B o w m o r e P r i m a r y P a r e n t C o u n c i l
Zoom Meeting Minutes
24th August 2020, 5.30pm
Present – Lynn Campbell, Arlene Mckerrell, Maureen McDonald, Marcin Paradowski, Amy Hannet
Apologies – Jane Deakin, Gemma Donachie
Future Meetings – Last meetings minutes have not been presented. Mishap on the chairs behalf. In future these should be sent before or with the next meetings log in details. Ask Jane to send these to all members of the committee so we can sign them off.
Back to School Update – All children have adapted really well to being back in school surroundings and enjoying it. Teachers and parents have also found the transition has gone better than expected. A questionnaire will be going out to get wider feedback also.
Parent Questionnaire – There will be a questionnaire sent to parents to gather feedback on the return to school and how they feel. The school providing snacks has been working well, the children are trying new things, all healthy, and more children are finishing their lunches. Snacks are proving costly, and the suggestion of parents paying a small amount towards this could help. One pound per week was suggested, much less than it would cost parents to provide a snack all week.
School Meetings – These don’t happen in person as there are too many staff, going to be done through Google meet.
Internet Safety Week – There will be an internet safety week after the October holidays, week commencing Monday 19th October. Important to pupils, staff and parents with a higher volume of learning now done using online resources.
Bank Balance – Marcin reports there is just over 8000 pounds in the bank. About 5,500 is from the coop fund. [Worked out afterwards as 6,200 is coop money].
Coop Spend – Some parents had flagged up the remaining money could be spent now to purchase some new outdoor learning resources, as there is now more emphasis on outdoor learning in line with new guidelines due to Covid19. It was suggested we spend in the upper area of the school. Arlene and Maureen had some suggestions to what the school are needing and will work with the other teachers to create a wish list and present to the parent council to pick from. This included things like waterproofs for upper school, mini bus hire for woodland trips for upper school, hulahoops, chalk, outdoor paint brushes and other smaller items and sensory items for lower end of school. To date we have spent 3027.30 pounds on the nursery outdoor area, 1145.35 pounds on 5 new Ipads and are in the process of purchasing a shed for storage in the outdoor area for loose parts and toys. This is quoted around 800 and should be completed soon. Leaving around 5,500 for spend [later worked out as 6,200]
Covid Protocols – Maureen ensures us there will be full transparency with Covid cases within the school. Once there are 2 confirmed cases it will be classed as an outbreak, the Local Authority and public health service would step in to decide on School closure, local or island wide, and further steps. School maintains a record of staff and pupils who are tested.
Outdoor play equipment is used for each class bubble, if these change round, the appropriate 72 hours are applied.
The school can be randomly spot checked at anytime to ensure the correct procedures are in place. There is more extensive cleaning in place. A separate cleaner is available at lunch time and some mornings to cover Janitor breaks. Staff feeling very safe at work with all the protocols in place.
Seesaw – Seesaw will continue to be primary source of contact and used for homework for the children. Thanks to parent council and the authority there are now enough ipads for the children primary 1 – 4 to each have sole use, preventing any spread of germs between the children.
Technology – In case of any future lockdown the school can now provide an i-pad to families P1-4 requiring access school work at home. Results from the recent survey shows that only 1 dongle is required and everyone has sufficient access.
All Weather Pitch – Looking to use the all weather pitch for P5-7 EM and 4-7 GME, just have to work round high school timetabled use.
Cashless catering – Julie to send out information on how to use, so parents in P1- 3 receiving free school meals can pay any milk costs.
Outdoor Area – Primary 1 / 2 , Primary 3 /4/ and Gaelic Primary 1/2/3 teachers are working on developing the grassy area on the left when entering the school grounds for a new loose parts and sensory area. Arlene to show Mathew what is required to see if we can get the digger work done.
AGM – Our AGM is set after the October holidays. Monday 26th October, 5.30pm via Zoom. This will be sent to parents through Seesaw nearer the time, and we are to put in the Ileach.
We are so excited to have been successful at securing The Digital Xtra Grant. The money received will be purchasing robotics equipment for Islay and Jura schools. Through teaching robotics, our children will learn to create algorithms, apply their maths skills, problem solve, use their intiative, collaborate, tinker with new and fun equipment and much more!
There are many skills that children are required to have developed before they begin to write. Fine and gross motor skills are very important and have a huge impact on a child’s ability to write. In Bowmore Primary School we follow The Highland Literacy guidelines for introducing handwriting. We feel that it is very important that children are physically ready to write so we spend term 1 of primary 1 developing the necessary fine and gross motor skills.
Primary 1 and 2 went on an outdoor adventure, they had to risk assess their surrounding area. We spotted slippery seaweed, wet stones, steep cliffs and very narrow paths and we talked about how to stay safe. We love problem solving and working as a team in our outdoor area.
