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Minute of the Meeting of the Aberchirder Parent Council

Monday 2nd September 2024

In the Primary School and online

Present: Susan Forrest (Chair), Kristina Watts (Secretary), Emma Godwin (Treasurer), Mrs Campbell (Headteacher), Miss Henderson, Mrs Neish, Jonathan Farquharson, Claire Mackie, Stephanie Murdoch, Sarah Murray, Adele Rushton, Liz,

Apologies: Claire Brown, Holly Chapman

The Chair Welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Head Teacher’s Update

Welcome back to the new term. The school newsletter went out last week. Miss Sim became permanent at the end of the 2023/24 school year and all teaching Staff are now permanent members of the Foggie team. Miss Sim is an asset to the team and works well with Mrs Evans. The school has a full complement of PSAs who are on both permanent and fixed term contracts.

School Improvement Plan

There are 3 main action plans on the School Improvement Plan.

1) CIRCLE (Child Inclusion Research into Curriculum Learning Education - This is a Local Authority driven initiative, to provide support in ensuring our classrooms are fit for purpose and providing the best learning environments for all our pupils- socially, physically etc. Aberchirder started working on this last year alongside the other schools in the cluster. This has given staff the opportunity to assess and audit their classroom spaces, and identify areas for improvement. The Head Teacher has then herself audited classrooms and provided feedback. This year, teachers have been given a budget to look at sensory/ quiet spaces within their classes. Last year focused primarily on the CIRCLE theory whereas this year will be looking at putting this into practice. Part of an in-service day in November will be dedicated to CIRCLE training also.

2) Reading - The last few years have focused on writing utilising Talk for Writing and the progression of writing. The Writing attainment throughout the school has been increasing and the results have been very positive. The process now is focused on Reading, and the Foggie team will be teaming up with Whitehills and Fordyce Schools, working alongside them to look at progressions within reading and assessment of reading.

3) Play - Play approaches for learning is something the Scottish Government is prioritising and as a school we are keen to develop - there has been a recognition that for children this is a preferred approach. This is for all children from Early Years and right through to Academy as most children benefit from more active learning and the different types of play that exist. This focus on Play will help teachers further develop what play looks like in the classroom and how this can be utilised. The school will look at creating a policy, then next session this can be fully implemented.  This will be built into the budget for session 2025/26 and the school will look at how to provide a more play based approach to learning.

Money from Boyndie wind farm

This money has been previously used to purchase cooking equipment.  Last year some classes parents’ were welcomed into the school to take part in cooking sessions which was well received. Boyndie is keen on monies being used to promote community partnerships and sustainability.

Garden Improvements

“Garden Fairies” came in over the Summer and created garden areas ready for poly tunnels and planting. Monies from Boyndie Windfarm supported with the materials for this. Many thanks to the parents who kindly donated their time, energy and resources to help create garden spaces for the use of the school community.

One bed was dug out for the erection of a polytunnel, whilst two raised beds were dug out for planting vegetables that the kids can harvest. The benefit of the rear garden area is that the children can access this at break and lunch and the school will use remaining wind farm money to purchase equipment to allow them to have a breakout space and enable children to do gardening in their lunch breaks etc. Future plans will look at adding in plant pots with herbs/lavender. The Pupil Council decided they wanted these gardening spaces, but these plans also coincided with the Eco group.

The school will be looking at obtaining a poly-carbon tunnel. Funding for the polytunnel will depend on how much money comes out of the budget for the resources/tunnel/etc. The initial focus is on getting the rear garden beside the playground started first, then the Polytunnel to be established in term three. Cost dependent. There is a possibility of applying for a grant from Aberdeen Airport.

There is a hope that these garden areas could become a community project inviting Scouting and Guiding organisations to help maintain the areas throughout the summer months. The maintenance of these areas could contribute to badge work for these groups.

Pupil Voice Groups

The school used to have Pupil Voice Groups where pupils were split into different groups led by different members of staff. This year everyone will take part in the same group up until Christmas, then another one until Easter, then the final one till Summer.

The first focus will be on UNCRC (the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child). In July the UNCRC policy and legislation became law and it was felt this was a sensible first group.  A small cohort of the children will continue to represent the Pupil Council.

