Kinlochbervie High School Board
Minutes of Meeting on 21 March 2007
1. Present
Fiona Belbin, Anne Robbins, Gordon Robinson, Ian Smith
Apologies
None
2. Minutes of Last Meeting
These were approved.
3.
Matters Arising
a) Staffing
Mrs Carter has resigned with effect from the end of June, so the English post is to be advertised shortly. Mrs Alison Wood has taken up the Art post. Mr Jones now teaches RME. There may be progress soon with a Pupil Support Teacher as this post has been advertised. Dr McCrossan is coming to the end of her probationary term, a 0.7 fte Biology post is to be advertised within Highland Region. The new Youth Development worker is Yvonne MacKay and she will be starting after the holidays.
b) Events
Highland Promise: Work is to be done on the loch to check its suitability for swimming before wetsuits are purchased.
Recently, £70 was raised for an Epilepsy charity and £275 for Comic Relief.
Changes to the S3 to 6 curriculum are being put in place. Three subjects will be 2 year courses and three will be 1 year courses.
There
is a new contract for the school buses, but neither vehicle has been upgraded
much. Parents are still not happy about the behaviour on buses from time
to time, but there is no money available for supervision. It is not
Highland Council policy to put supervisors on buses. It is not the
drivers' legal responsibility to ensure that seatbelts are worn on journeys to
and from home.
4. Parent Forum and Council
The options for this include setting up a planning group to write a draft constitution etc. and then asking parents to approve this, or inviting all parents to a meeting when the planning group could be chosen. Ian Smith will organise something before the summer so that in the autumn the Parent Council can be put in place.
5. School News
a) School Uniform
A
newsletter has been sent to parents about this.
The policy will be enforced.
b) Absences
There are new procedures in place. The school will make contact with parents on the first day of a pupil absence. The school needs a letter or email from parents for every absence, even those of only 1 day.
c) Health
The school dentist has not been in school for about 10 months. There is no news of a new School Nurse. There is a change with the BCG immunisation. This used to be given to S2 pupils, but now nothing is being done unless there is a high risk factor
d) Visiting Services Area
This has been improved with new furniture.
e) In-service Closure Days
The usual days were approved.
f) Finances
Highland
Council gave the school an extra £15,000 which is being used to upgrade IT
equipment. It was thought that there was enough money for the school
minibus as some donations were given and some fundraising done. However,
the minibus has continued to need repairs since the last School Board meeting
and it is off the road at present. Now it seems that Highland Council are
insisting some of the money designated for the minibus must be used on an
electricity bill of between £9,000 and £10,000. The electricity bill was
thought to have been sorted out last year. The School Board believes a
minibus to be essential for such a remote school and vehemently opposes Highland
Council demanding money unexpectedly which will prevent the buying of a new
minibus.
6. Date and Time of Next Meeting
The
next meeting is planned for Wednesday
6
June at
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