Minutes of LPP meeting
Thursday 26th January 2017, Langbank Primary School, 7:30pm-9:00pm
In attendance: Susan McGarrigle (SM), Simon Cundy (SC), Heather Barclay (HB), Julie Gilmour (JG), Eileen Mather (EM), Jayne Lasley (JL) and Jacqueline Doherty (JD).
Apologies: Karen Connell, Giselle McGill , Carly Deheer and Lynn Campbell
Guest speaker: Olivia Bell from Renfrewshire Active Schools
Welcome: SM welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave apologies for those unable to attend.
1. Active Schools (AS)
Olivia Bell the (job-share) co-ordinator of AS came to share her vision with the parents about the place of Active schools in Langbank Primary school.
AS has merged with Renfrewshire leisure however they are still part of education, their motto is; MORE PEOPLE, MORE ACTIVE, MORE OFTEN
AS is based in Park Mains with most of the instructors being students, all of whom are trained by Renfrewshire Leisure and are constantly developing their skills.
As a result of there being a high demand and insufficient places locally offering gymnastics sessions this year AS are piloting a gymnastics program. This will start off in schools and hopefully eventually go out into the community. Currently seeking variety of funding for this including Comic relief money. Due to lack of trained instructors for gymnastics this is currently being delivered every second week (combined with dance) but vision is to have more instructors trained.
AS vision is to make sports affordable, sustainable, to encourage more girls to be more active, working with teachers as part of their CPD and also working with parents who could gain skills and help deliver the AS program.
Currently 75% of Langbank pupils participate in AS clubs but they would like to get this number up to 100%.
JG asked about lack of cycling proficiency and only 2 weeks of swimming lessons in Renfrewshire schools and asked if AS could deliver these. Both of these things are down to lack of money, however it was acknowledged that it was a shame that these are no longer deemed important for education to deliver. AS could not deliver swimming due to logistical difficulties and expense, although Renfrewshire Leisure do run swimming lessons. JG had been in touch with Scot from sport Scotland regarding the national bikeability program and he will call SC this week. Coincidentally SC also received email from region re bikeability. There may be some national funding available to train either teachers or parents to deliver this. Unfortunately due to other CPD time commitments there are no teachers in school available to do this, so JG and JD have both agreed to undertake this.
Olivia Bell left contact details for any parent wishing further information about any of the AS clubs; email; work mobile; 07810055000
SM thanked Olivia for her input.
SC informed parents that as well as AS clubs the pupils are organising a lunchtime chess club and Mrs Johnston will be running an engineering club for P6/7 from 3pm-4pm on a Wednesday.
2. Chair’s Report
SM informed all that the Christmas Fayre had raised £1750 and was a very successful event.
The tea towels and bags also proved popular and were a worthwhile activity.
She thanked everyone for their efforts and informed all that Jack Deheer’s gran, Irene, had been given a small donation towards a picture she had bought at the fayre to thank her for all of her help.
The LPP page is now up and running on the website so just needs to be kept up-to-date.
3. Head Teacher’s report
School Garden
The construction of the School Garden is now complete thanks to the efforts of parents in helping us to move 12 tonnes of soil and 6 tonnes of bark chippings. There are a few minor touches needs to finish it off such as lower level fencing but it is now ready for growing.
We had a planting day with the children whereby all children got an opportunity to plant seeds or bulbs in the beds. The children planted carrots, onions, broad beans and flowers. The primary 6 /7 children were particularly helpful in extending the garden and rejuvenating two of the existing beds which have now been sown with radish and cabbage.
Mr. Cundy attended an excellent tree planting course and came back with a selection of apple and plum trees. In addition, Ethan Pearce’s grandad kindly donated two split grafted apple cordon apple trees. In addition Ms.Barclay has bought in a large number of wild flowers.
We plan to have another planting day over the next couple of weeks where we will teach the children how to plant an orchard and we will also get the children to create wild flower zones.
Later in March we plan to do a second major round of planting, this time it will be summer bulbs.
We have also instructed that an outdoor water tap will be installed from the annex to allow children to water the plants and trees. We also hope that during the Easter and April Holidays parents/ grandparents can pop up to the school and make sure the plants have enough water.
We have been working closely with EcoDrama who have put on a number of fascinating workshops over the course of the year about planting, orchards, wormeries and recycling. Our Garden has been chosen as a showcase across Scotland as to what schools can do with their outdoor spaces. As part of this Mr.Cundy will be completing a report on the progress of the garden.
We very much hope that our new school garden is the start of something very special. That generations of children will get the benefit from growing their own fruit and vegetables.
EM and JD will attend a RHS Edible Garden Course on the 22nd February and then share this knowledge with staff and pupils.
Trim Trail and Outdoor Classroom.
Before Christmas we were given £10K from Awards for All, in addition to previous fundraising and grants we now have £17K to spend on outdoor classroom. I have already had meetings with Scotplay and Sovereign for quotes and plan to speak to other suppliers. It looks possible that we should be able to get a Trim Trail and Outdoor classroom in place for approximately April.
Tesco Bags of Help Scheme (WE NEED YOUR VOTES!)
We have registered for Tesco Bags for Help Scheme. The more votes we get the more chance we have of getting up to £5,000 towards our garden project. Tesco have also been very supportive with our Burns Afternoon in which they have provided very generous prizes and food for the party.
Langbank Primary is registered with the “Tesco Bags of Help Scheme”. Money from any purchase goes towards selected projects. If you are shopping in any of the following stores, please remember to use your voting token to vote for Langbank Primary Garden Project. Please tell your friends and relatives.
