MEETING NOTES

PARENT’S COUNCILMEETING

Nov. 10, 2014

Sir William Gage Middle School

Attendees

Alia Murtaza AM

Angela Davis-Coombs ADC

Anju Mistry AM

Firdausi Sayeed FS Co-Chair

Janine Sutcliffe JS Secretary

Jermaine Frazer JF representative –Orlando Bowen leadership group

Juanita Taylor JT Vice Principal

Ken Tucker KT

Maria Mahmood MM

Mary Rizos MR Principal

Michelle Pitt MP

Paula Gowdie Rose PGR

Shaminder Dhillon SD

Sukhi Khangura SK Co-Chair

Tracy De Jong TDJ

Wendy Messier WM Teacher Rep

ITEM
Pre-meeting / DISCUSSION
Jermaine Frazer from Orlando Bowen’s youth leadership organization confirmed that they are available to look after the workshop for the boys at our PRO Grant event, as well as the activity portion (obstacle course). Approximate time for each event is 30 minutes. (Jermaine excused himself from the rest of the meeting prior to its start.) / ACTION
JF
Item # 1 / Welcome
·  FS welcomed all to the meeting.
·  Minutes approved by MM, seconded by SD
·  Agenda approved by JS, seconded by AM / FS
Item # 2 / Principal’s Report
·  Student Council elections are upcoming, with a new process this year. Each class is going to elect a student from their class to represent them at Council. Through video speeches, the Teacher Reps will select students to move forward to the school-level election. On Nov. 28th this election will be held. The first initiative for the new Student Council will be an Anti-Bullying campaign.
·  On Nov. 6th, while the students were at an assembly, teachers had an in-house PD day, focusing on Learning Goals and Success criteria. Every Thursday, each classroom will post a Learning Goal, which will make the classroom instruction more visible to the students.
·  The student assembly held on Nov. 6th focused both on Mental Health and on Reducing Bullying. One method of reducing bullying is the idea that taking care of yourself will allow you to also take care of others.
·  MR asked for a random person from the council to take part in a Ministry of Education survey on Health & Phys Ed. MP volunteered.
·  JT presented a fundraising idea, on behalf of Ms. Bailey. Students prepare artwork, which is then submitted to an organization, which produces greeting cards for sale. Council agreed that it looks like a viable project but it is too late for the 2014 Holiday season. Perhaps for next year?
·  Remembrance Day Ceremony is to be held tomorrow, beginning at 8:45 am. The early start is to accommodate parents who have children in neighbouring schools. JT handed out program for review. / MR/JT
Item # 3 / Public Questions (see item 7 for responses)
1.  FS asked about the comments heard from local High Schools that grade 9 SWG students do not have a strong background in French when they arrive.
2.  FS asked about improving math performance.
Item # 4 / New Business
·  Incorporated throughout the minutes.
Item # 5 / Sub Committees
·  Lunch Committee – Unfortunately, the poutine lunches were very delayed. FS congratulates the students on their patience, they were great. Accommodations were made so that they were allowed to eat during class time. JT contacted the vendor, who was unwilling to offer any financial compensation for his poor service, nor was an apology offered. Council will look for an alternate poutine vendor for future events. Nov. 28th’s Council lunch will be pizza.
·  PRO Grant – event is scheduled for Thursday Nov. 27th, 6:3--8:30. Facilitators are confirmed (Girls track – Rebecca for yoga, Karen and Sandy for hair and fashion. Boys track – Jermaine boys workshop and obstacle course. Jennifer for nutrition to finish out the evening for both groups combined). Door prizes – 25 sets of pj’s and mirrors donated by Dove for the girls. ADC to research and purchase similar items for purchase for the boys. Council agreed to supply smoothies as refreshments for the end of the evening (MM and SD to research and purchase). SK will develop promotional brochure for distribution beginning Thursday during Parent/Teacher interviews. Brochures will indicate how and when to RSVP. WM will work with students to craft posters for around the school. Synervoice announcement will be sent closer to the day of the event. Babysitting will be provided for children of K-grade 5 ages (FS to arrange). Raffle for door prizes to be held after the nutrition portion of the evening. / FS/SK
Item # 6 / Great Start/Math Night
·  Great Start – Ken attended the school board’s orientation event. One workshop he participated in divided the types of parents into 4 groups – those who volunteer their time at the school level, those who would like to volunteer but cannot (for whatever reason), those who are involved at home but not at school, and those who are not involved. Opportunities to encourage participation of these 4 groups was discussed in the workshop
·  Math Night – Gage math night, geared to the grade 6 students, was postponed until January 2015. KT to put together a short survey to be given to the grade 6 parents in order to determine the level of interest. This survey should be ready for Thursday and Friday’s Parent/Teacher interviews. Teachers will collect the answers, and give to KT, who will bring to the December meeting. Possibly a poster contest for December? / KT
Item #7 / Public Questions (as per item 3)
1.  MR addressed the level of French learning by highlighting the board’s difficulty in finding qualified FI teachers. For example, on a recent list of 300 Supply Teachers, just 4 were qualified to teach French Immersion. Added to that is the up-to-12 week delay for Criminal Checks. Furthermore, there are about a third of students in grade 8 who are struggling in FI, who perhaps should not be in the program, but who remain in the program due to parental insistence. However the majority of students are performing well.
2.  As discussed at last month’s meeting, math instruction is a focus for the Peel District School Board. Changing attitudes of students as well as teachers in learning and teaching math is imperative. Math should not be feared, nor hated. Students need to be engaged in the learning process, and Mathletics is one avenue to do so. Math skills are to be labeled so students understand what they are doing (adding, subtracting, division, etc.).
Outstanding Action Items from the previous meetings
None
The meeting was adjourned @ 8:50 pm.
Next Meeting scheduled for Monday Dec. 8th