Treasurer update

The Bank Statements should have been transferred from the address of the Previous Treasurer to the school. Mrs Campbell will check with Coleen if the school has received postal copies of the statements yet. The Treasurer will confirm with the bank that the change of address has been successful.

Events

DISCO - 3rd October - Glow in the dark theme

P1-3 6-7pm

P4-7 7:15-8:15pm

Susan Forrest will order glow sticks, glow lights, Lucky Dip and snack bags

The email which goes out about the Disco will also include a price list for items that are available for purchase.

Nursery Disco

10th October 2024 - 6-6:45pm

Miss Henderson proposed a Disco on the 10th October that she, along with Adele Rushton would organise with the support of the Parent Council.  There will be approximately 26 children and October new starts will be invited as part of their nursery induction. The nursery aged Disco is to be ticketed with tickets to be bought at the nursery door. All nursery children would require their adult to remain with them for the duration of the Disco. The Parent Council will order snacks for the Nursery Disco

Emma Godwin will prepare the risk assessments for both Discos and share these with Jayde and Adele.

A draft email from Jayde/ Adele will be sent to Coleen to distribute to Nursery Parents.

Christmas Fayre - 13th November.

£3 entry and primary school children free.

Mrs Campbell has already spoken to Staff about classes making things for the fayre.

The Parent Council asked if it would be possible to organise a chocolate tombola in a similar style to last year as this proved popular with the children.

There will be a raffle table and parents will be asked for donations.

There will be approximately 15 stalls at £10 per table. Stallholders are also asked to provide a raffle

It was asked if Santa would be available to attend this year and Emma Godwin will email Santa to see if he and his Chief Elf can come. There will be a separate fee of £3 for the Santa Grotto visit to cover Santa’s travel costs.

There will be a Find the Elf Treasure Hunt round the stalls to entertain the children.

Mrs Campbell will ask the kitchen if we can use their kitchen for teas and coffees.  The Parent Council will ask for donations of Shortbread and Mince Pies.

School Shows

P1-3 Concert at Christmas

P4-7 A Different show at the End of Term 3.

PANTO

Funding from the wind farm has been confirmed to support with this. Mrs Campbell will confirm the date as this has been already booked. The Parent Council wants to provide ice cream for the Panto (small pots from Rizzas).

Bingo Fundraiser

An Old Fashioned Style Bingo has been discussed. This will potentially be February time and dates and timing are still to be confirmed.

Summer Fayre

Details to be confirmed

Items of Note

Garden

It was asked if there could potentially be a Welly boot holder in a similar style to the nursery one for those requiring Wellies on an ad hoc basis. Mr Neish made the nursery holder and options will be explored as well as putting out a request for wellie donations.

There is also a plan for raised beds along the path and this will give children additional opportunities. There will be flowers there rather than fruits or vegetables.

Leaver Hoodies

Pupils get their Hoodies at the start of term 4 and are allowed to wear them all term. Emma Godwin (as a Primary 7 parent) will get in contact with fellow P7 parents to organise this. The Parent Council are happy to fund the purchase of these again.

Books for Christmas time -

The Parent Council provides books as part of Santa’s visit during School parties. It was thought that potentially a bookmark could be provided along with their books. Approx £1.20 is allocated per child. The Parent Council also provides books for the nursery party.

Snack boxes for parties will be provided. The parties are scheduled for the last week of term and dates will be in key date info email going out in the next week. 

P6/7 Trip

There are no current plans for a p6/7 residential trip. Instead the school is considering a couple of day excursions but this is still being explored.

Christmas Cards

School have already put plans in place and these are in process.

Nursery Freezer

Nursery have requested a Freezer and this will be ordered. It will need to be upright and can be stored in ‘hub’

Upper Stages transition

Some pupils when transitioning to upper stages have raised some questions that may have been useful to know in advance.

Mrs Campbell suggested possibly evaluating transitions at all stages for next year (before and after the summer) to allow teachers to answer questions that pupils may have and take any feedback on board.

