ppS Healthy – Active – Happy ppS

MINUTESPencaitland Parent Council

Date | time 26/02/2018 19:00| Meeting chaired by C. Snow

In Attendance

Carol Snow (CS) Chair, Vivien Dykes (VD), Dave Osborne (DO), Flor Jackman (FJ), Neill Russell (NR), Jim Fraser (JF), Loreen Pardoe (LP), Ralph Averbuch (RA), Erica Burberry (EB). Others Present: Nicola Wilson (NW) Head Teacher, Katharine Ranyard (KR) Teacher Rep, Shamin Ahktar (SA), Tom Trotter (TT) Local Councilors, Amy Marcham, PTA RepApologies noted from: Local Councilors; John McMillan (JM), Brian Small (BS)

Standing Items: Approval of Minutes & Review1. Agenda and Minutes were circulated. The Minutes from January were approved and adopted with no changes. Action Points considered also and updates are included in main text. Matters Arising: Empowering Schools consultation responded to by LP as individual and CS on behalf of PC. VD noted that she was only receiving emails through google group. LP to check and rectify this through PC email. NW shared new guidelines around using school grounds for parking out of hours through group Lets. Carried forward –research into alternative photographer for school, no response from photographer LP contacted.2) Head Teacher Report: Attached. Key points: 1. In-service included focus around Curriculum Development, Vision and Values. Draft formulated from feedback and values tree. Initial feedback positive from PC members – any feedback to KR on or by 2nd March. NW to work on new aims with Learning Council. Going forward; staff to evaluate curriculum in PPS and how to ‘live and breathe’ the Vision, over this academic session and next. 2. School logo comp completed: 4 winning entries being used as basis for new logo through combining them. NW has consulted with Lady P. Bewsey re feasibility of this as a logo on clothing. 3. Uniform Vote was completed with more votes for changing colour than keeping current one, after more information was shared to wider parent forum. . 4. Decision made to introduce Loose Parts Play – and staff keen to start. Some materials currently in new Loose Parts Play shed and PPS included in Dunbar Zero Waster MiXer group for more open sessions in the future. IG work – early interest in organising a “Share your Passion Variety Show” event, with P6, lunch club and YoYP2018 links. PC could have a strong role in helping to reach ‘non-school’ families and local residents. This also links with “Oor Big and Wee Sing” evening. See Updates. AP: LP to create link to improve understanding of LPP and help establish this within PPS as best as possible and to check / confirm what is included in ELPA training day and through Play Scotland.Budget and Staffing: NW working with ELC re managing issues. All schools affected by overall budget measures – from Aug 18 there will be no teachers employed within ELC nurseries; there may be a peripatetic model implemented. NW on working group involved in new Workforce Plan being developed around 1140 hours and removal of teaching staff from Nurseries. CS asked for parents to be informed about the changes, however NW noted that she would prefer this came directly from ELC. RA asked SA to use her role to request this and share positive messages within the change to wider parent forum. ELC may also look at using Pencaitland Nursery as another pilot site for the 1140 hours. AP: SA to discuss “information to parents” from ELC Education dept. around these changes to nursery. Predictable Needs budget has also been affected and is linked to school roll. Reduced numbers of pupils has led to possibility / likelihood of losing Support for Learning teacher (currently 2 days per week). Discussion regarding this ensued. Staff advised that Educ Psy that existing SfL staff to work with staff to teach more strategies for inclusion of children within classes and for teachers to manage this situation. Clear issues around this and impact on GIRFEC as many children could be affected negatively. NW shared it will be her role to deal with this deficit and support these children, though staff do not want to lose this valuable support for pupils and team member. PC particularly noted that the impacts on staff and other children are also considerable, when decisions like these are made based on finances, and wish to be kept fully informed on this matter. PC offered support to create case for keeping SfL input.

