Present
Gillian Boyle, Anne Forsyth, Charlie Jamieson, Marie-Claire Darroch, Mary O’Reilly, Callum Houston, Karen Kelly, Clare Bowes, Cllr Waters, Cllr McCaskill, J. Taggart, C. James, J. Heraghty, R. Spooner, M, McAlpine, C. McCudden, G. Bhatti, J. McLachlan, Cllr Fletcher, N. Salim, J. Devlin, P. Hessett, L. Garety, R. O’Kane
Apologies
M. Moore, Cllr Montague, Cllr Robertson, A. Friel , A.Hussain
Approval of the Minutes for the March PC Meeting
Proposed- G. Boyle
Seconded- J. Taggart
Update on Transition
C. Jamieson spoke about continuing to keep parents of OLM, Robslee and Glenwood nursery informed about the progression of the work to build the link corridor. He said he would ensure that this was done smoothly. He added that he and his staff are currently organising the transition to the new building, ensuring that the resources required for P4 and P5 will be packed up and transferred. He said that some new furniture would be ordered and that the new building would be ready for use in August.
Plans have been made for the vacant spaces and there will be some reallocation of space.
C. McCudden asked whether the P4 and 5 children would be told what to do on the first day. C. Jamieson replied that he would inform parents about which doors were to be used. He said that normally children would be introduced to their new teachers and classrooms before the end of term and that signs are usually put up outside the doors to guide pupils at the beginning of the new term.
M. McAlpine asked whether a fire drill would be carried out at the beginning of term in the new building. C. Jamieson replied that it would not be done too early in the new term as it can be daunting for the younger pupils. He said that pupils would be told about the exits in the new building.
R. Spooner asked about the huts. C. Jamieson replied that he hoped to keep one of them for use as a science or home economics classroom.
L. Garety asked whether teacher allocation had been done for next term. C. Jamieson said that it had been finalised but that teachers and pupils had not yet been informed. He added that there would be three Newly Qualified Teachers next term, one more than expected, which means that additional support practices can be offered.
L. Garety asked whether the new P4 and 5 pupils would get to visit their new classrooms in the new building. C. Jamieson said that this might not be possible.
C. McCudden asked whether a name had been decided upon for the new building and suggested referring to it as the middle school.
Raymond O’Kane, of Property and Technical Services, addressed the PC regarding the building work on the new link corridor. He said that it had been a Design and Build contract and that the design had been approved by the Education department before the contract had been awarded. He said that work had begun and that access to the building work was through the Robslee car park. Construction work will be confined to the middle area between the two buildings until the end of term, then the major break-through work will take place during the summer. A central tower will be build and the work is due to be finished by mid-November, this being a 26-week contract.
He explained that the materials to be used for the corridor are still to be approved by ERC and that the contractors were following the normal procedures in applying for the necessary building warrant. The corridor will be a timber kit manufacturedoff-site. He said that the link corridor will have heating, lighting and windows and that the cabling for the two schools would be contained within it. It will be an enclosed route which will be DDA-compliant. There will be some additional work at the entry point to Robslee to make it DDA-compliant as there is a variance in levels at the entrance there. He noted that the Health and Safety plan had been approved.
G. Bhatti asked whether it would be useful to have CCTV cameras in the corridor. C. Jamieson said this would not be necessary. R. O’Kane added that there would be security alarms.
K. Kelly questioned R. O’Kane’s reference to associated works in Robslee. R. O’Kane explained that the contractors would make the corridor DDA-compliant where the corridor enters Robslee but would not be making the entire building accessible to those with disabilities. C. Jamieson said that there will be one child using a wheelchair who will be based in the Robslee building who will have access only to the ground floor.
P. Hessett asked how the Robslee building will be accessible to those with disabilities in the period until the corridor is finished. C. Jamieson replied that alternative arrangements would be made for those two months.
R. Spooner asked about the texture of the walls in the corridor and whether the children’s work could be displayed there. R. O’Kane replied that the walls will be made of fire-retardant pinboard and that it will only be possible to display work if it was encased in special units.
K. Kelly asked about installing drainage in the grass area around the corridor. R. O’Kane said that no drainage would be installed apart from what was required in relation to the corridor. C. Jamieson said that the bad weather prevented children playing in that area.
