a number of people for these roles and suggested that we all give further thought to potential names for all of the roles for the next meeting. Already confirmed – Ian Stanger – AberdeenCity; Kevin Smith and BelindaWarnockHighlands and Islands; Tommy Lennox – Ayrshire. The group clarified that executive committee members were not expected to act also as regional representatives..

7.1 The group discussed some quick wins for the new association such as - setting up a website – establishing a database of contacts - specific targeting of students for membership – planning a national conference/ workshop- advertisement/ article in TESS. We agreed that we would all give more thought to this and follow up with a clear strategic plan at our January meeting.

8.1 The next meeting would take place in January either the Wednesday 23rd or Thursday 24th at Falkirk Stadium with a 6.00 p.m. start. Karen to confirm the location with Gillian Thomson at Falkirk Trust and then to inform Donnie.

D. A. Macleod

2 November 2012

SATPE meeting.

Deans Community High School

Livingston

1800hrs

Present:

C.A. Arthur (General Secretary), Martin Sangster (General Treasurer), John McFarlane (Subscription Secretary), John Millar (Web Manager), Gib McMillan (Assistant Secretary), Tommy Lennox (RR- Ayrshire), Marion Barclay, Karen Erskine, Kier Geatrell, Karen Grossart, Andy Howat, Will Kay, Donnie Macleod, Karen McCubbin, L. McLean, Tam McMahon, Vicky Rice, Morag Simpson, Elinor Steel, Morag Young.

Apologies:

Barry Wilson (Senior Editor), Kevin Brown, Theresa Campbell, Greg Coburn, Alan Craw, Caroline Duncan, Stuart Forsyth, Olwen Fraser, Suzanne Hargreaves, Mike Jess, Anne McEwan, Jan McIntyre, Renee McNaughton, Kareen Niven, Charlie Raeburn, Iain Stanger, Alan Sturrock, Gillian Thomson, Chris Wood.

1. Welcome:

C.A. Arthur opened the meeting and welcomed all for attending. Introductions were made.

2. Minutes of Previous Meeting – 01-11-12

2.1The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted with the exception that Gib McMillan had been nominated as Assistant Secretary by Donnie Macleod and seconded by Martin Sangster. C.A. Arthur will amend as necessary.

3. Matters Arising

3.1Donnie Macleod has completed a draft of the constitution for discussion.

3.2The post of President and Vice-President had been investigated and would be discussed at an appropriate point in the meeting.

4. Constitution

4.1Donnie Macleod presented the re-worked draft constitution to the group, clarifying various issues such as membership categories and the setting of annual subscription fees. It was suggested that an additional membership category of “School Membership” should be included. As there had been little time to review the constitution prior to the meeting, any comments should be passed to the General Secretary, via email, by Friday, February the 1st. These would then be passed onto Donnie and the constitution would be agreed upon at the next meeting.

Donnie was thanked by all for the hard work that he had put into the constitution and in setting up SATPE.

5. Nomination, Election & Appointment of Office Bearers

5.1Donnie provided a brief re-cap of the process that had been used to elect a President and Vice-President, agreed upon by the group at the previous meeting. Nominees for the posts were: Willie White – HT Hillhead HS Glasgow; Tony McDaid – HT Calderglen HS South Lanarkshire; Colin Taylor HT – Newbattle HS Midlothian; Don Leadingham – Executive Director East Lothian; Tom Hardie – ex PT Beeslack HS Midlothian and SQA; Anne Duff – ex PT Shawlands Academy, Glasgow and SQA; Jennifer Menzies – DHT Royal HS Edinburgh; Michael Irving - DHT Craigmount HS Edinburgh; David Gardiner - PT Braidhurst HS, North Lanarkshire; Iain Stanger – PT Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen City; Greig Wilson – PT Duncanrigg South Lanarkshire; Alan Byrne - PT Stonelaw HS South Lanarkshire and David Halcrow –PT Bannockburn HS Stirling.

Iain Stanger and Tony McDaid had been elected, by ballot to be President and Vice President respectively. Iain had gratefully accepted the role and Tony was considering the offer. The appointment of Iain met with unanimous support.