Parents as Partners in Learning

NW will be discussing this further with Richard Parker. RA raised suggestion of working with RHS on improving transition aspects for upper school. NW also shared that PTA are being asked to fund more Read Write Ink resources. There was a discussion about the new resources. The school is enthusiastic about the programme and remarked that the children have been very excited. LP shared attendance at a key literacy event and the main points – that the programme should not be used alone and there is no rigorous evidence to validate the impacts of the programme which are being claimed. Please see appendix. “No Homework” pilot - Feedback requested from families and pupils. It is also of concern and regrettable to lose Alison Mathieson from staff, impacting on support for numeracy, nurturing for pupils and admin support through the afternoons. PC would like to have their thanks recorded for Alison’s lovely welcoming manner and calm efficiency, which has been noted since joining PPS, a true asset for school. Current budget issues means that this post cannot be advertised.AP: NW to investigate the possibility on improving transition development and keep PC informed clearly on matters relating to SfL and provision for PPS and Nursery.3) Email Review. SPTC is now Connect. Summer menu circulated for comment (and consultation with wider parent forum). NPF newsletter also circulated and ELAPCM Minutes. 4) PC Training – no new information. SPTC opportunities ongoing. Upstart Scotland information evening 27/02/185) Learning Council – to work with NW on Aims and then share & work with their classes. Next meeting 09/03/18 10am, PC members welcome.

6) Class Reps

1. Dogs tied up at broad pavement by entrance on inside of railings (i.e. on the pavement) noted to have increased this term. Incident with children hurt separately and some children anxious if dogs are on the pavement where they have to pass, as main gate is in this area. All agreed that feeling welcome at school important, and recognised that having the dogs calm and tied up was also a positive for many children. Cycles propped up also raised. Again, best if bikes are not propped up on pavement side. NW shared that it would be okay to dismount and then take bicycles in by rack when dropping off / picking up and where railing is used to help support whilst younger child being lifted out – where possible please move bicycle thereafter.AP: NW to include her advice on these matters in next newsletter.2. Menu consultation – shared to facebook groups. Jim and Ralph to meet with Catering staff as requested. 3. Seatbelts on coaches. Issue raised due to concern over safety for a P4 pupil, also affects all children who are below the required height. Parent addressed this with ELC / transport supplier. Coaches are fitted with a seatbelt adjuster, so children under 135cms should also be able to have a seatbelt properly fitted. Staff and volunteers accompanying children encouraged to check this. It was suggested that the Junior Road Safety Officers could also assist in sharing this message. 4. AP: P1 Soft Start morning - AP: NW & KR were to plan with RW pre Christmas. Update requested for next PC meeting. 5. ELAPCM: JF attended meeting 20/02/18 and shared the PC journey in terms of school library, categorising for AR, stocking and helping to organise books appropriately. Gaps identified and led to work with NW and NR to develop book wishlist. Available on blog. Interest in this aspect from other PCs represented. JF provided a fuller update as attached, along with Challenge Questions, which could be used to have a dialogue with the school about its improvement plans and discussion regarding role of Parent Council. The “SEE survey” (the Student Evaluation of Experience Survey, which is completed annually by P6 pupils) is to be shared with PC once report available. CS thanked JF for representing PPS PC at meeting and sharing our Good Practice journey. Discussion also took place around our Audit Day and more participation with parents facilitated wherever possible. AP: CS and NW to discuss this.

Forward Planning

7) Sub Groups – Play Subgroup: requires to meet and to arrange to talk with pupils re themes from the consultation as analysed Sept 17. Loose Parts Play donations to be encouraged. Update required re painting of doors by LF. (Is support required?) NR raised issue of shabby looking painted chipboard artwork – agreed it would be okay for him to remove these meantime. Also a link to development of play opportunities in village – Friends of Pencaitland Parks. AP NW - Toys in playground and Mini Football pitch require feedback. AP: LP to contact LF regarding door painting to determine plans / thoughts / requirements. AP: CS to arrange play subgroup. VD previously offered to join also, to be added to circulation list.

