Present
Gillian Boyle, Anne Forsyth, Michelle Hynes, Judy Taggart, Catriona James,  Veronica Dowling, Charlie Jamieson, Mary Moore, Gerry Devenney, Marie-Claire Darroch, Roger Spooner, Brendan Docherty, Jackie Devlin, Mary O’Reilly, Lesley Garety, Maureen McAlpine, Callum Houston, Karen Kelly, Gary Bhatti, Amir Hussain, Angela Friel, Cllr Mary Montague, Cllr Ralph Robertson

 Apologies

Cllr Fletcher, Cllr Wallace, Cllr McAskill, Cllr Waters, P. Hessett, C. McCudden, J. McLachlan

 Approval of the Minutes for the November PC Meeting

Proposed- G. Boyle

Seconded- J. Devlin

A. Hussain noted that his apologies for the November meeting had been omitted.

Update on Traffic Sub-group

B. Docherty spoke about the success of Road Safety week. St Ninian’s pupils had helped take the children on safety walks, a pedestrian crossing had been set up in the gym hall and the pupils took part in a competition to design a sign, details of which are on the school website. G. Brown will provide the money to make and install the winning sign. A parking guide, written by the junior Road Safety Officers, was also issued to parents. This is also available to view on the website.

C. Jamieson added that Cllr Montague had made inquiries about some of the traffic issues around the school but had not heard anything back. C. Jamieson had also discussed with the Clerk of Works about making some improvements but will have to approach D. Leask for funding. This work will include some tree trimming, the reprinting of old signs and the painting of new ones. The work agreed by G. Brown will likewise require funding from D. Leask.

A. Friel asked whether the changes already in place had made a noticeable difference at the drop off area. C. Jamieson replied that there had been no recent complaints on the matter.

L. Garety said that she had witnessed the situation where cars lingering in the drop off zone were preventing the buses from parking and G. Bhatti noted that people were continuing to park despite the new signs.

M. McAlpine asked whether it might be worth putting leaflets on those cars that park in the drop off area. C. Jamieson replied that perhaps the pupils could design something to be used in that manner. B. Docherty added that this had been considered before but that it was not done in view of the risk of damaging cars.

M. Moore said that because of the congestion, it was difficult not to double park, even when just dropping off children in the morning.

C. Jamieson explained that some spaces in the drop off area have been reserved for staff parking and that perhaps parents were copying this. He suggested it might be worth putting signs up to show which spaces were for staff parking. J. Taggart added that the spaces beside the staff spaces might be painted with yellow hatches rather than leaving them to look like they are spaces to be parked in.

G. Bhatti drew attention to the problem of dropping off children at a point where there is no gap to allow them to get onto the pavement. He said that in that case, parents are likely to get out of their cars to take their children to a gateway.

R. Spooner, having commended the older pupils who had been helping at the nativity plays, wondered if those older pupils could also be sent out to discourage drivers from parking where they shouldn’t, especially at busy school events. C. Jamieson said that the Junior Road Safety Officers could do that, if they were accompanied by staff.

M. McAlpine referred to the parking issues in Berryhill Drive, with cars parking on both sides of the road.

A. Friel noted that neither of the two Woodfarm car parks is very busy in the morning.

L. Garety said that there was unusual congestion on the days of the nativity plays, heightened when such events coincided with Woodfarm’s early end. J. Taggart wondered whether a text could be send to remind parents of potential problems on unusually busy days.

M. O’Reilly mentioned the problem of cars waiting around the school areas and leaving their engines running. R. Spooner added that it was illegal to do so. G. Bhatti said that this could be a risk for children playing in the cages.

Update on Transition

C. Jamieson explained that bore holes had been made in the current campus to check its suitability for excavation. He said that the planning application had been approved and had been put out to tender. It is still on schedule for work to start in January/ February. He added that it had been arranged for him to tour Robslee with D. Leask, which would allow a better idea of space, layout and size. He said he would be able to give an account of this viewing at the next Parent Council meeting.

G. Boyle asked when it would be known what was happening in the playground if the work is due to begin in January.

K. Kelly asked how many workmen would be on site. C. Jamieson replied that he did not know the exact number but that the work would take place over a 26-week period and added that a full risk assessment would be carried out.

C. Houston noted that if the contract has not yet been awarded, it would be optimistic to expect the work to begin in January. He also noted that the drawings that had been available to view were very basic and wondered how developed the plans had now become. He suggested that a start date at the end of February might be more realistic but that perhaps the work could be completed within 20 weeks, rather than 26. He thought it unlikely that completion penalties would be used. He added that the Health and Safety file and establishing the lines of security would be a four-week procedure and said that a building warrant should already be in place. K. Kelly asked whether pupils would be moved to the Robslee building in August even if the work had not been completed. C. Jamieson said that both buildings would be used in August as the space was required. He has been assured that the work will be completed on time.

K. Kelly asked whether the workmen would be disclosure-checked. V. Dowling replied that the area where the workmen are working will be fenced off.

K. Kelly asked whether the work of connecting the buildings would be done in stages. V. Dowling replied that this had not been discussed in detail. K. Kelly also raised the issue of securing the site when the building work cuts across the playground.

C. Jameson said that the work would be carried out with minimum disruption and that major buildimg work carried out before had been managed well and completed on time.

M. McAlpine asked whether there was a sub-group on the transition. G. Boyle said that there was and it would communicate information as it received it.

