MINTLAW ACADEMY PARENT COUNCIL

Minutes of AGM held in G1 at Mintlaw Academy on Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Present:   

Paul Becci    Parent, Alan Brown    Parent, Stephen Court    Parent/Treasurer, James Legge    Parent,     Stephen Jackson   Parent/Chairperson,     Mel Mannion    Parent/Vice Chairperson,     Elizabeth Preston   Parent,     Moira Smart    Co-opted Member,  Susan Brown    Member of Parent Forum, Peter Chapman   Councillor

In attendance:  

Linda Evans    Adviser

Apologies: 

 Elaine West

1. The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, and advised that the AGM would be followed by a refreshment break before the first business meeting of the new academic session.

2. Minutes of the last meeting – deferred until business meeting immediately after the AGM.

3. Treasurer’s report – Everything has been paid up to date and the balance stands at £793.12.   There were no questions relating to the accounts. 

4. Chairperson’s report – Stephen J. reported that the Authority consultation on proposed changes for the school day for all schools had been completed and that no change was to result.   The last year has been dominated by two main issues, the first of which is the impact supply teachers may have had on pupil performance and results.   The second was the HMIe inspection report, which was good.   Stephen reminded parent council members that Willie McWhirr had been confident that standards would be maintained and this had been reflected in the HMIe report.   Another highlight of the year was the selection process for the new Rector and her subsequent appointment.   Stephen then thanked all the parent council members for their support, and thanked Moira S, Peter C, and Kristopher C for their continued interest.

5. Rector’s Report
Staff 
Linda started with the good news that the school is fully staffed, although a part time vacancy will shortly be advertised in the English department.   Shirley Thomson has been appointed to the post of Acting Support Services Co-ordinator. According to the McCrone agreement this post co-ordinates the reduction of the administrative burden on teaching staff, including senior managers.  The SSC is also line manger for the support team including the janitors.
Pupils 
She commented that the children are fantastic, and at the initial year group assemblies she encouraged them to say hello or shake hands if they met her; she was pleasantly surprised that many did!
Links with primaries 
Work had already started in the further development of links with primaries, ensuring a smoother transition up to secondary
Numeracy and Literacy  
The school is starting to develop strategies for a more co-ordinated approach for numeracy and literacy across the whole school as the responsibility of all teachers.
Structure of school day
The structure of the school day for Mintlaw is still under review via an internal working group.  
Fundraising            
The magnificent total of £14k was raised at the recent sponsored walk.   This is used for mainly for transport purposes, which is a major drain on school resources.
Rock Challenge
A group is keen to take part in this.
Petrochemical Challenge
A team of four took part in this recently – a first for Mintlaw – they came a commendable 18th out of thirty.
It is a broadly science/geology based exercise where teams prospect for oil and develop their ‘finds’.
Newsletter
In future this will be sent out by “pupil post” (Royal Mail is very costly.)   The newsletter will also be available on the website.
SQA Results
Senior staff members are currently in the middle of a review of statistical analysis which forms part of the schools self-evaluative practice.   In November a “Leadership for Learning” visit is scheduled to take place as part of the Authorities Quality Assurance procedures.  Appeals data arrived in school today.   A full record of results will be available post-appeal and the analysis of these statistics feeds into actions taken in the schools Improvement Planning process..
Parents
Linda has had the opportunity to meet with quite a few parents.
Assemblies
She aims to have these on a more regular basis, as they can be useful communication tools.   (They can be used to ‘drip feed’ messages about issues such as litter, lunchtime behaviour etc).
Pupil Council
Some restructuring of this is desirable.   At the moment there is one representative from each year.   Linda would like to see this extended.

6. AOCB
i) Stephen Court had a question about trends in SQA results, and was concerned that performance in some subjects was not as good as expected.   In particular he had personal concerns about Higher English and had also been approached by other parents about this.   Linda Evans replied that an analysis of standard tables and school results was underway, and she recognised that there were concerns about English.   She pointed out that English writing was recognised nationally as the most challenging aspect for youngsters.  A need to inform and reassure parents was acknowledged, and she pointed out that constant monitoring was in place.   She also expressed the view that there was a feeling nationally that marking is a challenge for the SQA.   She added that English marking had historically often been a concern to schools, but that this is addressed by the appeals process.  Gordon Lennon, a Quality Improvement Officer, will be looking at this issue across the Authority as a whole. Linda indicated that the current performance monitoring scheme will continue to be enhanced. Every pupil in S4-6 will have a target grade which is reviewed monthly. In the monitoring process a letter is sent home in cases of under-attainment, and a discussion takes place about ‘where do we go from here?’  The school aims to get as many young people as possible a valuable qualification. An extension to lower year groups in this monitoring scheme exists in some subjects, but the information is not yet integrated into an IT system.   The school is continuing to explore ways in which ICT can be used to create a whole school system for collating and monitoring this information.
ii) Stephen apologised for taking up so much time, but he had a second question regarding the appeals process.   He complimented the SQA on the way the actual results were accessed (by e-mail or by mobile phone) and wondered why a similar system was not in place for the appeals procedure.   There appeared to be a lack of information for pupils about when the appeal results were due in school and how to access them, and this seriously impacts on UCAS applications.   He also suggested using the website for “what to do if things don’t go according to plan”.
Linda replied that there was a need to share information about estimates, and use available evidence.
She stated that appeals results had arrived in school that day, and that pupils would know by the end of the week.   This information should be available through guidance teachers.
Stephen Jackson asked about individual study plans for senior pupils.   Linda pointed out that every fifth year has to sign in for study time, to prevent them being out of class   Basically there are no “free” periods.       
iii) Parent Council Membership – Stephen Court, Alan Brown and Paul Becci are all due to stand down at the AGM in 2011, but are eligible to stand for re-election.
iv) Stephen Jackson, the outgoing chairperson, thanked everyone for their attendance, and handed over to the Vice chairperson, Mel Mannion.

