Dear All
There has been a changing of the guard this year as our longstanding committee members, Jim (Chair), Dawn (Secretary) and Julie (Treasurer), all with children in their final years at Gelston, have taken a step back to encourage other parents to become more involved with the Parent Council while they are still around to offer and provide support and guidance.
It is not possible to properly thank them all for their time and commitment over many years of service to the school and all of the pupils but we do thank them most sincerely, and hope we can continue to fortify and nurture the role of the Parent Council within the school, as they have done.
The New Committee
Some of you may know who we are already but we are aware that many will not have met us or perhaps even seen us before and so we thought it might be helpful to introduce the new committee and let you know how you can get in touch with us.
Abby – Chair
Abby can be contacted by leaving a message with the school or directly by email on abby.mcateer@ggblaw.co.uk
Justine – Vice Chair (new role)
Justine can be contacted by leaving a message at the school or by email on justinehunter@hotmail.co.uk
Pam – Secretary
Pam can be contacted by leaving a message at the school or by email on: pamshuttleworth74@gmail.com
Kay – Treasurer
Kay can be contacted by leaving a message at the school or by email on: kayd1985@hotmail.co.uk
What we are and what we do
Did you know? : All parents and legal guardians of children at Gelston Primary School are members of the Parent Council.
Not only are you members but your input and your support is vital to the future of the school and therefore to the futures all of our children too.
The Council states that the main job of the Parent Council is “ to represent the views of the parents at the school so that all parents know that their views matter, and where they feel confident and comfortable putting them forward”. Details of the duties of Parents Councils are not set in stone and so it is up to us to decide what we want our role to be within the school and the wider community. Unfortunately, a job that we no longer have a choice about is FUNDRAISING. With increasing and ever more significant cuts to school budgets both nationally and within our region unless we raise money there will be more and more fundamental things that our children will miss out on as well as some of the more pleasurable ones like school trips and parties.
Some of the things that we do:
- Organise Social and Fundraising Events
- Support the school in their social and fundraising events
- Promote contact between parents/carers and the school
- Be involved in the appointment of the Headteacher
- Discuss matters that are of interest to parents in the context of their child’s education and life within the school community
Some of the additional things that we can do if there is interest among members:
- Report on policy and budget matters
- Contribute to the school handbook and improvement plan
- Maintaining volunteer lists and/or rotas
Some of the things that the money we raise gets used for:
- Educational Trips
- Annual Christmas outing to the pantomime including refreshments
- P7 leavers and P1 welcome gifts.
- Travel expenses
- Cooking ingredients
- Outdoor skills equipment
- Accelerated reading books.
Some of the things we may have to start using the money we raise for:
- Maintenance of school grounds including weeding, hedge and grass cutting
- Play equipment
- Books and other resources
Looking forward
Starting with the very basic assumption that we all want what is best for our children and we know from experience that by coming together as parents and carers as the Parent Council we can make a very positive and significant contribution to the experience our children have throughout their Primary years through the work that we do. BUT, we can only do it if everyone gives their commitment and support. It is not fair to assume that the committee will do it anyway. We can’t and we won’t. We have jobs, families, social lives and other commitments too.
We know that some people have more time than others and that for some people the idea of having to come along to a meeting would make them run for the hills so if you wish to help and be involved but do not want to come to Parent Council meetings then please let us know and also let us know if there are particular jobs that you would like to offer to undertake.
Examples of jobs:
- Grant Applications – Mrs Lidstone-Scott has advised us already that we are going to have to get better at looking for grant funding to match or supplement our fundraising efforts. We could really use the help of someone who is already used to doing this or who is willing to take the time to find out.
- Practical help with weeding, and other grounds maintenance.
- Admin assistance within school day– photocopying, laminating, unpacking orders etc
- Providing Raffle Prizes and Hamper items
- Setting up for and tidying up after social and fundraising events
- Baking for social and fundraising event
- Putting up classroom displays
- Repainting the playground games markings
- Running a book fayre
- School uniform swap – organising and running this each time the school have an event open to parents and carers.
It may all seem a little bit daunting but if we all pull together and have a plan then we can and will make a difference to the quality of the experience our children will have at school.
Making Changes
One of the first things we would like to do is to try and make Parent Council as accessible as possible. To help us to work out how we might achieve this we have prepared the following short survey:
Click link to access survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KYGDMHL
The survey will remain open until 5pm on 10th December 2019 when it will close and we will review the feedback received. Once we have been able to discuss the findings of the survey we shall be reviewing where and when meetings are held in order to try and make sure that everyone who wants to be able to attend is given an opportunity to do so on at least one occasion in each school year. If you feel there are barriers to accessibility which are not covered in the survey then please do also let us know.
The Committee also want to make ourselves accessible to parents and carers and therefore please feel free to speak to any member of the Parent Council Committee regarding relevant Parent Council matters. We want you to feel comfortable and we want you to feel able to give your views. Our contact details are above within the introductions to the committee members.
Thank you
Abby, Justine, Pam & Kay
