CPDS Board of Trustees Newsletter – 1st August 2017

The Cornwall Park District School Board of Trustees had its monthly meeting on Tuesday evening 1^st August (we were unable to meet for our June meeting so it has been a while since we have been in touch with you).   This note provides a brief update to parents, whānau and caregivers on both that meeting and any other key Board issues. And it is exciting that our webpage is now up and these notes and the Board minutes are now even more accessible to you.

As is the norm we received progress reports on matters concerning the school. We considered the monthly progress against strategic and annual aims in the Principal’s report (combined for June and July).  We looked at our progress towards our National Standard targets for 2017 and how this was being addressed across our Community of Learning (COL)  or Kahui Ako schools. CPDS belongs to the Auckland Central Community of Schools (ACCOS). The idea behind these communities is to support the childs pathway of learning from early childhood to secondary school. The communities are based on the majority tracking of students moving through schools in a spatial area.  Janine met with the principals of the schools in our Kahui Ako to discuss issues of consistency and sharing across the community. Of particular interest to the Board was how the developments through the Kahui Ako are being shared with the Boards.

Janine also discussed the focus of resilience for both learners and teachers and that the staff were embarking on further professional development in this area.

We then discussed the launch of the new website and the subsequent rebranding of the school. The Board were very impressed with the quality of the website and the many areas of the school it covered including a bio on each staff member and an A-Z on all things general. We hope you go online and have a look. Feel free to give us your views on what you think works well or what we could improve on.

We looked at roll numbers next. Some year groups have more than they need while others have gaps. Consequently, the school will be opening an Out of Zone and Sibling Ballot for some year groups next term and in term one 2018.

We then turned our attention to the school uniform. Due to the rebranding of the school we will be changing out the current logo on the uniforms for the new one. We discussed the look and feel of the examples provided and Janine will take our suggested amendments back to the agency. The uniforms themselves (in their many different items) are not changing, just the branding. And you will not be expected to buy new items (unless you want to) instead this uniform will be introduced as new pupils join the school.  On that note, we take this opportunity to request that you discontinue the use of any item of the uniform that is beyond repair and also, all footwear must be black with no other colours in sight. The Board would appreciate that the uniform is worn correctly. This is particularly significant when your child is not on school grounds.

We discussed the retention and destruction of school records. This is regulated by the Ministry of Education guidelines which stipulates that records be destroyed after 7 years.

We then received a presentation by Associate Principal – Dawn Wood. Ms Wood is also the SENco person for our school looking after the learning and pastoral needs of all of our students with additional learning needs. Ms Wood presented on the various literacy tools and programmes that are being used in our school to assist the learning needs of these children. We looked at a report based on an anonymous sample of students that showed some healthy progress for a number of these students using these programmes. We discussed how the students were supported through teachers sharing their learnings and teaching practices. We discussed how the students were supported coming out of the programmes, whether or not they had been successful. We were also provided with a report from Diana Hayman ( Link co-ordinator) looking at the programme that she is using with the GATE students. We learned that recently CPDS has received praise from the English as a Second Language (ESOL) organisation acknowledging the work and achievements of our own ESOL team. Well done people!

Finally, the Principals report (this was introduced through the Finance Committee) discussed a Special Needs Property Modification report received from the Ministry of Education. Following this report a Serious Risk Assessment was completed for the school. This assessment recommended that for the health and safety of the students at risk, the entire school grounds be enclosed by secure fencing.  This will not however affect access to the school grounds outside of school hours. The Ministry will be managing this project and informing the school of the type and style of fencing to be installed. The Board is able to review the type and style and if necessary provide additional funding to build fencing that is more becoming of our school.

On other progress reports the Property Committee informed us that the code of compliance for the new classrooms (8-11) is being processed by Council but that the build had come in under budget by $53,000. However, we have recently found that the heating systems in the new rooms were based on the old spaces and therefore the rooms have been cold. The Board agreed to install additional heating for the rooms at an approximate cost of $20,000. The build is still within budget.

The Finance Committee discussed the school van. Having undertaken a thorough assessment of the actual use and cost of the van the committee recommended that the current lease not be renewed (this ends at the end of 2017). Consequently, the van will no longer be available from the end of 2017. The Principal requested that the funds that were used to lease the van be set aside for the hiring of buses for school events.

