Meeting opened at 7:08pm and meeting closed at 9:20pm.
Welcome- Present and
Apologies
Present: Tristen
Cosgrove, Simon Parson, Ruth McLeod, Trish Bray, Anna Webster, David Smail, Belinda
Lavers, Karen Jones, Pip Friend, Brenda Madden, Michelle Hallam, Anna-Maria Ford.
Apologies: Nil
Previous Minutes-
10th March 2015 and Annual General Meeting 2015 accepted.
Business arising from
previous meeting/s
Nil.
Correspondence –
In/Out
In: Student
requested financial assistance to represent swimming at State level.
Out:
Reports/Updates:
President’s Report
Thank you to all once again for assisting the school in any
way.
The funding for the covered walkway has not come through
prior to the end of last term as the methods have changed and I will endeavour
to have all this completed for the walkway and the playground before the next
meeting.
The P&C is investigating whether Paula has been
correctly paid and, if she has been underpaid, to rectify this. There seems to
be some confusion over award rates and which award applies. This will be sorted
out shortly and raised with the executive hopefully before the next meeting. We
will report back with an outcome in due course.
We look forward to a successful rest of the term.
Moved by: Tristen Cosgrove, Seconded: Anna Webster
Principal’s Report:
The school’s vision statement, which
reads, our school community is committed to providing a supportive learning
environment fostering respect, creativity and resilience was put to the
test during & following the recent storms.
I’ll be the
first to say that walking around our beautiful school and seeing just how much
damage was sustained by the storm was a genuine test on our resilience.
However, with the amazing support of our school community, we have been able to
tidy the site to the point where it’s a much safer place.
The staff
and I are tremendously grateful to all the families who were able to keep their
children at home as we endeavoured to clean up the school as much as possible.
We are also
very thankful to those very generous and willing parents and students who came
up to the school on Tuesday, April 30, offering assistance. This gesture is
what sets Soldiers Point apart from any other school I know.
Whilst there
is still a lot of cleaning up and a number of repairs required, we are fully
operational thanks to your help.
As I
mentioned in the newsletter at the beginning of Term 2, Soldiers Point Public
School has a new School Plan, which will lead us through the next 3 years. Our
Strategic Directions are:
1.
Successful learning through innovative teaching. This direction focuses on
learning & the learner or our students;
2.
Successful teaching through cooperative and consistent practices. This
direction focuses on teaching and the teacher; and
3.
Successful partnerships through collaboration and communication. Clearly this
direction links in closely with the P&C.
One of the
goals included with Strategic Direction 3 is to further our communication and
consultation practices through the initiation of a Parent Reference Group,
which the SIFC IS working on at present.
It is also
my aim to provide more information to the wider community about school plans
and programs. Indeed, at the next P&C Meeting I’d like a staff member to do
a short presentation on the new mathematics syllabus. I’d also like to invite
Tomaree High’s new principal to a meeting possibly in Term 3.
I would like
to extend a warm thank you to the P&C and wider community for your support
of this year’s school & community based ANZAC activities. I believe it is
our public responsibility to promote significant events such as ANZAC Day and,
as such, enormously appreciate your positive and active support. I would also
like to acknowledge our DSTA, Danielle’s involvement in these activities.
As you will
have read in the newsletter, our Year 3 & 5 students are currently
completing literacy & numeracy assessments, which is a federal initiative.
The students completed their writing and language conventions assessment this morning
and will complete the reading component tomorrow and then numeracy on Thursday.
The testing
is standardised and aimed at helping schools identify academic trends as well
as monitor student progress.
Our students
are benefitting from the Footsteps Dance Program which is currently being
offered at school. I’ve had the opportunity to sit in on a number of sessions
with different classes and have been impressed with the high level of
engagement and the delivery of the activities by the dance instructor.
The school
Athletics Carnival has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, at Tomaree
Sporting Complex. I understand Paula, on behalf of the canteen committee, has
been invited to run a canteen on the day.
The teachers
have recently completed their CPR training as part of our annual professional
learning plan. Of course, this is something we all hope we don’t have to use,
but it’s reassuring to know we have some background knowledge in such first
aid.
The teachers
are working very closely in their stage teams in preparation for writing their
students’ reports. Teachers are and will continue to moderate student
assessment tasks to ensure consistency in their professional judgement.
The school
recently purchased new & improved software to support with the preparation
of reports so, if all goes to plan, we expect to send reports home on
Wednesday, June 24.
Again, I
sincerely thank the P&C and parents of Soldiers Point Public School
students for their continued support throughout 2015. It has certainly been an
active year and, on behalf of the staff and students, I thank you for your
time, effort and contributions.