Asda rewards

This is a new scheme where Parents can sign up to support their local school. Aberchirder is signed up but Emma is looking into registration of Parent Kind to allow funds to be accessed. Mrs Campbell will email out leaflets to parents to encourage support.

Reading Initiatives

There will be a push on different reading initiatives - book fair, World Book Day etc.

Christmas Crackers

There are still some crackers stored in school. We will investigate how many crackers are still in the school and more will be ordered.

Date of Next Meeting: 6th November 2024 @7pm

Aberchirder Parent Council Meeting

Wednesday 6th November 2024

At 7pm in the School and Online through Teams

Present: Mrs Campbell (Headteacher), Karen Brown, Mandy Ewen, Susan Forrest (Chair), Emma Godwin (Treasurer), Miss Jayde Henderson, Sarah Morrison, Adele Henderson Rushton, Lisa Scott, Joanne Stewart, Kristina Watts (Secretary)

Apologies: No Apologies noted

Welcome: Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting

Head Teacher’s Report

Panto

The Head Teacher thanked the Parent Council for the Panto and the Ice Cream. Unfortunately the Head Teacher was unable to attend due to a meeting, but the children and staff present thought that it was brilliant and loved the ice cream. The setup was brilliant and was presented in an environment that was familiar to all the children. Having the Panto come to the school gave the opportunity for every child to be included and allow children to have movement and sensory breaks where necessary. Being able to access a Panto without a long bus trip into Aberdeen was also an added bonus.

Another show has been offered to the school at the end of the school session, and they’ve provided a date and information regarding next year’s Panto. There has not yet been a decision made about either event. Mrs Campbell has the information in her office to distribute to the Parent Council.

School Improvement

Inservice is happening next week. Some of the staff are going to Portsoy for a cluster event focusing on CIRCLE (Child Inclusion Research into Curriculum Learning Education) - a tool to focus on the classroom and the school environment and how to make these spaces inclusive, with the next step to make the environment the best place for learning and teaching. CIRCLE will also be revisited in the February inservice. Following the CIRCLE training there will be a workshop/presentation from the Educational Psychologist on  play based learning pedagogy. Some other staff are going to Ellon Academy to take part in a  Nurture Play Pilot for sessions for children who require additional support. Some PSAs and class teachers are involved in this pilot. This should start to be implemented in term 3.

One part of the School Improvement Plan is focused on Reading, and  Mrs Wood is supporting this, developing a literacy week, creating funds for books, and developing writing pieces to support reading. The School houses are also creating characters as mascots and writing to support this.

Mrs Campbell and 2 other Head Teachers are looking at reading progressions – this would be similar to writing where you have set targets, and children and staff can see next steps and track progress. There are some challenges with this in reading, and the Head Teachers are looking at specific cards to see where their children are in their reading and targets that the children need to be hitting  to allow the children to know where they are at and steps for improvement.

Men Shed visit

The School will be visiting the Men Shed again this year. Last year they invited the school in and the Men Shed was decorated ready to receive the school visitors and if Santa was unable to visit certain class parties then his gifts were received at the MenShed. The same will happen this year and this event will be in the second last week of term.

Parent Volunteers

Some parents are coming on board to volunteer for things.

Georgia Brooker has become involved in the development of the garden and is involved in an outdoor learning project working alongside Mrs Wood. She will be meeting with Mrs Campbell regarding creating a plan for this to help get it up and running.

Gav Scott has been delivering football taster sessions. The School are now looking at setting up a school football team and children becoming involved in football initiatives with different schools.

Promoting it will be about becoming part of the football community, with some children involved in the sport itself, whilst others will be creating posters, designing a football kit logo, making up songs and dances/cheers, and some older children will also be trained in First Aid. The football events are not all about being involved in the game. This is all still in the early stages of development, but the school is looking at wider achievements and promoting the philosophies of perseverance and respect. Foggie would also like to invite other schools along to take part in a gala in the future.  All of these tie in with the curriculum, and similar to how the Panto was accessible for all the children in school, children who struggle to engage in class can enjoy the different activities surrounding football. It is about meeting everyone’s needs and giving them a chance for success in different ways. It is about being child-led, having active children, and empowering children to take the lead in what they are enjoying and are motivated towards.