Everyone enjoyed a cup of tea or coffee, accompanied by home bakes kindly provided by Moira Smart of the Happy Plant Garden Centre.

Minutes of business meeting, immediately after AGM, Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Present:   Paul Becci    Parent,     Alan Brown    Parent, Stephen Court    Parent/Treasurer, James Legge    Parent,     Mel Mannion    Parent/Vice-Chairperson,     Elizabeth Preston   Parent,     Moira Smart    Co-opted Member,     Peter Chapman   Councillor

In attendance:  Linda Evans    Assessor

Apologies:  Elaine West

1. Election of new office bearers.
Chairperson -   Mel Mannion (proposed by Alan B and seconded by Elizabeth P)
Vice chairperson - Elizabeth Preston (proposed by Paul B and seconded by Moria S and James L
Treasurer -  Stephen Court (proposed by Mel M and seconded by Paul B
 
       Mel expressed gratitude to retiring chairperson, Stephen Jackson

Stephen C. pointed out that the cheque signatories will have to be changed and that photographic ID is required.   He will instigate the necessary paperwork for Mel Mannion and Linda Evans.

Two pupil representatives are to be appointed.   Linda E will see to this.   Linda will also speak to the members of staff currently on the parent council to establish whether they wish to continue.   If not, an invitation will be extended to all members of staff.

2. Minutes of previous meeting (June 3, 2009) were approved by Moira S and James L.

3. “Dragon’s Den” type project.   All pupils are to be invited to present a pitch, not necessarily an eco-project.   It is hoped that all the children will have a voice, and have the opportunity to do something for their school community.   They must have a genuine motivation to succeed (less likelyhood of it being damaged or vandalised.)   Two or three different projects may be supported and if the ‘pot’ is kept small, realistic projects will be encouraged.
• Stephen C reported that approximately £400 is likely to be received within the next month from Aberdeenshire Council.        
• Paul B indicated that his employers, Gillanders, may be prepared to match the PC contribution.         
• Alan B wondered whether staffing is likely to be an issue.    
• Paul B suggested that formation of a sub-committee might be the best way to take it forward.
• Linda E will discuss a timeframe with members of the Senior Management Team.   Communication about the project can be done through assemblies, and pupils invited to register their interest.
• The school radio network MARS could be utilised, and it may be possible to stage something in the Drama theatre.
• It is important that the PC retains its identity in this and it should help promote the profile of the PC.   It would make a good feature for MA Matters in the Buchan Observer.

4. Work Experience – Stephen Court raised a question from an employer’s perspective.   He is in the position of having two dental practices, one in Mintlaw and one in Peterhead, both of which are run under the same strict Health & Safety guidelines.   However, one practice got the go-ahead to have a pupil on placement while the other was not sanctioned.   He had also heard that some other potential employers were put off by the paperwork involved.
• Linda E replied that 68% of fourth year pupils had secured approved placements, leaving 32% in school where they would benefit from small classes.   The Work Experience Team is a small team based at Woodhill House and they seem greatly under pressure because work experience is now an entitlement through Curriculum for Excellence.   At a recent meeting of Secondary Heads it was discussed that Work Experience should perhaps be spread out through different weeks throughout the year (for example Fraserburgh Academy pupils had their work experience week scheduled for the week before Mintlaw, placing the Work Experience Unit under a lot of pressure to deliver the relevant paperwork in time.)
• It was decided that further discussion on the subject of Work Experience should be deferred until the next meeting of the PC.  
• Wilf Weir has expressed an interest in attending one of our meetings and the clerk will send a letter inviting him to the next one.   He will be forewarned of the Work Experience item to be included on the agenda.

5. Membership of Parent Council
The disappointing attendance at the AGM was noted, and it was arranged that a list of PC members should appear in the next school newsletter.   There was also a suggestion that an article could perhaps be included in the Buchan Observer’s MA Matters pages when they next appear.

6. AOB
i) Elizabeth P wondered if some liaison was possible with feeder primaries regarding the scheduling of walk – it clashed with a similar Mintlaw Primary event, which makes collecting sponsorship difficult for families.
ii) Alan B wondered how the two existing PC vacancies could be advertised.   They will be mentioned in the school newsletter.   The clerk will provide Alan with the membership details and he offered to do a short article.   Susan F will contact Elaine West to ask if she may reconsider her position (she stood down to make way for new blood, of which there was none.)
iii) Meldrum Academy is to be the venue for an Aberdeenshire-wide meeting of Parent Councils on Saturday, October 31.   Unfortunately no one is available that day to represent Mintlaw.
       
NOTIFICATION OF NEXT MEETINGTuesday, November 24, 2009 at 7.00pm in Room B2.
Other scheduled meetings March 9th, 2010 and May 18th, 2010