Tuesday, 20 January 2015

Parent Council - Meeting 6 Minutes

Date:
January 15th 2015 @ 2pm

Parents/Carers Attending:
M Harrop x2, L Reynolds, H Vincent, M Moss, L Sibanda, Wheal

·         Actions from previous meeting
Mr Drakes to try and shorten Friday briefing meeting
Parents agreed that timing was slightly better – although first day back had been late (8.45am)
Mr Drakes to speak to Key Stage leaders about
§  Drink bottles
§  Finishing by 3.15pm
§  Letting pupils go to the toilet
Parents gave positive feedback about improvements since Mr Drakes discussed the issue with staff: bottles cleaned more regularly, caps not being swapped and water changed over. General feedback was that end of day timings have improved. Parents expressed an understanding that they knew it was difficult to guarantee that every door would open precisely at 3.15pm. In some cases it does help to have a two minute difference as it allows parents to get from one room to another.

Mrs Taylor to look at putting less promotional leaflets in bags for handing out
Parents stated that there had been less evidence of flyers and leaflets in pupils’ school bags since last meeting
Include invite to Parent Council on the notice board a week before meeting
Mr Drakes forgot to put up the invite this time – but there was an invite via the newsletter and the blog

Uniform
To check the quality of school jumpers etc
Look at ordering through Tesco or Sainsbury
Marks & Spencers - set up an embroidery badge
Changes to supplier have not been agreed yet. Decision likely to be made in next 6-8 weeks as we approach new financial year

Mr Drakes to speak to parent volunteers about dates and times for them to carry out their roles
Parents have now agreed times and dates for Health & Safety walks, parent view surveys and the new pupil meetings
New date for SEN Coffee morning to be published on the blog
This was published by Mrs Hoffman and the next date will be made public soon

·         Health & Safety Feedback
o   Jean Murray completed the internal walk with Mrs Nicholls, Mr Norman and Mr Martin. Mrs Murray told parents that she had seen no significant issues. Those hazards which had been identified were minor and had quickly been dealt with by the school: finger guards for doors and trip hazards
o   External walk round due for 21st January @ 9.00am

·         Building Update
o   Plans from LA are still to be absolutely confirmed, but latest meeting outlined:
§  Old building to be demolished Summer this year
§  Two new classrooms to be added to Junior wing (first phase)
§  Bulge Year 3 class to be added from Sept 2015
§  New 2 storey building to replace old building in (second phase after demolition complete)
§  School to potentially expand to 3FE pending consultation
§  Old kitchen (Year 6 classrooms) to be demolished once new building completed
§  Parents delighted to hear that the demolition has finally been agreed. For some parents this has been an issue that has taken over 5 years to resolve and will now be completed while their child is at the school
§  Parents positive about the proposed expansion, but had concerns that personal touch would be difficult to retain and the pressures on buildings (see below)

o   Issues that will arise from building work
§  Only one hall space available once demolition commences.
·       Will be hard to schedule all the needed PE classes for the 13 year groups
·       Lunchtimes likely to be longer as there are more pupils to serve – this impacts on PE time
·       Could increase covered space by adding a shelter to playground, but likely cost to be between £40-50k
·       Would have to look at providing tracksuits for all pupils during winter months – possible subsidy for parents if they buy their own
·       Parents particularly concerned about the PE provision and how that would be managed during the year of building work. Parents want to make representation to the Council to ask how they are going to support the school.
o   Action
o   Mr Drakes to draft a letter outlining concerns on behalf of Parent Council, which parents can then sign and put to the LA

·         School Trips
o   Why do so many trips use public transport?
§  Key issue is cost. Coach into London is around £500 for the day. Travel on public transport is free.
§  Trips are already subsidized so that costs are bearable for parents, increases due to coaches would have to be passed on directly – increases cost by at least £8 per head
§  Coach trips have had issues:
·       Christmas trip to Southbank severely delayed on return due to heavy traffic
·       Coach to Kingston & Natural History got lost as driver had wrong directions
·       Coach to O2 forgot to organize parking and meant that parents had a bad experience
·       Coach for one Havering school broke down last term and pupils stranded on the A127 for two hours.

o   Action
o   Mr Drakes to ask teachers to give realistic timings for return of trips so that parents are not required to wait unnecessarily

·         Parent View Survey & New Pupils
o   Two groups of parents agreed to come and meet with new pupils to find out their views on Broadford since arriving:
§  Harrop & Moss
§  Wheal, Sibanda & Reynolds
o   Meetings with new pupils to take place on Monday 19th & Tuesday 20th January
o   Action
o   Parents to carry out meetings on agreed dates and feedback to next meeting

·         AOB
o   Concern that the boys toilets in the Junior classrooms were regularly in a mess.
o   Action
o   Mr Drakes agreed to buy some ‘target stickers’ for the toilets to try and encourage better aim from the boys
o   Parents asked for parking to be added an item to next agenda and discussed with LA in relation to any planned expansion
o   Action
o   Mr Drakes to speak to LA about ways the parking could be improved
o   Parents to contact the LA to ask


·         Date of next meeting – Thursday 12th March 2015 @ 2pm


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