Comments for Bucksburn School Parent Council http://bucksburn.info Representing the views of Bucksburn parents since 2007 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:41:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on Feasibility Studies – The Results by Billy http://bucksburn.info/2010/04/feasibility-studies-the-results/comment-page-1/#comment-602 Billy Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:41:01 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/?p=367#comment-602 Angela, this is exactly the kind of lateral thinking we need! Now, how do we attract bats into the flat roof of Boxy? ;oP Angela, this is exactly the kind of lateral thinking we need! Now, how do we attract bats into the flat roof of Boxy? ;oP

]]> Comment on Feasibility Studies – The Results by Angela Joss http://bucksburn.info/2010/04/feasibility-studies-the-results/comment-page-1/#comment-580 Angela Joss Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:07:27 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/?p=367#comment-580 Having just ploughed my way through some of these docs, my initial response is "Has anyone got a bat?" No, this is NOT a call to violence. Although, upon reading in the report "Following a consultation process with staff and parents, it has been agreed that a new school is required...", one could be forgiven for noting that one's legitimate and non-violent protests have been thus far ommitted...BUT one reminds one's self that brute force in never justifiable, and calls again for the furry, flying rodents instead. Apparently, were bats to be found roosting in either of the schools involved, this could significantly alter the outcome of any proposed alterations/demolition work. Batty, I know, but reason and entreaty have failed to impress ACC and I for one am at a loss. However, if we accept the proposed merger and both schools agree to work together, then my real fear is how to ensure that we are treated fairly by those in charge. I have very little confidence in their integrity at the moment,specifically on this matter. But not helped by the fact that, at a time of severe financial cutbacks, Aberdeen City councillors actually voted to carry on allowing themselves "free" refreshments during their business hours at the Town Hall. If you can't trust someone to pay for their own butteries, can you really trust them with your child's education...Bats,indeed. Having just ploughed my way through some of these docs, my initial response is “Has anyone got a bat?”
No, this is NOT a call to violence. Although, upon reading in the report “Following a consultation process with staff and parents, it has been agreed that a new school is required…”, one could be forgiven for noting that one’s legitimate and non-violent protests have been thus far ommitted…BUT one reminds one’s self that brute force in never justifiable, and calls again for the furry, flying rodents instead.
Apparently, were bats to be found roosting in either of the schools involved, this could significantly alter the outcome of any proposed alterations/demolition work. Batty, I know, but reason and entreaty have failed to impress ACC and I for one am at a loss.
However, if we accept the proposed merger and both schools agree to work together, then my real fear is how to ensure that we are treated fairly by those in charge. I have very little confidence in their integrity at the moment,specifically on this matter. But not helped by the fact that, at a time of severe financial cutbacks, Aberdeen City councillors actually voted to carry on allowing themselves “free” refreshments during their business hours at the Town Hall. If you can’t trust someone to pay for their own butteries, can you really trust them with your child’s education…Bats,indeed.

]]> Comment on Updates by Billy http://bucksburn.info/2009/09/updates/comment-page-1/#comment-560 Billy Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:54:56 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/?p=331#comment-560 Hehe, epic brilliant post Angela, this should be on the front page itself. I've noticed another worrying trend this week whereby Colin Lawson's lorries have been manoeuvring around Howes Road at pick up and drop off times. This is a big danger too, how on earth can a lorry driver see an 8 year old crossing the road behind him as he backs up towards the child? As for getting a parent council volunteer to stand at the road side, we can't even get them to come to the meetings! ;oP You pick up on a good point about packed lunches. It used to be the case that the healthy brigade could send their kids off with a packed lunch instead of having them take the poor school meals. Now that school meals have been healthified (yes that *is* a new word) it's the fussy kids and those who may not be in reciept of healthy food as part of their home diets, who are hiding behind them. In which case the target audience is going to be ignored. The entire reason behind them sending their children is to *avoid* healthy foods. I think they are preaching to the converted with those of us who already send our children with healthier options in our packed lunches. I'm not drawing pictures on their food, "don't play with your food" springs to mind. Just educate your kids from an early age to eat healthily. Ash will take an apple banana grapes or orange over a bag of crisps every time. I don't send them to school with a balanced packed lunch every day I must admit. It would go down well if there was some monitoring of what they actually eat done in school though. I must admit I don't usually get things home, the odd apple maybe, probably not eaten because they ran out of time by fidgeting and not concentrating on the meal, some "friendly encouragement" is often needed here too! In fact, the biggest problem with packed lunches that I personally find is that now and then the kids don't bring back their packed lunch boxes because of the routine in school at lunch time. They can't place them back into their bags for some reason before going to play, so they get left in the cloakroom and subsequently forgotten. Kids eh... Hehe, epic brilliant post Angela, this should be on the front page itself.