5.2The following agreed to become Regional Representatives for the corresponding areas:

B. Grampion:Olwen Fraser – via email,

F. Central:Karen Grossart,

G. Lothian:Karen McCubbin,

J. Borders & E. Lothian:Marion Barclay,

K. N. Lanarkshire:Elinor Steel,

L. Renfrew:Tam McMahon,

Q. S. Lanarkshire:Karen Erskine,

R. Dumfries & Galloway:Kareen Niven – via email.

5.3The following offices are still vacant and Colin urged those present to consider taking up posts:

10. Advertising/ Sponsorship Manager

11. Conference Convener

12. Student representative and conference convener.

13. Regional Representatives:

C. Aberdeen,

D. Tayside,

E. Fife,

H. Edinburgh,

M. Dumbarton – Karen McCubbin to speak to Anthony Harkins regarding this role,

P. Glasgow – Terri McWaters at Belahouston Academy to be approached regarding this role.

6. SATPE Website:

6.1John Millar presented the work that he had carried out on creating the new website. A 2 year license has been taken out on the address . This site is not yet live, but can be accessed. Areas on the site are an introduction to SATPE, teaching resources, national events, jobs and membership.

The resources section is split into Early Years, 1st & 2nd Stage, 3rd & 4th Stage, Higher and Advanced Higher. It is envisioned that resources could be uploaded by members, quality assured and then put on the site. Martin Sangster raised the point that it would have to be a quick process of quality assurance in order to be workable.

National events could also be advertised, including conferences, workshops and sporting events all linked to both primary and secondary physical education.

The membership area included various categories as an example, but would have to correspond with those outlined in the constitution once ratified.

There is also a media stream to showcase recent content, along with links to TESS, Education Scotland, SQA, Sport Scotland, My Job Scotland, GLOW, Facebook and Twitter.

John McFarlane asked about the possibility of membership payment online. John Millar stated that there were two options for this in that one could be an express payment and the other being the Subscription Secretary, having interest logged with him, could send out the paperwork. All agreed that online payment would be more efficient and John Millar would look into setting up Paypal or an equivalent system.

Karen Erskine registered a slight concern regarding About SATPE which stated that “The object of the association is to further the development and teaching of Physical Educationacross Scotland, ensuring that all pupils experience a diverse range ofengaging sporting activities.” It was suggested that sporting activities was altered to physical activities. John Millar agreed that this would be changed.

John also pointed out that this was essentially a draft of the website and that once the Committee was established; descriptions and details would be changed as necessary.

John Millar was thanked by all assembled for the hard work that he had put into the site at such an early date.

7. Membership

7.1Donnie Macleod suggested that in order to generate interest, a nominal fee for membership could be set and a conference offered at a fraction of the full cost. He also proposed department or school memberships.

7.2Karen McCubbin suggested that there could be a primary PE specialists LEA membership as they were not localised in specific departments. This was countered by Donnie with an establishment membership for schools.

7.3Karen McCubbin pointed out that it was part of the role of Regional Representatives to develop capacity within their region. This view was supported by many, with suggestions such as passing on the website details to colleagues; using Facebook; and smaller social events, with speakers all being used to generate interest in membership.

7.4Tommy Lennox also highlighted that cashing in on Iain Stanger’s status by using his image on the website would be a good way of promoting SATPE. Also, since Iain and Gib McMillan would be presenting at the Raising the Bar workshops, they could promote the association in that way. C.A. Arthur will contact Iain and ask for permission to use his image and contact Suzanne Hargreaves to ask if she would highlight SATPE during these events.

8. Conference

8.1Donnie Macleod suggested that a conference be organised for around June or in the autumn. Karen Erskine and others who felt that there were many school pressures around June which may turn off practitioners. An alternate time of autumn was agreed upon.

8.2As no-one has as yet taken on the office of Conference Convenor, a small group was set up consisting of C.A. Arthur, Karen Erskine, Will Kay, Vicky Rice and Kier Geatrell. These members would discuss conference issues via email before the next meeting.

8.3Will Kay suggested that the University of Stirling could be used as a venue and would enquire into cost. One of the new schools was suggested as an alternate venue.

