LORETTO RC PRIMARY SCHOOL
Parent Council
Annual Report 2012-13
Welcome to the annual report of the Loretto RC Primary School Parent Council. This has been the PC’s sixth year in operation and this annual report tells you more about the PC and what we have achieved this year, and our hopes and aims for the coming year.
We represent you and to do that, we depend on your feedback, your comments, your suggestions and your ideas. We would very much welcome hearing what you think about what we do or more importantly what we don’t do. Please contact us via email on or speak to your Class Rep.
About the PC
Loretto Primary School’s Parent Council (PC) represents you, the parents and carers of Loretto Primary children. As Parent or Carer of any pupil attending the school, you are automatically a member of the Parent Forum - all members of the Parent Forum can volunteer to be a member of the Parent Council.
We still have places for parents on the Parent Council and are always looking for parents/carers to fill these positions. We meet at regular intervals throughout the school year and as these are open meetings, everyone is welcome to attend. Please feel free to come along to one of our meetings or to contact any of the Parent Council members on the list should you not wish to attend meetings in person but would like to discuss something with us. A list of proposed meeting dates will be posted on the school calendar, our Facebook page, and reminders will be sent
We are chaired by a member of our parent forum and we have parent members representing all of the classes in the school, including the nursery classes. We work in partnership with the school, Miss Burke, Canon McMullan and the staff reps on the PC.
Review of the year
We have achieved a number of things this year, including:
· We kicked of the start of the school year with a successful family Ceilidh. This was intended to welcome new families to the school as well as to give people a chance to catch up
· We set up a Facebook page, open to parents and carers. We use the page to keep people updated on our activities, and it provides a useful feedback forum as well
· We held successful Parent training evenings – on Homework and on Self Evaluation. These led to the formation of a Curriculum subcommittee of the Parent Council
· The Curriculum subcommittee ran a Christmas Story competition. The entries were bound into a beautiful book for the Library. It also worked with the school on the design and content of the new homework diaries.
· We added a new uniform supplier – Image Scotland. This Musselburgh-based company offers online ordering. They will offer uniform items alongside Thomson’s.
· We ran successful and well attended Christmas and Summer Fairs.
· Our team of Parent Helpers continue to work in the school throughout the week and we hope to continue this successful partnership in the coming year.
· The PC provided ice-cream when the children visited the Brunton Theatre to see the Pantomime.
· The PC successfully lobbied East Lothian Council to reinstate the School Crossing Guard position
· Just after the Easter holidays the Loretto Family Quiz night was held. Thanks to Quiz Master Simon Broadhurst for organising the event and congratulations to the Boyles who were the worthy winners at the 3rd time of asking!
· We continue to have a Parent Council Rep on the School Eco Committee and we hope to work more closely with them again this year. Last year, great work was done under the headings of Health & Wellbeing, Litter Action and Waste Minimisation. All classrooms now have plastic bottle recycling boxes.
· Dress Down days continued throughout the year on the last Friday of each month
· The PC helped to fund various events during the year, including school trips for all classes and the P7 leavers disco
· The PC established a link to the Parent Council at St David’s Dalkeith, with a view to helping the transition between the schools. Some of our P7 parents have attended meetings there and it is hoped that this will continue
· There was not so much progress on adding to equipment in the playground this year. We were unsuccessful with two separate applications for funding. The first application was for equipment to add to the woods, the second for a permanent noticeboard at the gates to the school, and a final application for an all-weather sports pitch was abandoned when the part funding criteria were changed during the process. However, we were able to fund the installation of a new picnic bench in the nursery and we will continue our fundraising for more equipment in the coming year.
Sadly, during this school year we had to bid a fond farewell to P7 teacher Miss Pottie. We also said goodbye to Mrs McGowan, and also to Miss Murphy. From the Parent Council, Julie Roberts and Simon Broadhurst both stood down from their class rep positions. Their experience and advice during the year was much appreciated by the incoming committee
Finally, we’d like to thank all parents that volunteered their time to help us this year, as well as all those who donated to our various events. These events are being run for all our children and will only be successful if supported by all parents. We hope that you’ll continue to support our work this year.
School Inspection
In October 2011, HMIE (now Education Scotland) published their report from the Inspection they had carried out in the school earlier in that year. Part of the report recommended a two year Improvement plan for the School, and as part of that a Follow Through Inspection was held in September. The report on the inspection was largely positive, noting several areas where improvement had taken place, and continuing the process of inspection and improvement for another year. The Parent Council formed a Curriculum subgroup to support the work of the school, and to improve Parental Involvement.
A key objective for the Parent Council in the coming year is to continue this communication with Education Scotland and the QIO to ensure that everyone is working together and that the school is getting the support and resources it requires in order to move forward.
The Parent Council recognises the amount of work the staff have achieved so far and how far the school since the initial inspection. We will continue to support the school in any we can and make our school even better.
Report from the PC Accounts
Our aims and objectives for the coming year
Our main aim is to identify and represent the views of parents and carers on the education provided by the school and other matters affecting the well-being of the school. In addition to this we hope to:
· Issue Termly Newsletters via Email
· Form links with our twin parish in Bauchi
· Form a closer working relationship with the school Pupil Council and continue work with the Eco Committee
· Continue to move forward with our Playground Improvements
· Continue to provide financial assistance to the school
· To reach parents and carers who might not use English as their first language
· Continue our relationship with St David’s PC
· To facilitate greater parental/carer involvement in the school by working in partnership with Miss Burke, David Scott (QIO) and Education Scotland, specifically to help achieve the objectives on the school Improvement/Action Plan.
Your child’s school needs you!
How can you get involved?
Here are some ideas:
· Volunteer to become a member of the PC.
· Attend one of our meetings (they are open to all parents, not just members).
· Get in touch with your class representative or Email us at and give us your suggestions or views about the school and how parents can get involved.
· PLEASE fill in any questionnaires or surveys that we issue to obtain your views.
· Any existing member of the PC would be happy to discuss it further with you or accompany you to your first meeting. You can find the names of our current PC members below.
LORETTO RC PARENT COUNCIL MEMBERS LIST
Nursery AM / Kai Clark / Nursery PM / vacantP1 Mrs Hill / Shane’s mum
Yvonne Ross / P1 Ms Kinsella / vacant
P2 / Peter’s dad
John Lally (Treasurer) / Logan’s mum
Sharon Hurley
P2/3 / Scott & Kara’s mum
Karyn Porteous / Mathew’s mum
Anne Shaw (Vice-chair)
P3/4 / Georgia’s mum
Audrey Peter / Clark’s mum
Catherine Purnell
P5 / Joseph’s dad
Stephen Meek / Danny’s mum
Su Boyle (Chair)
P6 / Alex’s mum
Kate Courtney / Jason’s mum
Moyra Hall / Dermot’s dad
Bill Gleeson (Secretary)
P7 / Gabriel’s mum
Karen Macrae / Liam’s mum
Lisa Helbig
Staff Members: Miss Burke, Mrs Dalglish, Mrs Baker
Co-opted Members: Canon McMullan. Councillor John Caldwell, Councillor Stuart Currie, Councillor Andy Forrest.