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Garden: – DO met with Emma Kerr and Kirsty Robertson and shared comments following this. Some small actions required and confirmed within PC meeting that all beds taken. Minor repairs required to Polytunnel. AM shared that the PTA are happy to support new equipment for outdoors activities.AP: DO to highlight key elements to develop action plan around, for example, summer tending of plots. Intergenerational and Dementia Friendly: Year of the Community at PPS and Year of Young People 2018 - Oor Big and Wee Sing event organised. Planned for March 5th – evening performance from Clark Community Choir, a sharing of their journey and then breakouts to discuss developing an intergenerational community choir for Penc and surrounding area. Posters to be shared as well as encourage interest / share event through word of mouth and social media / blog etc throughout village and beyond. **Help on the evening required and gratefully received.**Duncan and Heather have had quite amazing experiences recently, attending Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace however they are keen to have work happening here in Pencaitland and E. Lothian. Tentative thoughts around Spring Fayre, DMS and HP to meet and decide on ideas to discuss. Also, Caroline Davis (supporting E. Lothian ambassadors) plans to contact schools to ask that Young Ambassadors are included in pupil representatives to Youth Summit. NW shared that she hadn’t heard anything as yet but that the P7s had another event which clashes with the summit. LP suggested that CD be contacted regarding the Ambassador’s attendance. AP: NW to contact Caroline Davis re Youth Summit. A.R. / Library Review. No update regarding Young Librarian programme. Books are being donated to school. Suggestion that next reminder avoids difficult times for families financially – not ‘end of month’. AP: NW to share Book List donation encouragement early in new month. 8) Action Plan – Reflection and Evaluation: Unable to discuss due to lack of time. Resilience Documentary likewise. For information: Many leadership for resilience and associated training / discussions around Resilience Documentary in Scotland, are highlighting the early formal education focus for our young children as an ACE. Contrary to children’s needs and a source of considerable ongoing stress.

Updates

13). Emails circulated. Annual Lecture (70th Anniversary) for SPTC/Connect was outstanding – Sir John Jones was speaker and was superb. Some of the content was included in this. International Women’s Day events, involving local ladies, taking place on 9th March. Eventbrite booking. Poster shared. Talking Tranent, Sports Awards and NPFS conference amongst others.14). Community Council update (Attached). Litter pick up will be discussed at next CC meeting, but a Sunday in April is suggested. (Update: This is likely to be 29th but to be confirmed). HANDS project also discussed. A suggestion that the pupils help create a hand to place in window of any vulnerable person if they need help in some way. Project was shared to the CC and claimed very positive results. Cnlr TT shared view that Assets Based Community Development is something to encourage and PC agreed and good to have the children involved.AP: CS to liaise with NW. Councilor’s Update: SA updated re line painting for Glebe; may happen through bulk TRO Mar/Apr ’18. CS has asked to see the actual proposals/drawings to ensure it is what has been requested. SA shared suggestion for traffic cones to be set out during pick up and drop off times with help of Traffic Control Officer (‘aka lollipop man’). All approved of this as a good interim, but temporary, measure and happy to support. It was stressed there have been significant delays in resolving the issue and that we are looking for the permanent solution to be implemented as soon as possible. Discussion around concerns that some people consistently turn right towards school, despite awareness of the one-way system and no drop-off’s by or opposite the school. (Note: Previously commented that work by the Junior Road Safety Officers, to support the safety aspects and systems in place, could be effective.) Remainder of information in Update circulated. Help share news re drop-in for Friends of Pencaitland Parks. AP: SA to work arrange the process of laying out cones, through ELC. AP: NW to contact family members picking up / dropping off by school and not using one-way system.Area Partnership – LP: support given to Fa’side AP Manager to find village representation for Youth group. P7-S2 age group. Ella McMillan is to represent Penc, but room for another representative too. 14). PTA Update – fundraising going well. Interest in Year of the Community being theme for Spring Fayre (26 May). Winton Run takes place on April 14th. Volunteers required to sign up and help run / marshall the event. 15). ELAPCM. Rota circulated. Please advise if anyone can attend. Thanks to JF for attending Feb meeting. **Volunteers required for 25th April and 19th June**. 16) Active Schools keen for a new volunteer. If anyone has interest (or know someone who could be) in Streetdance, this would be particularly of interest, for PPS.

