Present
Nadia Salim, Mary O’Reilly, Gillian Boyle, Anne Forsyth, Michelle Hynes, Judy Taggart, Clare Bowes, Catriona James, Cllr McCaskill, Cllr Robertson, Cllr Montague, Cllr Wallace, Joe McLachlan, Veronica Dowling, Charlie Jamieson, Paula Rogers, Mary Moore, Gerry Devenney, Marie-Claire Darroch, Christine McCudden, Roger Spooner, Brendan Docherty, Jackie Devlin, Josephine McGrotty, Peter Hessett, Jo Heraghty

 Apologies

Cllr Jim Fletcher, Callum Houston, Angela Friel, Brian Hughes, Maureen McAlpine, Karen Kelly, Lesley Garety, Gary Bhatti,

Approval of the Minutes for the September PC Meeting

Proposed- J. Taggart

Seconded- P. Rogers

A. Forsyth explained that parents had been given slightly less than the required two weeks’ notice of the date of the PC meeting. A vote was then taken to approve the meeting taking place at short notice.

Update on Traffic Sub-group

C. McCudden explained that since the last PC meeting, the sub-group had organised a banner competition and a Road Safety week (18th-22nd November). B. Docherty thought that the banner competition could be seasonal and that the banners could be displayed in the Mensa. The children would also take part in story-board activities, designing helmets, writing songs and safety walks. There would also be a mobile pedestrian crossing set up in the hall and assemblies will be delivered by the junior Road Safety Officers.

ERC had suggested that the children themselves should issue a leaflet containing traffic and parking rules.

C. McCudden said that she had been working to find out which departments within ERC have responsibility for which roads and parking areas. She had a meeting with Greg Brown, who explained that some areas were the responsibility of the Education department, and some the responsibility of the Communities and Leisure Department. A. Forsyth asked whether it would be more difficult to improve road safety given the fragmented responsibility.

C. McCudden said it was unlikely that any changes would be made in the Woodfarm pavilion car park as there was currently no budget for anything to be done. A. Forsyth asked if the authorities were aware of the risk. C. McCudden said that they were but that it was at their discretion that the car park was made available for parents of OLM and this right could equally be taken away.

C. Jamieson proposed that regarding those areas that were the responsibility of the Education Department, he could liaise with the Clerk of Works to see if any funding could be made available for improvements.

C. McCudden spoke about a cycle safety scheme, saying that if the school takes part in it, it would be eligible for a grant for a bike shelter.

Cllr Montague stated that she would investigate further these traffic issues.

P. Rogers spoke about another parent’s concerns regarding drivers parking on / dropping off at the pavement at the entrance to Eastwood Park at Eastwood Toll and drew attention to the lack of  continuous paving around St Ninian’s and the Glenwood nursery areas.

This parent reported a near miss involving her child when a St Ninians parent dropping off a child pulled on to the pavement at speed.

Cllr Montague replied that the issue of providing safe routes to school is the remit of G. Brown. M. Moore also referred to the congestion in those areas. C. McCudden noted she was already liaising with  the campus police officer on this and other issues. It has been checked that parking is definitely not permitted on the relevant section of pavement at Eastwood Toll and the Campus Police Officer does occasionally patrol there but cannot be there all the time. G.Boyle asked if we could investigate the possible use of cones on the pavement and banners for the gates at Eastwood Toll and at the top of the St Ninians path on Berryhill Road where there is also an ongoing issue with St Ninians parents parking on the brow of the hill (ie banners saying something like “parking here is illegal and dangerous”). C.McCudden will explore these issues further as appropriate with the relevant authorities.

G. Devenney noted the difficulties for cyclists around Berryhill Drive and Arden Drive. C. McCudden added that B. Docherty had taken G. Brown for a walk around those areas but had not been able to do so at times when the problem is acute.

R. Spooner suggested getting the children to write a letter to parents, arguing that it would be more effective if the children themselves understood and explained the traffic dangers.

C. McCudden said that G. Brown had suggested putting up a sign to direct pedestrians to the lane behind the Woodfarm pavilion car park as a means of highlighting the safe walking route and that the children could be involved in designing it.

C. Jamieson said that he had had a walk round the school grounds with Joanne Keenan, Health and Safety officer and that various actions points had been noted, such as the erection of 5mph signs, tree-cutting and a pedestrian crossing at the back car park beside the Islamic Centre. C. McCudden had asked G. Brown about removing the bollards at the Islamic Centre, but this cannot be done. He suggested a fake Zebra crossing without lights. M-C. Darroch wondered if the same could be done in the Woodfarm Pavilion car park.

G.Boyle thanked both C.McCudden and B.Docherty for all their hard work on these issues.

