FinchPublic School

School Council Meeting

Meeting Minutes forTuesday October 26, 2010

Present:Carla Sterling, Jenny Jung, Jenny Ma, Richard Snider, Debbie Tomlinson, Allen Shen, Setareh Sleman, Melody Ke, William Quan, Jodie Yu, Rebecca Wong, Megan and CraigMcCrae, Siobhan Torrance

Principal:Ms. Sally Gustin

Teachers:Lara Schneider, Dimitra Tsolos

Regrets:Florence Lew

Meeting Commenced:7:08 pm

1. ChairJenny Ma

a.Welcome and Introductions

b.Treasurer report deferred to next month

c.Safe and Caring Schools Committee – requires a parent volunteer; anyone interested may join, meet during lunch

d.Eco Schools Committee – any parent is welcome to join, currently working on Green planting in the school yard

e.Minutes presented by Secretary, Jenny Jung;moved by Carla and 2ndby Debbie, Approved

2. Teachers’ ReportMs. Tsolos, Mme Schneider

  1. Ms. Tsolos: Green Ambassadors(GA) went on a nature walk that brought awareness to environmental issues with their litterless lunch. Parents are welcome to join the GA club. Our currently have Gold certification
  2. Cross Country (CC) meet run by Ms Sadcha and Ms Mok, Oct 7 then 14th, 2 students went to the finals on 21st ; CC is a mass participation venue as well as Track Field, all Gr 4 and 5 can try out
  3. Ontario Volleyball Assoc’n clinician was here last week (Oct 18) to teach the kids non-competitive volleyball – it was well received. It reinforced theteamplayconceptand skill that is new to some students
  4. Choir (Primary and Junior) are meeting 1X per week with Ms. Parker and others
  5. Sewing Club – Ms. Jouikova is running that once per week. They made lovely placemats.
  6. Friday Oct 29 – Penny Arcade Halloween tradition continues with Ms. Boyce (Ms Tsolos will join them this yr); the kids each develop a simple arcade game (gifted Gr 4/5) and present it to JK to Gr 5 students as part of a Halloween celebration with a class donation to Unicef
  7. Student teachers are here now – about 6 or 7;they come 1x week and are assigned a teacher with the goal of an extended in-class teaching period towards the end of their stay
  8. Ms Parker and Ms Schneider have “demonstration teaching” this year as mentors to new teachers who have less than 5 yrs of teaching experience, with a full debrief given to the new teachers
  9. School Improvement Plan –
  10. Literacy goals are set based on EQAO data and general feedback; Teachers evaluate the weakness; EQAO patterns are also being analyzed to help strategize for these goals

a)“Reading for Meaning” cross curricularly will be emphasized ;

b)Improvement in “Inferring” across the primary and Jr divisions – teachers will be meeting in early Nov to focus on those strategies/processes; more of a global look across the curriculum (whether it is math, social studies, in addition to Language) so kids maximize their opportunities to practice these skills; also through use of moderated marking

  1. Numeracy – very language based now, not only computational. Students need to ‘math think’ in order to represent ideas in pictures, numbers and words

a)Students deconstruct math in language with a problem solving focus

b)Ms Schneider mentioned that there is a lot of parental request for ‘drill’ work homework. We need the kids to understand the math “hows”, not only the drill  gallery walks are done to see others’ work to ‘talk’ math. It’s not only about the computation, but the ability to explain HOW one arrives at an answer using pictures, words or numbers

  1. Math workshop planned for Term 1 – share the pedagogy of the change in understanding math - teachers would like to talk about how math is different now – consider having this on the same night as Council’s next Pro Grant Workshop in Dec 8, 2010 (Getting Ready for Grade 1)
  2. Parent Workshop planned – Arts and Phys Ed Night with up to 10 different activities – end of Jan or early February 2011; School Council is invited to host a booth in the gym for this initiative for parents helping parents to encourage other families to share their experiences on Arts & Physical Education activities in/around the home
  1. Junior Arts afternoon – students recently rotated with their peers to have different teachers teach arts to them
  2. with the influx of Gr 4 students in the school (several from neighbouring feeder schools) they do not get a chance to all interact so this was a great chance for them intermingle with students and meet other teachers
  3. SISTERHOOD club is being started in the school – it’s the TDSB Director’s initiative
  4. the Club is designed for girls to come and be with teacher mentors
  5. Mrs. Abrahams, Bisong, Lamont and Tsolos will lead this club
  6. Gr 4 and 5 girls will be invited to join – this Thursday Oct 28 is registration
  7. it will foster and help buildself esteem, raise critical consciousness and more global awareness
  8. meetings will be held during lunch
  9. parents are welcome to join

