SOLDIERS POINT PUBLIC SCHOOL P&C ASSOCIATION Minutes from meeting held 13th October 2015 Meeting opened at 7.05pm and meeting closed at 8.35pm Welcome- Present and Apologies Present: Tristen Cosgrove, Belinda Lavers, Karen Jones, Ruth McLeod, Trish Bray, Anna Webster, Simon Parson, David Smail, Julie Thomson, Brendan Abberton, Anna-Maria Ford and Joy Shotter. Apologies: Nil. Previous Minutes- 8th September 2015 accepted. Business arising from previous meeting/s None Correspondence – In/Out
In: None
Out: None
Reports/Updates:
President’s Report: Welcome once again to all tonight. Thank you for all the efforts that people put in to make P&C activities successful and enjoyable. It was exciting to see the new covered walkway addition at the top of the stairs near the admin block and the COLA. Hopefully this will provide a continuous dry path for students. Now that the old library has been removed, we can work on the Creative Play Spaces area for which we will need some working bees and volunteers for the foundations work. A special thank you goes to Deanne Cosgrove who has been filling in quite a lot recently for Paula in the Canteen. Thank you Deanne. Here’s to another great month. Moved by: Tristen Cosgrove, Seconded by: Trish Bray Principal’s Report: Term 4 has commenced well with a few minor adjustments being required due to the delay of the classroom relocation, set up & occupation. The students & staff appreciate the completion of the covered walkway at the eastern end of the administration building. This will add additional protection for all, particularly on those wet days. The relocation of K/1F’s classroom & removal of the old library have also been a welcome development and has opened up the playground for the next stage of the Creative Play Spaces project so watch this space. I published some of our 2015 NAPLAN results in the newsletter last week to give the community a general idea on how SPPS is fairing at the state level. The following percentages included the top 3 skill bands i.e. Year 3 = Bands 4-6 & Year 5 = Bands 6-8 and how SPPS compares with the state average: • In writing, 85% of our Year 3 students achieved Bands 4-6, while the state was 77%. • In Year 5, 61% of students placed in Bands 6-8. The state was 53%. • In reading, 78% of Year 3 students achieved Bands 4-6, while the state average was 71%. • In Year 5, 73% of students achieved Bands 6-8. The state was 60%. • In numeracy, 74% of Year 3 students achieved Bands 4-6. The state average was 62%. • In Year 5, 68% of students placed in Bands 6-8. The state average was 56%.
• Spelling proved successful also with 69% of our Year 3 students achieving Bands 4-6, while the state was 67%. • In Year 5, 68% of students placed in Bands 6-8. The state was 65%. • Spelling will remain a focus area for the next two years.
As a staff we are pleased with the students’ achievements and it’s also reassuring for the teachers to see how our students compare on a wider scale. With regard to staffing, we will shortly be advertising the position of assistant principal which was recently vacated by Mrs Wilson as she retired. We will also be advertising the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr Silva. It is envisaged that the successful applicants will commence at SPPS in 2016.
Our teachers will soon be commencing work on each student’s Semester 2 report. If you are yet to return your child’s work sample folder that was sent home at the end of Term 3, we urge you to do so at your earliest convenience. Reports will be sent home on Friday, December 11. Term 4 has loads of activities on offer over the next few months which will keep both students & teachers busy until the end of the year. Some activities include: • Year 6 will have their first taste of HS at Tomaree tomorrow as they attend a range of lessons; • Grandparents are invited to attend our Grandparents Day on Friday, October 23, where they’ll be entertained by the choir and a class assembly performance; • On October 27, we will be holding the Parent Information Evening for parents of students commencing Kindergarten in 2016. This will be followed by the remaining orientation visits in November; • We’ll be hosting the interschool Twilight Bandstand Concert & Buffet Dinner on Thursday, December 3 (5:30-7:00PM); o This may be a good opportunity for the P&C to hold a fund-raising raffle, if interested. Proceeds could go toward the purchase on additional instruments as they are so expensive e.g. the school just purchased 5 x instruments which cost in excess of $2500.00.
• Our Evening of Music will be held on Monday, November 9, from 5:00 PM in the Hall; • Intensive swimming will commence on Monday, November 9, for 2 weeks concluding on Friday, November 20; • The student representative council election (speeches & voting) will be held on Thursday, November 26; • Celebration Day will be Friday, December 11.
It would be appreciated if we could have a number of P&C representatives attend the Parent Information Session to be available to share information about uniforms / canteen and the P&C in general. Parents interested in their child applying for placement in a selective high school in 2017 will soon receive notification about the process. I urge parents to read the overview details very carefully & note applications can only be made electronically. Applications will need to be submitted by November 16. I thank the P&C and the parents of Soldiers Point Public School for your continued support throughout Term 3 and look forward to a fruitful term ahead.
Moved by: Simon Parson, Seconded by: Anna Webster
Karen and Brooke on behalf of the uniform committee will be present at the kindy orientation for new families to see and purchase school uniforms for new students starting kindergarten in 2016. Fundraising committee will liaise with Rachel Wagland for further details in holding a fundraising raffle for the twilight band stand concert. Tristen Cosgrove requested if Simon Parson principal of Soldiers Point Public School can invite Kate Washington to attend the school’s celebration day on behalf of the P&C committee. Simon advised he will action the request.