Update on Transition

C. Jamieson said that he has received updates from the architect and from Dianne Leask regarding the timeline and planning submission. The tendered documents are to be returned in December, before the award of the tender in January. It will be a 26-week contract, running from February to August 2014. C. Jamieson noted ERC’s hope that the project would be within the one-million-pound budget and would ideally  be less than this. The cost will be known in December/January. C. Houston has pulled together a list of points to look out for.

Update on the Communications Sub-group

G. Boyle spoke about the Parent Council’s Facebook page, saying that here had been occasional postings on it by the PC.  She explained that she had been working with C. Jamieson to finalise the Communications strategy. This will be included in the school handbook which is to be revised this session and G. Boyle thanked all those who had offered to help with revisions to the handbook.

C. Jamieson referred to the school’s continuing use and developments in the use of e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, the school website and GLOW. Every class has its own blog on GLOW as a means of involving the children and informing parents. Each class also has its own page on the website.

A. Forsyth suggested using GLOW to post the Road Safety information. B. Docherty said that the banners for the Road Safety competition would be put onto the website.

J. Devlin noted that every letter is put onto the school website. She also mentioned the e-portfolios of the Primary 7 pupils and how this was developing the IT and communication skills of the children.

Update on the Playground Sub-group

G. Boyle said that the Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers that have been collected had been  exchanged for toys for use in the playground  – these had been carefully chosen to be more durable  than eg fabric toys such as beanbags which had been purchased previously.

There has been no development of the Playground Helper Scheme as only two parents responded to the request for help. G. Boyle suggested widening the request to include parents who are not already disclosed.

C. McCudden wondered whether pupils from the local secondary schools could be asked to help. C. Jamieson replied that the secondary schools have a different lunchtime and that many of those pupils already help within the school, such as in the role of Sports Leaders.

J. McGrotty noted that there had been pupils from St Ninian’s, Woodfarm, Williamwood and St Luke’s in the school on placements or for work experience and as helpers during PE lessons.

C. Jamieson said he would investigate whether it would be possible to bring in secondary pupils to help with playground games.

Joint-Faith Campus

A. Forsyth referred to the ERC consultation on the proposed joint-faith campus, to be built in Newton Mearns, and the potential issues that this might raise for OLM pupils as they progress to St Ninian’s. C. Jamieson stated that the consultation process runs until 20th November. Cllr Wallace said that there would be a full meeting of the council in January, after which the matter would be referred to the Scottish Reporter, an independent body that will advise the authority on what to do, by August 2014.

C. James suggested that even if the proposed joint-faith campus does not ultimately go ahead, there might still be a new Catholic primary school and this would still have an impact on catchment areas.

Cllr Wallace indicated that St Ninian’s has the capacity to cope with extra pupils. R. Spooner said that there was currently ten percent leeway and that if there was an additional stream in a new Catholic primary school, St Ninian’s would then be at full capacity. C. Jamieson said that he had been assured that there would be no problems with capacity for catchment area children.

Cllr Wallace replied that if St Ninian’s were to reach full capacity with ten streams, then placing requests would be refused as currently around thirty percent of pupils attending St Ninian’s are placing requests. Cllr Robertson added that many parents do not understand that a new placing request must be made for entry to secondary, separate from the primary school placing request.

A. Forsyth asked whether children living in the proposed new housing in the greenbelt would be in the catchment for St Luke’s. Cllr McCaskill replied that that was a rumour but it was thought more likely they would be in the St Ninians catchment. Cllr Robertson explained that the council looks closely at housebuilding and the impact on school rolls and is generally accurate in its figures. G. Boyle said that some scepticism was understandable when despite growth being monitored , OLM had gradually become a four-stream school as numbers of catchment children were larger than anticipated.

R. Spooner asked whether it would be possible for the additional children to be placed within the catchment for St Luke’s. Cllr McCaskill replied that this would not be an option. Cllr Robertson said that it could happen and the council would have to pay for transport as it has a responsibility to educate the children.

M. Moore referred to the situation in Jordanhill, where the children living in new-build homes within the geographical catchment of the school are not given priority for a place in the school.

Cllr Montague reiterated that it was not part of the plan to send children living in Newton Mearns to St Luke’s.

G. Boyle referred to the minutes from a St Ninian’s Parent Council Meeting, in which the Headmaster anticipated problems with capacity. Cllr Robertson agreed to look into the matter.

M. Hynes anticipated that there would be trigger years where capacity would be a particular concern, such as with the current P5 year group.