G. Boyle asked about what state the area would be left in at the end of the building work. R. O’Kane spoke about the gravel path that had been installed and that the contractor would leave the area in the condition he found it, unless otherwise instructed. He said that the area would be seeded. G. Boyle suggested that the school should think about how the area could be developed while the land is already dug up. R. O’Kane indicated that he could help with drawing up plans for that but that they would miss the planting season due to work not being completed until November. M. McAlpine referred to the drainage problem in the area around the proposed corridor and G. Bhatti highlighted the potential risk to the huts should there be a period of heavy rain. R. O’Kane indicated that there would be a surface drain and that there would be weekly meetings with the contractor to monitor progress and identify potential issues. The Clerk of Works will be in daily contact with the contractor.
G. Boyle indicated that development of the grassed area between the 2 buildings would be key to integrating the two buildings as one campus. R. O’Kane replied that this would be limited by the budget. C. Houston suggested that it was the responsibility of the council to come up with a design that would use any under-spend to maximise educational facilties. R. O’Kane said that the contract is for the construction of the corridor and associated works but that the Education department and the school could work together to create a plan for development of the surrounding space. C. Jamieson suggested a meeting to come up with ideas for landscaping the area.
K. Kelly asked how much of the original budget would be left over. R. O’Kane replied that £930,000 of the original £1, 050, 000 had been allocated for the construction work. K. Kelly asked if the remaining money could be used for refurbishment. R. O’Kane said that it could only be used for construction work and that any refurbishment would need to come from a different source of funding. He added that any request for such funding would have to come from the Education department and not from the school.
C. Jamieson noted that the Robslee building would require a new kitchen and that that would require capital funding. R. O’Kane suggested that a bid could be made for funding from next year’s capital budget.
M. O’Reilly asked whether the same contractor could be asked to carry out the landscaping work. R. O’Kane replied that ideally the same contractor would be used. He added that the figure of £930, 000 included expenses other than the actual building work, such as architects’ fees.
J. Taggart suggested that there might be extra money available if the project were to come in over budget and that the contractor could put in some drainage. Cllr Waters said that drainage would use up the remainder of the budget and that the contract is only for the construction of the corridor. A. Forsyth suggested that the price of installing drainage might be discounted since the land will be dug up already. Cllr Waters replied that no one has discussed such a cost with the contractors.
R. O’Kane said that there would be some playground space around the corridor with some drainage going in there. He said that a price could be costed from the contractor or another contractor could be approached. A. Forsyth hoped that the council would provide guidance and C. Jamieson noted that plans should be discussed as soon as possible. J. Heraghty suggested that a brief could be given to the council indicating the school’s requirements.
C. Houston argued that a bigger refurbishment of the Robslee building should have been approved as the standard of the facilities across the campus falls short of what other councils are providing. He noted that the materials being used for the corridor were not even known yet. Cllr Fletcher replied that the facilities in Robslee were of a good standard and added that spending on building programmes had been substantially scaled back. K. Kelly asked whether funding for refurbishment came directly from the council. Cllr Fletcher replied that capital spending comes from central taxation and that there is less central support for the capital programme. K. Kelly said that the new building would require investment. A. Forsyth suggested putting a strategy together. C. Jamieson said that he and Diane Leask had looked round and spoken about what would need to be replaced in the new building.
C. McCudden noted the difficulty of planning any landscaping project when the cost of any work is unclear but that it would be useful to make a cost-effective plan for using any over-spend.
J. McLachlan suggested that a solution could be found if the school and council worked together to coordinate it.
C. Houston asked for clarity that there would be a budget left over for development of the land and suggested the likelihood of the project being over budget. R. O’Kane replied that the contractor had submitted a tender and that ERC had carried out a site inspection but that any additional costs will only become clear over the summer as the project progresses. Nonetheless, he thought it worthwhile to create a plan even if no funding should be immediately available for it.
J. Taggart asked what would happen if there was no money from the original budget left over. R. O’Kane said that there would be no money available beyond the budget but that it is not a complicated build. C. Jamieson said that he had spoken to contractors and that there was the possibility of a slight reduction in costs.
M. McAlpine asked about the deadline for bids for additional funding. Cllr Fletcher replied that the council will set next year’s annual capital budget in February. He noted that the bulk of the council’s budget is spent on education. Cllr Waters said that bids would need to be put in before August and added that the capital plan had been set for the next five years.
