PA / Class reps meeting minutes 30.3.11

Present: Oberschule Class Reps, Grundschule Class Reps, PA Committee members.

There were 2 meetings, one in the morning and one in the evening so that all class reps had an opportunity to attend. The agenda was the same for both meetings, and the minutes have been amalgamated into one document.

Mrs Cindy van Velzen welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Mr Hoyem was invited to address the morning meeting about the current budget cuts and the impact it will have on ESK:
24% of ESK’s budget is paid by Brussels (the Commission). Due to the economical crisis, all the European Schools are facing heavy budget cuts imposed by the Commission for the 2012 budget. Also the Member States have decided to cut their budgets in terms of sending less seconded teachers.  All in all this causes an extraordinary situation within the European school system. Parents will expect to see an impact on the choice of options in Year 6+7 (a minimum of 5 pupils is required to form a class), problems for the recruitment of mother-tongue teachers, and reductions in the budget for Learning Support, SEN and Rattrapage (crash courses).
The school is doing all it can to limit the negative effects of these cuts. On April 12, 13, 14 and15, the Board of Governors’ meeting will take place where the final decisions will be taken concerning the implementations of the budget cuts. For further information, please ask your class reps or the PA.
After having answered the questions of our class reps, Mr Hoyem left the meeting.

ESK PA Interparents’ report: see separate document.

Sarah Winthrop explained what Interparents has been doing so far in representing all parents at the major committees and making sure that their objections to the severe budgets are clearly presented.  Ana Gorey, the president of Interparents, is dealing with this difficult task together with other active Interparents members and they deserve a lot of credit for all the hard work done so far . Thanks for all you do!!
All Schools are becoming active in fighting decisions of the Commission. Interparents has asked formally for clarification on the Governance of the European Schools as it is felt that this goes to the heart of the decision processes between the Board of Governors and the EU Commission.
The ES UCCLE has organized an online petition, (http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nocutsbi/) where all parents are welcome to subscribe!
They have also arranged a demonstration outside the Secretary General’s Office in Brussels which has been planned for the 12th April.
The JRC Petten (research center in Netherlands) will drive up with a bus to demonstrate on 12 April in Brussels.
If parents of our school wish to join in the demonstrations, please contact your class reps or the PA.

It was suggested that the school, PA and parents should start to contact local politicians etc. to get support for the ES System.

Canteen: There has been a survey of Oberschule students and teachers. This survey has to be analyzed and one class rep volunteered her help to transfer the data collected to a digital spreadsheet. The results and analysis of the survey will be published shortly. It was felt that fewer children are eating in the canteen. The variety of dishes is not big, it repeats itself regularly. The food is often found too salty and too dry.

Educational Councils: Feedback from parents -
For year 4 OS - the current process of choosing options is difficult especially for parents who have never done this before. Not enough time is given between receiving information and having to return forms. This year the parents’ evening was scheduled after the deadline for option choices! This is not logical and will be brought to the attention of the Management.
 For year 6 OS - Pupils should be asked to give1st, 2nd, and possibly a 3rd choice so that classes can be created to best meet their needs. Today parents are told by letter that a choice is not possible, but there is no guidance for alternatives. The PA have requested that the Educational Advisors and Career Advisors become more pro-active in helping students decide on subjects to suit their chosen university course or career path.
For year 7 OS: Career Advisors should inform not only students but also parents (a meeting could be helpful).  As career advisors cannot always be available for parents’ questions, administrative staff should also be able to help, especially when they are deadlines for enrollment.  It is felt that some teachers are not always available when parents need help and advice.
Playground behaviour is still an issue in Grundschule. When this was raised with the deputy director last year, there was a marked decrease in unacceptable aggressive behaviour and there was better supervision. However now parents feel that the word of the pupil is not respected and the teacher on duty does not always go to where the conflict occurs when sorting out a problem.
Parents feel that there are inconsistent approaches to unacceptable behaviour in the Oberschule outside of the classroom. Please can school rules be enforced equally for all pupils.
GS classes that have to move from Bau A to Bau B for L2 lessons lose teaching time (to 30 minutes) because a lot of time is wasted putting on coats and shoes - is it not possible for the teacher to move to save time?
School trips - Information evening for the last school trip in the Grundschule was all in German. This was very difficult for some parents. Please can such info evenings be put on simultaneously in other class rooms in all 3 languages.
The organisation and communication of school trips, especially in the OS is still very poor and many parents feel very frustrated with the school.  All school trips are appreciated and very welcome, but it is difficult to plan ahead when information is sent out late and/or incorrect.

Security:
There are still problems with parents having access to the school when necessary. Communication failure prevents the security guards from allowing parents to enter the school even when they have good reasons, and the teachers are expecting them.  The PA suggests that parents should print and bring the email or letter with them showing the teacher’s appointment to avoid being held up by security.  Teachers should be reminded that they must inform the security about pre-arranged meetings.
There is concern that many students are allowed to leave the school grounds without being challenged by the security guards. This means that these students may not have permission to leave school grounds when the safety of those students are entrusted to the school.

Teacher replacements and Permas.
There is a perception that this problem is increasing despite assurances from the school management that where ever possible teachers are replaced if the absence is foreseen, or adequate and appropriate work is set for the Perma if the absence is unplanned due to illness etc. The parents request that information/feedback is published in time when a teacher is absent due to planned working groups or school trips. The PA is requested to address this issue again with the management.

Parents evenings
Parents are very happy that the parents’ evenings in the OS no longer all take place on the same day.

Open Day
Parents were very happy with Open Day this year, and with the Book Prizes.
Some parents liked the open door policy for OS lessons. Other parents preferred projects that offered something different from the day-to-day lesson programme.
GS parents enjoyed the Open Day programme for primary students.
There was concern that it was not clear for the general public where they could go for information about the school. Some parents were asked by non-ESK families where they could talk to someone about enrollment.

Oberschule Library:
More and more students have complained about the negative atmosphere in the library. Many students tend to avoid the library. Please could this matter be looked into.

Summer camps and Football camps:
The summer camps on offer are welcomed by parents. There is a request for more information about the programmes that will be on offer by AWO for the Summer camp on school grounds.

Summer Fest:
This will take place on Sunday 19th June.
The PA would like to start a Summer fest group to suggest ideas how the PA Summer fest could be improved - eg encourage more OS students and their families to take part in the day. New ideas are all welcome. Please contact the PA if you would like to join this group or have any suggestions.

Dutch/Italian Farewell party
This will take place on 25th June - details are on the PA and school website and the registration forms are also there.

Cindy van Velzen,
Sarah Winthrop
31.3.11