PA report - Educational Council Oberschule 12th April 2011

Present: Mr Hoyem, Mr Pialoglou, Mrs Delveaux, Mr Roosegaarde, Mrs Stricker, Mrs Braunsdorf, Mrs van Velzen, Mrs Beroard-Barth, Mrs Winthrop, Mr Morgan, Mr Bruckner, Mr Rafael Frisch, Mrs (italian teacher), Mrs Ribeiro,

The agenda was accepted. The minutes were approved.

Extra-curricular activities eg MUN (Model United Nations), MEP (Model European Parliament), Science Symposium, Eurosport, etc, etc.
Coordinators of these sort of school activities need to meet as early as possible in September. However dates for the BAC exams are not known until October so the calendar is difficult to plan early.
It was requested that the rule saying that year 7 students should not be taking part in such activities be respected as it impacts their school attendance record and their study plan.  It was felt that year 6 students are mature enough to participate in activities such as MUN. 

Mr Hoyem is taking a much stricter approach to student truancy which may result in either the student leaving the school or repeating the year.

Parents’ Association
Mrs van Velzen reported that the demonstrations against ES budget restrictions were very successful both in Brussels and here in Karlsruhe which was attended by parents and ITU. The action in ESK was videoed and sent to Brussels. Everyone is thanked for their support. The following points were raised:

• Course options procedures for years 4 and 6

The PA requested that the parents evening for years 3 and 5 take place before the deadline for course options to be taken in years 4 and 6. Many parents who are new to the procedure would like to be able to discuss the options with teachers before they make choices.  Also it would be sensible to have 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices in subjects, so if a course cannot be run as there are too few students, then 2nd choices can be taken. This would also benefit the timetable as it is more flexible. However the PA requested that giving a 2nd or 3rd choice should not be made compulsory. Parents are already being contacted personally if there are problems with the choices.

• Careers advice/university applications

The PA requested that parents are involved in the beginning of the university application processes. Some applications are complex and often parents can help. Some universities still only  recognise the European Baccalaureate as an international qualification which means that the student cannot register as a national student. This is an issue that is being addressed in Brussels.
It is important that more teachers are aware of the progress of a student’s application, to ensure that if the careers’ advisor is absent, the process can be completed by the deadlines.

• Teacher absences/replacements

Parents feel that absences are increasing and there are not always replacements or a few teachers are not giving class work for the completing in the Permanence. Mr Hoyem said that the current budget for teacher replacements is insufficient and he fears that this may get worse. The PA requested that at the very least appropriate work is set for pupils by all teachers if they are away, or by another teacher in the same subject.

• ICT Policy

A working group has been set up and its first meeting is 14th April. Good ICT practice should be taught through all subjects, and cyber bullying, inappropriate behaviour in social networks should be a topic for Ethics, and other related subjects. Teachers and parents all have to be involved in enforcing good policies. It was regretted that only a few parents attend information evenings such as the recent anti-drugs meeting, however the PA requested that the school continues with such initiatives as they well organised and have great value. The PA requested that a parent representative is also invited to the meetings involving the drafting of the Child Protection policy.

• Library

The PA reported that parents have mentioned the poor working atmosphere in the library. The school said that a meeting has been arranged with student representatives, librarian and teachers to try to resolve any issues concerning the rules and regulations.

• School trips

The PA requested that the planning for school trips start much earlier, and that comprehensive information is sent to parents well before the start of the trip or other deadlines. It is also important that parents are made aware of taking compulsory travel insurance. It was also requested that teachers are more sympathetic with students that are on school trips especially when setting deadlines, and having class tests.

• Security

Parents are experiencing problems gaining access for meetings etc, when security have not been informed of the appointments. The school was requested to implement a strict protocol for allowing parents to enter the school to await confirmation of the meeting appointments, in order that parents are not forced to have a wasted trip.
There is still concern over the number of incidences of theft, especially when at sports. The school reported that various actions have already been put into place, for example, a special box/bag is used for valuable items at the beginning of a sports lesson, which is taken into the sports hall for safekeeping. However parents are reminded that electronic items or other items of value are not allowed to be brought into school (it is understood that mobile phones are often necessary when a pupil is travelling to and fro). There are a number of electronic items, including phones that have been in lost property for several days/weeks and the school are surprised that these have not been claimed.
Teachers are requested to be very strict about not having phones on in lessons.

• Smoking around school

This is a problem that is very hard to deal with as the grounds outside the school boundary is a public area. New no smoking signs will be installed soon. It was suggested that the school should send out the message that smokers are bad role models and that smokers should not smoke where they can be seen by children. This might encourage all smokers (students, teachers and parents) to not smoke in the surrounding area of the school.

• WebUntis

Parents are very positive about WebUntis but are surprised that it is not compulsory for all teachers to use it as a means of communication for information on homework and missed classed for students and parents alike. Mr Roosegaarde said that they were trying to incorporate WebUntis into the new School website and it was suggested that all new teachers should be told that this utility should be used on a day-to-day basis.

• AbiBall

The PA is still concerned with the organisation of the AbiBall for the year 6 students. It is felt that these students need much more support from the school and guidance on how to manage such an event. Mr Hoyem expressed his concern about the amount of overtime was being paid to the Hausmeister for all the school events and said that this must be reduced. It was agreed that there would be meetings for the new year 6 early in September to assist them in the AbiBall process.

• PA Summerfest

Mrs van Velzen again requested that more teachers visit the summer fest as this is an event for the whole school and not just for parents and primary pupils. The teacher representative regretted that this was impossible to recommend to the teachers as they were all far too busy at this time of the year to give up a couple of hours on a Sunday morning.

• ESK Summer camp, Football camp and tennis camp.

Mrs van Velzen was very please to report that the PA can offer 3 different camps exclusively for ESK families. Details are on the PA website.
a 2 week camp on ESK grounds - organised by AWO - sponsored by ITU
football camp at SVK Beiertheim - organised by InterSport Hoffmann
tennis camp in Eggenstein - organised by Jurgen Fassbender - sponsored by ITU

• Dutch/Italian farewell party

Details and registration is on the website. Everyone is welcome.
Book Prizes on Open Day
The PA thanked the school on the success of the Book Prizes. However it was felt that there were too many winners and this needed to be addressed. Mrs Barbara Lomax has volunteered to manage a working group to work out a structure/procedure for next year.

Canteen
Mrs Ribeiro reported that the numbers of people having lunch in the canteen is dropping. This was due to 2 main reasons:
 - The lunch break is too short and the queues are too long.
 - The noise level in the canteen is too loud and the atmosphere is too stressful.
The Canteen Committee, together with the school must address these issues urgently.
Parents are aware that sweets and chocolates are being sold in the school and this goes against the healthy eating message that the school wants to promote. Parents request that the sale of such items be immediately stopped and that the possibility of a kiosk offering healthy snacks be discussed again. New benches have been installed around the school and these are welcomed by students and teachers especially in the warm weather when eating packed lunches etc.
A questionnaire has been sent to all OS students for evaluating the canteen. This questionnaire will be sent to teachers and staff as well before the results are analysed.

Mr Hoyem thanked everyone for their participation in the meeting.

Sarah Winthrop
PA

Please note, this is NOT the official minutes of the meeting.