Pending current week wages and supplier payments of
$1,847.65, adjusted balance of $1,782.82
Current balance includes:
P&C Federation claim for spoilage from Storm Nov 14
Mothers Day picnic deposited
$900.20 for lunch orders and over counter sales
Picnic lunch packs profit of $455
Upcoming events to raise funds:
Athletics Carnival 20/5 (TBC)
Meal deal 5/6
Uniform Account
Refer Uniform Committee report
Canteen Committee
Report:
No report was submitted in the meeting. Karen Jones presented a brief update
-A big thank you to all volunteers and teachers involved in
the Mothers day luncheon fundraiser held at the school.
- Lock down procedures and what to do when power fails
-Allergy alert was raised with children who have allergies,
and new products in the canteen
-Free Online course on food handling for volunteers to
complete takes approximately 1-2 hours.
-A replacement slushy machine will be arriving in the
canteen after the school holiday breakwith
Port Stephens Ice covering the cost of the new machine.
-Air conditioner was discussed and has been discussed in
previous meetings also. But was decided to wait and see how next summer goes
with the heat before reconsidering putting an air conditioner in the canteen,
it is also noted for Paula to investigate whether air conditioning is appropriate
within a food handling area as per Hunter New England Health Regulations and/or
other Canteen government bodies.
Moved by: Karen Jones, Seconded by: David Smail.
Uniform Committee
Report:
Current Balance: $6175.20
Deposit Today:$263.00
Payments this month:$
1650.88
Total:$
4787.32
The Uniform Shop is well stocked with most items.
We continued to be very busy with sales since the last
P&C Meeting up until the past week where there have been fewer sales.
Moved By: Belinda Lavers, Seconded by: Karen Jones
School Improvement
and Finance Committee Report:
Discussion by Ruth McLeod with the P&C about the recent
SIFC meeting.
The next SIFC meeting
will be discussing Communication and establishing Parent Reference Groups as
per the outcome of the parent forum.
Fundraising Committee
Report:
A big thank you to Rotary for donating the profits from the
Welcome BBQ sausage sizzle & drinks. Janelle Upton from Rotary has emailed
us to let us know that they would like to present a cheque to SPPS for $500.
There is opportunity for a representative from the P&C to collect this on
their changeover meeting on 30th June at 6pm.
The Events & Fundraising Committee met yesterday for our
term 2 daytime chat meeting. In particular we met to discuss this term’s big
event, the annual school disco.
Although this event always seems to be well attended and
runs fairly smoothly, our discussions led to a few new ideas, with the
potential for a few changes to be made for this year’s disco.
Logistically, to reduce congestion at the door and save time
on the night, we will ask all for all notes and prepayment to be made prior to
the event. Names of those paid, will be ‘on the door’ at the disco, making
entry process quicker. Also, we would like to propose an earlier start time for
both disco’s. 5pm-6pm for Infants, and 6.30-7.30pm for Primary. This should
help parents with younger children/siblings, volunteers who help out for both
disco’s, and teachers who stay on for the Disco, to have an earlier night home.
(*need to check with DJ Tim Halls)
We have incorporated a Lucky Door Prize this year, instead
of a Raffle. We have a prize from White Sands Bistro at Soldiers Point Bowling
Club, so one lucky family who returns their note & pre-payment by the
due-date will win a $30 voucher for dinner at the Club, which they can use on
the night if they wish.
The meeting also discussed the idea of having more organised
activities/ participation at the disco. Some ideas raised were dance-off
competitions, zumba/dance instruction, the limbo, or activities like ring-toss
with quoits made of glow-sticks. DJ Tim Halls has often facilitated some of
these sorts of activities as part of his DJ services, but we thought perhaps we
could enlist some volunteers who would be able to work alongside Tim to help
engage the kids and get them involved in the fun. Obviously this relies on
having a volunteer or two, to lead these activities.
We know all kids have likely connected with the Footsteps
Dance team, and inviting them to lead may be an option, but it was mentioned
that we have some Zumba instructors within our school mums community, who may
be keen to volunteer their exuberance for an hour each. We will discuss this
with them and see if we can make some of these fun ideas happen.
We would also like to suggest to these instructors that they
will be able to promote their business at the disco with flyers or promotional
materials at the table.
Given the nature of having more activity occurring in the
disco room, and a bigger school community to cater for, we queried the Club as
to whether we might be able to use the Main Auditorium room rather than the
Function Room. If we hold it on Fri 19th June, as originally earmarked, we can
only use the Function Room. If we were to swap it to Thurs 25th June (the night
before school breaks up for end-of-term) we could have the bigger Auditorium.
