Minutes from parent forum 2/11/16
Present: Mr. Imbush. D.Trigg. C. Townsend. J. Roper. S. Dolcey
D. Guppy. Z. Piccard. R. Tumber. K. Spalding. L. Heath
T. Beharry. R. Guy. T. Coombes
Absent: B. Tomes. S. Ladd. Jordaine
Halloween disco - the children enjoyed the disco and all looked great in their costumes! An incident occurred which identified areas for improvement for next event. These include the organisation of food, did we need hot food etc, helpers/forum members to have designated roles for the event and to ask more parents to help out, the security of the premises and which hall to use dependant on the event.
Infants gates - parents have voiced concerns that the car park gates have been left open by parents collecting their children, posing a safety risk. Mr Imbush has advised us that the gates are due to be electronic camera controlled which the reception will have full control over. The Staff door on infants side of building is to be locked. Smoking directly outside the gates was also a concern raised, this will be a reminder on the next newsletter.
Parent Forum name change: - we looked at changing this to "PTA"(or alike) however, due to no teacher involvement, this wasn't appropriate. As a forum we have 2 main areas of key responsibilities. These are 1- reporting to the governing body 2- fundraising and providing the parents and children with a feedback channel and to organise fun events for the children. We are looking at printing on a different colour paper for all forum correspondence to parents in order to stand out. A logo is also being considered.
Reception new fence area: - this was a concern as it 'bottlenecks' and causes disruption on the children leaving at the end of the day. Parents are blocking access to year 2 whilst waiting for their child. Mr Imbushsiad that the problem had already been fixed by opening a gate into the Year 2 area. Possible markings on the floor to help crowd control was discussed.
Football: - we have now ordered the football kits for matches. There is 4 games of football left to play before Christmas. 8-9 children are picked by their abilities to represent the school. Other internal friendly matches are to be arranged so all children get to take part.
School clubs: - frustrations was expressed over stopping children from participating this term who were able to attend last term. Mr Imbush explained this was due to the popularity and over subscribing to the clubs to try and let every child take part.
EYFS posters: - these were in the hall for breakfast club and gave a warm and friendly welcome to parents. These have now disappeared and Mr Imbush will ask Miss Brown about them. However, the school have received proofs of photos that will be displayed in the hall and confirmed these are in the process of being done.
School dinners: - portion sizes were discussed as juniors have the same size dinner as the younger children do. The children have said it is not enough food for them. Occasionally, children who go later to lunch are not getting what they have ordered as food has run out. Mr Imbush will speak to the kitchen to discuss this.
Builders: - it has been noted that the builders have been wandering around the school and their DBS checks was questioned. MR Imbush confirmed that they are DBS checked. On one occasion it seemed that toilets have been left in a mess with concrete/dust prints. Mr Imbush clarified the builders are not to be using school toilets and will discuss this matter with them.
School ties: - A parent tried to purchase a school tie to be told they have run out of stock. The stock is to be replenished and will not run out in future. A reminder to label all ties with the child's name on the inside of the tie was given.
School trips: - priority is to be given to parents who hold a current DBS. Grandparents and relatives will then be asked to accompany the children if necessary as some parents who wanted to go have not been able to. A policy has been introduced to prevent this from happening. DBS forms for new forum members are ordered.
C. Townsend to hand out to those who need them when they have arrived.
Sensory room: - the school was praised for their excellent support with SEN. Parents have actively sought out Somers Heath as the reputation is very good for this. The new sensory room is going ahead and may possibly be an element to promote the school. Extra staff would therefore be recruited on an as and when needed basis.
Parking: - parking outside the schools is becoming more of an issue as it can be quite dangerous with vehicles parking/driving on the kerb. We talked about the possibility of using some of the field as temporary parking or as a drop off point to help with this issue. Mr Imbush said it's something to consider but would need to look at the provisions of doing so. The petition for a zebra crossing has been submitted but as of yet, we have not heard anything from them.
Parent Forum newsletter: - the secretary will prepare a newsletter for the parents once a term to let them know what we have been doing and plan to do in the future, Also to give them the information about what their money has been used for. A letter will go out introducing the new members of the parent forum, detailing the roles of each member. This will include details of the class representatives.
Christmas: - date was set for the Christmas fete (Friday 2nd December). The event will include stalls, santas grotto, crafts etc. permission was given to use the infant hall, the old nursery room and Miss Tookey's room. Mr Imbush will let Mr Mandell know this. Stalls need to have their own public liability insurance however, the parents forum can help with this and it is possible to add them to ours at a cost of £10 per stall. There will be a maximum of 12 stalls for this event to be set up in the old nursery room on the day. A non uniform day for the children will be arranged in advance in return for a donation of sweets/chocolate/toiletries etc. secretary to get a letter out to the parents ASAP for this. We have been given permission to store our equipment in the old nursery room. We need to start organising letters to companies asking for gift donations for our Christmas fete. D. Guppy will ask Toys r Us, T. Coombes will ask Tesco and R. Tumber to ask Asda. The week commencing 8th December is scheduled for the children's performances.
Teacher awareness of events: - It was raised about informing the teachers for upcoming events organised by the parent forum, however a notice on the whiteboard in the staff room, and a teachers copy of the letter sent to parents will be sufficient.
Parents forum position swap: - The current chair (J. Roper) and treasurer (R. Tumber) proposed to swap roles. This was seconded and their roles have now swapped. To clarify, the new chair is now R. Tumber and the new treasurer is J. Roper.
Mr Imbush left the meeting and we continued to discuss forum events.
Future events: - at least one treasurer MUST be present at the end of the event to count/deposit money in the safe. The safe code needs to be changed as a matter of urgency.
New parent forum bank account: - the two treasurers are to set up a bank account for the funds to be put in. This has been arranged and the treasurers are going to go to the bank next week.
Photocopying allowance for the parent forum: - the school charges the Parent Forum 3p per sheet for any letters etc to parents. D. Trigg to speak to Mr Imbush to ask if we can have our own allowance. Mr. Smith said he wants to invoice the forum for this.
Christmas Pantomime: - the school organise this event, and is alternated yearly with an In house performance, and going to ThamesSide theatre. This year is the turn of the theatre and the parents forum are usually asked to pay for the coaches. This can be very costly and other methods of transport was discussed. Possibly with the forum donating a percentage towards the cost in order to have funds left for the Christmas event etc.
Previous parent forum funds: - Mr. Smith has asked about money from last years parent forum, and would like to have a meeting to talk about the money that was left in the pot from this. Mr Smith said a donation of that money to the school should be made as the building works are costly and the school would appreciate it. However, the money in the parents forum is to continue to roll over to this years forum to enable them to hold events etc.
Christmas Fete: - stalls for this event already include: homemade Christmas cards, homemade bath bombs, boxed cards and stationary and face painting. There is still space for 6 more stalls. This will be communicated to parents in a letter. D. Trigg has kindly offered to make and donate 2 Christmas cakes.
Next meeting: - Wednesday 30th November 9:00am
Minutes taken by C. Townsend