Preston Lodge High School s1

PRESTON LODGE HIGH SCHOOL MINUTES OF PARENT COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2015 AT PRESTON LODGE HIGH SCHOOL

Present: Mr C Yorkston, Parent Representative and Chair Hazel Paterson, Parent Representative and Vice Chair Mrs P O’Brien, Parent Representative Mr J Duffy, Parent Representative Mrs K Menzies, Parent Representative Russell Devine, Parent Representative Elaine Cargill, Parent Representative Gail Lugton, Co-opted Teacher Representative Cllr Willie Innes Mr G Clark, Head Teacher Mrs J Dunlop, Clerk

In attendance – Mr Aziz Pamela Currie

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were intimated on behalf of Lynne Lewis, Clint Lanyon and Cllr McKenzie.

2. MINUTES OF MEETING OF 8 JANUARY 2015

It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting of 4 December 2014 were a true record.

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES 8 JANUARY 2015 BUT NOT ON THE AGENDA

a) Procedures for Contacting Guidance Staff – Gavin Clark reported that Mrs Binks is working on the production of a flow-chart and will update the Parent Council when it is complete. (Action Gavin Clark)

b) Main Issues Report – Pauline O’Brien noted she had attended a meeting about the Main Issues Report where a member of the Council’s staff stated that the roll at Preston Lodge was not dropping. Pauline O’Brien agreed to find out who has stated there was no reduction in school roll and report back to Gavin Clark. (Action Pauline O’Brien)

c) Cramlington – Gavin Clark reported that Cramlington had a slight set back in results, although they anticipate next year will be one of their best. As they were “outstanding” they are given three years grace from inspections and they don’t expect to lose it.

4. BUDGETS

Gavin Clark gave a presentation on what he had presented to Staff regarding budgets. He noted that he is planning for a worst case scenario. School roll projections for Preston Lodge are expected to fall until 2019 which will mean a reduction in school budgets. Gavin Clark 2 noted he is going through the financial review with Darrin Nightingale and Richard Parker and hopes the outcomes will be known by the end of March.

There will be significant financial challenges for the school over the next 3-5 years and how the school maintains staff morale and the confidence of parents over that period will be crucial. It is hoped that there will be no significant curricular changes during this period.

Gavin Clark explained that the financial situation is determined by the decreasing school roll, likely pay increases and a reduction in budget allocation, although it was noted that East Lothian Council have protected the Education budget. Each pupil who comes to the school brings an allocation of £3,000 per year (approximately) to the school budget. It was noted that the estimated roll is only a projection and may not be accurate with factors such as the housing in the MIR report having an impact. There is also a big drop in the S6 going into August 2015, but this was due to a bigger than normal S6 the previous year. The fall in school roll is not due to placement requests outwith catchment by cluster primary schools, but rather due to population from new housing in the local area. The nursery schools are full, and this will take time to filter back through the secondary school.

The pay rises for teachers are unclear, but the school has a budget of £4M and a 1% pay rise equates to £40,000 extra, which is approximately the cost of one teacher. On a worst case scenario over three years, the estimate could be a reduction of 12 full time teachers. Gavin Clark stressed that this would probably be achieved through natural movement, although the sting in the tale will be the immediate pressure in year one as that budget is not known. Savings can only be made through staffing as school consumables are only 1% of the budget with staffing making up the remainder.

Classes sizes are currently 20 for practical and 30 for non-practical classes. At Preston Lodge there are reduced class sizes in English, Maths and Modern Languages. If these were moved up again it would not make the savings, as this would need a structural change.

A meeting will be held with Principal Teachers on Monday where they will be told to look everywhere savings can be made. In February and March promoted posts across the school will be looked at.

The current situation is that the school had gone from being 3% over budget to 0.5% under budget due to long term absence, carry forwards and various unplanned central funds. They are currently holding these funds as a carry forward for next year with the maximum carry forward being £60,000.

Gavin Clark noted that items which have not caused the budget challenge are the curriculum review, the curriculum model or NQTs.

