Burwood Public School P&C Association
Minutes of the General Meeting
Wednesday 17 February 2010, School Library
Attendance: Paul Bates (Principal), Kim Bannerman (Deputy Principal), Fatma Akyol, Martin Bain, Mark Burfield (Chair), Sam Ko, Aung Ko Ko, Deepak Kumar, Rachel Millard,
Amanda Ng, Ming Yan Ng, Elizabeth Truong, Lai Fong Yiu, Amber Zaidi
Apologies: Debbie Cameron, Anita Goswami, Christiana Haddo, Lixia Song
The meeting commenced at 3:05pm.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
Minutes of the previous Meeting of 18th November 2009 were accepted as a true and accurate record.
Business Arising from Previous Minutes
Burwood School Festival
The Burwood School Festival on Friday 27 November last year ran well, though numbers and profits were down on the previous year. (It was very hot – gelato sold out by 5pm!).
This year the construction of the new hall and canteen will affect the space where the carnival rides usually go. The format of the Festival may need to differ. Paul and Kim have already discussed the idea of a multicultural festival, featuring food and performances from different cultures. Feedback is required by other committee members to be discussed at the next meeting with possible date of event.
Treat Day
The first Treat Day for 2010 will be held in conjunction to the P&C ‘Welcome’ Morning Tea tomorrow. Any volunteers will be most welcome to come and provide assistance. Sausages, chicken kebabs and vegetable patties will be available.
A second Treat Day for Term 1 was discussed, including the idea of running this in conjunction with a picnic for (new/kindergarten) parents, and Easter Hat Parade, possibly in the last week of Term. Another option is to have this Treat Day in conjunction with the Easter Giving (29/03/2010). The date for the next Treat Day is to be confirmed by next meeting.
Canteen
A Canteen Meeting will be held soon. The on-line survey for feedback on the canteen is currently closed. Martin Bain will provide results of the feedback.
New Hall and Canteen
The work required by Sydney Water is complete. The 100mm water main is capped.
The power authority is yet to remove the overhead power line.
Due to delays, the contractor (Hansen Yuncken) has advised that the project has gone over budget. To reduce the loss, no solar panel will be installed.
The space made available by demolition of the old hall and canteen will be use for future classrooms.
OC Class
Amanda has still not been successful in making an appointment with Paul to finalise the letter. She has sent Paul a copy of her draft for review. Paul has yet to review the letter. There are a few issues with the regional director. Paul does not feel the timing is right at this stage to gain approval for an OC class at Burwood.
Road Safety
The P&C Association has received a response from the Mayor to the petition forward to Burwood Council. The reply is that the need to install any new pedestrian crossings must meet the requirement set out by the RTA through a count of the traffic flow.
The Council have recently flagged their desire to create a bus and car-stopping zone on Railway Parade through eating into part of the current school ground on the northern boundary. There was great concern by the meeting about this idea.
The P&C is concerned to be involved in discussions with the Council regarding traffic issues around the school.
Interview Training
Paul will arrange for training of parents for school interview panels soon.
Development Across the Road
The Council will be demolishing the non-heritage part of their building to make way for the new council library and office space, etc.
Year 6 End of Year Function
The Year 6 End of Year dinner/disco took place at the Burwood RSL on Thursday 10 December. The function had a “Black and White” theme. P&C contributed about $600 towards the cake and decorations, and helped with the setting up. .Many thanks to the volunteers who assisted.
President’s Report:
Welcome Morning Tea
The P&C ‘Welcome’ Morning Tea will take place tomorrow in the school hall, prior to the Treat Day. Mark has arranged for Paul to speak about the new “My School” website during this gathering.
Air Conditioning
Concern has been expressed about the lack of air conditioning in some classrooms. Paul explained that there are only 5 classrooms that do not have air conditioning – all in the one (kindergarten) block, and he is currently negotiating to get some funding for this.
It was noted that the Department of Education are not obliged to provide air conditioning.
Easter Giving
As usual, the P&C Association will provide the morning tea for the elderly people attending the Easter Giving on 30 March.
Easter Fundraising
Mark is proposing to sell (from) the stock of show bags remaining after the School Festival as an Easter fundraiser.
Fundraising Meetings
Mark is proposing that there may be some Fundraising Meetings in the evening to suit of the committee members.
Secretary’s Report:
Nil
Treasurer’s Report:
The balance of accounts at 31/1/10 were:
General: $ 20523.06
Canteen: $ 48,748.78
Uniform Shop: $ 39,622.65
Financial records for 2009 are being prepared for audit prior to the AGM.
Principal’s Report:
(Refer to attached Report)
An electronic whiteboard has been installed in the music room. Shane Randal (the school’s music teacher) has been using this to good effect.
There were some questions regarding the school band and it’s music program, and how parents and students find out and get involved. Paul will ensure more written information is available for the parents.
Paul clarified that the school socks are navy, not white (as incorrectly stated in a notice to students late last year).
Paul also clarified that Burwood Public classes are not graded, and students are not graded within the classes, except to identify students that are gifted or conversely have specific learning difficulties (etc), in which cases, parents are notified. The school seeks to ensure all students fulfil their academic potential.
General Business:
Vehicles within school ground
Rachel raised again the issue of cars being parked within the school ground beyond the staff car park. This is a significant safety concern. Paul is still considering having removable bollards installed to prevent this from happening.
Fencing
Rachel raised a new issue regarding the school fencing and whether this can be upgraded once the Council has completed their work.
Parents Get Together
There was discussion with regards to having more social get togethers to provide better networking for parents. The suggestion of “grade functions” was discussed. Further discussion will be required at future meetings.
School Website
Amber made a suggestion regarding ways of utilising the school website for communications between parents. Unfortunately, there are privacy and policy issues to be considered. Paul will have further discussion with Amber as to what might be possible.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday 17 March 2010, Annual General Meeting at 3:00pm in the School Library, followed by the monthly General Meeting.
The meeting closed at 5:00pm