Markyate Village School & Nursery
Parent Council Meeting Minutes 03.12.15
In attendance: Bridget Manton, Julie Doran, Vicki Hunt, Gill Lilley, Sam Angel, Emma Johnson, Sally Esom.
Apologies: Zoe Chapman
Issues brought forward from previous meeting:
“How do you feel Friday?”
How often will this take place and how does it work?
Once a month on a Friday morning between the lower playgrounds; questions will be based on the 12 Ofsted statements; these will be for parents only as children are taking part during school assemblies; parents will vote on the statements on a scale of 1-5 (from strongly disagree to strongly agree) for each child attending the school.
Bridget happy to do the first Friday; Parent Council to facilitate on rota/availability basis. School to provide large board for the question.
Children In Need:
Some disappointment regarding lack of activities/involvement (numerous year groups).
Suggestions: have something more specific for CIN next year that perhaps doesn't involve non uniform (as non uniform days can be disruptive for the children and not productive for learning, especially as CIN is just before assessment week).
e.g. sponsored walk, silly socks, cake sale, etc.
It is worth noting that the bucket collection at the gate was very successful and raised as much money as we would normally make on a non-uniform day.
We will be participating in ‘National Christmas Jumper Day’on 18th Dec, where children will be invited to wear own clothes/Christmas jumpers.
Parking Issues–Village Hall Passing Bay & Drop Curb Opposite School Gates:
(To go into newsletter)
Again may we please remind you to NOT park in the passing bay or over the dropped curb. Parent Council work with the school to continually fight very hard to make all our journeys safer. If parents park in the passing bay at the village hall it can create a bottleneck of traffic out on to Cavendish Road, putting the pedestrians and those who have parked/walked safely in unnecessary danger.
Please also remember some of our older students are beginning to take on new responsibility by walking to school independently –please help them by making their journeys as safe as possible.
Parking over the drop curb also blocks the pathway for parents with buggies, forcing them to walk out in the road (often with small children) unnecessarily. Please show some more consideration. Thank you.
The Parking Promise Scheme is due to begin in 2016 –further info to follow in Jan.
Late hand out dates for Big Writing:
Some year groups not receiving the homework sheets until a day or two before it is due.
General consensus among parents/children is that it is much better having Big Writing fortnightly, however please can it be handed out on a Monday or Tuesday so the children have time to discuss/prepare something. Sally to speak to staff regarding this.
Catering staff/lunch times:
Do staff wear gloves when in the kitchen or serving food?
It is recommended in the Herts Catering health and safety guidelinesthat staff don't wear gloves due to cross contamination. Staff will always wash their hands when appropriate and serve food using appropriate serving tongs/spoons etc.
Positive feedback to new signage and road markings:
Parents and community seem very pleased with these.
Wasps in wellies:
A few children have been stung and parents have not been informed. Should they have been? How can we prevent this from happening again? (Primarily an issue younger years).
Parents are always informed via red slips regarding stings. It is the first time this has happened in all the years we've had wellies. Staff do use insect repellent regularly in the area but we have no nest, just the odd few wasps. Children are always encouraged to bang their wellies before putting them on and staff check wherever possible. Wellies should be taken home during school holidays (and those left at school are brought inside). Please note, the school needs to be informed if your child has any known allergic reactions to insects.
Maths afternoon feedback/logistics:
Great idea on the whole and lots of positive feedback, however it was difficult for some parents who had to visit more than one class. Some parents going to second/third classes felt they missed out or introductions/explanations and didn't get a full picture of what was going on. Possible suggestions are to have 3 or 4 shorter activities during the hour, or children to introduce new parents to the activities when entering classes.
Some parents have requested similar sessions for other subjects and the school are looking into this.
Paint in Early Years:
Is it washable? Yes –we use paint approved by Herts for Learning; Mrs Vaites also adds a little washing up liquid to make the paint more washable.
Do the children have to wear aprons when painting? Yes –all reasonable measures are taken to keep the children paint free, however they are young children using paint - accidents are inevitable! Please feel free to supply your own overall in a named plastic carrier if you would prefer.
Text messages from school:
These can be confusing if you have more than one child at the school; can they state which year group they refer to?
Year group and/or names to go on text messages if possible. Names do usually go on so apologies for any texts that haven’t.
Nativity:
There is some upset regarding parents not being able to bring other children to the early years Christmas performances. In previous years there has always been a dress rehearsal where youngerchildren were able to attend, why has this changed?
On discussion it was felt that the dress rehearsal attended by siblings in previous years was extremely disruptive, the children who always try really hard with their performances found it extremely difficult to concentrate.
The school is happy to offer a room for younger siblings, however they do not have the staff to supervise this so it would have to be organised by parents themselves.
Scooters/bikes and footballs/climbing apparatus in playground:
(To go into newsletter)
Scooters and bikes are not to be ridden inside the school gates for everybody’s safety; please walk scooters and bikes to and from the racking area.
Footballs and the climbing apparatus are only to be used at specific break times–please do notallow your children to use these at the beginning or end of the school day; the school is not insured for any accidents at these times.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Breakfast club changes - understood but disappointing:
Some parents disappointed that there is no longer a drop in facility.
Unfortunately this is just not logistically possible due to the popularity of breakfast club. Parents can book on advance, or you can still call with 24 hrs notice and ask if there is space as extra staff may be found to help out. Also please note that if there is a genuine family emergency, the school will always make every effort to accommodate children.
A Message From FOMS:
Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way to either the Christmas Fayre or the fireworks display; the number of parents and staff members prepared to volunteer their time was amazing! The feedback from both events has been very positive and we were pleased to have reached the wider community, other than just families from school. We are always keen for more people to contribute to these events –whether it be with your time or items/prizes, they can’t be run without your help. Please contact FOMS if you wish to get involved. Thank you.