If teachers are having to be declared surplus following the review it means that the school cannot bid for NQT S in those subject areas, NQTs can be bid for in subject areas that are not affected.

The school will also need to look closely at staff on temporary contract. Staff that are declared surplus will still be employed by East Lothian Council as all other secondary schools have increased rolls.

Gavin Clark stressed that learning and student choices are safe and Gavin Clark will be writing to all parents to give them notice of the budget cuts and noting how the school will keep the breadth of the curriculum. 3 Elaine Cargill asked if Advanced Highers would be safe as these are small classes. Gavin Clark explained that it is expensive to run Advance Highers and going forward post Higher provision will be looked at with Open University courses being offered alongside a reduced Advance Higher timetable. It was noted that in some other regions Advanced Highers are often centralised in one school with pupils travelling to these in blocks on either a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon for a triple period. Gavin Clark noted that currently there is blocking at Preston Lodge for the Academy structure so there is capacity to do this.

Cllr Innes noted that falling rolls do create problems but that the Administration have protected the Education budget with an increase in the secondary school budgets of £520,000. This figure does not impact on schools directly but it does cover the staff wages, which the Council estimate to be a 1% increase. There is a big increase in the primary school budgets but this is due to the government initiative of increased nursery hours and free school meals.

Gavin Clark agreed to keep the Parent Council updated on developments.

5. LIST OF POTENTIAL BUDGET ADJUSTMENT/SAVINGS ACROSS SCOTLAND

Cllr Innes reported that there has been a shortfall in budgets over the last three years but this year the Education budget has been protected and there will be no reduction in school buses, no four day week or closure of rural schools, despite what may have been reported in the Press.

6. CHARITABLE TRUST

Gavin Clark has met with Cllr MacKenzie regarding Councillor Representation on the Trust. Two teachers have been selected, Mr Kelly and Mr Lanyon. There will be a slight pause in the Trust whilst the Budget Review is taking place with the initial meeting being held in March and the first formal meeting taking place following the Easter Holidays. Gavin Clark circulated a copy of the final business plan (copy on file). It will be up to the Trustees to decide about the employment of a development officer and this can’t happen until the Trustees are in place.

7. HEAD TEACHER’S REPORT

a) Prelims – these have gone well. The Tree of Knowledge sessions gave a good focus to the start of the new term and it is hoped to get them back before the final exams. Gavin Clark felt that the motivated students seemed to be more motivated this year.

b) Longniddry Buses – Gavin Clark has made direct representation about the lateness of the Longniddry Buses which is causing disruption at the start of the day, this is due to the roadworks.

c) Curriculum Review – this has taken place with the parent council having input, a parental focus group, and an electronic survey. Outcomes have included better guidance will now be given to families over choices, the course choice booklets will have a better description of the Open University Courses and the school will move to a more skill based curriculum although this will take time to embed.

Russell Devine asked about the numbers dropping from 2 year Highers to National 5 following the prelims and Gavin Clark confirmed that letters will be issued to parents shortly recommending a change of level. The numbers in Maths were approximately 10- 16 and English 5. He stressed it was not too late to drop down a level. Over the next 8 weeks work will be done with pupils on their prelim results to see how these can be improved for the final exams. 4

8. AOCB

a) Parental Survey – a survey on parental involvement had been issued.

b) March Meeting- as Gavin Clark will be attending the COSLA awards at Crieff Hydro it was agreed that the meeting would start at 6.00 pm to allow him to leave early. Gavin Clark agreed to arrange for a Depute Head to also be in attendance. (Action Gavin Clark)

c) Rugby – Chris Thomas had asked for parental support on a project with Scottish Rugby which will see 15-20 pupils given extra provision in rugby and the supply of equipment. There has to be a commitment for the pupils to come out of lesson. In S1/2 this will be Health/Interventions or the PL Challenge and in 3/4th year this will be in done in core PE. The parent council agreed to support this and Gavin Clark agreed to speak to Chris Thomas in more detail. (Action Gavin Clark)

Date of Next Meeting – 12 March 2015 at 6.00 pm