Open meeting 7.06pm - Chairperson: Tristen Cosgrove
Welcome – Present and Apologies
Present: Simon Parson, Ruth McLeod, Belinda Lavers, Trish Bray, Anna Webster, Karen Jones, Pip Friend, Anna-Maria Ford, David Smail and Tristen Cosgrove.
Apologies: Rachel Wagland.
Previous minutes - 11th November 2014 accepted
Business arising from previous meeting/s
Secretary queried Ruth McLeod regarding the recent Parent Forum feedback, to see if draft feedback was ready for release on website. Ruth advised that the feedback report had been prepared and would be submitted to Trish Bray this week, for publishing to the P&C website.
Correspondence – In/Out
In:
nil.
Out:
nil.
Reports/Updates
President’s Report
What a wonderful year it has been and thank you so much to all those who have helped the P&C and the School this year and for some for many years.
I sincerely thank all of you.
Some great news, I received a phone call from Craig Baumann, Member of Parliament for Port Stephens who let me know that we were successful in the last round of grants for Community Building Partnership 2014. We have been successful for $5,500 for a covered walkway being the part between the most recent covered walkway and the COLA i.e. the bit over the stairs. We were also successful with the playground – creative play spaces to the tune of $50,000. So that makes $55,500 for this round of grants and $97,500 in grants over the last three years.
A grant of $50,000 for a creative play spaces playground is most pleasing because the Fete in 2010 which raised around $36,000 was for this purpose but circumstances were that funds had to first be directed towards plans, drainage and grounds issues before the goal of chasing down the actual creative play spaces could take place. This grant will allow the creative play spaces playground to move forward in 2015. This most recent $55,500 is a really satisfying result in the overall and ongoing projects.
Craig Baumann emphasised that the school is a wonderful and worthy recipient and the project was a worthy project. We sincerely thank Craig Baumann and the NSW State Government for their support over the years and hopefully also into the future.
I look forward to the Year 6 Graduation this Thursday evening and also the Celebration Day Assembly this coming Friday.
With all the events and ongoing work in the canteen and uniform shop and in particular this year, the Twilight Markets which raised $6,750 ($6,500 for school reading resources and $250 for the music department from fabulous busking), we have had a very successful year once again. Thank you once again to all of you this year.
Merry Christmas to all.
Moved: Tristen Cosgrove, Seconded: Anna Webster.
Principal’s Report
I would like to start by thanking the P&C for your generous donation of $6500.00 for literacy resources to support the implementation of the new English syllabus and $250.00 to go toward the purchase of additional music stands. Your donation is greatly appreciated.
I would also like to thank the P&C for your involvement and support of the Year 6 Farewell, which is to be held on Thursday night. The Year 6 Farewell is always a very special event for our school community and a lot of fun for the students, too. I also thank the P&C for your generous donation of a pen to each Year 6 student leaving Soldiers Point at the end of the year.
This year’s Year 6 Fund-raising Committee has done a tremendous job throughout the year of, not only raising funds, but also preparing for the students’ farewell. The organisation of the event, the handbook, slideshow etc. could not be done to such a high standard without your support. I thank and congratulate the committee for their efforts.
Yesterday, I observed twenty-six potential candidates striving for a position on the 2015 Student Representative Council. To have so many students nominating for a leadership position is a wonderful reflection on the confidence of our students. I was exceedingly impressed with the quality of our students’ addresses to their peers and look forward to working with our new SRC in 2015.
In 2015 we will introduce a minor change to our student leadership structure which has been brought about from the input of our 2014 school leaders. We will continue to have 8 student leaders for the school, however a decision has been made to have two captains - 1 male and 1 female, as opposed to the previous ‘first past the post’ system.
The rationale behind this decision is twofold:
•Firstly, we asked the question, why has it been 7 years since we have had a female school captain. The conclusion we came to was simply that we always have fewer boys nominate for a position on the SRC, which often leads to a concentrated vote amongst our male candidates mostly by our male students; and
•Apart from the title of captain, there is no major distinction between the role of captain & vice-captain. I would like to acknowledge our current SRC for their input and insight, along with Ms Pawley, who has worked very closely with this year’s Council. Student reports will be sent home this Friday, December 12, with your child.
