Cardonald Primary
Parent Council
Minutes – 6th December 2016
Present:
Edi Reavey - Chair
Peggy McCartney – Vice Chair
Jo Judd - Secretary
Susan McLaren
Heather Murchie
Sarita Rodriguez - Acting HT
Apologies: Pauline Weir, Karen Nesbitt, Fiona Rush, Lorraine McKenzie, Julie Urquhart
Edi welcomed everyone to the meeting.
ACTION POINTS FROM LAST MEETING:
Confirm Santa
First Aid training, disco log book
Scholastic information to Mrs Rodriguez
Portable speaker
Church service planning
Parents evenings – availability, displays, bonus ball
promotion, tombola donations
Build-a-Bear purchase
PC accounts and standing items for Foyle Foundation
CoSD – meeting to progress
Christmas Tree festival
Area Grant information to Mrs Waddell







Jo/Lorraine
Jo
Julie
Jo
Pauline/Mrs Rodriguez
Jo/Julie
Peggy
Julie
Jo
Pauline/Mrs Rodriguez
Edi
First aid training – Jo is waiting to hear back from Lynda McAlpine about a date in January.
Likely to be 5 PC members. Craigton PC would like to attend and Jo has also been in touch
with Chair at Crookston Castle to offer spaces. Agreed this opportunity could be offered to
teachers and Mrs Rodriguez expressed an interest. She noted that the school could meet
the cost. Venue still to be arranged. Jo to discuss use of Cardonald Parish with Pauline.
Mrs Rodriguez has not received Scholastic information from Julie.
Portable speaker – has been purchased and used for the first time today at choir trip to
Christmas Tree Festival.
Church service planning – Rev. McLeod returns from sick absence today so no meeting has
been possible. Church service still going ahead next week.
Foyle Foundation – accounts and standing items provided for grant application.
CoSD – Jo meeting with Ms Dougan tomorrow to discuss.
Christmas Tree Festival – a tree was provided by PC and children have decorated baubles
(proceeds to Barnardos). The Choir were involved in the opening service today.
Head Teacher’s Report
Christmas:
Letter going out tomorrow with information about events for the remainder of the term.
Books have been purchased for infants and Santa will visit. It was agreed that teachers could
spend £2 per head for Christmas parties. Mrs Rodriguez agreed to liaise with Julie about
money. The children have been practising songs for the service and an order of service
printed. Some uncertainty about seating as there are screens up in one section of the church.
Staffing:
Mrs Hall has had a baby girl. Mr McKenna is covering her post until April at least.
Refurbishment:
There are some ongoing minor snagging issues, which include re-fitting of shelving, linoleum,
securing cabling on gym ceiling and basketball hoop to gym. There is available funding
through Estate Management for additional re-decoration of the newer wing so 3 classrooms
are being painted and carpets replaced. This has to be completed before Christmas so Mrs
Sands’ room will be started tomorrow followed by Mr Bell and one other. Classes are being
decanted.
School Improvement Plan:
Glasgow Dyslexic Service is training staff in supporting wider literacy. First session is
tomorrow and 3 more in January. Mrs King is Literacy Challenge person and has been on
training. She is now training staff on paired reading and this has been well received by both
staff and pupils. Success is being measured and staff are pleased with progress in this area.
Children in P4-7 are soon starting the First Minister’s Reading Challenge. Every class will visit
Cardonald Library. The school is applying for a grant for a storyteller for the younger children.
Jo mentioned the Storytelling Centre in Pollok as an option although was unsure if still
operating.
5oth Anniversary
Final events are planned when school returns in January. These include a wall hanging
(supported by community art project) and a party on the date of the anniversary. Details of
the website will be provided so that parents can participate in the weaving if they can’t come
into the school. There will be a meeting of the sub-group in January. Edi suggested that an
invitation might be extended to former teachers and pupils who were at the service as a
number had expressed an interest in coming to the school.
