Stockbridge School Board - Parents' Room Online

Stockbridge Primary School, 23 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh, EH3 5BA. Tel/Fax: 0131 332 6109
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Stockbridge School Board ANNUAL REPORT 2003 - 2004 - Presented to the PTA AGM, 16 June 2004.

School Board Parent Members: Anna Beynon, Alan Thomas, Alex Black, Elaine Morn
School Board Co-opted Members: Moira McGovern, Robert Black, Barabara Cartwright (staff).
School Board Clerk: Susan Macinnes
Board Webmaster: Graham Bodenham

At the end of my first year as Chair of Stockbridge School Board it is a good time to mention some of the more important events of the past year and look briefly to the future....

Generally it has been another very successful year for Stockbridge, highlighted by what can only be described as a most impressive School Review. I had the pleasure of accompanying Jacqui Horsburgh to the meeting at City Chambers with the Education Committee and it was very satisfying to be told how well everyone is doing. Two pupils came with us, one from P6 and one from P7; their eloquence was a testimony to their education and the committee were very impressed as schools very rarely take up the opportunity to take pupils with them.

The Board started the year in need of several new members and I was pleasantly surprised that recruitment was not a very arduous task and we welcome new parent members Alex Black & Elaine Morn and an external co-opted member Robert Black a local architect & Barbara Cartwright as our staff member. 

Over the past year we have discussed many topics including budget, citizenship, personal safety, & homework trying to link some of these to the school development plan and some in consultation with the pupil panel.

However, by far and away our most interesting, challenging & time consuming role has been our involvement in the appointment of a new head teacher for our school. We have spent many hours pouring over applications forms, trying to get to grips with educational jargon, in recruitment & selection training courses (4 members underwent this training) culminating in the final interviews which took place last Friday - & yes, we do have a new head teacher - in the end a very straightforward & unanimous decision. We will be welcoming Liz Grierson, currently depute at Echline primary, at some point in the new session - we are doing our best to persuade the Education Department that sooner rather than later would be appreciated!

This takes us to looking to the future and we will be looking for one new parent member next term and a new clerk to the board as we are saying farewell to Alan Thomas & Susan McInnes respectively and we thank them for all their work.

We are always looking to improve Board/ parent communications and there will be a Board mailbox (operating like the P.T.A. Box) and we are looking into starting a Board newsletter. We also now have a Board web link on the school web-site. The Board is also interested in making our playground/ outdoor space the focus for our attention next session - involving pupil and parental participation as much as possible. I feel we are very lucky to have such a space in a city-centre school.

So, it only remains for me to thank Faith Turner for her ever increasing ability to act up! & to welcome back Helen Cox, wishing her a successful return to Stockbridge. I would also like to thank everyone else for coming this evening and hope you enjoy the entertainment! 

Anna Beynon (Chair, School Board)

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