Next Meeting

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30th April 19:00 hrs. Pencaitland Primary School.

Diary Dates

01.03.18 World Book Day and 2nd open session for families of pupils. 19.03.18 Oor Big and Wee Sign, Community Choir event.14.04.18 Winton Run – Volunteers required.25.04.18 ELAPCM meeting Brunton Hall. 7pm28.04.18 ELPA Spring Training Day (Fully booked and waiting list already in place).29.04.18 tbc Pencaitland Annual Litter Pick Up26.05.18 Spring Fayre24.05.18 Next Upstart Scotland Information Evening. Play Not Tests - campaign launching - Blog available.

Communications.

East Lothian Council Consultation Hub – Citizen Space online. East Lothian School Uniform Bank, Freecycle East Lothian and Children’s Bursary are all open to referral. Parents can request pre-worn school clothing through facebook page, but otherwise all requests should be referrals to Carefree Kids, from appropriate professionals. Carefree Kids also deal with Bursary referrals and Active Schools are partnering too.

Appendix: *Notes from meeting – with context

LP shared attendance at a key Literary event with top academics, Margaret M Clark, Terry Wrigley, Greg Brookes and Prof Sue Ellis. In Moray House. These academics shared a great deal of insight around the Read, Write, Ink programme and it’s author, alongside the (Westminster) government focus and impacts of this. The academics were very clear that the programme should not be used alone as the claims being made cannot be backed up with rigorous evidence and that the programme is not better than others. The academics and many others in the audience, were clear that young children should be learning to read, in these early stages, through being read to and supported in individually appropriate ways: playfully; using song, rhyme and a relaxed and more developmentally appropriate approach rather than the top down academic approach. In terms of programmes, RWI and synthetic phonetics are not proven to be better than other methods and for many children, (such as children with autism or advanced readers) it is a system which is generally found to negatively impact and should not be used. The academics present have all contributed to presenting the facts, and re-dressing false claims around previous reports issued, alongside a considerable number of other academics alarmed by the current situation. Margaret M Clark noted that the situation is not as severe as in England fortunately, which has established a system where by the schools have to use RWI, “all costs are reimbursed to the school in return for using only this programme, and then the author’s company carry out evaluation, specific testing is based on this system and no other on an annual basis’. The information continued and was alarming. The academics were clear that they were not saying that the phonics based programs had no merit. They were clarifying that claims made were not based in fact / findings of true academic research. An early report from Margaret M Clark

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can be found here. An Evidence-based Critique of Synthetic Phonics in Literacy Learning. Report is included in this book - Reading The Evidence - Synthetic Literacy Learning (7 Academics including former Visiting Prof Margaret Clark). Before this came was Learning to be Literate-Margaret-ClarkLatest publication: Teaching Initial Literacy - Policies, Evidence & Ideology (13 contributors).

The key aspects to disseminate are – Research shows children learning language and literacy through playful means is best in early years, which

includes P1 and P2 – song, rhyme, being read to are key to best practice. This matches children’s developmental needs and ‘in-built programming to learn’.

If/where programmes are being used, there should be a range used, without concentration on synthetic phonetics to exclusion or detriment of other methods. School staff should ensure all options are used responsibly and non-exclusively.

Children approaching formal education and literacy at age 7 are found to achieve better in literacy from around age 11 than counterparts starting formal education from ages 4 and 5 +.

It’s easy to see why this focus on P1 children learning to read is prevalent, with focus on programmes to teach, especially with baseline testing imminent, but there are other aspects of a child this young to be understood and prioritised.

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