Use of rooms
The Crib has been re-named the Zone and this is used for twice daily meditation, Support for
Learning groups and PE development. The Quadrangle is being used on a rota basis for P1-4s
on a daily basis. After a risk assessment it was agreed that the equipment is not suitable for
older children. Big blocks and large Connect 4 have been purchased and the children are
enjoying these. The area is also used by older pupils for outdoor learning and golden time.
A question was raised about resources bought by PC such as football table and table tennis.
Mrs Rodriguez noted that these items are still used and that there are plans for Ms Dougan to
develop this further on her return.
Seasons for Growth
Groups will start next term for children affected by loss and change. This is an 8 week
programme. Parental consent is required for children to participate.
A question was asked about use of volunteers in the school. Mrs Rodriguez noted that
volunteers come from various organisations with one example being the Bridges Project
which provides opportunities for Asylum seekers who are skilled but cannot work. Susan
noted that her work has a volunteer programme and Mrs Rodriguez said that the school
would welcome any input on financial education. Susan agreed to find out about this.
Christmas Fayre
There are a few crafts left over from the Fayre. It was agreed that the school could sell these at
the P1 carol service and to children for a very small fee.
Date of next meeting
Edi noted that the next scheduled meeting of the PC falls when school is closed. It was
proposed that the meeting be held on 7th February and that the fundraising sub-group would
meet in January.
Treasurer’s Report
No report in Treasurer’s absence.
Communications
Parent Forum – nothing to note.
GPCF – Meeting on 7th November was also the AGM. Edi has been appointed Secretary and
Julie is also on the committee. Information was provided about school libraries and Julie has a
useful contact for development of our own library. No one attended from Cordia to update on
the janitorial industrial action which is still ongoing.
Parents’ evenings’ feedback – displays were produced and prize draw organised. Contact
with parents seemed positive and there have been a few new helpers involved in the Fayre
and disco.
Parental Involvement consultation – Jo informed the meeting that she had submitted a
response on behalf of the PC in consultation with office bearers.
[Mrs Rodriguez left the meeting]
Sub groups
Fundraising
Christmas Fayre - £833 raised. General discussion and feedback:














14 helpers involved.
2 stall holders dropped out last minute.
Grotto went well. Costs were higher as had to set this up from scratch. Also selection boxes
were 75p each.
No complaints received although one comment on a lack of “buzz” this year. Possibly too
long to run it for 3 hours.
Crafts on stage were popular especially the stockings.
Disappointed by amount of tombola and home baking donations.
Communication– relied too much on social media rather than letters and texts.
Children’s crafts possibly took up too much space and weren’t as much of a draw this time.
Would have been good to have a raffle.
Bric-a-brac is a lot of work although it did make £111. Anything that doesn’t sell has to be
removed by helpers.
Stall holders – no feedback. Peggy will contact to thank them and ask for feedback.
Promotion – need to do more of this next time – posters in community etc.
Develop an events checklist for reference
Suggestion – one school has dress down day and asks children to bring in tombola
donation instead of money.
Discos:
There was a discussion about the lower number of helpers this time and whether it would be
helpful to have some guidance for planning future events.
Bonus Ball: – a few numbers were sold at parents evening but could still be promoted further.
Library
We have received acknowledgement of our grant application to the Foyle Foundation but
advised that a decision may not be reached for 4 months.
Governance Review
In November Edi attended a meeting with Maureen McKenna to go over the review as well as
a meeting in our learning community attended by 2 representatives from Scottish
Government. Jo also attended an event at the Glasgow Hilton. Concerns remain about the way
the consultation is laid out and that it is difficult for parents to understand. Edi stressed the
importance of parents responding in whatever way they feel able. The deadline for
submission is beginning of January.
AOB
None
ACTION POINTS
First Aid training
Scholastic information to Mrs Rodriguez
Funding of Christmas parties
Fundraising subgroup meeting in January
Information about work volunteer scheme
Contact Fayre stall holders for feedback
Date of next meeting: Tues, 7th February 2017 at 7pm
Jo
Julie
Julie
Peggy
Susan
Peggy