PARENT COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Date: 31st August 2026

Attendees: Carrie, Mrs James, Claire, Jen, Sonja, Ms Atkins, David
Apologies: Fiona, Wilma, Flora, Kathy

1. Head teacher’s Update (Mrs James)

• Current school role. The school has 49 pupils, including 6 new P1 pupils.
• Current staffing includes P1–P4 with Miss Atkins (Principal teacher), P5–P7 with Mr Rudd, Ms Lyagoba on Thursday mornings, and Mr Law on Fridays for sport. Mrs Little continues as learning assistant for the partnership. Another learning assistant appointment has recently been made using PEF funding, details to follow in due course.
• The school’s values have been updated as follows- F.A.I.R.: focus, achievement, inclusive and respect.
• School improvement priorities include literacy and writing, with an increased focus on STEM and inclusion for the start of the year the literacy in the latter end of the year.
• Play remains an important focus, staff are keen to develop opportunities for both indoors and outdoors. Andrea is expected to return to provide guidance. This includes the need for a playground tidy-up/improvement. Peter was thanked for the help already provided.
• A sponsored walk fundraiser is being organised, with funds to be directed towards playground improvements.
• The school partnership with Moniaive. One partnership activity per term is being organised, with parent transport likely to be needed for some activities. The first event will be a literacy one at Moniaive.
• There are lots of events coming up including P4 swimming, P1 learning conversations, operation safety and the residential, keep an eye on class dojo for all updates.

2. Pupil Groups and Parent Volunteers (Ms Atkins)
• Miss Atkins reported on pupil forum groups. Lindsey has offered to start a baking group, Carrie said she could help at this. It would be great if more parent helpers could volunteer, it could be anything, some suggestions were music, art and drama.
• Pupil forums are the first Monday of each month, 1:30–2:30 pm, volunteer s may need a PVG clearance but this can be organised. Get in touch with Ms Atkins if interested.

3. Treasurer’s Report (Sonja)
• Last year there was a lot of things to be paid for, including the hall let, the urns and teaspoons, forest schools and the transport for the science trip and cross country. There was also the P7 trip, ties and hoodies.
• We made £115 from the disco, £150 from sports day and £102 from the raffle, thanks to all those who donated items and baking.
• There is currently approximately £800 in cash and £800 in the bank to start this school year.
• Carrie was successful in getting £2000 from the Community Council which will go towards transport costs for this year which has been one of the highest costs to the parent council.

4. Fundraising and Events
• The next fundraiser will be at the community Bonfire Night, with the Pre School? Flashy lights and a tombola.
• The Council would like to organise more community-based events, maybe including a Mother’s Day-style event and an Easter Bunny drive. A race night and quiz/karaoke night was also mentioned.
• The Christmas Fayre is planned for Friday 27th November. Hot rolls and baking to be provided.
• To keep costs down, family tickets were discussed at £15 per family, with a maximum of 2 adults and 3 children.

5. Communications
• A parents’ WhatsApp group was discussed. Mrs James will put information out to parents.
• Carrie will look into the arrangements further, as ClassDojo cannot be used for this purpose.
• Alternative communication is needed for parents who do not use Facebook or Messenger.
• The Facebook page was discussed. A survey was generally in favour of using it, but there were not enough responses to draw a firm conclusion.

6. Any Other Business
The AGM was not held as not enough participants arrived.

The Council noted the need for additional Parent Council members and encouraged more parents to get involved.

7. Next Meeting
AGM: Monday 5 October 2026 at 6:00 pm

The AGM will be held then, the Secretary position will be up for replacement as Jen will be stepping down.

September 2026

A few updates from our Parent Council meeting on Monday evening 😊

🔥 Bonfire Night Fundraiser

Our next fundraising opportunity will be at the village Bonfire Night. Last year, more than 600 people attended, so this is a fantastic opportunity to raise funds for the school.

We are hoping to run a tombola, which is always a popular stall and should hopefully be finished in plenty of time for everyone to enjoy the fireworks!

We would be very grateful for donations of tombola prizes – anything from a bottle of wine to chocolates, biscuits, toiletries or other small prizes would be greatly appreciated. We will also need a few volunteers to help run the stall on the night. If you can help in any way, please let us know. Thank you! ❤️

🌟 Can you share a skill with our children?

We have also put a message out on Dunscore Rural looking for members of our community who might be able to support some of the school’s Monday learning groups.

We know our parents and families have a huge range of skills, interests and talents too! Whether it’s gardening, crafts, music, cooking, practical skills, sport, technology or something completely different, if you have something you would be happy to share with the children, please let Miss Atkins know by Thursday.

📅 Parent Council AGM – 5th October at 6pm

Our next meeting will also be our AGM, and we would really love to welcome some new faces.

Jen, our secretary, will be stepping down now that her son has left the school, so we are looking for someone to take on the secretary role. We also really need some new members to join the Parent Council.

As a small school, our Parent Council makes an enormous difference to the opportunities we can provide for our children. Fundraising has helped to pay for buses for trips and sporting events, Forest School, leavers’ hoodies, school ties, contributions towards days out and educational equipment – as well as lots of other extras that enrich school life.

Over the next year, several of our current committee members will also be moving on as their children leave the school. To keep the Parent Council – and all the opportunities it helps provide – going strong, we really need some new parents and carers to get involved.

You don’t need any previous experience, and joining doesn’t mean committing to everything! Even being able to help occasionally, share an idea or lend a hand at an event makes a difference.

Everything we do is about giving all of our children the best possible experiences and opportunities during their time at Dunscore Primary. We would love to see some new faces on 5th October at 6pm and make sure our Parent Council continues to thrive for the children coming through the school.

Please come along – we’d love to have you. 💙

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Dunscore Parent Council