Banking Update

After lots of trips to the bank, forms being completed and completed again, the bank accounts have been successfully amended, we have a Parent Council debit card and internet banking is also set up. Moving forward, when someone else takes over, it should now be easier for the new Treasurer to take control of the bank account.  The AGM was moved to just before Easter which allows a whole term transition period for the new Treasurer whilst the retiring Treasurer is available.

Christmas Fayre

13 stalls are booked and it will be cash on the night. There are 2 Parent Council tables - one for raffles, one for chocolate tombola. Tables for the school will either be outside the office or inside the hall. Mrs Campbell has checked with the canteen and the canteen has given permission for the Parent Council to use the canteen kitchen area. Susan Forrest has provided her Food Hygiene certificate.

Helpers

●  Sarah Morrison, Lisa Scott and Joanne Stewart will be in the canteen.

●  2 Elfs are required for the North Pole (Emma Godwin and one other). In the North Pole there will be decorations to paint, cakes and other activities. £3 entry to the North Pole.

●  Kristina Watts will be on the door

●  Susan Forrest will be on the Raffle table

Set up will start from 3pm. Other help has been offered and there will be a message put out to the other Parent Council members for helpers. Susan Forrest will put out another email about raffles etc.

Santa gifts have been received and wrapped for the children visiting the North Pole.

Asda have donated mince pies and shortbread. Walkers in Elgin have donated shortbread. Sarah Morrison will collect the shortbread from Walkers. Susan Forrest has ordered paper cups.

Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Milk, Juice and Napkins still require to be purchased and a plea for donations will be put on the Parent Council page.

Mrs Campbell will ask the Janitor to put up the stair bannister.

Christmas

Christmas presents

Most presents have been purchased and Emma Godwin would like volunteers for wrapping presents.

Christmas Parties

At the Christmas parties children will receive a snack bag with crisps, juice and Haribo. Allergies have been noted.

Snack numbers for the parties - 114 children and 26 in nursery

William Godwin will write a letter to Tesco asking for donations towards the parties.

Christmas dinner

There is still stock of Christmas Crackers remaining from last year.

Nursery Freezer

Jayde Henderson will source one and will be paid for by the Parent Council.

Discos

Susan Forrest will be in contact with Paul Tough to organise dates for the 2025 School Discos.

There will be a Valentines Disco, Step Up Disco and a Halloween Disco.

Mrs Campbell reminded the Parent Council to let Colleen in advance about Discos so a let can be organised.

Date of Next Meeting: 15th January 2025 at 7pm

Aberchirder Primary School,

Parent Council Meeting

Wednesday 15th January 2025

Present: Mrs Campbell (Head Teacher), Emma Godwin (Treasurer), Kristina Watts (Secretary), Susan Forrest (Chair Person), Louise Still, Coleen Reid (School Administrator),

Apologies: Joanne Stewart, Adele Henderson Rushton, Karen Brown, Claire Mackie, Lisa Scott, Sarah Morrison, Nicola Davidson, Stephanie Murdoch,

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting

Head Teacher’s Report

The Head Teacher thanked the Parent Council for all their work and contributions at Christmas. The Panto at the start of the term went down well, as did the Christmas Fayre and the visits to the Men Shed. The various things provided were all appreciated and the children had a really positive experience in the lead up to Christmas.

This term the upper stages classes are involved in putting on a play and this is going to be performed at the end of term. The school newsletter is going out later this week with information about the show included.

Literacy week - one of our key focuses this year is on reading, and while we are tying this in with Book Week, the school felt that they didn’t want to solely focus on dressing up. Mrs Wood has secured funding to support this.  There will be authors coming in, competitions, sessions on paired reading, after school reading sessions where parents can come in, and the Book Fayre will also be in school. The School would like support from parents/Parent Council towards the running of the Book Fayre. Any money received from the Book Fayre will go towards updating reading resources in school. A separate email about Literacy Week will go out nearer the time.