8.4Donnie Macleod suggested that as this event would be in the autumn, it should be linked to the AGM. All agreed on this point.

9. Finance

9.1Donnie Macleod reported on the financial situation. The Scottish Government had pledged support for physical education in the form of £3.4 million. £10, 000 of this would be reserved for a professional association, should we be able to effectively set one up, with possible additional funds before the end of next year. There was also up to £15, 000 of SPEA funds available, should we be successful in setting up a viable association.

9.2John McFarlane stated that he had investigated setting up a bank account and that minutes of meetings and a constitution needed to be presented before such an account could be opened. He also felt that several signatories would be needed due to the regional diversity of the office bearers. Martin Sangster also felt that a single account would be beneficial in the initial stages.

9.3Martin Sangster and John McFarlane would set up a bank account by the next meeting. This was proposed by Karen McCubbin and seconded by C.A. Arthur.

10. Student event

10.1In the absence of any students, it was suggested by Will Kay that it would be beneficial for students from different universities to meet to generate interest from the student body. A student sub-committee could be set up.

10.2Donnie Macleod suggested that primary students and teachers could be added as a membership category.

11. First online journal

11.1In the absence of the Senior Editor, it was suggested that the journal could initially be published twice annually. All agreed that this was sufficient to begin with.

11.2Contributions should be made by all of the profession, but primarily by working teachers in schools. Suggestions included book reviews, reports on work carried out, articles from well-known teachers.

11.3Everyone was to think of any possible contributions for the next meeting.

12. AOCB

12.1The date of the next meeting was set as Thursday, 7th of March at 1800hrs in Deans Community High School. Karen McCubbin to organise the venue.

12.2The following meeting will take place after the SGPE Marker’s Meeting on Monday, 13th of May.

C.A. Arthur

26th of January, 2013.

Annual General Meeting

University of Stirling

1000

Present: Iain Stanger (P), Tony McDade (VP), C.A. Arthur (GS), Martin Sangster (GT), Barry Wilson (SE), John Millar (WM), Karen McCubbin (ASM), Elinor Steel, Karen Erskine, Roddy McPherson, Morag Simpson, Frank Levey, Chris Wood, Theresa Campbell.

Apologies:Gib McMillan (AS), Annette Alexander, Marion Barclay, Greg Coburn, Alan Craw, Caroline Duncan, Stuart Forsyth, Olwen Fraser, David Gardiner, Gary Giles, Karen Grossart, Carol Hawman, Andy Howat, Russell Imrie,Mike Jess, Will Kay, Bryan Kelly, Janette Leach, Tommy Lennox, Darren Leslie, Donnie Macleod, Linda McLean, Jen McWilliam, Gordon Menzies, Kareen Niven, Stephen Reid, Allan Thomson, Andrew Wilson, Morag Young.

1. Welcome & Introductions

Iain Stanger welcomed everyone to the meeting, thanked them for attending and introduced the executive members.

1. President’s Report

President gave a brief resume of the development of SATPE over the course of the past year, from its’ inception by Donnie Macleod in September/October 2012. This became an amalgamation of two groups of people working to develop an association.

Donnie Macleod put together a draft constitution in November 2012 and organised a meeting to constitute the association. Many thanks were given to Donnie Macleod.

Iain apologised for his lack of attendance at meetings due primarily to weather conditions in Scotland.

Iain thanked the Executive Members for their hard work so far and highlighted many areas that have been developed.

Funding opportunities sought in March as well as membership fees sought.

Constitution accepted in March with regional alterations. Website was also made live.

May saw the raising of the profile through the printing of flyers and posters that have been distributed at local and national events.

TESS article also in May, thanks to Elinor Steel and Karen Erskine for arranging that. This should be followed up soon.

Thanks to Education Scotland (ES) for giving start-up funding of £10,000 – vote of thanks to them.

Conference committee organised in June, along with outline of conference. Thanks to Karen Erskine for organising of this.

Presenters and venue organised for conference. Iain outlined who would be presenting. The exact running order of the conference has yet to be decided and will be done in the next few weeks. Iain has tried to get Chris Paterson to be Keynote speaker – he has declined, but Iain will try to get another high focus personality to promote PE.