PARENT COUNCIL

Letter from Parent Council. (PC)

Dear Parent/Carers

The PC fundraises for the School in many different ways. All money raised goes back into the School and Nursery. Over recent years we have managed to raise enough to help purchase:

Smart boards, nursery cookers, nursery storage units and boxes, nursery computer, dvd/cd players, books, climbing wall in playground, Extreme Dream climbing wall hire, Knex Work shop, Fun Drum workshop, P7 leaving gifts and much, much more.

Please, please could you or somebody you know buy a ‘Lucky Number’ at only £1 per month with cash prize draws.

Abernethy Primary & Nursery need the help and support from all parents.

Many thanks

Abernethy PC

Abernethy Parent Council Meeting
November 16, 2009

Present:
Claire Dorren, Celia Taylor, Howard Edge, Penny Lawson, Jim McEwen, Malcolm Smith, Leona Taylor Ramsay, Avril Dodds, Mark Cox, Jackie Convery, Rhona Bootle, Lara Langmuir

Apologies:
Elspeth Grant, Diane McGovern

Minutes of the last meeting proposed by Leona, seconded by Malcolm

Ski Transport Funding:
Mark has contacted B (Badenoch) travel SA. Karren Derrick has applied for funding totaling £11,000 for 10 schools to share, in transporting pupils from school to the ski hill. If all the funding comes through, it will still mean there is a £400 shortfall that the schools will have to cover. If Parent Council donates £10 per pupil (as has been done in previous years), there would be approximately £90 more in funding that the P6 and P7 will be expected to try to raise them selves.

Parents will have to pay £50 for children to go skiing with the school, £10 per session, as they did in previous years.

The ski group from the school is getting charged for kids that already have their own passes and their own equipment. Mark will look into the possibility of eliminating these charges, to save the whole group money.

Points arising from the last meeting:
Bike Shed - Howard will get a price from Angus Grant in February for painting the mural. Celia will look into getting donations for the boards that the painting will go on.

Website - Howard will update content on website before Christmas. He is currently taking training regarding this.

Internet Shopping - Howard will organise this and try to get on line before Christmas.

Water Pipes – the trace heating is now in!

Swimming – will begin Jan. 26, 2010, for 8 weeks for the P4s and P5s in Grantown. Transport will cost the pupils £1 per trip. The sponsored cycle will cover the shortfall. Total cost of transport will be £200 for mini bus/taxi transport. Parents of P4s and P5s will have to volunteer to drive some pupils to Grantown some weeks.

Car Park Safety Issue - Leona contacted Tecs service in Kingussie, and there is no money available for anything other than road signs and slow strips on the road crossings.

We must get written requests in for funding needs at the beginning of the financial year. The issue will be put to the JRS (Junior Road Safety) committee to get involved in finding a solution to the road safety issue. An action plan will have to be put together for March.
Parents will be invited to volunteer to help – this will be requested in the school newsletter. If no volunteers come forward Celia will help out.

Christmas Coffee Morning – Dec 5th at 10:00 am
Pupils will give performances; some classes are doing enterprise stalls.
Celia will ask Walkers for shortbread donation, and will organise a note for the school bags requesting baking donations and volunteers to help on the day. Celia will also organise buying tea, coffee, and milk for the morning.
There will be baking for sale.
Coffee and Tea will be served with plates of cookies, at tables for a charge (£1?)
Avril will organise a table to decorate cookies to raise money.
Nail in the bale for toys (donated toys given to Penny)
A donation tin will be set out.

Treasurer’s Report :
See attached statement of financial activities for Nov. 1, 2008 to Oct. 31, 2009. Ann Traill has approved accounts. Balance is £1404.08, after present commitments it is approximately £1100. Note that last year £2312.91 was raised!