M-C. Darroch queried whether there would be a reduction in the number of streams in St Cadoc’s following the building of a new Catholic primary school. G. Boyle suggested that there would have to be some redrawing of the catchment areas. C. McCudden asked how it would be possible not to allow pupils to attend if there was space in the school. C. James asked whether, in the event of a judicial review that required the council to return a school to having three streams because it had formerly been a three-stream school, the council would defend its position in refusing to do so. Cllr Robertson replied that the council would definitely defend it as it would not employ additional staff to accommodate placing requests.

R. Spooner asked about the five-year local plan and the possibility of two new primaries between Newton Mearns and Barrhead. Cllr Wallace replied that the planned housing developments had been delayed but that there would be an impact on St Cadoc’s. He referred to an area beside Mearns Castle High School as a possible site for the joint-faith campus. R. Spooner asked about the original proposed site. Cllr Montague suggested that it might be worth contacting Fiona Morrison to have these concerns addressed. A. Forsyth added that it would be wise to monitor the development of these plans.

Religious Observance in Schools

A. Forsyth spoke about an email request from SCES (Scottish Catholic Education Service). A petition had been made to the Scottish Parliament to reconsider the format of religious observance in schools, requiring parents to opt in to participation in religious observance rather than having the right to opt out, as is currently the case. A response to the petition was made by the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. SCES complained that Catholic schools had not been consulted regarding the response made by the Scottish Parent Teacher Council and was requesting the PC to pull together a response about that. The email from SCES also referred to the draft legislation on Relationship Education. A. Forsyth noted that the right of Catholic schools to preserve religious observance and to protect its curriculum should be protected in statute.

R. Spooner suggested that religious observance should be clear in a denominational school.

G. Devenney stated that there should be a forceful response on these issues so that there should be no pressures on Catholic schools in this regard.

M. O’Reilly noted that in Catholic schools, in view of the fact that religion permeates the curriculum, it would effectively be impossible to regard religious matters as a separate entity that certain pupils can be removed from. J. McLachlan agreed that this permeation was central to Curriculum for Excellence.

M. Moore asked how many children at OLM are non-Catholic. C. Jamieson replied that approximately ten percent of children are non-Catholic but that none of them has been withdrawn from religious obsevance despite their existing right to do so –  parents seem to be happy with the provision made. A. Forsyth confirmed that this was an integral part of school life.

C. Jamieson explained that the children learn about and respect other faiths. J. Devlin noted that at the thematic review, inspectors spoke to children of different faiths and received very good responses.

Headteacher’s Report

C. Jamieson spoke about the school’s continuing development of strategies to involve parents. He mentioned the Parents Evenings, school shows, masses and a questionnaire to gauge the views of parents, pupils and staff on the education the children are receiving.

A cross-country event had taken place at Rouken Glen park. The school football team had taken part in a local competition at Toryglen and a school team is to take part in the East Renfrewshire Badminton Finals in December.

C. Jamieson spoke about the Caritas Award, designed to encourage involvement in the community. He also  spoke about the Pope Francis Faith Award, which will involve pupils from OLM and St Joseph’s as they prepare for Confirmation. It is designed to promote faith in action.

C. Jamieson had also attended the opening of the new Rouken Glen pavilion. He anticipates this being a useful outdoor learning resource, such as when the P1 children are taken on their Autumn walks.

The pupils are already preparing for the Nativity plays in December. December will also see the early retirement of Veronica Dowling.

AOCB

C. McCudden asked whether a workshop could be put on for P5 parents to explain how certain aspects of the maths curriculum are taught, to enable parents to provide greater help with homework. B. Docherty said that a guide to the Maths curriculum had already been produced. J. Devlin suggested that this could be made available on the website. J. Heraghty wondered whether podcasts could also be available. C. Jamieson referred to the common methodology and terminology that has been adopted by all the schools in the St Ninian’s cluster and said that the staff involved could explain it to parents.

J. McGrotty said that Miss Dunn, one of the Primary One teachers, had videoed a pupil using phonics as a means of explaining the process to parents.

J. McLachlan explained that he is the representative for the National Parent Forum in East Renfrewshire. He provided an update on a working group of parents, teachers, members from the EIS and government representatives. The group is looking at the issues of assessment and reporting to parents. It is the first group to include both parents and professionals.

A. Forsyth said that the school would be interviewing for a new member of the Senior Management Team. She said that the PC would be required to be involved in that process and that interview training would be needed before being able to sit on the interview panel. A. Forsyth and G. Boyle have already undertaken the training. G. Devenney added that Bishop Tartaglia has requested that the church representative on the PC should be present at interviews for Headteacher and Depute Posts. C. Bowes and C. James agreed to attend the training. C. Jamieson said that Janice Collins, Quality Improvement Officer, should be able to deliver the training one evening.

Date of next meeting: Thursday 12th December 2013