To All Parent Council Members

Minute of the Bucksburn Parent Council Meeting 1st May 2008 – 19:15

In Attendance: Mr Robertson, Lynn Swinton, Billy Fagan, Clair Burbridge, Anne Stewart, Pamela Allan(PTA), Dan Ruane, Katrina Henderson, Mrs Deacon

Apologies: Frances Reid, Nick Simpson, Ronnie Wright, Laura Arnott, Jean Henretty

1. Lynn gave the welcome and the meeting was brought to order.

2. Debriefing of Parent Forum 7^th April – The parent council felt that no progress was made at the forum meeting with regards to answers being given for our concerns. Continual reference to the informal consultation period was given for most questions in respect of the estates plan.

3. Parent representatives for interviewing for Head Teacher post — Billy, Clair and Lynn said they would be willing to be part of the Head Teacher interview panel.

4. Informal Consultation at Bankhead Academy — Points to be made at the informal consultation were the same points made at the forum meeting in April. The parent council decided to split amongst the groups at the informal consultation to make sure as many of our points as possible would be written on paper.

5. Parent help and Support(Jean Henretty) – Jean was unfortunately unable to attend this evening. Mr Robertson mentioned her funding may be nearing an end. Mr Robertson told the council of a teacher currently on secondment to the Scottish Government who is involved in this area and has approached the school with an interest in going further, the parent council were interested in this possibility.

6. AOB – Feedback comments. Parents have requested information from the parent council meetings to see what’s being discussed. It was decided that minutes be made available and the possibility of a newsletter was discussed. The website upgrading and in particular a Parent Council page would be another good method for this relaying of information back to parents. For the time being the minutes will be posted at the infant display board.

A suggestion box idea was put forward for parental feedback.

Pamela told us the PTA currently has 12 acts for their talent show which is enough to go ahead. They have approached a company for possible sponsorship of the netball team which would mean the netball players had proper uniform kits. This would be good for the esteem of the kids playing the other teams in the city. Clair also mentioned her company might be interested in this type of sponsorship opportunity.

There may be savings to be made with the installation of the climbing wall, a company in Aviemore seem to have better prices and also informed the school of the proper regulations covering the installation of the rubber matting. Depending on the height of the foot holds the matting may not be necessary. This would save substantial amounts to the cost of the project. Mr Robertson will check this out on his upcoming visit to Aviemore.

The school has had a correspondence from a Sgt Morrison who asked if Bucksburn would be interested in taking part in a scheme regarding parking and other road use issues. Mr Robertson immediately responded, with some enthusiasm, telling of our current troubles with parking etc. The council awaits news of developments in this project.

An email was forwarded to the school from Laura and Ed Arnott from ASCO Lifestyle. They have responded positively in a request, by Ed and Laura, for a possible partnership with the school. Local business ‘partners’ is something Bucksburn has been trying to form for some time now and the possibility of forming a bond with ASCO is great news. They have asked us to wait until July/August but the email states they are “very interested in taking up your offer of a partnership between ASCO & Bucksburn Primary School” so things look good.

7. Date/Time of next meeting: The next meeting will be held on Monday 19^th May at 19:15 in the school.

All parents are reminded that Parent Council meetings are always open to the parents/carers of pupils at Bucksburn School. Please come along whenever you want and see how meetings are conducted.

We are NOT the old school board, we ARE here to represent your views as parents/carers. Let us know what they are.