I’ve noticed another worrying trend this week whereby Colin Lawson’s lorries have been manoeuvring around Howes Road at pick up and drop off times. This is a big danger too, how on earth can a lorry driver see an 8 year old crossing the road behind him as he backs up towards the child?

As for getting a parent council volunteer to stand at the road side, we can’t even get them to come to the meetings! ;oP

You pick up on a good point about packed lunches. It used to be the case that the healthy brigade could send their kids off with a packed lunch instead of having them take the poor school meals. Now that school meals have been healthified (yes that *is* a new word) it’s the fussy kids and those who may not be in reciept of healthy food as part of their home diets, who are hiding behind them. In which case the target audience is going to be ignored. The entire reason behind them sending their children is to *avoid* healthy foods.

I think they are preaching to the converted with those of us who already send our children with healthier options in our packed lunches.

I’m not drawing pictures on their food, “don’t play with your food” springs to mind. Just educate your kids from an early age to eat healthily. Ash will take an apple banana grapes or orange over a bag of crisps every time.

I don’t send them to school with a balanced packed lunch every day I must admit.

It would go down well if there was some monitoring of what they actually eat done in school though. I must admit I don’t usually get things home, the odd apple maybe, probably not eaten because they ran out of time by fidgeting and not concentrating on the meal, some “friendly encouragement” is often needed here too!

In fact, the biggest problem with packed lunches that I personally find is that now and then the kids don’t bring back their packed lunch boxes because of the routine in school at lunch time. They can’t place them back into their bags for some reason before going to play, so they get left in the cloakroom and subsequently forgotten.

