Minutes – Ardrossan Academy Eco Schools

Minutes 04/11/16

Present:

Lauren Scott, Sophie Gribben, Rachael Waddell, Mrs Gilmour, Matthew.

Parent Council

Mrs Chalmers has asked us to speak at the parent council meeting on Monday at 18:30. The S3 pupils who are to attend are Christopher, Lauren and Matthew. Sophie will represent S6. This is to get funding for the plot, and to show them the work we have done so far on it. Hopefully we will be able to apply for Youth Bank grant funding through them for equipment and a polytunnel (Lauren adds we could also buy wellies and jackets). Sophie and S3s will meet up on Monday to discuss this.

Meeting Adjourned

Minutes 25/08/16

Present:

Sophie Gribben, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Robyn Gurney, Clare Monaghan, Marie-Ann Wales, Mrs Gilmour, Erin Wigton.

Absent:

Rachael Waddell

Glow Blog

A couple of S3 pupils from the eco club have expressed an interest in helping maintain the blog, and hopefully taking over once Sophie leaves the school. They will be added as admins and shown the ropes in the coming weeks.

Social Enterprise

We are thinking of undertaking as social enterprise project this year, and are looking for suggestions. Ideas brought up were bath bombs, pickles and chutneys, cosmetics and candles; all made from allotment produce. We need to decide on the social issue we wish to tackle.

Allotment

The Pupil Support department are going to give us a huge hand in maintaining the allotment this year, as it is something the committee alone have been struggling with. We are also possibly going to set up a Gardening Group.

The Committee

Instead of meeting informally every week, we have decided to do progress meetings every month were we will get the progress of all the clubs and groups that fall under the eco committee banner. This way we will be able to stay more on top of things.

Meeting Adjourned

Minutes from Meeting with Catering and Janitorial Staff

Date: 17/03/16

Present:
Mrs Futamata, Sophie Gribben, Marie-Ann Wales, Rachel Skimming, John Blackwood (Janitor), Wendy Hogg (Canteen Cluster Manager), Carol (Canteen Supervisor).

Food Waste:
this is already being separated through the cafeteria. Notable example of good practise was Kilwinning Academy, where food waste is taken to a ‘worm farm’ to be broken down.

Packaging Waste:
Cutlery and plates are to be reintroduced to the cafeteria for main meals. Recycling machine works an this should be highlighted at assemblies. We also discussed having stricter enforcement on those caught littering the canteen with waste-possibly a ban. We need to further discuss this with the head teacher.

Litter:
Most problematic time is after lunch. It was suggested by John that we photograph the playground and canteen after this time and display it at assemblies. Carol suggested highlighting the cost of litter, and the fact you are throwing away money. A litter policy team need to be put together to address this issue, and also give a clear policy on litter which was highlighted by our environmental review.

School Allotment:
This will be discussed more with the food for life group tomorrow, but the catering staff will use any produce from the school allotment, mainly salad crops and root vegetables. They will advertise if it is being used on the day, which will be done in the canteen and on the notice board.

Prefects:
The issue of prefects was also raised at the meeting. We felt that they were sometimes not respected and could be given a higher profile. We also thought that litter picking could be included in the prefect’s duties, but this should be voluntary.

School Grounds:
There is a hazard with thorns that have overgrown, which needs to be sorted. John suggested that a new approach is needed, as currently the area will only be vandalised again. This will be discussed at the next eco committee meeting.

The next meeting will be on May 19th, Period 3

Meeting Adjorned

Minutes 17-02-16

Present:

Sophie Gribben, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Robyn Gurney, Erin Wigton, Rachel Skimming, Ben Campbell.

Apologies:

Claire Monaghan, Rachael Waddell, Marie-Ann Wales, Kalle Smith.

Potential Roles

We discussed having a rotation for the minutes secretary , and Erin would like to be one of our new secretaries.

Ben wishes to be the recruitment officer, while Rachel is happy to take on the role of Relations Manager.

Sophie wishes to continue to be chairperson.

Planning Ahead

We have devised a plan for the coming weeks

18/02/16- Meeting with Mrs Futamata, Organise Competition, Assign roles
24/02/16- Start Environmental Review
25/02/16- Continue Environmental Review
02/03/16- Finish Environmental Review, Update notice board
03/03/16- Devise an action plan

A.O.B

The competition for the Eco Code has not been decided upon yet.
Conor Monaghan has now left the committee as he is at college. Good Luck Conor!

Minutes 10-02-16

Present:

Sophie Gribben, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Robyn Gurney, Erin Wigton, Ben Campbell.

