Meeting opened at 7:01 pm and meeting closed at 8:40pm.
Welcome-
Present and Apologies
Present: Tristen
Cosgrove, Anna Webster, Belinda Lavers, Karen Jones, Anna-Maria Ford, Ruth
McLeod, Samantha Hartmann, Trish Bray, Clare Pearson, Julie Thompson, Annette
and Craig Smith, Megan Thompson, Brenda Madden, David and Karen Smail, Simon Parson, Sue Xenos.
Apologies: Rachel
Wagland.
Previous
Minutes- 14th July accepted.
Business
arising from previous meeting/s
The slushie machine contract was presented
to the P &C. The contract that was presented was the original
contract/agreement that was signed by the P&C stating the terms and
conditions of having the slushie machine in the school canteen. Ruth McLeod
questioned if the P&C Insurance would cover the cost should the machine
incur any damages in the future. Treasurer David Smail advised that the P&C
insurance would cover it, should the need arise.
The plastic sleeves to protect school photos
are now available at the office. If parents would like these, please enquire at
the front office for one.
Correspondence
– In/Out
In: Cheque from Rotary was
received for $700. Handed to Treasurer to be banked.
Out: Thankyou letter
to Rotary for their support.
Reports/Updates:
President’s
Report
Thank you to all once again for all of the great work you
have put in for the benefit of our great School and our school children.
We have a busy time in this second half of the year and I
look forward to all of us continuing to be a productive and happy team.
Moved by: Tristen Cosgrove,
Seconded: Anna Webster.
Principal’s
Report:
I’d like to
commence by thanking the P&C for all your great support with this year’s
Open Day. The day was very well supported by the school community with I’d
estimate more than 250 visitors in attendance for our assembly and classroom
visits.
We
also had a few parents join in our walk-a-thon in the afternoon which was a lot
of fun.
I
particularly thank the P&C for your support with the BBQ lunch – Paula
& her crew did an amazing job serving so many people in such a short amount
of time.
The
day was also very well supported by the wider community through individual
donations for the walk-a-thon. To date we have received a little over $1400 in
donations which is a great boost toward the purchase of computer equipment.
Term
3 has and will continue to be full opportunities for our students with
activities taking place in the classroom, on the stage and on the field. Some
of our extra-curricula events include:
• Eight students (two from each stage) represented the
school in the Callaghan – Port Stephens Zone Public Speaking competition;
• Today and again this Friday, August 14, selected
students will be representing our school at the Port Stephens Zone Athletics
Carnival, which will be held at Raymond Terrace;
• Next week we’ll be enjoying our Book Week activities
- so start thinking about what book character you would like dress as for the
Book Week assembly on Friday the 21st of August; o The
annual Scholastic Book Fair is also running from Monday 17th August to Thursday
the 20th August. This year it will be held in the new library so it will give
everyone a chance to come and see this new learning space
o Following S2 & S3’s visit to the theatre on July
28 to see the 26-storey Treehouse, our ES1 & S1 students will have their
opportunity to see live theatre when they go along to see Cranky Bear on
September 9;
• Cardart will commence shortly with students creating
their own Christmas Card which will be sent away and printed in readiness for
Christmas;
• S3 will be holding their Games Day on Tuesday,
September 15;
• S3 will be departing for the National Capital on
September 16 & returning on September18; and
• More than 100 of our students are currently
preparing for the school’s musical – 2015: A Space Oddity, which will be held
on September 3 & 4 right here in our Hall. o This
is the first time the school has presented a school musical which clearly
provides many wonderful opportunities for our students.
o Tickets are still available for purchase from the
office.
Soon,
we will be hosting about 40 pre-schoolers who will be experiencing school for
the first time as they join us for Storytime 2015. The dates for our transition
activities are:
• Storytime: August 27 – general information
September
3 – P&C / canteen / uniforms
September
10 – Best Start
• Parent Information Session will be held on Tuesday,
October 27, in the hall.
• Kindergarten orientation will be run Weeks 8 & 9
of Term 4.
I
invite representatives from the P&C to attend the session on September 3 to
present general information about the P&C, school uniforms and canteen.
If
the P&C would like any handouts included with information we sent home with
pre-schoolers, it might pay to get those organised sooner rather than later.
As a
staff we have continued to undertake a significant amount of professional
learning throughout 2015. The main focus areas have been:
• Continuing the implementation of the English
syllabus. In 2015 we’ve had a particular emphasis on Spelling;
• We’re also implementing the new mathematics &
science syllabuses; and
• Recently, a lot of time has been dedicated to
familiarizing all teachers with the NSW Board of Studies Teaching &
Educational Standards (BOSTES) accreditation procedures.
