Council Services for People, Department of Education DRAFT

East Lothian Association of Parent Council Members Meeting held on Monday 26th January 2015, Brunton Hall,

Present:

Colin Henderson, Chair, ( PC), Val McIntyre (Principal Officer), Darrin Nightingale (Head of Education), Angus Black ( PC), Shona Blakeley (Campie PC), Jill Brown ( Infant PC), Gordon Crawford (Yester PC), Sandra Delahooke ( PC), Pam Floyd ( High PC), Sharon Hurley (Loretto RC PC), Kate Kelman (Kings Meadow PC), Karen Leitch ( PC), Lynsey MacDonald (Prestonpans Infant PC), Fiona McCaskie (Saltoun PC), Alastair McConnachie ( PC), Nicola Riddel (Whitecraig PC), Jacqui Stone (Elphinstone PC), Ailsa Swinburne ( PC),Elaine Towler (Haddington Infant PC), Lesley Townshend (West Barns PC),Juliet Williams (Law Primary PC), Councillor Shamin Akhtar (Convenor of the Education Committee), Laura Muir (Clerk), Lorraine Faulds (Facilities Management)

Apologies:

Gaynor Allen (Musselburgh Grammar PC), Carol Snow (NPFS Rep), Iain Clark (Pinkie St Peters PC), Rachel Menzies (Prestonpans Primary PC)

Action 1 Welcome and Introductions

Colin Henderson welcomed everyone to the East Lothian Association of Parent Council Members Meeting and introductions were carried out.

2 Apologies and Approval of Minutes

Apologies were noted as above. The minutes of the last meeting were approved without change.

3 Update from Darrin Nightingale, Head of Education

SMEB – The approval of The Local Improvement Strategy has been moved to the next meeting of SMEB which is due to take place on 5th February, this move was due to the budget discussions that took place at the December meeting. More information will be available at the next ELAPCM Meeting.

Budget – A number of proposals have been put together. The draft proposals have been developed for both the Administration and Opposition Councillors. Meetings continue with both parties to discuss these proposals before the deadline of 10 February, when the three year budget will be set. Feedback was received from a number of Parent Council Representatives; the options that were highlighted at the December ELAPCM Meeting were discussed. All feedback is welcome.

Darrin Nightingale left the meeting to attend the Musselburgh Area Partnership

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4 School Catering

Lorraine Faulds, Senior Officer with Facilities Management was in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions with regards to the issues raised at the last ELAPCM Meeting about the School Catering. A full discussion took place and a number of parents raised their concerns at the lack of choice now that the statutory free school meals has been implemented. Lorraine informed the meeting that the menus are analysed to ensure they pass the standards set out by the Scottish Government. The standards are available on the Scottish Government website. They are starting to develop the Summer Menu and any feedback would be welcome from both parents and children. Any issues such as allergies should be raised with the school kitchen.

Elphinstone are currently offering taster sessions for their pupils. Feedback will be received at a later meeting.

Lorraine informed the meeting that a Development Officer is available to work with classes/pupils If you are interest in taking up this opportunity, please discuss with your Head Teacher or Principal Teacher of Health and Wellbeing in the first instance and thereafter they can formally make this request.

Lorraine was thanked for attending the meeting and then left.

5 Matters Arising

No matters arising to discuss.

6 Area Partnerships

The Area Partnership newsletter was circulated to the meeting, a copy of this is attached to LM the minutes. No update had been received from Kaela Scott prior to the meeting.

The Area Partnership Minutes are available on the Council Website or by clicking on this link

7 Update from Val McIntyre

 Parental Involvement Survey – Thanks were noted to Jill Jeans, Saltoun PC and Elaine Towler, Haddington Infant School PC, who have helped to produce a survey to gather the views of all parents/carers. It was agreed that the survey will be circulated to all Parent Councils initially in order that they can provide feedback on any other points that they feel would be relevant/useful for inclusion in the survey. Once the survey has been finalised it will be sent to all Parent Councils; to Schools with a request it is included in their newsletters and on their website; it will also be placed on East Lothian Council’s Consultation Hub; and advertised via social media in an attempt to reach all parents/carers. The results will be shared with Parent Councils at a local level as well as cluster level. A copy of the survey is attached.  Parental Involvement Strategy - Many thanks to Mark Lucas, PC for his involvement. The results of the Parental Involvement Survey will enable us to update our Strategy and produce an Action Plan.  E-Safety Representative – The successful Parent Rep is Ed McFarlane from Yester Parent Council. The first meeting will take place on Friday 30th January. Ed will attend the next ELAPCM Meeting to feedback. 2

 Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee – Email was circulated to all Parent Council’s on Tuesday 20thJanuary, 2015.

8 National Parent Forum of

Apologies were received from Carol and a written report will be provided by her in due CS course.

9 Future Meeting Dates and Venue

 25th March 2015 – Brunton Hall, Musselburgh.  20th May 2015 - Brunton Hall, Musselburgh

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