MINUTES OF MEETING ON TUESDAY 16 JANUARY 2001 AT STOCKBRIDGE PRIMARY SCHOOL, AT 7.00PM. 

Present:            Graham Bodenham (Chair), John Burton, Andrew Glen, Kate Jones, Moira McGovern.

Apologies:                     Joan Cook, Helen Cox, Maggie Darling, Emila Knight (Clerk)                 

In Attendance:   Jacqui Horsburgh (Head Teacher), Joanna Franceschi (PTA), Wilfrid Treasure (Parent)

1.0             WELCOME and apologies: Graham Bodenham (Chair) 

1.1               Minutes of the meeting of 14 November 2000 were approved                                                                         top

2.0             MATTERS ARISING 

2.1       P3 Maternity Cover. Mrs Horsburgh explained that Miss McGinley left last term to a permanent position which allowed more job security than her temporary position at Stockbridge. Miss Addison who is in post at present came from teaching a P3 class in Corstorphine. P3 are being closely supervised by Mrs Cox and Mrs Horsburgh. Mrs Horsburgh is also teaching religious and moral education and Helen Cox has a teaching block in maths so stability is ensured as much as possible. Graham Bodenham raised concern about P3 having 4 teachers in 2 terms. He appreciated the situation was outwith the direct control of the school but felt the process for supply teaching allocation was flawed. Mrs Horsburgh explained it was difficult to fill posts with supply teachers and the issue also concerns head teachers due to the unpredictability and the lack of guarantee that the school has. Andrew Glen suggested that P3 would benefit from having Mrs Robertson in P4 to provide some stability for the children. Graham Bodenham felt a great deal of disruption to the class had been caused by events but Mrs Horsburgh insisted that class progress had not been impeded by the constant change although admitted it was not an ideal situation. Graham Bodenham suggested writing to the education department to express concern at how the system works.                                                                               

2.2       Pelican Crossing. Cllr Lazarowicz has informed the board that the school crossing is likely to go ahead before the end of this financial year, following public consultation. Graham Bodenham had attended 21^st Century Vision meeting where full plans for the area were revealed. The first phase of works, under the Safe Routes To Schools funding scheme, will be to install the pelican crossing, narrow the road at Dean Bank Lane, Saxe-Coburg St and if finances permit Clarence St. Full details were published in the School Board Newsletter in December.                                                            top 

2.3            Playground link door to nursery. Mrs Horsburgh has checked the situation with the senior health and safety officer. A site visit has been suggested on 22 January and a school board member would be welcome to attend. 

3.0               Review School Board Budget. Kate Jones was unable to give the correct updated figures on the budget due to payments pending. The paperwork will be resubmitted to the council and an update provided following their response. 

4.0          REPORTS 

4.1                    Links Sub Group half yearly report was deferred to next meeting due to Mrs Cox’s absence. 

4.2                    SPTC Directors Meeting 2 December 2000. John Burton attended and fed back. There is a working group looking at deferred entry of P1 children. There is now a guaranteed place in nursery for children wishing to defer entry to P1. John Burton was invited to attend “Pupil Participation” on Friday 26^th January. P6 pupil council members will also attend. 

4.3                    A 21^st Century Vision for Leith and North Edinburgh – Conference. Graham Bodenham attended and fed back. He took part in discussion of the Route Action Plan and citywide transport policy. He also cornered The Scottish Health Minister, Susan Deacon and discussed the controversial promotion of Coco Pops bars in schools. She had apparently withdrawn her support in advance of the promotion and was appalled that it had gone ahead with her name behind it. A reply from the catering services to the Board’s written complaint, stressed that the cereal bar was not aimed at replacing breakfast but was a better option than no breakfast at all. No-one was impressed by this reply.                    top 

4.4                    Consultative Committee with Parents – 21 November 2000. The Chair gave a brief summary of the items discussed, which included the Stockbridge Route Action Plan, Lothian Schools Ensembles, Temporary Accommodation in schools, Disciplinary Policy and Awareness of Drugs. 

4.5                    PTA meeting. Joanna Franceschi summarised the last PTA meeting. The Route Action Plan was discussed. The Ceilidh will hopefully be at St Stephens Street church on 3^rd March. The Sex Education proposal was discussed with opinions similar to those of the Board. The Christmas disco was also discussed. Kate will represent the Board at the next PTA meeting on 31^st January.    

5.0                    OTHER BUSINESS 

5.1                    Review Equal Opportunities Guide for Parents. A questionnaire regarding this document was completed by the Board. 

5.2                    Review Board Newsletter. Everyone agreed the format of the newsletter was good. As yet, the actual take up from the mini-rugby is not known, although some pupils appear to have joined.                                                         top

5.3                    Scottish School Board Association – Membership. The School Board withheld their membership for the first time last year pending the outcome of clause 2a. The cost of the membership is £40 per year. It was unanimously agreed not to renew membership as the SSBA neither seeks nor represents the views of this School Board on important issues and lack of accessibility to information. The SSBA are holding a meeting on the 10^th February for any interested persons at Broughton School to try to win back some support from Edinburgh schools, most of whom are not represented by SSBA.

5.4                    Service Support Officer tied housing. The board was asked to return a pro-forma to the authority regarding the above (i.e. janitor). The board discussed the pros and cons of changing the tenancy at 17a Hamilton Place before filling in the pro-forma. This subject was also discussed recently at the CCWP. Janitors themselves are not keen to have tied housing due to the implied 24 hour supervision it entails. The difficulties of janitors buying their own houses upon retirement is also a perceived problem. On the other side of the argument, safety is a concern along with access and the loss of ability to vet or control who may become a tenant or owner in the future. Jackie Horsburgh pointed out that vandalism is probably less in schools with tied housing. The education department own 118 houses and are considering 111 of these for sale. The cost of maintenance for these houses is £138,000 per year.  

6.0           CORRESPONDENCE 

               The following correspondence has been received since the last Board meeting: 

a)                       CEC Education                                                                                                                                        top

1    

b)                       CEC – Catering Services

1   Reply to our complaint about The Balance Healthy Eating Promotion 

c)                       CEC – Edinburgh North & Leith Local Development Committee

1         Notice of Meeting and Agenda 

d)                       SPTC

              1          Backchat newsletter, January 2001 

e)            Scottish School Board Association

1         Membership Renewal Form (see item 5.3)                                                                                        top

2         Notice and invitation to Edinburgh meeting 

f)                   Scottish Executive Education Department

1         5-14 Focus – Newsletter Issue 7, November 2000 

g)                  Equal Opportunities Commission

1         Additional copies of Guide For Parents, plus EOC publication list 

h)            Anti-Bullying Network – One day conference, South Lanarkshire, Saturday 27 January 2001 

7.0          ANY OTHER BUSINESS. 

7.1               No other business was raised 

7.2               Meeting closed at 9.05pm 

8.0                    DATE OF NEXT MEETING:            Tuesday 27 February 2001 at 7:00pm