Finally,
I hope to see plenty of Dads at our Fathers’ Day BBQ Brekky on Friday, August
28 from 7:30-9:30 as it should be a lot of fun.
I
thank the P&C and the parents of Soldiers Point Public School for their
continued support of our school.
Moved by: Simon Parson, Seconded by: David Smail.
P&C committee discussed materials/information
that can be distributed to new parents whose children will be attending
storytime and the kindergarten transition dates at the school.
Treasurer’s
Report:
Balances as at 11 August 2015:
P&C account:$60,419.96
Canteen account:$4,855.47
Petty Cash:$135.71
P&C Account
Payment of
P&C Federation $992.00
Canteen & Petty Cash Account
Pending payments:
Current
week wages, supplier payments $2,931.73
Adjusted balance of $2,059.45
Uniform Account
Refer Uniform Committee report
Moved by: David Smail. Seconded by: Ruth
McLeod.
President
Tristen Cosgrove requesteda vote for
those in favour to place the monies of $55,500 received for the creative work
spaces project into a fixed term deposit to accumulate interest until the funds
will be required for the project. All members were in favour.
Canteen
Committee Report:
Canteen report presented
by Karen Jones on behalf of Paula Browne.
I would like to thank
Dean Jones for cooking over 400 sausages at the Open Day BBQ on Friday 31st
July. I would also like to thank all the wonderful parent helpers (too many to
name) who helped serve in the short period of time we had and then help clean
up afterwards. It would be impossible to do it without you. A very big thank
you goes out to Bakers La Vie for donating all the bread for the event and to
Anna Bay Butchery for providing the sausages at cost price.
The Canteen has taken on
board some of the suggestions made by a parent regarding their concerns with
the sugar content in some of our dairy products, namely the flavoured milks and
custard. We operate under the guidelines of Hunter New England Health. I have
been in contact with their Dietician and asked for their advice. They approve
the sale of flavoured milks in school canteens as it encourages calcium intake
in our children which is just as important to good health as is sugar or sodium
intake. On that advice the committee has decided to continue the sale of
flavoured milks and custard. We will introduce plain milk in the 300ml size for
those families concerned about the sugar content in the milk products.
We are down to one small
fridge in the canteen at the moment with two fridges out of action. The Dairy
Farmers fridge is on loan and has a gas leak. The fridge will be replaced by
Diary Farmers but we do not have a time frame when this will be happening. The
double door fridge belongs to the P&C and is under consideration for
repair. I have asked other suppliers if they loan fridges to customers,
unfortunately they do not. Until we have another working fridge we are unable
to supply fresh milk to the children as we cannot keep it at correct
temperature, we have some UHT long like in stock instead.
Once again thankyou so
much for all your help.
Paula Browne
Moved by: Karen Jones, Seconded by: Belinda Lavers.
The double door fridge that the P&C own
needed $1400 for the fridge to be repaired. Canteen committee requested quotes
to have this fridge repaired, as something needed to be done quickly to rectify
this problem. A local repairman was used Woody’s Refrigeration as he was the
cheapest and quickest turnaround time. It was discussed, the committee would
need to look at where the funds will be coming from to pay for these repairs.
Uniform
Committee Report:
Current
Balance:$2115.57
Deposit
today:$ 432.00
Payments
this month:$ Nil
Total:$2547.57
I have
advised that there will be a new Uniform Price List effective from 1st
September 2015 in this week’s school newsletter.This being prior to the Kindergarten 2016
Orientation to ensure that the latest price lists are distributed.
After
reviewing the new cost prices for our Uniforms the Uniform Shop Committee has
suggested we increase most items by $2.00 to cover these new prices. This increase
will ensure that the cost of printed and embroidered items will be covered in
the event of small quantities being ordered.
Moved by:
Belinda Lavers. Seconded by: Anna-Maria Ford
Committee members all agreed on the
new pricelist of the uniforms.
School
Improvement and Finance Committee Report:
Meeting was held on the 5th August, the minutes from the
meeting can be read here:
Moved By: Ruth McLeod, Seconded by: Tristen Cosgrove.
Ruth
McLeod advised as a result of the communication forums that have taken place
the committee are currently working on changes and development to the
Kindergarten Transition program for orientation to school. It is anticipated
they will be holding an informal parent forum during the day later in the term
for parents to attend to discuss possible ethics classes and OOSCH to gain a
scope of what the parents would like.
Question
was raised from a new parent to the school about having play equipment for the
children during school breaks. The children do have some sporting equipment to
play with, a suggestion was made about play pods using recycled materials to
use for play in the interim until the creative play spaces equipment will be
completed.
The
removal of the old library demountable will need to done first before the
earthworks can commence for the play equipment.
