Sep 26, 2017 - PARENT FORUM MEETING MINUTES .... PARENT OPEN FORUM ... this and reminded the meeting about previous even
PARENT FORUM MEETING MINUTES Tuesday 26th September 2017 Chaired by Head Teacher Mrs Commins Staff Mrs Holmes (also a staff governor), Mrs Smith, Miss Robinson (also a parent), Mrs Sykes (also a parent), Mrs Askins Governors Mr Sibley, Mr Whitworth (also a parent) Parents 18 (some parents wished to remain anonymous in the minutes so no names listed)
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION BY HEAD Delighted at how many people have attended our first parent’s forum. Purpose of the meetings moving forward are to create an open dialogue for the benefit of the pupils. MATTERS ARISING As this is the first meeting there are no matters arising CELEBRATING SUCCESS Head very pleased with the KS1 and KS2 results she shared thanks with the team and said how proud we all were of pupils. Acknowledged that all school staff have a part to play in this and over time. We are pleased to inform that our home school support worker role will continue to be funded through pupil premium. Jan Lyth is here to bridge the gap for children who need support through any transition like divorce or bereavement also self-esteem/confidence issues, mental health, wellbeing and friendships. The feedback from the families and children who used this facility last year were very positive. Jan can arrange 1:1 meetings with children to discuss and support issues, she can work with small groups on self-esteem/confidence as well as working with children and parents together. She can also work with staff supporting issues like child behaviour in class. If anyone feels they could benefit from this or would even just like to have a chat with Jan then please do not hesitate to contact the office to arrange a convenient time. Mrs Holmes shared the Power of Reading project which was run in school last year and explained the impact it had had on reading across the school. Evidence can be seen in scores. Mrs Holmes said that we don’t really mind what children read at home -it could be something like a recipe or instruction book and for parents to put notes and sign planners. We do have volunteers who come into school to read with the children. We are always glad of new volunteers so if you or someone you know would like to do this please contact the office. Mrs Askins shared the general feel and feedback from the children since we returned in September. There is a very positive and happy vibe around the school from the children with them looking forward to various events that have been planned both by school and the children themselves. (details to follow) UP AND COMING KEY EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Head We still have a vacancy for a lunch time supervisor this can either be a committed paid post or if someone prefers to be involved without the permanent commitment, we would welcome anyone doing it on a voluntary basis - please contact the office if interested. We have been unsuccessful in appointing someone due to the one hour per day in a remote village. Parent suggested maybe running a volunteer rota, so they could commit to one day a week for example. Parents to let Mrs Askins know if willing to do this.
Governors meetings are held 10 times a year and our school works with a full governing body of which there is a parent governor position available. Head reminded parents of the closing date for nominations – 6th October. PTFA meeting is at school on the 4th October at 7.30. All are welcome, the parent representatives from the PTFA announced that they have some really good ideas for fundraising and would welcome new members and ideas to raise funds to help support our children. They also want to encourage anyone who’s company fund match to get involved. Parents expressed a wish to be involved in decisions about how money raised is spent. Head to bring along outline School Improvement Plan to help prioritise areas for fundraising. Golden Moments are where parents are invited into school at the end of a topic to celebrate the work of all the children. This will now be open to the whole school on one evening each half term from 3pm to 6pm (dates have been given on the term dates list which can be seen in the Letters section in the Parent part of the website.) Celebration Assembly These are at 2.30pm of a Friday, parents, families and community are welcome to attend. (Notification will be given if for some reason it is not on due to other activities). Pupil Premium The children benefit significantly from this premium in helping fund activities. It has made a massive difference to some of our pupils. Head pointed out that there is no stigma attached and that the information is confidential. Ben Whitworth confirmed that as a governor, he had no idea who was in receipt of the funding due to confidentiality. We would encourage parents to look at the criteria and check their eligibility. Further information will follow in a separate document. Olympic sports day This is on Friday and there is a great buzz around the school in anticipation of our visit and subsequent sponsored event. Sport premium This year it has doubled to £16K (discussion to follow) PARENT OPEN FORUM 3 parents raised concerns that the school was well known for sports in the past and now this does not seem to be the case and wanted to know if we still had football and netball teams? The answer is yes but we have struggled with getting someone to run the teams consistently. They wanted to know why focus had been taken away from sports. Head said this was because we had to focus on school priorities in relation to Assessment and Curriculum – in 2015/16 and 206/17 the school had a lot to develop in teaching and learning - still had PE lessons in line with the curriculum and a healthy amount of extra-curricular opportunities in sports. The Head appreciated that she did not have the skills of the past Head to lead sports in the way that he did, but she was highly supportive of this becoming more of a priority now that other areas were on track. Moving forward Miss Richardson is now the curriculum leader for sports and has bought into a programme of sports with Tadcaster Grammar. This will allow us to bring qualified sports staff into school to prepare and help run events. One of the main problems that we have had with sports events is the cost of transport to and from venues. One idea which arose was that some parents could get together to discuss the sports. One parent volunteered his time to meet. If you would like to do this too, please let the office know. Head mentioned that another parent had offered to meet up and so it would be good to work together. Mrs Askins is looking into the viability of restarting swimming lessons after October half term, she is liaising with Tadcaster pool about numbers, the main problem is again the cost of transport if parents do not help with this. The school lost a substantial amount of money last year due to unpaid contributions.