C. Houston asked about money available for internal building work , such as to make the Robslee building DDA-compliant. C.Jamieson replied that money is avaliable for furniture and other requirements and that such resources would be financed from a separate fund.

G. Devenney asked whether any Robslee pupils had come to OLM. C. Jamieson said that only a couple of pupils had done so.

K. Kelly asked about the security of the new campus, especially in view of the right of way that currently exists. C. Jamison said that the right of way would be moved and that a guarded perimeter would be used to create the feeling of security.

A. Friel drew attention to the problem of masonry bees around the Robslee building.

R. Spooner asked about creating playing fields on the grass between the buildings. C. Jamieson said that some work would be done there if there was money in the budget for it, or else that would be a longer-term plan.

C. Houston stated that perhaps more value for money would have been achieved if landscaping work had been included within the budget in the original tender.

Update on the Communications Sub-group

G. Boyle said that the school handbook had been developed. She added that next term the use of Facebook would be further developed.

A. Friel said that the school’s use of Twitter was working well and was proving a very useful tool. B. Docherty said that there are currently 454 followers on Twitter.

G. Boyle said that it would be useful to gain some feedback from parents on the transition to email. V. Dowling said that some e-mails were being sent back so that some of the addresses given must be wrong. G. Boyle noted that parents will need to check their e-mails because if they have provided an e-mail address to the school, then that is how they will receive all the information.

C. Jamieson said that a text could be sent to remind parents to check their e-mails, but that it would cost the school £30 to do so.

R. Spooner mentioned the Click and Go system as a means of informing parents. A. Forsyth suggested that this would not be a useful format for sending out newsletters as there is a restriction on the amount of text that can be sent.

C. Jamieson said that all information can be found on the school website.

K. Kelly suggested that people with Facebook accounts could be notified when there was a message. A. Forsyth said that the Education department would not allow Facebook to be used in that way. K. Kelly said this might be different with a closed group.

R. Spooner, noting that texts seemed to be the ideal solution, asked whether Facebook could send texts. M. McAlpine answered that it sends e-mails.

C. Houston noted that even with paper communication, there was the same problem of parents not receiving information and C. James spoke about the shared responsibility of the school and the parents.

M. McAlpine suggested issuing guidelines to let parents know the school protocol for sending out information. G. Boyle added that it might be useful to issue the diary dates in paper form.

J. Taggart noted that emails were not being sent with information for specific year groups but contained whole-school information and that parents might take time to get used to this format.

C. Houston asked whether texts would be sent if the school was closed. J. Devlin replied that texts would be sent and that the information would also appear on Twitter and on a loop on the website.

Headteacher’s Report

C. Jamieson spoke about the school handbook, saying that it had been altered radically both in terms of presentation and content. It also has a new cover. It has been sent to the printer but will require further work in the future.

He referred to the issue of playground helpers and indicated that some S6 pupils from St Ninian’s had volunteered to come to help with playground games in January.

B. Docherty led the choir in the St Columba’s Cantata, the Clarkston Gala Day and the Primary Promenade.

The second House Day had taken place and had been developed from the previous year.

The Christmas Fayre raised a great sum of money, thanks to all the efforts of the volunteers.

A statement from SCES regarding Religious Observance has been included in the handbook.

The P7 Enterprise Day is to take place on 19th December.

The Nativity plays were a success, bringing in great numbers of people.

V. Dowling spoke about Ardentinny, saying that after a tendering exercise at ERC, a list of four or five approved centres had been issued. Ardentinny was not on the list so cannot be booked again. Therefore a provisional booking has been made with Manor Adventure in Lockerbie next October. A deal was made to cover half of the travel costs, so the cost should be around £235-240, with parents having to provide sleeping bags. C. Jamieson said that Ardentinny may be involved in a future retender.

R. Spooner asked about the activities in offer in Lockerbie. V. Dowling said that there would be canoeing and an indoor climbing wall.

C. Houston asked about the other venues on the list. V. Dowling replied that the accommodation at the other venues in Lochgoilhead, Aberfoyle and West Linton did not suit the requirements of OLM.

K. Kelly asked why Ardentinny had been removed from the list. V. Dowling answered that Ardentinny had undergone refurbishment last year and that staff bedrooms had been taken away to make ensuite dormitories. The refurbishment was still ongoing at the time of the tendering process and so there was no guarantee that the proposed changes would be in place.

The provision of the trip has gone out to tender because so many schools were putting large sums of money in. Cllr Montague added that due to the laws of procurement, it was necessary to go through the tendering process.

M. McAlpine asked whether ERC had consulted the schools about the places on the list, when three or four places were not suitable for a big school such as OLM. V. Dowling said there had been no consultation. She added that the school could perhaps have carried out its own tendering process.

C. Jamieson noted that it was a three-year tender so that would give Ardentinny the time to get its refurbishment completed before it next goes out to tender.

K. Kelly referred to the natural environment provided by the Ardentinny trip. V. Dowling said that Ardentinny had provided waterproofs for the children but that the other locations would not do this.

The situation regarding Castle Toward is still undecided.

C. Jamieson spoke about the forthcoming retirement of V. Dowling and the procedure for filling the depute post. He has decided to make the position an acting post for the next few months, to be filled by an internal applicant. The permanent post will then be advertised. M. Hynes asked about staffing. C. Jamieson replied that a new member of staff would be provided to cover that period.

AOCB

A. Forsyth thanked V. Dowling for her tremendous contribution to the school and a small presentation was made to note the thanks of the Parent Council.

Date of next meeting: Thursday 30th January 2014