Mrs Astridge is going to support in another school and this has been communicated to parents. Mrs Astridge has already planned the materials for the class and these will be implemented by Mr Anderson. Mr Anderson will be covering the P6/7 class four days a week and Miss Sim will continue to teach the class on Tuesdays. Mrs Astridge will still be in school on Tuesdays to undertake her Head Teacher role. This secondment had originally been planned for October but had been postponed untill this week. The timings and changes all had to happen fairly quickly.

In Primary One, Mrs Evans is teaching the class on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Miss Sim teaches on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

We are very fortunate to have Mikey, Coleen and Duncan supporting the school and expectations. Without their support we wouldn’t be able to do all the different activities and things in the school that we have.

Parent Council Updates

Christmas Fayre

At the Christmas Fayre £1138,41 was taken in and there was a total of £992.65 profit made after expenses were paid. The Christmas Fayre ran smoothly and the Chair thanks all who helped contribute to the success of the event.

Banking

Banking is all up and running and statements are coming to school. Bank transfers and the bank card are all running smoothly. At the moment their is £2000.92 in the account. Some disco things still to be paid such as the p7 hoodies. These continue to be paid for by the Parent Council. The lucky squares money is still to be deposited.

Discos

Next Disco Thursday 6th February - Valentines Themed.

Thursday 12th June - Step up disco.

Future lets need to be organised 28 days in advance.

Fundraising ideas -

A Strawberry Fayre is usually held in the Summer Term and the 25th May was discussed as a possible date. Susan Forrest will check dates with the Hall Committee and a time of 1-3pm was suggested.

There was a discussion about holding an Easter Themed Bingo - The Parent Council would like to hold it on a Saturday Evening and will be in discussion with Joanne Stewart and Gayle Beaton about the running of the event. The Parent Council were keen not to overlap with the opening of the Bowling Green and to take into account other events. Joanne Stewart will check with Gayle Beaton at the Bowling Club about availability and get back to Coleen Reid.

Christmas Concerts -

The Parent Council had received some feedback from parents who were unhappy that the Christmas Show had not included the Upper Stages. Prior to organising the Christmas Show, Mrs Campbell had consulted the classes in advance to discuss the school doing two separate shows - Primary 1-3 putting on a Christmas show and upper stages doing a show before Easter.

It was also discussed if in the future it would be possible to have evening performances and some members of the Parent Council felt that whilst it might not always be possible, an evening performance to allow for work commitments and extended families would be a nice idea. One of the challenges regarding evening performances is that children do not always return for the evening performance and this can leave gaps in the performance and last minutes changes. Potentially any changes regarding evening performances would need to be considered and discussed with staff at the start of session 2025/2026 and the Working Time Agreement altered accordingly. 

Mrs Campbell took on feedback regarding the evening performances and regarding the Christmas performances and feedback from the children and parents will be undertaken after the Easter Performances and acted upon.   It was felt that allowing for two separate shows opens up different opportunities for the different year groups and allows more children to shine. Information regarding the change in shows had been communicated with parents both in the parent council minutes and in the school newsletter in term 1.

The Chair noted that she had received feedback from Parents about there being no Primary 7 residential trip.  There is no school residential organised for this year but there will be alternative activities available for the Primary 7s.

For local trips, Coleen has her MIDAS training and is able to drive the Scout bus or the Banff Academy bus and then the school only has to pay fuel costs. This makes short activity week trips  for primary 7 pupils possible.  Mrs Campbell suggested a couple of day activities. Last year, the p7s did a sponsored silence and this paid for their trip to Greenwood Loch and an ice cream at the end of the day.

Over the last few years, costs for the trip and costs for staffing are too much and outweigh the benefits of the trip itself. Local trips provide more benefit for the majority of children. 

Leavers Hoodies

Emma Godwin reported that these have been ordered and the print has been approved. Emma Godwin was in charge of this Parent council funds the hoodies each year. A Primary 7 parent each year will need to organise this. Hoodies are allowed to be worn for their final term at Aberchirder.

A Big Thank You to was given to Ben Rushton who donated a Freezer to nursery from his business Zenith.

End of Year School Trip/Activity thing. This will be discussed at an upcoming Staff meeting. Ideally this will be booked before Easter holidays. This allows for Parent Council fundraising to support this.  

Date of Next Meeting to be decided in consultation with Mrs Campbell.