Kinlochbervie High School Board

 Minutes of Meeting on 4th June 2003

1.     Present

Fiona Belbin, Gwash Campbell, Mary Gates, Francis Keith, Ronnie Lansley, Francoise Mitchell, Tricia Mowat, Ian Smith      

2.         Minutes of Last Meeting

These were approved.

3.         Matters Arising  

a)      Bus Shelters  A letter and an email were sent to Highland Council concerning provision of a bus shelter for pupils traveling from Scourie.  There has been no reply yet.  

b)      Finance  The overspend is just over £8000. The money held back from the budget this year is £6500. This means that finances will be much tighter this year than last. The school may have to cut back, for example, on subsidizing school trips. The school now has to pay staff if they are on long-term sick leave.  

4.         Correspondence  

Maggie Hanley has resigned due to moving out of the area. A letter has been sent to thank her for her service to the School Board.  

Letters were received from John Thurso and the Scottish School Board Association. 

5.         Subject choices  

Ian Smith explained the system by which the school tries to provide the preferred subject choices for each pupil. A small school is however, limited in what it can offer. The best possible arrangement is made so that the fewest number of pupils do not get their first choice of subjects. Out of 18 pupils in S5 last year, 8 got their ideal choice and 7 their reserve choice. Distance learning is available for some subjects, but is not recommended for S5 pupils because they have to work on their own and generally do not perform so well. There is the option of picking a subject up again in S6.

6.         Staffing

There is nothing new to report.  The staff work well together on a professional level.

7.         School News

a) Timetable The new timetable started two weeks ago. While the children are returning after study leave, the new S5 have been working on the John Muir Award. This involves, for example, preparing wildlife gardens in the school grounds and cleaning up beaches.

b) McCrone The under funding connected with the implementation of the McCrone report is being addressed. Funding for a minimum of one TIC Technician in Secondary Schools will be a help.  All promoted posts are to be job-sized and appropriate salaries will be worked out.

8.         Date and Time of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 1^st October at 4:15 pm

Go to School Board Page

Return to Home Page