Management and PA meeting 5th March 2010

Present: Mr Hoyem, Mr Da Torre, Mrs Pavlicikova, Mrs van Velzen, Mrs Gorey, Mrs Braunschweig, Mrs Winthrop

Appointment of new deputy-director

Mr Hoyem informed the meeting that the interviews for the new deputy-director for the Oberschule will be taking place in June.

Bowling For Haiti

Mr Hoyem was pleased to announce that the sponsorship money had today topped 10,000€ and he hoped that the final count would be about 15,000€. This is the largest amount donated by any one single organisation in Karlsruhe, and the money is being handed over to the to the school- and sport mayor, Mr.Lenz who is responsible for Karlsruhe as UNICEF town 2010. The hand-over will take place on the 12th April at 11.00 am in the Bowling hall LAGO. The founder of Europäische Brunnengesellschaft, Professor Maier, who visited Haiti after the catastrophe will then get the money for supplying clean water in Haiti.

Re-organisation of the administration building

Mr Hoyem informed the meeting that a professional consultant has been asked to look at the organisation and roles of the administration to see if efficiency can be improved. At the same time, an architect has been charged with analysing the available space on the first floor of the administration building to advise on how best to arrange office rooms to maximise use.

SAC

The next SAC meeting has been provisionally set for 29th April at 3.45pm in the Conference Room. Mr. Hoyem underlined his wish that the SAC be a dynamic process and how he wanted the next SAC meeting to be an open one.
In order to reach as many parents as possible, the PA proposed to have a proper information package for the parents. Many parents still don’t know what the SAC is and how it works.

The invitation will se sent in French, English and German and will have the working group reports attached so that everyone will be informed in advance about the progress made so far.
The invitation and working group reports will be ready by Open Day (24th April) so that they can be given to parents to encourage interest in the SAC.
action : Mrs Braunschweig

The organisers of NAMI will be consulted to see if necessary, parents can leave their young children under their supervision during the SAC meeting.
action: Mrs Pavlicikova

The PA requested that the structure of working groups, School Advisory Council, Admin. Council, Educational Councils, budget councils, and management board be made quite clear so that everyone can see how the flow of information (in both directions) and resulting decisions influence the School Development Plan. It was hoped that the start of the development plan would set clear goals and priorities for the school. It was pointed out that it was not in the SAC remit to write the School Development plan and said that there were already several “school development” plans for various topics. As this might cause confusion, the PA requested that these were more clearly defined and made more transparent so that they could be seen in the context of the whole school’s short term and long term development.

Project Week and Open Day

Mrs van Velzen reported that there are about 21 projects planned for project week. Out of these, 12 requests have been made to the PA for funding. These requests will be considered at the next PA committee meeting. The PA was very happy about the range of projects from the teachers and thought that the reaction from teachers has been very positive.

The Book prize giving ceremony will take place on Open Day. The book prize idea has been very well received by some teachers and it was felt that the public acknowledgement of the hard work from the students would benefit the school. The management invited the PA to speak directly to the teachers at the next teacher meeting (18th March). The PA also suggested that it would be good if there was a Director’s Prize and invited Mr Hoyem to sponsor a book and select one winner for this prize. Mr Hoyem agree to give it his full consideration.

Permanence Room

Mr Da Torre reported that to date, nothing has been done to the Permanence Room. It was reiterated that funds have been put aside by the PA since the beginning of the school year for posters etc, to help improve the working atmosphere of the room. Mr Da Torre said that Mr Saïdi and others have been consulted about what can be done.

Abi Ball

Mr Da Torre reported that the progress of the class 6 in the organisation of this summer’s Abi Ball has been disappointing to say the least. It was suggested that guidance be immediately forthcoming to assist the Abi team to set and reach their goals. It was recognised that there would be difficulties from year to year, and a weaker year should be offered even more help to organise themselves and fund raising activities.

Lost Hours

Mrs van Velzen reported again that parents were very concerned about the number of teacher absences, for whatever reason, and the apparent lack of acceptable lesson cover. As said in previous meetings, in order for the PA to respond accurately, they need to know the actual number of lost hours and the reasons (sickness, training, Brussels working groups etc) without compromising anonymity. The PA reported that some parents are now keeping a record for themselves. Mr Hoyem also said that in his opinion, the budget that Brussels gave for replacement teachers was inadequate despite repeated requests for more funds. The deputy-directors were asked to compile the necessary statistics for analysis by the PA.
action: Mr Da Torre; Mrs Pavlicikova

School policies

The PA requested again that the school policies regarding drugs, alcohol, smoking, bullying, as well as others, be made more easily available for students and parents. Directing parents, and students to the ES website was not considered sufficient by the PA. A short paragraph in the school rules did not comprehensively explain the consequences of unacceptable behaviour in their various forms. The PA asked that the campaign against all kinds of unsociable behaviour be made permanently more visible around the school and that programmes for students be sent to all parents so that those parents in other classes can see that such programmes are in place.

New Maths Calculators

A new maths calculator will be obligatory for all class 4 and class 6 maths students next school year as a new maths syllabus is being introduced. The PA requested that the school give parents information about them well before September. Mr Da Torre said that there was going to be a new version of the calculator in May and that no decision should be made until then. Mr Hoyem also reported that there is a Directors’ meeting in March and he hopes that there will be a group decision about the purchase of calculators at the meeting.

School May Dance

Mrs van Velzen announced that the PA will be organising a “Tanz in dem Mai” party on the 30th April for which tickets will be sold to all parents, teachers and partners and staff and their partners. Tickets will be available for purchase on Open Day.

New links with corporations

Mr Hoyem announced a wish to form a group of like-minded parents of professional companies who would be willing to meet twice a year to exchange ideas and opinions. This would be an informal gathering of people who are interested in building bridges for students between education and professional work and also to foster a greater interest in what ESK has to offer parents and students through commercial links and commerce.