Conference

2008 Safe Internet Use

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Highlights of previous SSBA conferences :-

2007 Developing a Parent Council and Encouraging Parental Involvement

2006 The Way Forward for Parental Involvement

2005 Parents in Partnership

2003 Partnerships and responsibilities

2002 SSBA is fit for the future

2001 Roadshow

2000 International
and published book
available here online

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Workshops
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St Angela's Primary School Board -
Unlocking the Potential

International Conference Presentation
by Andrew D Davis

Message of Greeting.

• Strangers are simply friends we've never met before.

• Glasgow the friendly city.

• What friends do when they get together

• I'm going to tell you a wee story, a true story. It's about a school in Glasgow called St Angela's

• Parents reporting evening

• Music and dancing

• Soloist and admirer

• Appreciation of achievement

• About our school

• 200 pupils in 7 bases. The nursery class.

• The location .... South Park !! Less than 12 at our school

• Why is it ?

• Joining the School Board

• Encouraged by the children

• Not all achievements are academic but non the less, they are achievements

Mission Statement,

'We are a representative body who aim to play an active part in supporting the parent/teacher partnership so as to maintain a high quality of education for our children and to benefit the community.'

This was our starting point.

The point from which we would take our direction. From this we had to ask ourselves three main questions,

• Where are we now?

• Where are we going?

• How do we get there?

The answer to points 1 & 2 lay in answer 3.

The answer to this was to market the school. Great idea, but market the school to whom?

Parents:

I know what you are thinking, 'What good looking parents!' and your right.

Face to face………By attending school function and events.

Supporting the school……In terms of out School Board Development Plan.
Open door policy in the school.

We are not a complaints department.

Representative Role…………By attending training sessions, Liasing with other school boards and the authorities.

Encourage Participation…………..In school Board or in PTA etc....

For them to be team players………….Not 'them and us' but rather 'us and us'

To Listen………. Perhaps the most important function of the School Board. When God made us he gave two ears and one mouth, so He must have thought it twice as important to listen as to speak.

Attract new members for continuity and the to bring new ideas to the Board.

The School Community
Teachers. I once met a teacher from another school.....
Teacher's 'in-service days'.

The Church
As a Catholic school in Glasgow we feel that it is important that the 'catholic ethos' underpins everything that we do in the school. The Christian environment, the attitude of being aware of the needs of others in the school etc...
The school plays a major part in the preparation of the Sacraments...

PTA

Fostering a working relationship with the PTA. Assisting where we can in functions and events in the life of the school. One example of this was the new Merici Library. Both the PTA and the School board worked hand in hand in this project. We don't compete we complement each other.

And the most important of all,

The Pupils

The School Board (the voice of the pupils) works behind the scenes with the knowledge of the pupils in the school. At St Angela's we have a 'Pupil Council' who meet regularly to air their views and add their contribution to the running of the school. The School Board invite this student body to a School Board meeting twice a year and they in turn invite us to their meetings.

Further to this, the School Board, The PTA and the Pupil Council come together to discuss joint projects etc...

Pupil Council for Year 2000

'Here in St Angela's we have a pupil council made up of 12 senior pupils from primary 6 and primary 7. At the start of each school year we all get together to elect a set of children who we can trust to represent us.

We know what to look for in a good council member because this is the fourth year we have had one. A good member is one who listens to others carefully and then acts on what they have beard. You have to be a good communicator because we don't just talk to one another, we talk to our teachers, our Head Teacher and parents too. We want our school to be the very best that it can be so that we can work together, pupils and adults as a team. We have gone to school board meetings and meet with the PTA too. We believe that this is the very best way to get things done.

Our pupil council is an important part of school life. We organise events such as charity work, fun days and sports days. To let our parents know all that we are doing we send out newsletters. The children learn all that we are doing at assemblies when we talk to them. Some days we go round the different classes and tell them what we are doing. We organise competitions and we advertise through letters and posters. Our council lets us be part of deciding what goes on in our school and we think that is brilliant.'

Now whilst we are looking at some of the children of St Angela's, let me introduce to you another few faces.

Our youngest pupil, Shannon, is 4 years old

Our oldest pupil, Anthony, is 12 years old

The St Angela years...

These St Angela years, they just go on and on….

Anthony Byrne Former pupil, now lawyer.

Elaine Mullen The Pupil Council learned of this and decided to help her. They raised the sum of £2000 in 5 weeks.

Mary Welsh The first Head Teacher of St Angela's.

Sandrina Lawson Our second Head Teacher who spent a short time with us.

Moira O'Hara Our current Head Teacher has been in the school for 23 years.

External Bodies

In this category I have listed,

• The Education Department

Mummy, Mummy, is Daddy dead? .... Has he run away? No dear, He's on the School Board!!

• Open lines of communication between the school board and the authority

• Shared objectives

• Shared vision Glasgow's vision 'Putting children first'

• Work load

• How to understand the work load.

• The local Community

• Help in the community

• Hospital visits

• Sainsbury

• Other interested parties

• Other school boards

• Presentations such as this

Conclusion

• Sum up the marketing plan

• Lots more to our school....I'd love to take you there!

• 'our school' but as friends, it is now you school too.

Thank you for your attention and enjoy the rest of the conference.

Back to 2000 Workshop Index