PA committee meeting report 10th February 2010

Cindy welcomed everyone to the meeting and passed on the apologies of those who could not attend this time.

Members were asked to present issues that had been brought to their attention that were of concern of the parents.
There was another request that the school be asked to send out information as early as possible so that parents can organise their week effectively. Lately, the information about appointments for the parents’ evening was only sent out the day before for some parents.
Pupils are also being asked to purchase books for ICT that includes some software. Cindy was requested to ask the school management what the policy was for ICT software for use at home as there could be licensing implications.
Hamid Bateni has been in contact with the Kinderbüro in Karlsruhe. He suggested that there might be opportunities for the GS to work with them as they offer workshops and presentations for teachers and parents on a wide range of topics. Cindy said this was a good idea and that a proposal could be made at the next Educational Council and the PA could help to promote the initiative. Hamid was asked to provide written details.
It was brought to the PA’s attention that the Kindergarten are still waiting for a paper towel dispenser for when the children wash their hands. This request was made some time ago and Cindy was asked if she could investigate why it is taking so long.

Transport Committee
Flemming Merrild reported on behalf of the Transport Committee. He said that the Committee is 2 parent representatives short and so requested that 2 parents be nominated for the Committee (There are 2 representatives from the school staff, 2 representatives from ITU , 3 parent representatives and 1 administrator/treasurer on the Transport Committee). The Transport Committee meet once a year, and extra meetings are arranged if and when they are needed. The next committee meeting is scheduled for 25th February and various issues will be discussed, including up-dating the committee’s statutes and changes in the way the finance and financial year is structured so that it “fits” better with the KVV payments and a review of the current administration charges. Anne Sierig volunteered to join the Committee as parent representative so this was proposed and unanimously accepted by the PA Committee members present. The PA committee will ask to see if there is anyone else who would like to join the Transport Committee so the full quota of parent representatives is fulfilled.

Interparents
Sarah handed out some papers from Interparents, for background information, as Karlsruhe will be host for the European Schools Joint Education Council meeting in 2 year’s time. This is a very important meeting in the school’s calendar and the PA will be expected to participate in discussions in the meeting. It is hoped that over the coming 2 years, new committee members will be able to customise themselves to the topics and issues that Interparents are involved with. Committee members who are interested in any topic are requested to email Sarah for the full reports in their preferred language (Fr, En, De) in digital format.

Art Inspectors
The art inspectors have recently visited the school and Cindy reported that they were impressed with the quality of work and range or activities that are taking place at ESK. The committee requested that there be more feed-back about the work that is taking place, and they wished that there were more formal exhibitions of all students’ work.

Italian Language Courses
Letizia informed us that the decision for Italian language courses, which are sponsored and supported by the Italian government, must be made now if they are to run in September as an after school activity. Letizia will distribute details of the courses to the committee members, and Cindy will ask for it to be a topic for discussion at the next school management meeting.

D-Mark Detektive
Letizia also reported on the exciting “D-Mark Detektive” national school competition where children were challenged to find old Deutschmark coins and notes to support the building of Microschools in Ghana. ESK were very successful coming 3rd overall in Germany. For further informations and news report on this event go to http://www.dmarkdetektive.de/ or http://www.eskar.org/pdf/dm_wettbewerb.pdf

Project Days
Cindy was very pleased to announce that so far 21 projects have been planned for OS. 4 applications have been sent to the PA for financial support and she expected more after the holidays.

Cindy also made a request for help from parents again this year at the Open Day and for the parents to once again generously donate a cake for the PA’s International Café. The money raised from last year’s cake and coffee sale will be given back to teachers to help fund this year’s projects. The committee decided that there will be 2 small coffee/tea corners, one in Bau A and one in Bau B and the main café for coffee and cake in the canteen. Scolarest will offer savoury snacks at lunch time. The Abiball committee will organise coffee and cake sale in the Oberschule entrance hall in aid of the fund for this year’s Abiball.

A formal request for help and cake contributions will be sent out to parents shortly.

Social fund guidelines
The PA is responsible for the Social fund which offers financial help to parents experiencing difficulties meeting the cost of school trips for their children.

Social funding requests have, in the past, often been decided on an ad hoc basis and sometimes it has been difficult to get the agreement of the whole committee on a decision especially when the request is given at short notice. It was suggested that 3 people from the committee should examine a request for funding and make a recommendation to the committee whether the request should be granted or not. This recommendation will be made to the committee at the next possible meeting, and it will be made clear that only at the meeting will the recommendation be confirmed and then afterwards communicated to those concerned.