Fund Raising:
Hogmanay Party – money raised will go towards purchasing a smart board for the P3/P4 classroom. Was this approved?
Malcolm is ordering fireworks, more than last year; approximately £225 will be spent.
125 torches will be organized to sell this year. Last year about 30 were organized, and they were not sold.
500 glow bands will be sold
Food and drink will be served,
Itinerary: 7:00 gathering, 7:30 procession to hall, 8:00 food, and 9:00 fireworks then lanterns to end
Lorna is writing letters asking for donations

AOB

Biomass Boiler broke down last week, so school has been using oil to heat school. This will cost the school more money.

Burns’ Supper organization – will this go ahead? Fund raising sub committee may wish to discuss. The community would like it.

Christmas Concert – Celia will organize raffle. Lara will organise notice for school bags asking for baking donations, and the buying of tea and coffee to serve to parents (free) on the night.

Food Hygiene Course being offered at the Nethy Bridge Community Centre, 26th of November. Claire and Lara will attend the course.

Leona spent £40 on high visibility vests in order to get larger ones that will fit the older pupils in the school. She has requested a refund. PC approved this.

Date of next meeting, Monday, February 1, 2010 at 7:00

Meeting closed at 8:30 pm

Minutes of the Parent Council Meeting
September 2, 2009

Present:
Mhari Sandison, Howard Edge, Rhona Bootle, Ali Vaughn, Celia Taylor, Jackie Convery, Elspeth Grant, Diane McGovern, Malcolm Smith, Leona Taylor, Lara Langmuir

Apologies:
Penny Lawson and Lorna Crane

Minutes of the last meeting proposed by Elspeth, seconded by Ali

Points arising from the previous meetings:

Car park, safety issues: Leona contacted Highland Council regarding the Safety issues of the school’s parking lot, their response was nothing could be done, the weather was exceptional last winter. This doesn’t address the safety issues of the blind spot created by the boiler in the parking lot, and the problems with parents dropping off their children in the morning. Elspeth will write Stuart Black, Highland Council, asking for help.
Ali wrote to Marlene Stewart regarding the pipes freezing in the school, and has had no reply back yet
Gazebo: Howard will contact Karen Derrick again. For the project to proceed, the community needs to find a use for having it, as well as the school.

Fund Raising Report:

Hogmanay celebration similar to last year – sub committee Leona and Elspeth will organize
Celia is organizing a hamper to be raffled at the Christmas concert
Coffee morning will be organized at the village hall in December. Parent Council will organize baking and refreshments to sell. Teachers will organise students singing

Treasurer’s Report:

See details on attachment. Balance at £2,620.75

Head Teacher’s Report:

82 pupils + 18 nursery children = 100 students at Abernethy Primary this year
Howard will contact Alan Clarke, who is new in the P.E. division at Highland Council regarding the possibility of having swimming lessons at the Abernethy Trust, as it will make more economical sense then paying £800 to bus the children into Grantown.
Abernethy Parent Council will support the Sport Support Group for finding solutions to transport children to Cairngorm for skiing.
Eco Action Week Sept 21-25: Eco Drama, sponsored cycle, fun run.
Parent Council is paying £300 for K’next during Eco week - approved
School Budget: See attachment. Savings on fuel went to pay for the resource room being painted, hole fixed, shelves organised, and getting the corridor fixed. The flooring in the art room did not get done as it was too expensive (£2000)
Biomass Boiler is attached to the old system, and blew last Friday. The whole system needs to be updated.
Nursery needs £200 for a new cooker – approved
School needs £400 for classroom furniture, trays for gym shoes, shelves, etc. – approved

Standard and Quality Report:
Mhari will prepare a statement as to what the Parent Council has contributed to the school and the nursery.

AOB
Smart Board £2000 – would parent council consider purchasing one for the school? Pending.
How do we get nursery parents involved in the Parent Council? The parent council keeps buying equipment for the nursery, yet nursery parents aren’t helping out with fundraising.
Mhari will be stepping down from Chairperson, if she cannot make the next meeting and AGM, Malcolm will chair for her.

Next meeting, AGM will be Monday, October 5, 7:00 pm at the school

Meeting closed at 20:10