Kids eh…

]]> Comment on Updates by Angela Joss http://bucksburn.info/2009/09/updates/comment-page-1/#comment-559 Angela Joss Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:40:32 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/?p=331#comment-559 Just clearing out my daughter's packed lunch box and returning her uneaten banana to the fruit bowl. "Why, oh why, oh why do my kids not eat the fruit I pack every day for them?" I ask myself, yet again. It is, in fact, Life's Big Question - the answer to which would earn it's owner millions of pounds...But, wait, what is this ? It's a letter from my child's school, telling me that only 1% of lunchboxes comply with nutritional standards set for schools in England. (This I already know because Moira Stewart on Radio 2 was telling me that self same thing yesterday morning as I packed one of those unhealthy lunches. I paused only to yell at the radio "You try producing something your kids will eat when you're not able to stand over them threatening them with stunted growth and plooks unless they eat a bit of fruit!") Anyhoo, now I have the answer because, along with the letter telling me how unhealthy the snacks and packed lunches of "many of our pupils" at Bucksburn School are, they've attached a sheet from a bbc website with some hints and tips on how to get my kids to eat the healthy choices I could send her out with. That untouched banana? "Draw a face...with a marker pen" on it. Wasn't it Paul Macartney said he "never ate anything with a face"? Never mind, the bbc also suggests I "hide a special treat" in the lunchbox. Ah, but what could I hide ? Not a sweetie, obviously. Nothing with football team colours - against school rules. Nothing a kid could eat by accident and choke on. There's not much left after reading the Beeb's "What Not To Put In Your Lunchbox". No cereal bars, no flavoured yoghurt (so no sneaky calcium, then), no cheese strings. No chance of my kid eating much, then, to be quite frank. And a quick text round a few fellow harassed school mums produced the same conclusion. We'd all prefer our kids to eat healthily. We've all sent off them off with the kind of packed lunch WE would like them to eat. We've all unpacked most of it again at the end of the day and worried about our child being hungry all day as a result. Here's a couple of observations from a parent who does NOT have Jamie Oliver's lifestyle choices available to them. One of the main problems with school packed lunches seems to be that my daughter is able to skip off to play without anyone checking whether she has eaten a sufficient amount. Similarly, my 7 year old niece brought home most of her packed lunch today (my sister is a trained chef and a school dinner lady at a city secondary). Some friendly encouragement may be needed to get small children to eat - I know my kids need it when we're all eating round the table together. Also, can I repectfully suggest that the kind of parent who allows their child to have their playtime piece as their "first 'meal' of the day" to quote the letter, and then makes that "either sweets or crisps" is hardly likely to seize the attached bbc sheet and think "Oooh, must try cutting my kid's sandwich into an interesting shape tomorrow." In these days of cutbacks and shortages, surely there is a better use of paper and printing resources than to pick up a small piece of research that singles out parents and carers as failing to make the grade, yet again, when most of us are trying as hard as we can. And, finally, and the reason why I've replied to this particular post,why not seriously address the issue of rogue parkers, as mentioned in the above post. They are a more immediate threat to our kids than cheese strings in a packed lunch. Get someone out in the staff car park actively stopping parents from entering at 9am and 3pm. Have someone (Parent Council volunteer?) on Howes Road taking the registration numbers of those cars who stop on the double yellows where those of us who walk to school are trying to cross with our kids. And, the woman who actualy PARKED there IN THE SNOW to take your child to school TWICE - there's a couple of symbols I'd like to write on a banana for you. Lastly, a good example to us all would be if members of the Parent Council themselves did NOT park in the police station car park. Gotta go now. I'm trying my daughter with grapes in tomorrow's packed lunch. I may be drawing tiny happy faces for some time... Just clearing out my daughter’s packed lunch box and returning her uneaten banana to the fruit bowl. “Why, oh why, oh why do my kids not eat the fruit I pack every day for them?” I ask myself, yet again. It is, in fact, Life’s Big Question – the answer to which would earn it’s owner millions of pounds…But, wait, what is this ? It’s a letter from my child’s school, telling me that only 1% of lunchboxes comply with nutritional standards set for schools in England.
(This I already know because Moira Stewart on Radio 2 was telling me that self same thing yesterday morning as I packed one of those unhealthy lunches. I paused only to yell at the radio “You try producing something your kids will eat when you’re not able to stand over them threatening them with stunted growth and plooks unless they eat a bit of fruit!”)
Anyhoo, now I have the answer because, along with the letter telling me how unhealthy the snacks and packed lunches of “many of our pupils” at Bucksburn School are, they’ve attached a sheet from a bbc website with some hints and tips on how to get my kids to eat the healthy choices I could send her out with.
That untouched banana? “Draw a face…with a marker pen” on it. Wasn’t it Paul Macartney said he “never ate anything with a face”? Never mind, the bbc also suggests I “hide a special treat” in the lunchbox. Ah, but what could I hide ? Not a sweetie, obviously. Nothing with football team colours – against school rules. Nothing a kid could eat by accident and choke on.
There’s not much left after reading the Beeb’s “What Not To Put In Your Lunchbox”. No cereal bars, no flavoured yoghurt (so no sneaky calcium, then), no cheese strings. No chance of my kid eating much, then, to be quite frank.
And a quick text round a few fellow harassed school mums produced the same conclusion. We’d all prefer our kids to eat healthily. We’ve all sent off them off with the kind of packed lunch WE would like them to eat. We’ve all unpacked most of it again at the end of the day and worried about our child being hungry all day as a result.
Here’s a couple of observations from a parent who does NOT have Jamie Oliver’s lifestyle choices available to them. One of the main problems with school packed lunches seems to be that my daughter is able to skip off to play without anyone checking whether she has eaten a sufficient amount. Similarly, my 7 year old niece brought home most of her packed lunch today (my sister is a trained chef and a school dinner lady at a city secondary). Some friendly encouragement may be needed to get small children to eat – I know my kids need it when we’re all eating round the table together.
Also, can I repectfully suggest that the kind of parent who allows their child to have their playtime piece as their “first ‘meal’ of the day” to quote the letter, and then makes that “either sweets or crisps” is hardly likely to seize the attached bbc sheet and think “Oooh, must try cutting my kid’s sandwich into an interesting shape tomorrow.”
In these days of cutbacks and shortages, surely there is a better use of paper and printing resources than to pick up a small piece of research that singles out parents and carers as failing to make the grade, yet again, when most of us are trying as hard as we can.
And, finally, and the reason why I’ve replied to this particular post,why not seriously address the issue of rogue parkers, as mentioned in the above post. They are a more immediate threat to our kids than cheese strings in a packed lunch. Get someone out in the staff car park actively stopping parents from entering at 9am and 3pm. Have someone (Parent Council volunteer?) on Howes Road taking the registration numbers of those cars who stop on the double yellows where those of us who walk to school are trying to cross with our kids. And, the woman who actualy PARKED there IN THE SNOW to take your child to school TWICE – there’s a couple of symbols I’d like to write on a banana for you. Lastly, a good example to us all would be if members of the Parent Council themselves did NOT park in the police station car park.
Gotta go now. I’m trying my daughter with grapes in tomorrow’s packed lunch. I may be drawing tiny happy faces for some time…

