Contact the parent council by email : kapc@live.co.uk
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Minutes from 7th May 2014 can be found here.
Minutes from 2nd April 2014 can be found here.
Minutes from 5th March 2014 can be found here.
Minutes from 5th February 2014 can be found here.
Minutes from the Parent Council AGM September 2013 can be found here.
Minutes from 1st May 2013 can be found here.
Minutes from 6th February 2013 can be found here.
Minutes from 5th December 2012 can be found here.
Minutes from 7th November 2012 can be found here.
SCHOOL BAG ADVICE FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS November 2012.
Minutes from 3rd October 2012 can be found here.
Minutes from 6th June 2012 can be found here.
Minutes from 4th September 2013 can be found here.
Kilwinning Academy Parent Council
Minutes of AGM meeting held on
Wednesday 5th September 2012
| Present: | T. Swan – Head Teacher, L. Sloan – Depute Head Teacher,J. Hamilton – Chairperson, A. McLaughlan – Treasurer,C. Smith – Secretary, K. Smith, S. Kruz, L. Pirrie,A. Watson, B. Kerr, C. Hedley, Y. Andrews, K. Craig,A. Telfer, A. Boyd, R. MacGregor, C. Mitchell, S. Reid |
| Apologies: | P. Cordiner, C. Bleakley |
| Minutes of last meeting: | The last minutes were received and agreed by all members. |
| Chairperson’s Report: | Jackie opened the meeting and thanked everyone for coming along to this years AGM. She introduced herself as Chairperson, Tim (Head Teacher), Carol (Secretary) and Amanda (Treasurer) to the new members.Jackie read through the Chairperson’s Annual Report which everyone had been given a copy of along with a copy of tonight’s agenda.On the election of office bearers Jackie, Amanda and Carol agreed to carry on in their roles for another year. This was proposed by Blair and seconded by Kevin.Last year a copy of the constitution had to be sent to North Ayrshire along with a grant application. It was decided that this constitution needed bringing up-to-date and Lorna agreed to look into this. Jackie thanked Lorna for all her hard work she had put in to this over the summer holiday.Lorna went on to explain that the constitution we all had been given was a copy of a model constitution taken from the Scottish Parent/Teachers Council for Parent Councils who were interested in having Charity Status.Jackie went on to explain that the wording in green was to be decided at the meeting, so she went through it with everyone.There were two changes to be made, it was agreed that in the ‘Meetings’ paragraph to change 3 members to 4 members at least 2 of whom are to be office bearers, and that in the ‘Finance’ paragraph it should read Parent Council to Parent Council/Treasurer.At the last meeting it was decided that we should look into whether the Parent Council should gain Charity status.Amanda said that from the Treasurer’s side there seemed to be no problem with this, the guidelines seemed to be very much how things are ran now.
Jackie explained to the new members that the school and Parent Council have had a meeting with Louise McCarron who has made a career out of applying on behalf of schools and groups etc. for various grants, she takes 10% (+ vat) for successful applications. Over the summer period she has bombarded Jackie with emails saying that we could be applying for various grants for example £50,000. The trouble is; the Parent Council would have to find Louise’s fee of £5,000 plus vat. This would be very difficult as our fundraising account has nowhere near enough to cover these sorts of applications. It can not be taken out of the successful award, as receipts have to be provided to the grant awarding body to prove we actually spend the grant money on what we originally applied for. We had held a short meeting before the start of the AGM about this and it was agreed that we should continue to use Louise’s services and stick to smaller amounts that we can accommodate within our budget. Blair asked if were going to stick to smaller amounts would it be of any use gaining Charity status? Jackie suggested that we have a Vice Chairman and a sub-committee for fundraising, which can meet out-with the main Parent Council. Everyone agreed this was a good idea and Russell offered to stand as Vice Chairperson, this was seconded by Blair. Lorna said that she thinks that what Louise’s expertise would bring was a greater choice of applying for grants (if we became a registered charity). There is not a lot more work involved, just the accounts for the end of the year (to a standard that they are happy with) and to be fair ‘Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator’- OSCR deal with huge charities and they are not as bothered with Parent Councils who have a turnover of a couple of thousand. This new constitution would meet OSCR’s requirements. It was decided to leave the decision on Charity status for a future meeting when more information has been found. |
| Treasurer’s Report: | Amanda reported that the administration account stands at £2,921.58p with donations to the prize giving and the homework diaries. The fundraising account stands at £539.93 thanks to bag packing and Stall at Christmas Lights the majority of which went to the Loch Eil project.Amanda had opened a pre-paid debit card on behalf of the Parent Council with £106. This was used to purchase our own Charity Collection Boxes and Retirement flowers for the retiring Depute Head, Kate McGuinness. The balance of this card stands at £10.70p. |
| Secretary’s Report: | Carol to email everyone asking if anyone is interested in joining the fundraising sub-committee. |