Apologies:

Clare Monaghan, Rachael Waddell, Marie-Ann Wales, Rachel Skimming, Kalle Smith

Potential Roles

We discussed what roles we should allocate members of the committee. So far we have:

Minutes secretary
Bloggers (We also considered that everyone should be responsible for this)
Recruitment Officer
Project Manager/Chairperson
Topic project managers
Relations Manager

We agreed that everyone should be responsible for evidencing their projects.

Eco Code

This must be renewed. The suggestion was to run a competition in PSE classes to create a new one, which would allow for whole school involvement. It was also said that we could use some of the money from Rag-Bag to fund a prize for the winning eco code.

A.O.B

We have agreed to get a meeting organised with staff to discuss whole school involvement in Eco Schools and Learning for Sustainability.

We are planning on running a focus group with pupils from different year groups to discuss the Environmental Review and get their input.

Awards and Qualifications

Following a meeting with our wider achievements officer, all committee members have the opportunity to undertake the following (read as: Just do it!!) ;

Saltire Award

John Muir Award

Level 5/6 Leadership

Level 5/6 Volunteering

Youth Dynamic Award

Younger pupils can also do;

Eco Youth Dynamic Award

Minutes 19-08-15

Present;

Sophie Gribben, Robyn Gurney, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Ben Campbell

Apologies;

Conor Monaghan, Curtis Kerr, Kalle Smith, Marie Ann Wales, Clare Monaghan, Rachael Waddell, and Erin Wigton.

Allotments

Robyn has enquired about allotments across from the school and we are waiting to be contacted back. Membership is free, but we are unsure whether there will be a cost for an actual allotment.

Rag Bag

There has been a second collection of rag-bag and we are waiting to hear back on the money raised from this. Last time we raised a grand total of £28.40 and we are hoping to raise more this time.

Display

We now have a display cabinet in the foyer so there will be a meet-up to redecorate it.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 26th August, period 4.

Meeting Adjorned.

Minutes 19-03-15

Present;

Sophie Gribben, Robyn Gurney, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Conor Monaghan, Curtis Kerr, Kalle Smith, Marie Ann Wales, Clare Monaghan, Rachael Waddell, and Erin Wigton.

Apologies

Mrs Crawford, Morgan Cooper and Ryan Byrne

Catch – up

The committee has now reformed after prelims so all members are expected to turn up to meetings

Rag Bag

Our indoor bank is up and running and we have ordered our first collection due to the large number of bags of clothing already.

Bins

Both our outdoor bins and our recycling bins have arrived so you will start seeing around the school soon. Our recycling bins will be put in the cafeteria for paper bags and other recyclable goods.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 9th April at Lunchtime.

Meeting Adjorned.

Minutes For 5-03-15

Present;

Sophie Gribben, Robyn Gurney, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Conor Monaghan, Curtis Kerr, Kalle Smith, Marie Ann Wales, Claire Monaghan, Rachael Waddell, and Erin Wigton.

Apologies

Mrs Crawford, Morgan Cooper and Ryan Byrne

Catch – up

Due to prelims, the committee hasn’t formally met up for a while, but during this time we have still made progress. We discussed the environmental review and also arranged a time to clean up the school garden, which would be period 7 on a Wednesday.

Rag Bag

We are now official fundraisers through rag bag and there was a bit of fun setting up our indoor bank. We have decided it should stay in the assembly all, as it is a visible place, but with not to much traffic. Rhanna and Sophie are to pin up the posters and put a notie in the bulletin.

Bins

Our new outdoor bins have arrived and our recycling bins are still to come. We will speak with the janitors to set them around the school and Marie-ann and Claire are to contact Helen Brown from North Ayrshire Youth Bank to thank them for the grant money we received and to ask if she would like to see where it has gone.

AOB

Robyn is to inquire about free compost and possibly cheap plants from B&Q to do up the garden. Councillor Gurney has been contacted in regards to the allotments across from the school.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 12th March at Lunchtime.

Meeting Adjorned.

Minutes for 11-12-14

Present;

Sophie Gribben, Robyn Gurney, Rhanna Guilfoyle, Conor Monaghan, Curtis Kerr, Kalle Smith, Marie Ann Wales, Claire Monaghan, Rachael Waddell, Erin Wigton, Morgan Cooper and Ryan Byrne

Apologies

Mrs Crawford

Bronze Award

We recieved the news that we had acheived our bronze award, ad we got a photo with our certificate.

Moving Forward

We agreed to undertake a new environmental review and discussed methods to get more of the school involved. We have a very big school, so we may select a focus group of pupils outside the eco-committee to help us with our environmental review. From this we will agree on our action plan. We are unsure whether to involve a focus group in this too.

AOB

Wishing everybody on the Committee a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 8th January at Lunchtime.

Meeting Adjorned.