Links with the community and church A couple of parents said they were disappointed that the carol service and harvest festival was not held at the church as they felt it gave a more community feeling to the school. Head explained that last year the Remembrance service was held in there, but unfortunately, the Christmas event had to be cancelled, but that it is still important to the school - we do have links – Rev Coates comes into school every Thursday. We struggle to fit the whole school in there now with families too, but will look at what we can do. We have to take into consideration all faiths and beliefs but will take on board what has been said and look at the possibility of continuing the school tradition of events at the church. The PTFA said that they will have a further discussion regarding events in the community at their meeting. It was suggested that we should open our doors more to people who do not have children but would want to support the school. Head is very open to this and reminded the meeting about previous events such as apple day, Harvest contributions to the elderly in the village and Christmas Fair. Thanks were offered to Mrs Rawson and Mr Rawson for their community Walk event. Notice board. Parents thought it would be useful to have a notice board at the side of the school where parents enter to drop off/collect their children. One of our parents volunteered to keep this board up to date. Head agreed that it would be a positive move. PTFA are keen to resume their fundraising activities for which we are very grateful. They need some new members and it was suggested that maybe we should have a parent representative from each class. If you are interested contact the PTFA or attend the meeting on the 4 th. Access to school A few parents are unhappy about the side gate being closed and the only access being through the front gate. There are ongoing official consultations/documents/meetings with NYCC regarding the corner and our local councillor Richard Musgrave is involved. We will share the steps we will be taking once confirmation of details is with the school. The safety of our pupils/families takes priority and there had been 3 near misses at the side gate with children running onto a narrow path and onto the road. There are also safeguarding issues concerning having multiple entry/exit to school. The Head is grateful for the patience and support that people have shown. Parking A parent mentioned that she had observed police looking at how parents were parking whilst dropping off or collecting from school. Parents said that the parking was atrocious and sometimes dangerous. Mr Whitworth (parent governor) pointed out that it was not the school’s responsibility as to how parents park so the blame lies with the individuals parking. It was suggested that parents park further away and walk to alleviate some of the congestion! The school now has 2 junior North Yorkshire road safety officers in year 4 Jack and Harry. They are working with the pupils to alert them to safe use of the road and walkways. ACTION POINTS Action Find funding for / Arrange a notice board for side of the building
By Whom Head/PTFA
Timescale ASAP
Progress Quote saught by AC – taking to PTFA
Information on parent premium to be sent out to all parents.
Head / Mrs Askins
Immediate
Sent out 2/10/17
Update to be given regarding the school entrance/corner once received from NYCC.
Head
ASAP
Contact to be made with the church regarding holding events.
Head
ASAP
Sports to be a priority with the help of Tadcaster Grammar.
Head / Miss Richardson
ASAP
Parent volunteer to contact Head to arrange working party group for Sports. Positions available and help needed by parents midday supervisor, parent governor, volunteer lunchtime and reading assistants and help with sports activities.
Parent
ASAP
Parents / Community Members
ASAP
Christmas Together in church booked for December – Rev Coates – info to follow. A calendar of events sent out 2/10/17. Further meetings to be held.