The staff and I have been working very hard on the School Plan 2015-2017 which is edging closer to completion and we’re really happy with how the Plan is progressing. Ruth may elaborate on this in the SIFC Report.
Toward 2015 - at this stage our anticipated student population will be in the vicinity of 363 students, which is a little more than we currently have. The staff and I have drafted a class structure based on a 14 class model. This may alter but we won’t know for certain until the end of Week 1, 2015, when our population should be stable.
I am currently working on the staffing arrangements for 2015, which may see a little change.
In last week’s newsletter I included the prices of the 2015 Book Packs. The costs are similar in ES1, S2 and S3, with a slight decrease in Stage 1. It is intended that the Book Packs will provide all necessary stationery for every child. As always, financial assistance will be available for families through application.
We now look forward to our Celebration Day which will be held Friday, December 12. As you will have read in the newsletter, Celebration Day will involve numerous student performances, which I trust you’ll find entertaining, not to mention a report from the P&C president which will also be riveting.
Behind these performances are many, many hours of preparation by the students and our teachers and I would like to thank all of my staff for their selfless commitment to our students and guiding them to success in so many ways.
Similarly, I thank our support staff in the office, assist individual students in the classrooms and keep our rooms and grounds maintained. They do an awesome job and I’m really fortunate to have such a wonderfully caring and capable team around me.
Earlier this term we carried out the Parent Satisfaction Survey which provided us with valuable feedback from the wider community. I sincerely thank you for being constructive with your input and assure you it will be used to guide our school to future improvement.
Some of the findings will be included in the 2014 Annual School Report, which will be released at the end of Term 1, 2015, as well as in the School Plan 2015-2017.
Term 4 will conclude for students on Wednesday, December 17, while the staff will be finishing on Friday, December 19, as we have SDD’s on the last two days of the year.
Term 1, 2015, will commence on Wednesday, January 28, for all students in Years 1-6.
Kindergarten students will undertake their Best Start assessment from Wednesday, January 28 through to Friday, January 30.
When students return next year they will go into their current 2014 class for the first week or so before we can finalise the make-up of each class. I expect and hope we will be able to move into our new classes by the end of Week 1.
Once again, I thank the P&C and the parents of Soldiers Point Public School for their continued support throughout 2014. It has been an amazing year for our community, particularly with the extensive works on the school grounds with the Creative Play Spaces project and the announcement that we will be receiving a new library. Both facilities will add the quality of our school environment.
On behalf of the staff & students I thank you for your time, effort and contributions which have added to the success of 2014. I look forward to working closely with you again next year as we continue to build on the foundations laid over the past few years.
I wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy holiday with your families.
Moved: Simon Parson, Seconded: David Smail.
It is also mentioned, by Simon Parson, on behalf of Rachel Wagland, that the production and performance of a SPPS School Musical has been planned for 2015. Mrs Wagland is currently writing the script. When school begins in 2015 we will look to the wider community for support in the preparations of the musical (for props, backgrounds etc). It is earmarked to be held in Term 3, 2015.
Treasurer’s Report
Current Bank Balances as of today:
*P&C account $9,768.98
*Canteen account $5,933.78
*Petty Cash $106.16
*Uniform account $9,474.58
P&C Account: P&C Donation was delivered to the school from the proceeds of the Twilight Markets for $6,750 on Friday 5 December. The donation is to be split $6500 to go towards school resources, specifically for English Curriculum and $250 towards the music department for music stands. After this cheque is cleared, it will bring our balance down to $3018.98.
Canteen Account: The balance after November and December invoices and payroll for the current week is $2338.63. An insurance claim has been reviewed and will be submitted tomorrow, for the spoilage of food from the electricity outage that occurred on 23 November. Thanks to Deanne and Paula for completing the paperwork.
Thank you to Deanne Cosgrove for assisting in the payment of canteen invoices and payroll this year. Deanne has been of great assistance to the Treasurers position.
Moved: David Smail, Seconded: Anna Webster.
Canteen Committee Report
No report. Discussion held between Canteen Committee members Karen Jones and Belinda Lavers, with the P&C regarding Pest Control follow up, and the situation regarding the screen door & the flyscreens requiring repair.
It is suggested that the flyscreens on the canteen windows would be considered a school asset, and therefore the P&C requested that the school might look to the school assets resources to replace those screens. Simon Parson agrees to follow up on this request.