| Head Teacher’s Report: | Tim reported that the exam results had improved this year for e.g. 5+ level 5 credit passes or Intermediate 2 went up from 29.23% last year to 32.34% this year, North Ayrshire average is 29.99%. Highers 5.33% last year 8.72% this year, North Ayrshire average 11% this shows a big improvement, Kilwinning Academy limited by the numbers taking 5 highers this year, if the school can get 15% taking 5 highers at A, B or C this will be well over the North Ayrshire average.The Loch Eil venture proved to be very successful and was joined by Linzie Sloan the new Depute Head. It has helped the new young people to settle into the school quicker, it has allowed the teachers to have a better and faster relationship with the new pupils. There are still a fewissues with new pupils coming into the school, but not as much as in the past, they all know each other, they know who they are going into classes with – overall a great success.The school role was predicted at 840, currently it stands at 844 this is a consequence of people not getting into universities, colleges and work, and are staying on at school. This then becomes difficult for the school to provide the courses at the appropriate levels for these people.In the 6th year Tim wants pupils in at least four classes, mostly five depending upon the level they are taking. The biggest disappointment last year was to discover some pupils sitting two exams, they were not properly focusing, and were out of school more than they were in. Tim is trying to make them understand that the world outside school is different now with more people not getting into universities or college, the need to study and pass exams is greater.The school has lost staff this year for various reasons. The biggest concern is in the Modern Language Department, Spanish is none existent at the moment. There are no Modern Language Teachers which is not just an issue in Kilwinning but nationally. Tim gave his thanks to James Watt College who has given the school a lecturer for some of the time and Tim has managed to get another teacher for some of the time as well, though this is not an ideal situation.A few of changes have taken place at the school during the holiday; green fencing has replaced the walls. Pupils used these walls to hide behind, climb on or run along; if they fell then it would have been the schools responsibility.Large signs have been placed at the front of the school with the schools name, logo and school colours.There was a Health & Safety issue with the large bins situated inside the school gates, positioned right outside the Music Department, leaving a mess, a fire hazard and pupils would climb on and in them. They have now been moved outside the school gates and kept in a locked cage.
The homework diaries purchased by the Parent Council have proved yet again to be a success and they have been welcomed by both the teachers and the pupils. Tim said change in the dress code has been well received by the pupils especially with regard to “ties up”, it is now up to the teachers to keep this going. Tim has been approached by some pupils about blazers, the Parent Council was divided on this issue, though he re-iterated that it was not his intention for everyone to wear a blazer it could be used as a symbol of responsibility in the school. This is now being looked at for the Head Boy & Girl, House Captains etc. PC Sally Young is now the campus police officer. Tim is concerned over pupil safety outside the school, not just Academy pupils but the primary school pupils that have to use the crossing at the front of the school. He is quite concerned that there may be an accident with pupils hanging about waiting for their pals. Jackie suggested that there should be a crossing just inside the school gates. Tim has spoken to NAC about these road safety issues. Russell made a comment about the certificates that the pupils were handed out at the prize giving, he pointed out the bad quality and were quite boring. Tim said he would look into this. The parent Council praised Tim’s efforts phoning parents and pupils during the holidays when the exam results were out, it is a good way of encouraging pupils to do well, it gives a good impression to the pupils that the Head Teacher does care. Tim introduced Linzie Sloan to the council members and she explained that part of her remit was on transition. Last year Barry had started working with the Parent Council, Cluster Primary Heads and Cluster Parent Councils, so she will be looking to work and improve on this. Linzie said that she was delighted to go on the Lock Eil trip, it gave her an opportunity to meet all the new first year pupils, and said that with regard to the young people coming in and settling, meeting new friends etc, she has never known as few problems with a new first year and that speaks volumes about the value of the Loch Eil venture. The plan for 2012/13 is to increase the trip to five days instead of three, and change the venue to Dalguise – PGL Outbound in Perth. The cost of this is £325, but it has yet to be confirmed as to what the pupil/parents will have to pay. Linzie said that it is up to her now asap to get letters out to parents and payment cards up and running, also to get applications in to get some extra money to support this transition process. |
| A.O.C.B.: | On the subject of fundraising Andrea suggested we put together a recipe book, other council members have done this at the various primary schools and have said it’s a really easy thing to organise. This could be worth a try there are still quite a lot of Academy pupils who like cooking and baking.Amanda asked why the production of Annie had been cancelled again. Tim said that it is impossible to get enough pupils together to get the show ready for Christmas time, many of the fourth and fifth year pupils wouldn’t be able to attend due to the forth coming prelims, they would be too busy studying.New members were asked to leave their email details with Carol so she can add them onto her email list for forwarding Parent Council information. |
| Date of next meeting: | The dates for the 2012/2013 Parent Council Meetings were set for the first Wednesday of each month, in the Academy at 7.00 pm and are listed as follows:Wed Oct 3rdWed Nov 7thWed Dec 1stWed Feb 6thWed Mar 6thWed May 1stWed Jun 5th |
