Present
Anne Forsyth,  Gillian Boyle, Charles Jamieson, Veronica Dowling, Mary O’Reilly, Cllr Jim Fletcher, Lesley Garety, Clare Bowes, Josephine McGrotty, Catriona James, Christine McCudden, Cllr Vincent Waters, Cllr Gordon Wallace, Judy Taggart, Roger Spooner, Gerry Devenney, Joe McLachlan, Mary Moore, Callum Houston, Angela Friel, Jackie Devlin, Paula Rogers, Gary Bhatti, Amir Hussain, Peter Hessett, Cllr Ralph Robertson, Cllr Gordon McCaskill, Maureen McAlpine, Jo Heraghty, Karen Kelly, Marie-Claire Darroch, Nadia Salim

Apologies
Cllr Mary Montague

Approval of the Minutes for the June PC Meeting
Proposed- G. Boyle
Seconded- C. McCudden

Update on Communications Sub-group
G. Boyle spoke about the transition to e-mail as a means of communication and about the plan to set up a Facebook page for the Parent Council. It is planned also to establish a protocol for communication between the school and the parent forum. Continue reading October 2013 Parent Council Minutes →

Present
Anne Forsyth,  Gillian Boyle, Charles Jamieson, Veronica Dowling, Mary O’Reilly, Cllr Jim Fletcher, Lesley Garety, Cllr Mary Montague, Sally Gallagher, Clare Bowes, Josephine McGrotty, Catriona James, Margaret-Ann O’Donnell, Christine McCudden, Cllr Vincent Waters, Cllr Gordon Wallace, Judy Taggart, Roger Spooner, Gerry Devenney, Michelle Hynes, Brian Hughes

Apologies
P. Hessett, Cllr Robertson, S. Jouannot, J.P. Sheridan, P. Rodgers

 Minutes proposed and Seconded
Proposed- C. McCudden
Seconded- M.A. O’Donnell
Cllr Montague thanked M. O’Reilly for the comprehensive minutes taken for the PC meetings this year.

 Update on Robslee Campus
An update had been received from F. Morrison. This stated that Donald Gillies has now left his post and has been replaced by Raymond O’Kane. It explained that the work proposed to join the two campuses will be carried out on a design and build contract. It was noted that the Parent Council and the school would wish to be involved in any decisions that were made in relation to this. It is envisaged that work will begin in December 2013, but preparatory ground work will begin over the summer. It is still uncertain where the council will award the contract. It was hoped that Callum Houston and Maurice Hickey, parents in the school, would be involved in the process. The link is due to be completed by August 2014. There is also uncertainty about the costing and what additional funds might be required to complete the enclosed link, which is going ahead. C. Jamieson said that he would remain in contact with F. Morrison during this process of awarding the contract and would continue to pass on the school’s input. Cllr Wallace indicated that there is money in the council’s capital budget for the link and in response to A. Forsyth’s query about the cost being in excess of the budget, he said that if that were the case extra money may be found. Continue reading June 2013 Parent Council Minutes →

Present Anne Forsyth,  Gillian Boyle, Charles Jamieson, Veronica Dowling, Cllr Ralph Robertson, Mary O’Reilly, Joe McLachlan, Roger Spooner, Brendan Docherty, Michelle Hynes, Gary Bhatti, Brian Hughes, Jackie Devlin, Peter Hessett, Judy Taggart, David Reilly, Cllr Jim Fletcher, Elaine Holland, Clare Haveron, Julie Neil, Cllr Gordon McCaskill.

 Apologies L. Garety, C. James, S. Jouannot, P. McConnell, S. Gallagher, J.P.Sheridan, M. Hickey, C. McCudden, A. Friel, Cllr Montague.

 Minutes proposed and Seconded Proposed- J. McLachlan, Seconded- J. Devlin

 Sub-groups
IT

J. Devlin spoke about changes to the school website and referred to a pupils’ page which is being constructed. It was noted that there had been some technical difficulties, but that it would be a useful source of information for parents. She thanked R. Spooner for his help.

G. Boyle mentioned the Communications sub-group in connection with this. She suggested that there should be liaison with C. Jamieson regarding the e-mail communication strategy and would look for input on improving the school handbook. It was also stated that there should be further discussion on how the school might use Facebook and Twitter and she acknowledged the improvements to the school website. C. Jamieson said that parents would need to be reminded to check e-mails as there had been some confusion over the recent non-uniform day. He noted that it is too expensive to text parents with every piece of information.

J. Devlin stated that office staff were being trained to put onto the school website any letter that is being sent out. Continue reading March 2013 Parent Council Minutes →