Stockbridge School Board
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STOCKBRIDGE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 31 March 2004 @
6.30 pm, STOCKBRIDGE SCHOOL LIBRARY
1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES
Present: Anna Beynon (AB); Barbara Cartwright; Alex Black (Alex B); Robert
Black; Jacqui Horsburgh; Moira McGovern; Alan Thomas.
Apologies: Elaine Moran
In Attendance: Susan MacInnes (Clerk); Michael Dixon (Local Councillor)
2. MINUTES
New Broughton High School
The new building has now been approved by the Council
School Review
JH reported that the Council Committee were impressed with the contribution from
the members of the Pupil Panel who attended the committee meeting. The Report
has now been issued to all parents.
AT congratulated everyone on the excellent report. However he queried why the
statistics showed that achievement levels for reading and maths were reducing.
He wondered if these were affected by the numbers of pupils who required
learning support. JH replied that this was indeed the case. 16 out of the total
roll of 190 pupils had individualised educational programmes and there were
others who received group learning support. These children were progressing but
some would never reach national target levels. Some pupils had a combination of
difficulties eg dyslexia and English as a second language.
AT also raised the question of the capping rule in P1 of a maximum of 30 pupils.
JH confirmed that this was a national rule which the Local Authority was bound
to follow.
3 PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTING A NEW HEADTEACHER
On behalf of the Board, AB congratulated JH on her new appointment to HMI but
said that it was sad that the school would be losing her.
Alistair MacIntosh, the school's Co-ordinating Liaison Officer had advised of
the procedure for appointing a replacement. The post had been advertised in the
TES and elsewhere and the closing date for applications was set for 2 April.
Three Board members were required to make up half of the shortlist panel. The
first "sift" of applicants would be carried out by Alistair Macintosh
together with the Quality Services Officer and the Headteacher of Blackhall
School and this would be completed by 24 May. A meeting would be held with the
Board as soon as possible thereafter to agree a shortlist. It was likely that a
final interview would be given to three candidates on 11 June.
There was some discussion as to the criteria for the position. JH explained that
the job description would include the school and the HT role. Some criteria
would been deemed essential and some just desirable. The Standard Qualification
for Headship was a recent introduction but would not be a requirement.
The School Board Unit run a Training course for Board members which must be
attended if any member wished to sit on the interview panel. AB and AT
volunteered to attend and RB said he would be happy to be first reserve. EM
would be also asked if she would like to attend.
MD advised that he is on the relevant Council Committee for the Appointment of
Head Teachers and he would request that he sit on the interview panel as local
councillor.
The question of an acting HT for the period after the departure of JH and before
the new HT is in place was discussed. The current DHT has been on long-term sick
leave for nearly 3 years. AB had tried to find out from Alistair MacIntosh what
was happening and had been advised that the Council's Absence Management Policy
was being implemented. It was not clear what this was exactly but it was
unlikely that any decision would be made until the middle of the summer term.
This problem has been highlighted by the imminent change of HT. At present the
Principal Teacher is acting DHT. The Senior Teacher is acting PT. There could be
a situation where the acting DHT would have to become acting HT. This will
obviously have to be clarified so that the staff and parents understand how the
school is going to be run in the absence of an appointed HT. MD offered to
arrange a meeting with AB and the person dealing with Absence Management at the
Council to discuss this further.
JH pointed out that the standard rules are that 8 working weeks' notice (not
including holidays) would have to be given by any appointee to their existing
school. Therefore a new HT would not be in position until the middle of the
autumn term. This caused surprise and there was a strong feeling that the Board
should press for someone to be in place at the beginning of the new session in
August.
4. HOMEWORK QUESTIONNAIRE
There had been a high response from the parents although this was not so strong
at P7 level. Most supported the status quo.
JH explained that there were problems of diversity of national A-E levels within
classes and this was quite difficult to describe in the class booklets. It was
therefore likely that revsials would be considered to the text of this
information.
A draft Homework Policy had been prepared based on the mandate from the results
of the questionnaire. The emphasis was that this should complement classwork. BC
confirmed that teachers viewed homework as a valuable reinforcement of classwork
and ensured that parents were kept in touch with what their children were
learning in the classroom.
5. SCHOOL WEBSITE AND SCHOOL BOARD LINK
This is to be considered later.
6. THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD
AB wondered how the role could be expanded. Recently the Board Meetings had had
few 'meaty" issues to deal with.
Alex B said she felt that the school was situated in an area with excellent
facilities and it was important that the school should have a strong presence in
the community. Fro example, school drama productions could be opened up to the
public. There ought to be a recognisable uniform which in turn would raise the
profile and encourage pride in the school.
There was a discussion of how the Board's role related to other parents and the
PTA, beyond the obvious statutory governance issues. It was felt that there was
a leadership role shared with the PTA. Alex B suggested that there should be a
Board Newsletter and AB said that an Annual Report was presented at the AGM in
June. RB said that he believed that although the Board had a functional purpose,
the school is a "community resource" for the wider Stockbridge
community and the individual skills of the Board members ought to be used.
A joint Board/PTA meeting was proposed to discuss this further.
7 CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE WITH PARENTS.
AB had attended the last meeting on behalf of the Broughton "cluster".
The discussion included the Quality Awards which had been piloted in the city
since August, school session dates for 05/06 and the SMART card.
8.SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION
No further information was available for this.
9. CORRESPONDENCE
Received from the Area Attendance Advisory Group.
10.AOB
There was no further news of resolution of the nursery nurses strike.
11. NEXT MEETING 19 MAY 2004
Susan E MacInnes (Clerk)
April 2004
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