Belfast School Parent Council
February, 18, 2010
Attendance: 13 parents, 1 teacher, 2
Meeting Called to order 7:12pm
3 errors or omissions will be made to the January Meeting minutes.
-Susan Church minutes from meeting to be posted on blog and on newsletter.
-A decision regarding the grades 5 and 6’s program at Sir John Franklin is going to be made ASAP
New Business: Grade 6 graduation, Treasurer Position will be open next year.
Old Business: City of Calgary Traffic Operations will be installing new signage as per request as soon as the ground thaws.
Fun Lunch went well and raised $381.29 Concerns were raised regarding the speed in which the children are getting their hot lunches. The younger children should be getting their meals first and the classes should be arriving at closer intervals. One parent volunteer is required in each lunch room on fun lunch days in order that adequate supervision is maintained if the bell rings and students are still in the school eating. The next fun lunch is scheduled for May and will be a Subway lunch.
The First Aid course for the staff attended went very well and was greatly appreciated by all. Thanks to the parent for setting this up.
The Volunteer position has been filled by Grade One parent.
Lunch room fees have all been paid now and the program is breaking even.
The casino fund raiser is approaching and we are still in need of volunteers, Please see Casino Coordinator or the office for a volunteer form. As an added incentive we are a registered charity and as such qualify for the Give a day Get a day program Disney is offering. Please go to govolunteer.ca to find out more about how you could receive a one day free voucher to a Disney park this year. Can Volunteer Coordinator send out a blanket e-mail request to all volunteers on the school list? As well a separate notice should go home with the casino information.
Grade 6 Farewell: Parent of the grade 6 chair would like a donation of $200.00 to cover the cost of the celebration, any monies left over will be returned. A motion was made to donate $200.00 to the grade 6 farewell celebration, 2nded. Motion Passed
Can the yellow brick road on the front sidewalk be repainted? Or should something new be put in its place? Administration is going to watch for a new opportunity to do something with this space.
Simple Simon Pie fundraiser is going to take place and we are waiting on a start date from parent volunteer. Pick up dates that coordinate with the student lead parent conferences would be ideal.
Key Communicator: Dave Hancock (minister of Education) spoke and made mention that the grade 3 P.A.T. tests may be removed. Support to teachers is important but outside support should be involved whenever possible. Ii.e. (boys and girls clubs) Also that j Jr. and Sr. kindergarten is very important.
Area 2 meeting: Susan Church and 3 trustees attended this meeting. 3 new ideas were brought forward: Personalized learning, making sure every child is able to learn in the classroom they are in. Personal computer devices in the school and how these devices could be integrated in the classroom, e-portfolios from kindergarten through Grade 6 12 including examples of the Childs childs work ,work, reflections from the child on what they did and what they would do differently. Next system meeting is going to be held March 10, CAPSC meeting every month unsure of topic at the upcoming meeting.
Treasures Report: There is approx. $4,350.00 in the bank currently, with $500.00 coming out for the First Aid course our balance is approx. $3,850.00
A parent made a motion to go forward and purchase 2 blue benches from Blue Imp to be put in the playground as previously discussed at earlier parent council meetings. The cost of one bench at the time of the quote was $532.00. 2nded , 1 opposed, motion passed.
Principal’s report: A farewell party is going to take place in the afternoon of Tuesday February 23 for our Artists in Residence Chester Lees and Sam Whalen. Jump rope for heart took place and a good time was had by all who participated. Teachers and children were able to try a variety of new activities. (Why were the pledge forms sent home after the event took place?) The students of Belfast took it upon themselves to raise money for the people of Haiti. The student’s bottle/garage/bake sale was a huge success and raised a total of $1574.19. Winter fest took place this past week and Mother Nature played along with a nice dump of sticky new snow, everyone had a great time.
When the student lead interviews are held in March all students will have had their reading levels retested. Multiple intelligence, goal setting, what is an attainable goal for me (the student). Projections for last year were for 238 children- 223 actually attended. This year projections are set at 213. Staffing discussions will begin February 19, 2010 regarding deployment of staff and teacher placement.
Grade 1 teacher and her husband welcomed their son.
School Council Chairperson would like to attend an Alberta School Councils Associations Conference in Edmonton. Some of the subject of the seminars is: School Council Operating Procedures, School Council Relationships, Online engagement to name a few.
A motion was made to allow her $300.00 for the expenses to attend these discussions in Edmonton, Ab. 2nded motion passed.
Motion to adjourn the meeting.
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Belfast Elementary Fundraising Society
(Casino meeting)
Meeting brought to order at 8:20 pm
$21,000.00 (approx) monies left over from the 2008 Casino fundraiser that needs to be spent.
A motion was made by parent to pay Chester Lees and Sam Whalen bill with the left over casino money. 2nded. Motion passed
Fine Arts Teacher would like to have a HoJo performance come to the school. The cost of this performance is $813.00. Parent makes a motion to pay for this performance. 2nded, 1 opposed. Motion passed.
Server update needed the cost of this is $2319.00. Parent made a motion to pay for the server upgrade. 2nded. Motion passed
The office is in need of a fax machine, the cost of a new machine is $1034.25. A motion to cover the cost of a new fax machine. 2nded . Motion passed.
A motion was made to cover the first payment on the new photo copier. The cost of the first payment is $6772.23 Motion made, 2nded. Motion passed.
The council spent the rest of the meeting brain storming ideas on how to spend our upcoming 2010 casino monies.
Meeting adjourned at 8:47pm
