Moray Parent Partnership (MPP) Annual Report

2008/2009

This term started with much intrepidation for me as the newly appointed Chair.
Firstly, it is appropriate to thank Andrew for his many years on the Parent Board
and subsequently the Parent Partnership. Also thanks to Mrs. Wright for her continued
hard work as Headteacher in our school.

At the AGM on 11th Setember 2008 it was agreed that the existing Parent Council
members - Lynn Paterson, Ian McGregor, Lorraine Clark, Andrew Steedman, Lorna
Tilley, Diane Campbell, Martin Craigen, Elizabeth Leebody, Elaine Millar and Robert
Niven - would continue as members and form the Partnership. This is in keeping with
the constitution. Sadly, Sheila Punton decided to resign as she has other commitments
(looking after her grandsons so that Diane can attend meetings!). I would like to thank
her for her attendance at meetings and her interest in the school – it is difficult enough
to try to coax parents to participate let alone grandparents - so thankyou Sheila for
supporting the Council.

The posts of Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer would be held by Lynn Paterson, Ian
McGregor and Lorraine Clark for a period of one year.

New members to the Council were Mr. G. Leebody, Mrs. F. Currie and Mrs. Lorraine
Morrison. Unfortunately, Graham Leebody and Fiona Currie decided their talents
would better serve the P.T.A and I believe Graham is still actively supporting this.
Whilst Lorraine Morrison was not present at the AGM it was decided that she would
become a member of the partnership and subsequently attend meetings throughout the
term.

Lynn McGuire (formerly Prentice) from The Circuit Fitness Club within the Sports
Complex was adopted as a co-opted member. The Council would like to thank Lynn
for her interest in the school and taking part in meetings and it is hoped that this will
continue.

Local Councillors were invited on a rotational basis and Councillor Angus

MacDonald attended the meeting on 29th Jan 2009.
 Achievments

• Road Safety Campaign

This initiative was proposed by Martin Craigen. The children drew pictures
and made up slogans on how they felt adults should be aware of their safety in
and around school. The winners were chosen by the Council and their signs
were erected on the school railings with the help of local businesses providing
sponsorship. This was a bid to alert parents / carers of how perilous it can be
around school for children and that they should take care and consider others
when parking and driving in Moray Place. The drawings and slogans were
married together for greater impact and Mrs. Wright thanked the children for
their input. Subsequently we had an enquiry from Langlees Parent Council on
how we managed the campaign and I think they are devising something of a
similar nature.
Additionally, the road markings were reinstated to allow the Traffic Police to
challenge people who are illegally parked. This was with the support of
Councillor MacDonald. I have to say although things have improved slightly
there is still room for improvement and the safety of our children is everyone’s
responsibility.

• MPP Webpage

It was agreed by the Council that having our own page on the school website
would be a good way of informing parents of our meetings, what we are
about, what are our responsibilities, really - who is MPP! In March we had a
presentation from Mrs. Johnston who demonstrated features of the current site
and how easy it would be to manage our own page. Thanks to Mrs. Johnston
for taking the time out to do this. Currently there is information about the
Council on our page but I am hopeful that we can improve on this next term.
The children were asked to design a logo for this page and the winner was
chosen at our meeting in June. Thanks went to all the children for their great
efforts and I look forward to seeing it on our updated page very soon.

• Groupcall

Thanks again to Councillor MacDonald who had our charges waived for this
service. Whilst informative messages continue to be promoted on the website
it is absolutely vital that parents can be alerted if their child / children are not
in attendance by way of groupcall. This is a big saving for the school and can
be put into the purchasing of essential resources.
 Head Teacher Reports

In September copies of the Standards and Quality report were submitted and
approved by the Partnership and were circulated to parents.

March brought us the news that we had a high number of placing requests to
the school against the number of places available. This matter is out of the
Head Teacher / Parent Council’s remit and was dealt with by Law and
Administration. It was reported to us that there would likely be composite
classes throughout Moray. The partnership expressed its dissatisfaction of this
to Education Services. Subsequently there are no composite classes this term
and this is thanks to Mrs. Wright and her lengthy meetings with Education
Services. It is reported that there will likely be composite classes at Moray in
the future and this is something that Mrs. Wright has worked with in the past.

This term we saw the retiral of a much loved Mrs. Davidson, Nursery Teacher
and MPP wished her well. Two new appointments for next term are Miss.
Molloy and Miss Multani both of whom have experience in Moray Primary
and not only work well within the team of teachers but are liked and respected
by the children.

On a happy note – Mrs.Wright was delighted to report on the success of our

Green Flag achieved at the Ecoflag Assessment Day. Congratulations to the
Eco Committee and all of the children (and teachers!) who support this.

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Meetings

• Parent’s Conference – Literacy Across Learning – Victoria Primary

School Attended by Diane Campbell.

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 Aims

• To continue promoting every aspect of Moray Primary School.

• To address any issues that arise concerning the school.

• To establish and maintain a Parents Partnership Noticeboard within school so

that any parent / carer may access information during school hours.

• To work on the web page and issue minutes of meetings / reports for all
parents to access.

• To attend more meetings / conferences as and when circumstances allow .

• To keep an ‘open door policy’ to any parents who wish to join MPP.

I would like to thank all the members of MPP for their patience with me in my
new role and their support over the term. Also, thank you to Norma for her
clerical skill and support.

Lynn Paterson
Chairperson – MPP
2008/2009