G. Boyle said that there were other options for funding too, such as applying for lottery funding, but that it was difficult to secure grants.
K. Kelly noted that since the playground space is so limited, installing drainage in order to increase useable playground space is a necessity rather than a luxury.
M. O’Reilly asked what would happen should the project come in over budget. R. O’Kane replied that there was strict financial control over the project and that he would have to report to the [Cabinet?] if the budget proved insufficient.
Food Sub-group
C. Jamieson had met with members of the food sub-group to discuss the food available for school meals and tuck. He explained that the school is compiling its Improvement Plan and that his intention is to build the issue of nutrition into the plan and to involve parents. Nutritionists will also be involved and the issue will be addressed by the Health Committee, the Pupil Council and the Eco Committee in order to emphasise it throughout the school. He noted that pupils from P1-3 will be entitled to free school meals.
M. McAlpine said that the snacks available at tuck did not currently promote healthy eating. C. Jamieson noted that sometimes the snacks brought into school are not healthy.
C. McCudden suggested that care should be taken not to encourage negative food issues for the children.
K. Kelly said that the menu options were governed by uptake and that other food options would need to be found. She suggested that the introduction of free school meals for P1-3 might be an appropriate juncture to address this matter.
J. McLachlan suggested that the lunches needed to be improved rather than the tuck snacks.
R. Spooner noted that the P7 Cookery Club had been successful and suggested extending this to other year groups.
C. Jamieson said that the school menus were good and were decided by ERC and not within the school. He suggested that perhaps food such as hot dogs could be made available less often. He said that the school had to follow nutrition guidelines and promote healthy options. He explained that pupils have access to free fruit three days a week. C. James asked about finding money to continue to provide this when the government funding for it stops. C. Jamieson replied that he did not think that this would be the best use of school funds. N. Salim suggested an incentive such as house points to encourage children to take the fruit. C. Jamieson replied that different incentives had been used in this regard.
Cllr McCaskill argued that it was not appropriate for the Parent Council to be addressing these issues and that parents would not welcome this interference. G.Boyle noted the remit of the group was not interference but rather about ensuring consistency between the school’s health message and the food it offers at lunches and tuck.
Achievements and Successes
Staff were thanked for their help in preparing children for their First Communions. C. Houston suggested that the seating difficulties experienced by some parents might be improved by marking out specific sections to reserve them for parents.
Confirmations had taken place in the cathedral. Archbishop Tartaglia had visited the school and Bishop Keenan will be meeting with the P7s.
C. McCudden referred to the success of Health Week, with the variety of activities on offer and thanked staff who had organised it. C. Jamieson thanked the parent volunteers who had come in to help and also thanked N. Cochrane for her efforts in organising it.
Commonwealth Games events have also taken place in the school.
R. Spooner praised the provision of after-school clubs. C. Jamieson said that badminton, cookery, tennis, cross-country and netball had been available.
The P7 quiz team were congratulated for winning the Eastwood Rotary Club Quiz.
Adrian Lau took part in the national festival organised by the Burns Federation and came first in the instrumental section.
Headteacher’s Report
C. Jamieson thanked the PC for their contribution.
The summer fete takes place on Saturday 7th June. The Matthew Carney Trophy will take place on the same day.
J. Devlin is organising the trip to Lockerbie Manor in October.
The P7 Leavers Mass will be dedicated to Enya Doohan.
AOCB
J. McLachlan drew attention to a problem with buses 8 and 9 at the hometime drop-off at Netherlee. The two buses arrive at the same bus stop simultaneously and this is causing significant disruption and risk to the children. He said that Cllr Montague is investigating this issue, which could be solved if Bus 8 goes back the way it comes.
J. McLachlan suggested some matters that the PC might look at in future meetings, such as looking at the new SQA exams.
R. Spooner suggested that there was some repetition in the school trips with pupils visiting the same places two years in a row. C. Jamieson replied that he would look at this matter
Update to minutes from C.Jamieson:
Thank you to Cllr Montague who has been looking into litter clearance in the grounds adjacent to the school and has been liaising with council officials, including the legal department, regarding this issue.
Date of next meeting: Thursday 12th June
[note: meeting was cancelled – next meeting 21st August]