The committee proposed that Cindy van Velzen, Debjani Basu and Nathalie Beroard- Barth would consult and recommend a request. These members were unanimously accepted.

The processes and conditions for administrating the Social Fund were then discussed. The following procedures and conditions were agreed unanimously:

The procedures of consultation before a request can be granted is:

• consultation and recommendation from the school management
• consultation and recommendation from the class teacher
• confirmation from the PA treasurer that there are sufficient funds in the Social fund.

Conditions for a social fund request:

• preferential consideration will be given to families that have been paid-up members of the PA since the previous 30th November deadline.
• Further consideration will be given to any other cases that may arise in the course of the year.
• Families will be required to meet at least 50% of the costs.
• Requests will be limited to one a year.
• The PA will give due consideration to any extreme situation cases that may arise during the course of the year.

PA Finances
The PA finances are becoming complicated and it was felt that there had to be more transparency in the reporting of the finances so that decisions on general funding support, PA social activities, fixed costs and expenses, the After-school programme and the use of future sponsorship money, could be made by the committee so that they could ensure efficiency and value for money.

It was decided that Kevin Barber, (treasurer) should be assisted in the day-to-day administration and recording of all PA financial activities. Also, the huge task of organising and administrating the popular After-school Activity (AA) programme with its inherent financial remit, needs to be supported by at least two dedicated PA members, one responsible for the planning and organisation of the AA programme and one for the financial aspects respectively.

Christiane Sardain volunteered to officially assist the Treasurer. This was put to the vote and Christiane was accepted unanimously.

Barbara Bellosa (who volunteered before the meeting because she could not attend in person) was proposed to help Anja in the financial administration for the AA. This was put to the vote and Barbara Bellosa was accepted unanimously.

The first task of the Treasurer and his team, is to present the PA finances in a clearer format that divides the income and outgoings of the PA account in terms of :

• the Social fund
• the After-school Activity fund (income from Brussels per child and fees from parental contribution)
• the PA (EuroBoutique) fund (Interparents expenses and other PA fixed costs such as Website, computer equipment, etc.)
• the PA (sponsorship) fund (for school activities, such as project days and Summer fest)

This should enable the committee members to allocate money efficiently and to be able to prepare realistic future budgets within the PA’s financial means.

The immediate financial goals include raising income through:

1. corporate and family sponsorship
2. EuroBoutique (ESK t-shirts, sweat-shirts, caps etc)
3. Income through events (eg cakes and coffee)
4. Increase the number of PA members

Cindy announced that discussions on the Euroboutique are already underway and that she hopes for a launch of the new t-shirts and sweatshirts at this year’s Open day in April.

Cindy welcomes anyone interested in corporate or family sponsorship to contact her directly.

Funding requests
Various funding requests were discussed and approved with certain provisos.

1. Frau Kisker and the “D-mark Detekive” project
2. Louise Abson and Mathletics for GS pupils in the English section
3. After-school Activity Rugby - support for tournament.

It was re-iterated that the PA is very keen to support all initiatives that offer clear benefits for pupils of ESK and activities that help promote cross-curricular, cross-section and cross-language opportunities.

PA Parents’ evening
The proposed parents’ evening for class representatives to meet and talk to class parents in the school classroom was discussed. The advantages of such a meeting were accepted (all parents in one place, a fixed time and agenda, immediate feedback etc) but it was felt that many parents would not be able to attend for various reasons. It was proposed that the PA arrange another joint Class reps and committee members meeting, one in the morning and one in the evening, and to propose this idea again. It would be important to send out details of the proposed PA parents’ meeting to class reps before the joint PA/reps meeting so that there is time for the class reps to ask their parents if such an initiative would be of interest to them. Cindy informed everyone that Herr Hoyem is in favour of such a meeting, and that feedback from parents is very important in the development of the school community.

It was agreed that a joint PA/Class rep meeting be arranged at the beginning of March and proposed dates be sent to committee members as soon as possible.

‘tanz in den Mai’

The idea of organising a (dance) party for all parents and teachers was received positively. A good occasion would be the ‘tanz in den Mai’. A team would have to be set up soon to start with the preparations. Cindy will check the idea and the date with the school management after the holidays.

The next Committee meeting was set for March 17th.

Cindy thanked everyone for their positive contribution and closed the meeting.