Applying
for a grant to assist with cabling and switches.
Fundraising
Committee Report:
The Events
& Fundraising Committee met last Friday for our daytime meeting, to discuss
the upcoming School Musical and how the P&C and parent volunteers will
assist.
We will focus
on 3 main areas of assistance:
1. Mufti Day
2. Weekend
Rehearsal BBQ for cast & crew
3. Performance
Nights, Thurs & Fri.
It was
suggested at our committee meeting, that our Space-Themed Mufti Day, while
promoting the theme of the Musical and building excitement for the event, could
also be a fundraiser (by gold coin donation for the Mufti day) to fund the BBQ
that the P&C have been invited to put on for the Musical Cast & Crew on
Sunday 23rd Aug. In view of this, while it would be good to have the Mufti Day
before the 23rd Aug, at our meeting we decided against the earmarked date of
12th Aug (which is tomorrow) feeling we hadn’t given adequate notice to
parents, and we would now like to find an alternative date.
We would now
like to suggest the following for approval:
*
Space-Themed and/or Flouro-Colour Themed Mufti Day on either Tues 25th Aug, or
Tues 1st Sept.
* Note to go
home to parents next week advising Mufti & gold coin donation.
* The P&C
approve a cheque in advance, or a reimbursement upon provision of receipts, for
purchases of BBQ items required for P&C to put on the BBQ on Sun 23rd Aug,
to a maximum value of $250. We presume this will easily be re-paid to the
P&C account with funds received from the gold-coin donation when later
hosting the Mufti Day.
We invite all
parents to help in the School Musical P&C Volunteers Crew.
We currently
have approx 20 parents assisting in some way, but more help is needed and will
be appreciated. We could use additional help, particularly on the Thurs 3rd
& Fri 4th, with duties such as light food prep & setting up of the
Space-Themed Cafe, handing out programs & glow sticks during the
performance, or serving in the Space Cafe at Interval. If potential helpers
could email or phone us, or connect with us on the SPPS Parents Facebook page
that would be wonderful.
Rotary cheque
received $700 to P&C assoc.
Moved by: Trish Bray, Seconded by: David Smail.
Mufty day as a space
theme has been confirmed to be held on 1st September for a gold coin
donation. To assist the P&C in funding to hold a BBQ for the crew in the
school musical.The fundraising
committee requested a cheque in advance to pay for this. The treasurer advised
they may purchase the items through the canteen account instead of a cheque to
be written, and then the P&C can reimburse the canteen of funds that were
used to hold this BBQ. Anna Webster will check with Paula from the Canteen to
arrange this.
General
Business:
Sue Xenos the principal from Tomaree High school attended tonight’s
P&C meeting discussing her commitment to providing quality education at
Tomaree High and using quality teachers in every classroom. Promoting the high
quality of education provided by the school and the good results achieved by
students attending the school. Encouraging and promoting the community to
choose Tomaree High by choice not by default.
Sue ‘s focus is on the quality of teachers providing the education and the
welfare and mental wellbeing of the children attending Tomaree High.
Is aware at the lack of resources
we have living on the peninsula and is looking at ways to access more resources
to overcome these obstacles, such as the Brighter Futures program, Stronger
smarter program.
Has acknowleged the High School requires a smoother transition program
for new students entering high school and is currently reviewing these processes.
Questions asked were: If the school has an open day for parents to
attend? Answer: They have an information evening at the beginning of the year.
Some parents raised their concerns if they couldn’t make it to the evening
session they would love to attend the school during the day to find out about
the school.
Question: What other electives are offered other than drama and dancing
as Tomaree is a CAPA –Creative and performing arts school. Answer: Visual arts,
Textiles, Photography, Design and Technology are just to name a few. They do
have a large range of creative arts electives.
P&C members Tristen Cosgrove and Ruth McLeod announced should the
school community have any further questions or would like to find out more
information please email your enquiries to the P&C and we can assist you.
School musical was covered under fundraising committee report.
OOSCH will be investigated and discussed further with parents in the
parents forum, on the obstacles and solutions to overcome.
Bus stop graffiti in front of the school has been found to be the
property of the Lions Club, and have requested it to be cleaned from graffiti
which the local council is in fact responsible for removing.
Fridge in the canteen has been arranged to be fixed and was approved by
the P&C Executive prior to tonight’s P&C Meeting. This was discussed in
greater detail in the canteen report.
Task log of the roles of P&C members is held on record. P&C
general calendar of events was discussed it is easier to be on paper copy so it
can be easily viewed at P&C meetings.
Meeting
Closed 8.40pm
Next
Meeting: 8th September 2015 in the Library at 7pm.