3. Principal’s ReportSally Gustin

  1. Sally opened by thanking Council for all their ongoing efforts & initiatives
  2. The first Pro Grant Parent Workshop (Building Resiliency) was a great success
  3. Portable lab cabinet will be installed next week
  4. Net Book purchase presenting challenges re: inventory problems with several suppliers. We will reassess its viability/progress at the next meeting.
  5. School Budget was distributed by Ms. Gustin
  6. Much of the items are fixed costs
  7. $316 allocated and available to Council for general photocopying, etc.
  8. Scientists in the School (SIS) – one per class from school funds, Council provides funds for 2nd session
  9. Fundraising Plan – overview provided
  10. Wish List items for Council’s future consideration:
  11. 2 Prologue performances (approx $600 each)
  12. Wall Mounted projection screen forthe gym (approx $1000) – sourced already, installation of which will be covered by school budget.

4.Fundraising for 2010-2011Carla and Richard

  1. The Fundraising Plan was completed by Carla and handed out for discussion with minor adjustments. It is to be submitted by Oct 31, 2010 as per Ministry requirements
  2. LaMontange Catalogue all orders were to be in Oct 22 so that orders can be placed by Oct 26 in order to receive product in time for Christmas. This yearwe have 40% less participation compared to prior year.
  3. Discussion of how many fundraisers to run and which ones to run was raised, decision to be reserved for future meeting
  1. Other Matters
  2. Principal Profile draft completed by Jenny Jung, handed out for discussion with minor corrections. It will be submitted by October 31, 2010 deadline
  3. Next PRO Grant Parent Workshop – “Kids have Stress too” is on Nov 4; then “Getting Ready for Grade 1” workshop is on W. Dec 8, 2010
  4. Future Workshop Items – Parenting Gifted Kids, Welcome to Kindergarten(maybe),and one other – timing wise need to consider booking speakers. Pro Grant funds must be used by June 2011, $1000 was granted for this school year. Thank you to Florence Lew for securing the grant this year.
  5. Grade 5 Graduation Day trip – A committee of Gr 5 parents are interested in having a Gr 5 Grad day trip celebration for graduating students in Jun 2011. Jenny Jung led the discussion and presented 3 brochures from Seneca Outdoor Education Centre. The Centre provides Day Camp leadership and group skills activities to campers at their private 700 acre facility located just 30 minutes north of Toronto
  6. Various activities are available depending on the sign up interest. Water activities, while available, were ruled out for safety reasons.
  7. Final pricing is still to be determined, but the group hopes to have it within the $20 range per child for a full day at the Centre, returning by bus to Finch.
  8. Ms Gustin was concerned that this venue may set a precedent for future years. Carla commented that this is a value-added activity that will not only provide an opportunity for the students to experience a true outdoor day camp environment, but that it may be their first exposure to such activities given the wide cultural and demographic make-up that we have at our school. For this value, it is impossible to match.
  9. A preliminary number is needed in order to secure this day trip planned for Jun 2011. Ms. Gustin will send out a letter to all Gr 5 parents in order to guage interest and affordability. Fundraising for this by the Grade 5 parent committee will be considered to encourage and allow everyone who is interested in attending to go.
  10. Interest for this is expected to be finalized in the early New Year (or earlier) in order to lock-in our preferred date, rain or shine
  11. Staff Appreciation Lunch – ready to go for tomorrow – Thank you to all those who have offered food or services

Our next council meeting will be held on

TUESDAY November 23, 2010, 7pm in Staff Room

*****ALL ARE WELCOME*****

(Babysitting provided)

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm

ACTION PLAN

Item / WHAT WE NEED / RESPONSIBILITY OF: / DEADLINE
√ = done
√ / Principal Profile / Council/Jenny Jung / Oct 31
√ / Fundraising Initiative Plan – requirement for the Ministry / Carla & Richard / Oct 31
Safe and Caring Schools Committee - parent volunteer urgently required / any current
school parent / ASAP
Grade 5 Graduation Day celebration suggestions / Discussion open to all / ongoing
Arts and Phys Ed Workshop (Jan or Feb 2011) – get back to Mme Schneider re: our involvement if any / Council / TBD
Eco Schools Committee looking for parent volunteers / any current
school parent / ASAP
Pro Grant Workshops for 2011 to be determined – Parenting Gifted Kids selected for now / Council / TBD

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