]]> Comment on About The Parent Council by Billy http://bucksburn.info/about/comment-page-1/#comment-506 Billy Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:43:44 +0000 http://bucksburn.the-kid.org/?page_id=2#comment-506 Hi Lisa, there's no agenda as such, would you like an issue raised? Matters I'm going to bring up will include the APCLG and the council's new ASN group. There'll be plenty of space for other issues I'm sure! Feel free to email me on secretary@bucksburn.info or come along on Monday. Regards Hi Lisa, there’s no agenda as such, would you like an issue raised?

Matters I’m going to bring up will include the APCLG and the council’s new ASN group. There’ll be plenty of space for other issues I’m sure!

Feel free to email me on secretary@bucksburn.info or come along on Monday.

Regards

]]> Comment on About The Parent Council by Lisa Hall http://bucksburn.info/about/comment-page-1/#comment-505 Lisa Hall Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:11:50 +0000 http://bucksburn.the-kid.org/?page_id=2#comment-505 Is there an agenda for the Parent Council meeting on Monday? Is there an agenda for the Parent Council meeting on Monday?

]]> Comment on Quick Update by Billy http://bucksburn.info/2009/03/quick-update/comment-page-1/#comment-254 Billy Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:23:51 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/2009/03/23/quick-update#comment-254 Thanks for letting me know Mark. Of course it <strong>was</strong> an email so I've re-sent from my 'sent' box. No idea why it didn't go through, I now wonder how many other 'sent' emails have actually vanished into the ether... Thanks for letting me know Mark. Of course it was an email so I’ve re-sent from my ’sent’ box.

No idea why it didn’t go through, I now wonder how many other ’sent’ emails have actually vanished into the ether…

]]> Comment on Quick Update by Mark McDonald http://bucksburn.info/2009/03/quick-update/comment-page-1/#comment-253 Mark McDonald Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:24:12 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/2009/03/23/quick-update#comment-253 Hi Billy, I assume this is by snail mail as I have nothing in the email inbox so just making sure! Mark Hi Billy, I assume this is by snail mail as I have nothing in the email inbox so just making sure!

Mark

]]> Comment on Bucksburn Set To Lose Out In Pupil Support Assistant Cuts by gillian duncan http://bucksburn.info/2009/02/bucksburn-set-to-lose-out-in-pupil-support-assistant-cuts/comment-page-1/#comment-220 gillian duncan Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:21:00 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/?p=279#comment-220 my daughter attends base unit at bucksburn. to lose 75% of the psa staff in the unit is ridiculous. Callie has done very well since being in the unit, this is down to the excellent staff at bucksburn. My worry is that with less one to one help, callies progress will slow right down. I understand that the council needs to make cuts, but why should it be at the expense of our childrens education. my daughter attends base unit at bucksburn. to lose 75% of the psa staff in the unit is ridiculous. Callie has done very well since being in the unit, this is down to the excellent staff at bucksburn. My worry is that with less one to one help, callies progress will slow right down. I understand that the council needs to make cuts, but why should it be at the expense of our childrens education.

]]> Comment on Bucksburn Set To Lose Out In Pupil Support Assistant Cuts by yvonne mccomiskie http://bucksburn.info/2009/02/bucksburn-set-to-lose-out-in-pupil-support-assistant-cuts/comment-page-1/#comment-200 yvonne mccomiskie Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:47:40 +0000 http://bucksburn.info/?p=279#comment-200 Hi, Just to let you know the parents of children who are in Bucksburn base are having a meeting on Thursday with the Evening Express in attendance. I agree this affects every school in Aberdeen and it will need MP level to affect any change but it doesn't hurt to keep this in the press as it has had very little publicity to date. yvonne Hi,

Just to let you know the parents of children who are in Bucksburn base are having a meeting on Thursday with the Evening Express in attendance. I agree this affects every school in Aberdeen and it will need MP level to affect any change but it doesn’t hurt to keep this in the press as it has had very little publicity to date.

yvonne

]]>