Report to Parents 2009-10        St Peter the Apostle Parent Council

The role of the Parent Council is to support parental involvement.  We recognise that you as parents and guardians are already involved in the education of your young people; the role of the Parent Council is simply to do what we can to support your involvement.  Here are some of the things we have been doing:

Getting Started: We formed the Parent Council in February 2010.  We agreed a constitution, appointed office bearers and agreed priorities for what we would do.

Communication: Parent Council members attended parents’ evenings in May and June.  We also spoke at Parent Information Meetings in September and gathered e-mail addresses so that we could contact parents.

School Improvement Plan: We have written a Parental Involvement section in the School Improvement plan, recognising the important role that parents and guardians play in supporting St Peter the Apostle High School.

Handbook for Parents: Parent Council members put together a handbook of useful information for parents.  It lists lots of questions and answers that cover all areas of school life.  The idea is that we can add to this over time and we will make it available to all parents on the Parent Council website.

Congratulations to Hope Ross in S2 who won the competition to design the cover of the handbook.

First Birthday: The Parent Council is organising a first birthday party on 12 November 2010.  This will give everyone the chance to come together to celebrate the first year of our school.  There will be a 60s theme for the evening.  It will be an event for staff, parents and pupils and will be ‘Bring Your Own Bottle’.  We intend to have tickets on sale after the October week.

Parents’ Website: Thanks to the hard work of Stephen Gallacher, the Parent Council has been making a website for parents.  This website will be up and running by the end of October.  We will publicise it once it is live.

The school itself now has a website (http://www.scottishschools.info/stpetertheapostle/default.aspx) which will also have useful information each week for parents.

Initial Survey of Parents’ Views: In May and June we carried out a quick survey of parents views to find out the main concerns of parents.  One of the main things you raised was the safety of pupils with regard to traffic congestion.  We have written to the Council about this.

West Dunbartonshire Council: We have written to the Council four times, about the control of the temperature in school (especially the high temperatures experienced in May / June), the papal visit, the sports facilities (especially concerns about the running track) and traffic issues (congestion at the main entrance to the school / safety for pedestrians at the start and end of the school day).

The Year Ahead

The focus for the Parent Council in the year ahead is to improve communication with you and to represent your views effectively.  We want to work in a way that helps parents and guardians feel listened to and respected as valuable members of the school community.  The website will be an important way for the Parent Council to communicate with you and we will encourage parents to make full use of it.  

St Peter the Apostle High School – Parent Council

The aims of the Parent Council are:

1.        To work in partnership with the school to support its mission as a Catholic school

2.        To work in partnership with the school to create a welcoming school which is inclusive for all parents

3.        To promote partnership between the school, its pupils and all its parents

4.        To develop and engage in activities which support the education and the welfare of the pupils

5.        To identify and represent the views of parents regarding the education provided by the school and other matters

6.        To gather the views of the Parent Forum and report these to the Head Teacher and the Education Department

Your Parent Council members are:

Chair                        Tony Coultas

Vice Chair                Joe McGinley

Secretary                Patricia Griffin

Treasurer                Margaret Keenan

Communications         John Whoriskey

Members                Robert Doherty

                        Marge Paton

                        Diane Rafter

                        Teresa Henry

                        Oonagh Coultas

                        Sandra Callaghan

                        Stephen Gallacher

Church Representative        John Brown

Chaplain                        Fr Paddy Boyle

School Staff                        Mrs Katy Gallaghe

School Staff                        Mrs Linda Booth

Headteacher                        Mr Mick Vassie

Future meetings of the Parent Council will take place at 6:30pm on:

Wednesday 3 November

Tuesday 7 December

Tuesday 18 January

Contact the Parent Council  -  stpetertheapostleparents@gmail.com