Treasurer’s Report:
Balances as at 13 October 2015: P&C account: $23,233.33 Uniform Account: $3,887.26 Canteen account: $2,592.10 Petty Cash: $79.29
P&C Account
Deposit
7 Sep – Mufti day $295 & Musical $1,200
12 Oct - School Banking Commission $319.11
Payment
16 Sep - School Donation $37,000
Canteen & Petty Cash Account
< >Quarterly PAYG & Superannuation
Monthly suppliers paid this week
Uniform Account Refer Uniform Committee report Moved by: David Smail, Seconded by: Ruth McLeod
Canteen Committee Report: Canteen report presented by Karen Jones on behalf of Paula Browne.
No written report was submitted at this meeting. Karen presented a verbal informal report on behalf of the canteen committee.
Moved by: Karen Jones, Seconded by: Belinda Lavers Uniform Committee Report: Current Balance: $3887.26 Deposit today: $ 316.00 Total: $4203.26 Payments due next month: $ 1873.10 Total: $2330.16 Extended Credit (Feb 2016) $4027.79
Uniform Shop sales are starting to increase this term. The shop is currently very well stocked. Karen Jones and Brooke Hill will be attending the Parent Information Evening on 27 October with a uniform display.
Moved by: Belinda Lavers. Seconded by: Karen Jones
School Improvement and Finance Committee Report: Meeting was held on 7th October the minutes from this meeting can be read via this link: http://sppspc.weebly.com/sifc07102015.html
Moved By: Ruth McLeod, Seconded by: David Smail
Fundraising Committee Report:
The events & fundraising team were kept busy during Term 3, but Term 4 is much quieter for us. Our P&C-led fundraisers are completed for 2015, so the remainder of the year sees events and fundraisers hosted by the school (generally Yr 6 fundraising activities at this time). In saying this, the ongoing fundraising by the School Banking initiative continues, so our thanks again goes to Julie & Nerelle for their continued commitment and dedication in this work. As we move toward the end of 2015, we extend an invitation to any parents interested in becoming involved in the P&C, to join us for a meeting, or make contact to discuss potential assistance. A calendar of events & fundraisers for 2016 will need drafting early next year, and fresh ideas and new helpers are welcome. The role of Events & Fundraising Convenor (or co-convenors, as we have held over the past couple of years) will become vacant at the AGM early next year, so now would be a great time for those who may be keen, to step forward and express their interest. Moved by: Trish Bray, Seconded by: Tristen Cosgrove Invitations for Tea and Tissues for new families attending Kindergarten in 2016 have already been sent out. Julie Thomson has requested a copy of the school wish list and has recommended the funds raised from school banking each week be spent on something more tangible to demonstrate and show the children the money they have raised for their school just by making their deposits in school banking each week.
General Business:
New P&C recruits expressing their interest as ground convenor: Brendan Abberton one new family to the school attended tonight’s P&C meeting for the first time wanting to discuss the school grounds. He has noticed the school grounds have been un-kept and over grown wanting to discuss the protocols of who was responsible and how it works; is it out sourced to a gardening company, is the school responsible for cleaning the grounds, or is it a volunteer P&C committee member that is responsible, and if so offered how he can assist the school in keeping the grounds tidy. P&C members welcomed Brendan to the meeting and welcomed his ideas and answered his questions on the protocols and who has the task of keeping the grounds tidy. Brendan advised he would like to assist the grounds person in keeping the school tidy, and will liaise with Simon Parson to co-ordinate a schedule with the current grounds person.
The working bee and ground work will not be necessary at this present time as we are waiting on engineering at the moment and soil conversation to take place first.
Treasurer has requested the canteen committee take a stock take of all canteen assets held in the canteen including the slushie machine which is on lease to ensure our insurance is current and is up to date.
Working with children checks for committee members has been discussed and although it is not mandatory at present it will become mandatory in the near future. This will be discussed further next year as P&C may need to register as an organization, this will be put this into place ensuring all P&C members will apply and assigning a designated member of the P&C to check that all members have no restrictions to work with children.
Joy Shotter is the Chaplain at Soldiers Point Public School, attended tonight’s P&C meeting and provided much insight to the P&C; discussing the work she conducts with our students and within our local community. She also works on the learning support team, and stated that our students needs have changed significantly since her role first began some years ago. Joy advised the members that her role is varied not only assisting the students but also their families referring them for further assistance to other support organizations. It has been recognized the welfare needs have increased this year more than other years since when she first began at Soldiers Point. In the past Joy has ran programs with our students on how to deal with change, loss and grief. Equipping the students with the knowledge to create their own strategies on how to deal with these changes they have been faced with and how to deal with them emotionally. One of the programs she has ran was the “seasons for growth” for stage 2 and stage 3 students, a lot of defence families were involved in this program and the feedback received from the students demonstrated a lot of empathy and proven to be effective with only some students requiring to be followed up. Joy is currently working with 5/6SB at the moment to assist them to deal with the many changes they may be facing around loss and grief they have endured this year. P&C Members thanked Joy for all her work that she conducts for our students, and a few of the questions asked and discussed further were:
As the welfare needs of our students has increase more and more over the years, and is evident that more families and students will be requiring support will she be able to assist our students in the future? Joy advised that her position is funded by the government and also by applying to organizations for grants so she is able to continue to run programs to benefit and assist our students.
But will the government funding increase as our welfare needs have increased? Possibly not, hence the reason to apply for grants for assistance.
P&C members discussed the possibility of fund raising next year to make the community more aware of this much needed support for our students and community, as Joy also holds the same role at Tomaree High as he she does at Soldiers Point Public School.
Meeting Closed 8.35pm Next Meeting: Tuesday 10th November 2015 in the School Administration Block at 7pm.