As you know, Mr Grant, Depute Head, will be retiring at Christmas.  He has made an enormous contribution, to the life of Culter School, over the years and will be greatly missed, by the whole school community.  The Parent Council would like to make a collection and purchase a gift for him, to express the warmth and gratitude of the children and parents.  If you would like to contribute, please send your money into school in an envelope marked ‘collection for Mr Grant’, by Friday 12th December.  Thank you, Clare Danielian, Culter Parent Council

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Letter from Parent Council in response to the consultation on 41/2 day week.

4-and-a-half-day-consulation letter

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FOUR AND A HALF DAY WEEK

As you may have read in the local papers Aberdeen City Council is considering changing the school week to four and a half days.  This would mean that the children would finish school at lunchtime on Friday (and lengthen their school days from Monday to Thursday).  You can complete an online questionnaire, at this link, to give your views to the council on this subject:

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ACCI/web/site/Consultations/SL/cst_school_week.asp

Culter School Parent Council will be writing to Aberdeen City Council on this subject.  We would be grateful if you could briefly let us know your views and how this might affect you.  Please email the chairperson at claredanielian@hotmail.com (or send a note via school).  We need to represent YOUR VIEWS, so please tell us what YOU think AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  We will be meeting next week to draft a letter to ACC.  Thank you, Clare Danielian, Chairperson Culter Parent Council

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Consultation on changing the school week to 4 1/2 days
After the Summer holidays, Aberdeen City Council will be consulting parents and all those who have an interest, on changing the children’s working week from 5 days to 4 1/2 days. This will mean extending the children’s hours to make sure that they get the same time in the classroom (school staff would still work 5 days). They are considering implementing it in August 2009. As your representatives we will be collecting your views soon after the children go back to school. If you would like more information you can read a report by Aberdeen City Council on the subject at this web address:
   http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ACCI/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=16398&sID=7125

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Donations to collection in memory of Allan Graham, School Janitor may be made at the school office.  At the request of Allan’s family, all donations will be made to the Marie Curie Fund.

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Report of the first AGM of the Newly Formed Parent Council

schoolboardreport (please click on this link to read the report).

 

 Our Parent Council Fundraising Committee put a lot of effort into raising money for the benefit of our school and pupils.  They ultimately have the responsibility of raising and spending the money and make the decisions on what to support following request from our Head Teacher.  They have supported/purchased the following items in school in the last two financial years.

PAYMENTS MADE TO SCHOOL YEAR END 30th APRIL, 2008
July ‘07 Contribution to Health Week £1,536.90
July ‘07 P7 Leavers’ Disco £  247.58
Nov ‘07 Halloween Party £    23.57
Dec ‘07 Contribution to Xmas Crafts £  799.00
Dec ‘07 Story Teller £    45.00
Feb ‘08 Contribution to Scottish Week £  150.00
    £2,802.05

PAYMENTS MADE TO SCHOOL YEAR END 30th APRIL, 2007
June ‘06 Donation towards Health Week £1,000.00
June ’06 Bottled Water for Zoe’s Football Competition  £    60.71
June ‘06 Donation for Edinburgh Science Festival £1,000.00
June ‘06 P7 Leavers’ Disco £  234.77
Oct ‘06 Xmas Craft Donation to School £  840.00
Nov ‘06 Donation to School for Zoe’s Playground £3,000.00
Dec ‘06 Storyteller at School £     40.00
Feb ‘07 Storyteller at School £     60.00
Mar ‘07 Drama Group at School £  300.00
    £6,535.48

 AGM FOR THE CULTER SCHOOL COUNCIL

 AND THE SUB GROUP, CULTER FUNDRAISING GROUP

- THURSDAY 29TH MAY @ 7.00 PM

Another academic year over.  It is time to recruit new members into the above group.  We are seeking help for fundraising activities.  The more Committee Members, less work, more money raised, more fun.  The school has always valued the money raised however, due to the current financial restraints placed upon them, this has become a necessity in order for your children to reap the benefits either academically or socially.  Therefore a small amount of your time can gain huge financial rewards.

Please come along to the above meeting to find out what goes on and enjoy a wee refreshment.

Alan Veale and I represent Culter parents on the Cults Academy Rebuild Reference Group. We have been invited on a site visit on May 14th, 2008. If any parents have any questions they would like us to ask, please post them on the blog here and we will report back to you. You can keep and eye on the progress of the build by going to the Cults Academy website. This is a very exciting project that the children of Culter School are going to benefit from!
Thanks, Claire Danielian

At the recent meeting of the Culter School Parent Council it was decided that we should make parents and carers aware of who the members of the Council are and what has been happening in support of the school.Firstly, we as a Council are delighted with the HMIe Report which has been distributed to everyone.  Our thanks go to Mrs Crossan and all the staff for their hard work which is reflected in the positive comments in the Report.  We are fortunate to have such a good school in our community.There has been much publicity recently about Aberdeen City Council’s budget cuts and the effect those cuts are likely to have on the education services in the city.  The Culter School Parent Council has been monitoring the situation very closely over the past few weeks and liaising with Mrs Crossan on a regular basis to ensure we have the latest information and are able to lend our support as and when it is needed.  We have attended meetings with other Parent Councils and Nicol Stephen and are keeping a very close eye on any developments which will affect Culter School.  It is hoped that the number of teaching staff at Culter School will remain unchanged as a result of these cuts, but Mrs Crossan is still likely to have to find considerable savings in the day to day expenditure at the school which will undoubtedly have an effect on what the school can offer in terms of visits and other ‘extras’.Since the formation of the new Parent Council and the demise of the old School Board and PTA regime, it was decided that the Council should still have a group of parents whose special fundraising talents could be tapped.  We have therefore formed a sub-group of the Parent Council called “Culter School Fundraising Group” which is chaired by Alison Yule.  This group excelled themselves at the recent Spring Fayre where over £2,000 was raised to support the school – something which takes on an even greater importance with the impending budget cuts!  Thanks to everyone who turned out on the day to support this worthwhile event.Finally, below are the names of the members of the Parent Council.  We are delighted that Dr Harris has agreed to be co-opted onto the Parent Council in an advisory capacity and are hoping that other members of the Culter Community will be co-opted in due course.  If you have anything you want to discuss or that you have concerns about, please don’t hesitate to bring it to the attention of one of the Parent Council Members – we do, after all, represent all of you.  Please note that the AGM of the Parent Council will take place on Thursday 29th May 2008 at 7.00pm in the GP room at the school.  All parents/carers are welcome to attend.Alan Veale, Chair, Culter School Parent Council ( alan.veale@virgin.net )CULTER SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL MEMBERS

Alan Veale Chair Alison YuleVice Chair and Chair of CSFG Culter School Hilary BellSecretary Dawn MacKinnonTreasurer
Ruth Bates Karen Begg Jackie Brawley Claire Danielian
Joyce Easton Jane Hall Diane Hayes Angeline Ironside
Alison Mitchell Richard Nixon Fiona Rugg Catherine Stevenson
Sharon Stronach Julie Thain Gillian Vullinghs Dr Douglas HarrisCo-opted member