“To vote, you will need to make a purchase within store of any value. You will receive one token per transaction and it's not necessary to purchase a carrier bag in order to receive a token.”
AYR EXTRA KA8 0QA
GREENOCK EXTRA PA15 1LE
GREENOCK EXTRA PA15 1LE
HELENSBURGH METRO G84 8SR
IRVINE RIVERWAY EXTRA KA12 8AY
IRVINE RIVERWAY EXTRA KA12 8AY
SALTCOATS KA21 5RP
KILBIRNIE KA25 7DJ
EAST CLYD HELENSB EXP G84 7AA
MAIN ST PRESTWICK EXP KA9 1PA
PORT GLASGOW EXTRA PA14 5BP
AYR EXPRESS KA8 8JT
KILWINNING EXPRESS KA13 6AG
LARGS EXP KA30 8AU
AYR HIGH STREET EXP KA7 1PR
AYR MAYBOLE RD EXP KA7 4SF
Progression with the Improvement Plan.
Our main focus this year has been developing literacy in the school. So far we have changed all the planning formats for literacy and have started to introduce new methodologies to help raise attainment. The school staff has worked incredibly hard to implement these changes.
As part of raising the profile of reading we are building two new libraries in the school. The bulk of this work will be completed on Monday but we will be awaiting the delivery of a few more items of furniture.
Our plan is to transfer all the current library books and other class library books into the new libraries. We are happy to have a discussion with the parents if they still want to be involved as librarians. JG and JD both agreed that they are happy to pass on the responsibility of the library and are both happy to continue to help out on Wednesday mornings in other ways.
We have also established Lunchtime reading cafes on a Tuesday and Wednesday where older children read stories or share their love of books with younger children. Our older children have also started a lunchtime chess club.
School Report
School Report in line with guidance from the authority and HMIE we are planning on changing the format of our school report based on a Renfrewshire Template. This is a much simpler but more focused template. Parents will be told if their child has achieved a level but not whether they are developing, consolidating or secure. They will be told if they are on target or needing more support. We are happy to discuss the new report with parents. Brief discussion on this showed that all parents in attendance though that this new report card format was better than the old one and would be happy with this change. A copy of the proposed report card can be found at the end of these minutes.
4. Report from HB
HB gave a report on the new performing arts initiatives which she has been working on.
Scottish Opera project 'Spinning Songs'
· P3/4 has started week 1 of 6 week programme.
· Inter-generational project which we are undertaking with Erskine Care Home and St Anne's Nursery in Erskine.
· This is a pilot programme which is also going on in East Ayrshire and Scottish Borders.
· P3/4 are working with two expert musicians to compose songs, which will result in a final sharing event/tea party at Erskine Home on 7th March.
· The Renfrewshire project has been selected for filming, and we will host a screening event of final DVD in due course.
Scottish Mathematical Challenge
· Seven P7 pupils undertaking problem solving challenge for more able pupils in upper school.
· We complete Round 3 on 3rd February and await final marks.
· All children appear to be in the 'award zone' and we are hoping for seven Bronze awards, if not Silver or Gold.
Music Concerts
· We have secured free tickets for P5-7 to attend a Celtic Connections concert (1st February) and BBC Symphony Orchestra concert (1st March).
· Fantastic opportunity to experience live music and use as part of music appreciation lessons back in classroom.
P1/2 BBC Ten Pieces dance programme
· P1/2 have been selected to take part in a right2dance workshop and performance programme inspired by BBC Ten Pieces.
· Children will receive 9 x 1hr 15 mins dance workshops in school during Term 4.
· The project will culminate with a final performance at Johnston Town Hall on Wednesday 14th June 2017 (Limited number of free tickets available for family/friends).
Modern Languages
· We applied for Modern Languages funding from Renfrewshire Council and secured £2053 for school.
· French resources have been bought for the whole school which will encourage active learning through modern languages.
· We have started to invest in German resources to support our third language development.
Twitter @LangbankPrimary
· We have started a Twitter account to share good news in the community.
· We have 40 followers and would be grateful for LPP's support.
Short discussion regarding parents sharing the information on the school twitter site on social media and agreed that LPP would put polite reminder on website asking parents only to share picture of their own children.
Choir
· The infant choir has proved very popular and will continue to run on Thursday lunchtimes this term.
· Mrs Allan has started to run a senior choir on Thursday lunchtimes with many enthusiastic members!
Music development
· We received £500 from Renfrewshire Council Music Services.
· We have invested the money in rhythm sticks, and ukuleles for the school.
· Miss Barclay hopes to introduce P6/7 to ukuleles this term and start a ukulele club in Term 4. EM asked if the junior choir would still be able to run during term 4 and HB is hopeful that this will still happen as Mrs Johnston has expressed an interest in helping run the junior choir. Parents are very grateful to all staff for these extra activities.
· Miss Barclay has been collaborating with Nicola Maynes (Expressive Arts Faculty Head at Park Mains High School). We are in the process of setting up a music working party with other schools in the cluster.
Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA)
· The 'Rights Knights' are continuing to meet every two weeks to help organise monthly assemblies focused on children's rights.
· Our next step is to provide staff CPD and start to embed rights throughout the school.
· The 'Rights Knights' would like to speak to LPP at the next meeting and set up a stand at parents’ night to promote their work. All in attendance thought this was a great idea.
Scottish College for Educational Leadership (SCEL)
· Miss Barclay is undertaking an online leadership programme with SCEL.
· We have secured £400 of funding to support Miss Barclay's practitioner enquiry. This money has been used to buy 2 new iPad apps and 2 Apple TV kits for school.