Minutes from Parent Council AGM
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARENT COUNCIL A.G.M. – 23/9/2014
PRESENT: T. Thomson, N. Wilson, S. Hastings, K. Greene, K. Galbraith, L. Harvey, T. Boyd (Church Rep) A. Mullen, C. Henderson, M. Grant, J. Paterson, L. McQuade, S. Brannigan, Mrs. C. Capanni (Staff Rep), Mrs. I. Padden
APOLOGIES: J. McCallum
Nicole Wilson opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.
Refurbishment of the school will not be this year.
The Primary One children are settling in well.
Mrs. Padden thanked Barclays Bank for contributing to the improvement works for our front Reception area which has been painted and re-upholstered.
The issue was raised of how the Parent Council should spend the money we have raised. Although we contribute to buses, the P7 Outdoor Activities Trip, school ties for P1s and P7s etc, we have a healthy balance which we would like to use. We asked Mrs. Padden and Mrs. Capanni for input and they indicated the school would benefit by the purchase of a large screen and projector for the hall which could be used for lots of interactive purposes. This however would be very expensive so we discussed the idea of holding a Fundraiser specifically for this purpose in the coming months.
We would also like to consult with parents and with the children over their opinions on the allocation of any available funds and for that purpose it was agreed we could chair a small “focus group” with the children once they have discussed the matter with their class.
Grants for schools seem to be available more for equipment related to games or Health & Well-Being, partly as a result of the legacy of the Commonwealth Games but these are being applied for.
We are planning to write to the local Housebuilders regarding making a contribution to the school as there is an agreement in place that they should give back to the Community, so we hope we can involve them in the improvement of the school facilities.
We will also check with our Application to participate in the Asda “Token Boxes” scheme for local causes.
The idea was discussed for re-launching the 50/50 Club for Fund Raising for a specific target.
We discussed the expansion of our use of social media and getting our Page up and running on the school website where we plan to list a Calendar of Events and Meetings. We will discuss with Mr. Gallagher the setting up of an e-mail account for Parent Council purposes.
Election of Members: Nicole Wilson announced she is stepping down from her position of Chair Person. Joanne McCallum (currently Vice Chair) was duly elected as our new Chair Person and Tracy Thomson as Vice Chair. Lesley McQuade will remain as Treasurer and Susan Brannigan as Secretary. Frances McGrath stepped down as a Named Member of the Parent Council and her place was filled by Mark Grant.
Christmas Fayre will be Friday 5th December.
Next Meeting for the Parent Council (availability permitting) will be:
WEDNESDAY 8th OCTOBER at 6.30p.m. in the PARISH HALL.