We are checking this potential change with our DJ Tim Halls,
and hope to have the date finalised asap. This change will also be dependent on
the enlisting of Zumba instructors.
We have two first aiders we are inviting to volunteer, but
happy to hear from any other qualified First Aiders who could help if needed.
We will also advertise for Parent Helpers within the permission slip note going
home, and within the Newsletter. As always it’s lovely when some of the
children’s School Teachers are able to come and join in the fun too.
We generally raise about $1000 for the school at the annual
disco. The Fundraising Team were keen to find out what items are currently on
the School Wish List, or any Parent suggestions for where fundraising monies
can be best spent. (Question of taking a photo of teacher wish list and posting
on Facebook.) We mentioned that we knew of a need for Air Conditioning in the
Canteen, but wanted to follow that up tonight with the Canteen Committee and
P&C.
We are continuing to liaise with the Year 6 fundraising team
and Miss Pawley to make sure we don’t
cross over fundraising efforts or ask too much of parent volunteers. Something
that we’d like to clarify
with the Year 6 fundraising team is a timeline of possible Year 6 fundraising
events. It was lovely for the Canteen to be involved with the Mother’s Days activities last week, but
it would have been nice to have a bit more time to prepare. Perhaps with a
timeline we could rally volunteers and plan ahead more easily. The feedback
we’ve had from families about the Mothers Day Picnic Games has been really
great! Thanks to all who put this on.
The second major fundraiser that the P&C would like to
be involved in this year is the school musical. We are continuing to offer our
support to Mrs Wagland and are keen to help the school out. We would like to be
involved in any meetings etc if appropriate. Fundraising ideas for this event
include:
Supplying food/drink on the night (20 minute interval)
Organising t-shirts to be printed for sale to crew members
and possible general public
Organise a ‘professional’ video recording of the performance
to sell.
Art installation on school grounds in lead-up to event
Space-themed mufti day in the lead-up to the event
And finally, as you’re aware, two of our Fundraising
Committee volunteers have recently initiated the School Banking program here at
SPPS. Julie Thomson has sent us a little report on how things have started off:
“Wow, what a huge response so far. We opened
100 student accounts in the 2 account opening sessions held at the school
last week. Many more parents advised that their children have
existing accounts and will be jumping on the school banking
wagon. There was such a positive response to this initiative and we
are very excited. I know it’s about children forming a healthy
savings plan, but just from those 100 accounts we have
already raised $500 for the P&C Fundraising Committee
too. I look forward to a busy next few weeks learning from
our lovely School Banking Specialist, Karen on how to do the
processing side of things.”
So, thanks to all involved in the Events & Fundraisers -
we are hoping for a busy & fulfilling 2015.
Moved by: Trish Bray, Seconded by: Tristen Cosgrove.
P & C confirmed the
date of the disco being held on Thursday 25th June with the earlier
start times specified above, and was mentioned that DJ Tim Halls was happy with
any date that the school will be holding the disco. The date of the disco will
be noted in the school newsletter.
General Business:
$50 for state qualifier in sport: Student wrote to the P & C
requesting financial assistance to represent Soldiers Point Primary School at
state level.
P & C agreed
to assist student with a contribution of $50 to assist student with the cost.
Sidcor invoice has already been actioned as per Treasurer’s report
2014 audited financial account for canteen and uniform shop found
to be satisfactory.
The question was raised should the P&C be required to meet
another day this term due to school holidays in July and missing a P&C
meeting to be held in July. Was agreed that as the P&C have sufficient sub
committees meeting up on a regular basis several times each term, that a
general P&C meeting will not be required unless necessary which can be
arranged prior if needed.
Brenda Madden presented information she discovered from local
council of sacred Aboriginal land in our local community being the caravan park
in the area has changed its name and conditions of camping to pay respect to
the traditional custodians of the land.
P&C acknowledged and discussed in further
detail information presented.
Fundraising committee requestedfrom Principal Simon Parson as to the
school’s wish list on how funds would like to be spent on the school. Simon
will liaise with the teachers and notify the P&C on any recommendations.
Principal Simon Parson discussed with the P&C about having a
guest speaker at the next meeting to discuss the new Maths Syllabus.
Discussion was made about the position coming up in 2016 on whom
would run the uniform shop as Belinda Lavers who currently runs the shop will
be moving on next year.
A discussion was raised from the question of after school care
being held at the school. It was noted that any OOSH service would need to be
run by an outside contractor, and the first step would be to see if there is a
demand for this service. It is also noted that the children that do catch the
bus to the nearby School for OOSH appear to be low in numbers.
Meeting Closed
9.20pm
Next Meeting: 9th
June 2015 in the School Administration block.