St Dominic’s Parent Council Meeting

Minutes of Meeting Held Monday 8th February 2010, 7 -9pm

Present: Sheila McGregor, Canon Drysdale, Mr and Mrs Bashford, Julia

Nozidar, Mr and Mrs Aitken, Peter Mudie, Karen MacKechnie, Julie
Halliday, Simon Ayton, Des Oates, Steph Niven, Sharlene Chater, Maurice
Mardon, Elizabeth Hunter, June Osborne, Anne Dalziel (Acting Service
Manager, Education and Children’s Services), Karen Robertson (Operations
Manager, ECS, Perth and Kinross Council) and Alan Taylor (Head of
Support Services, ECS, Perth and Kinross Council).

Roles of invited speakers

AD: I support Roman Catholic schools and cluster schools in Perth and
Kinross. My role is to ensure that a high standard of education is provided to
all children in the area.
KR: I support parents and children. I am responsible for the placing of
children in schools in their area.
AT: I am in charge of two teams- projects and finance.

Discussion on School Capacity

Can you please provide us with an update on the current situation for
P1 entr y in August 2010.
KR: Registration for primary 1 took place in January. There is no legal
closing date for applications so some additional children may still be
registered. I am meeting with the Headteachers of schools about P1 intake at
present and in schools where there is known to have been capacity issues
letters will be issued by the end of February. This is considerably earlier
than the legal deadline of 30th April and will allow parents whose children
are not offered a place time to make a placing request at another school if
they wish. The deadline for placing requests is 15th March.
At present 23 children have already applied for Primary 1 including 18
baptised Catholic children. We shall therefore be required to use the learning
pod again this year to accommodate all the Catholic children.

Peter Mudie: How many children are in St Dominic’s at present?

KR: 147 children but the school capacity is 142. This figure includes the 5
children in the learning pod.
Karen MacKechnie: Letters are issued at the end of February informing
parents about placements. Those who are unsuccessful will be given an
option sheet to complete and send on. Should parents then apply for a
second school?
KR: You won’t lose your place in your catchment school - you have that
right, but if you wish to apply for a different school, placing requests must
be received by 15th March. Every parent has a right to appeal the decision
and the appeal procedure is independent of Education and Children’s
Services. The committee consists of elected members and parents who are
not from the local area. Appeals for one school are heard on one day. You
have 30 days from receipt of your letter to make an appeal and appeals can
run well into June. If you are unsuccessful in your appeal, you have the right
of appeal to the Sheriff. If you win the appeal, the child goes into that school
regardless of any capacity issues. Perth and Kinross Council will not
withdraw the offer of a place for a child once it has been made unless the
offer was based on fraudulent information.

Mr Aitken: How big will the P1 class be next year?

KR: There are 18 baptised Catholics who have already applied and at the
moment these are the only children who are guaranteed a place in P1.

Des Oates: Will the pod be filled to capacity?

KR: We are not sure about this yet. We need to discuss class structures with
Mrs MacKechnie, ie. composite breakdowns. Some classrooms within St
Dominic’s are too small to hold large numbers of children and this can
further complicate class structures.

Des Oates: What is the maximum for P1?

KR: This very much depends on space within the school but the legal
maximum for a P1 class is 25.
Karen MacKechnie: There are 30 in P1/2 at present. 25 in P1/2 and 5 in the
pod with two members of teaching staff.
AT: Baptised Catholic children get priority but there is a need to manage the
numbers back down to 142 throughout the school. There is a concern that if
we don’t do something to this now that this will be a recurring issue from
year to year. We are also concerned that there are Catholic families moving
into the area who require spaces further up the school and at the moment
there is not the space to accommodate these children at St Dominic’s.
Julie Halliday: It seems a shame that this years intake will take the hit of
reducing school capacity from 147 to 142 meaning that the siblings may not
get into P1.
Steph Niven: Perhaps PKC could consider managing down the school
capacity over 2-3 years to lessen the impact on a single year group.

Kar en MacKechnie: What happens if the pod is not full by June? How long
do we wait for other Catholic families to come into the area? When will
spaces be allocated to any children on the waiting list?
KR: If there is no need for the pod then we would take it away. We have
reserved places for school children in various schools in case people come
into the area but it is against the law to reserve places for Catholic children.
We have to draw a line at some point in order to allow classes to be
organised.

J une Osbor ne: Surely with new non-Catholic families now being very
unlikely to be allocated places in P1 due to the high demand from Catholic
and sibling children, this will, over the next few years automatically result in
less demand for P1 places. I think that PKC has a moral obligation to place
all sibling children at St Dominic’s.

Julia Nozidar: Can your child’s name be on a waiting list for one school
and also apply for another school?
KR: Yes, there is no restriction on the number of schools you can register
your child for.

Mr Aitken: Are there any plans to expand St Dominic’s primary school?

AT: There are no plans for any major capital investment in the near future at
St Dominic’s. There has been money ear-marked for primary school
provision in the Crieff area based on predicted growth figures but no
decision has been taken regarding how or if this money will be spent. If
predicted housing developments and possible population growth in the area
is realised then there may be a need for expanding or relocating Crieff
Primary or creating a new smaller Primary school in Crieff. There are no
firm plans for any changes to provision in the coming few years.

Mr Aitken: There are lots of new builds planned in Auchterarder. Does St

Dominic’s have to accommodate those children and are they able to?
AT: They could possibly be zoned for Auchterarder schools instead of
Crieff schools - this would need to be researched.

Steph Niven thanked the visitors for attending.

NEXT MEETING: 2nd March 2010 at 7 -9pm