Uniform Committee Report
Current Balance: $9474.58
Deposit today: $ 487.00
Payments this month: $ 740.60
Total: $9220.98
Payments due next month:$ NIL
Extended Credit (Feb 2015)$9346.13
Total:($125.15)
I have just received the last extended credit order of stock from LWReid, this consisted mainly of short sleeve shirts. I anticipate having sufficient stock for the very busy period we have at the beginning of the year.
I opened up the Uniform Shop for the O/C Class Information Session on Tuesday 25 November 2014 but I only had one parent come to the shop for information and purchase of uniforms. We have since that day had further sales for O/C Class students.
There has been around 30 sales for Kindy 2015 students.
A very special thank you to Karen Jones and Brooke Hill who have continued to volunteer their time to help to keep the Uniform Shop running efficiently for the past year.
Discussion by Ruth McLeod with the P&C regarding Feedback from Parent Forum.
Note: This feedback is now available to be viewed on the P&C website at this link: http://sppspc.weebly.com/sifc_forum1114.html
along with the SIFC December meeting minutes: http://sppspc.weebly.com/sifc_031214.html
Moved: Ruth McLeod, Seconded: Trish Bray.
Fundraising Committee Report:
With the year drawing to a close, the next scheduled P&C event for SPPS, is Tea & Tissues on the 2nd February 2015. As you know, we hold this morning tea each year for parents on their child’s first day of Kindergarten. We ask our current Infants (K-2) Parents to assist by attending on the day (8:30-10:30am) to help greet and mingle with the new Kindy Parents. Notes have gone home to this effect, requesting food items for the morning tea, and the assistance of Infants school parents who can attend. Danielle Robinson (DSTA) is working hard on this event too, and has spoken to some of the Defence Families who may be able to attend and assist also. Invites to the Tea & Tissues Morning Tea have been provided to the office, to distribute to the new Kindy families joining us in 2015. Thank you to the office for their help in this correspondence.
Soon after Tea & Tissues we generally host the Welcome BBQ, and then map out a Fundraising & Events calendar for the year.
As this occurs quite early in the year, we would like to put the word out now (and in the final newsletter of 2014) that for the 2015 planning of Events & Fundraisers we would invite as many parents as possible to have their views and ideas heard, and/or to be kept closely in-the-loop as to what we may run. We acknowledge that many parents find getting to the P&C monthly meetings difficult, but may still be keen to be involved in planning and volunteering in areas they can for the Events & Fundraisers we have at SPPS.
The informal fundraising committee that we had in the lead up to the Twilight Markets was a great start to this concept. We will invite all parents, through the newsletter, and via email to all who have already submitted their email address to the P&C for this purpose, to ‘link-in’ with us as a group who then contribute the ideas and eventual hosting of the events and fundraisers that will run in 2015. We saw the success of using Facebook as a communication tool for the Twilight Markets planning and promotion, so would like to use it again. We may also hold an occasional ‘sub- committee’ daytime meeting. We hope that this inclusion of more parents with more ideas will allow us to report back to the P&C monthly meetings with some fresh new ideas and the helping hands enlisted to make things happen.
We realise that final approval on events & fundraisers are to be cleared by the school and the P&C in the setting of a P&C monthly meeting, particularly in terms of dates and times for proposed events.
With this in mind, we would like to earmark a potential date and main details for the Welcome BBQ tonight, for approval by the full P&C, and then perhaps open up the finer details of the event to be discussed via email with the wider group, over the next week or so.
We look forward to 2015, and thank everyone who has helped in the Events & Fundraisers held at SPPS over the past year.
Moved: Trish Bray & Anna Webster, Seconded: Anna- Maria Ford.
Note: a date of 27 February 2015 is proposed, and approved, for the 2015 Welcome BBQ.
General Business
Tea & Tissues volunteers notes to be collected from School Office prior to end of Term.
Welcome BBQ date proposed and approved: 27th February 2015. To be published in newsletter.
Include news of $55,000 of Grants won ($5,000 for Covered Walkways, and $50,000 for Creative PlaySpaces Playground Equipment), in final school newsletter of 2014 and at Celebration Day Assembly.
Meeting closed 8:36pm.
Next meeting – 10th February 2015 – School Administration Block