We then received and accepted reports form the Fair Committee and the PTA.

The Finance Committee also looked at the Ningbo conference and the schools practice of sending teachers across to this. Academic Ezy (an organisation of China that promotes and enables international learning) sponsors a person to attend the conference, paying for their flights, accommodation and most meals while there. The Board is supportive of this sponsored position and is happy to cover the other minor costs for our school. The Board is only supportive of the sponsored position for 2017 and will not be supporting the costs of a second person attending the conference.

As aside to this, the Finance Committee had looked at the Board Scholarship Policy to understand the funding basis of this. This was established under the previous Board to enable and support staff Professional Development. The Board  recommended that the Policy Committee review this policy for accuracy and relevance.

The Policy Committee had not met since the last Board meeting. They will be getting together on Friday 11^th August to discuss the latest SchoolDocs reviews and the Scholarship Policy as discussed above.

The Personnel Committee reported that the Principals appraisal was currently being considered as part of the annual process.

The Community Committee had met to discuss the upcoming community evening to be held on 12 September in the new classrooms. Check out your invitation to attend on the new webpage – under News.

Finally, under general business, the Board were invited to attend the upcoming Powhiri for new families to the school and to welcome our visitors from our sister school in Ningbo, China.

As always, we welcome your input and feedback and appreciate you taking the time to read this update.

Warm regards

Cornwall Park District School Board of Trustees

Nga mihi
Lee-Ann Lucas, Sarah Sutcliffe, Nicki Taylor, Michael O’Brien,
Jamie Galloway, Lou Dennis, Gowan Duff, Chris Porteous and Janine Irvine
Cornwall Park District School Board of Trustees

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亲爱的学校社区

8月1号星期二晚上 Cornwall Park 小学举行了每月一次的董事会。（因为6月份的会议无法举行，所以一直没有最新简报）这个最新简报是让所有的父母、家庭和看护人了解会议上所讨论的问题。令人兴奋的是，我们的网页已经开始使用，这些笔记和会议纪录将更容易取得。

• 我们收到了校长的报告，查看每个月国家标准的进展，以及学校如何处理进展问题。并且和我们的学习社区- Kahui Ako , 相互比较。( CPDS 属于奥克兰中央社区( ACCOS ) )。这些社区，从幼儿园到中学，形成了一条支持您的孩子的学习途径。
• 校长会见了所有 Kahui Ako 的学校校长，讨论并分享整个社区的一致性问题。特别令董事会感兴趣的是，他们与董事会分享 Kahui Ako 的发展情况。
• 校长还讨论了目前正在进行的学习重点，就是加强学生、老师和员工之间的弹性，并且进一步加强这方面的专业发展。
• 我们讨论了新的网站以及新的学校品牌改装。董事会对新网站非常满意，并鼓励您上线看看。随时欢迎您的反馈。
• 我们讨论了学校将在下个学期和 2018年的第一个学期举行＂学区外的学生和有兄弟姐妹在学校就读的学生抽签仪式＂。
• 我们讨论了校服。校服有新的标志。我们的制服将保持不变。您不会被要求购买新的制服（ 除非您自愿 ）但是随着新生加入学校，将会引进新制服。并且请您随时确认您的孩子是否穿着正确的制服 – 这也包括鞋子。鞋子只能是黑色 ( 不能有其他颜色 ) 。尤其是穿着制服时人不在学校的时候，这一点要求特别重要。
• 我们讨论了学校记录的保留和销毁。教育部规定所有的记录只会保存7年，并在7年后销毁。
• 然后由我们副校长 Dawn Wood 发表讲话, 她也是我们学校负责 SENco 的人。负责照顾有需要照顾的学生和有额外学习需求的学生。我们学习到学校使用的各种识字工具和学习程序。了解学校如何支持这些学生，不论是在校生或者是已经离开学校的学生。
• 我们还收到了 Diana Hayman ( Link 协调员 ) 的报告。了解她与 GATE 学生使用的程序和学习方式。我们还了解到学校的 ESOL 团队刚刚获得 ESOL 语言组织高度的评价，并肯定其工作人员的成就。做的好！
• 我们收到一份教育部 ( MOE ) 针对校园修改以符合特殊需求的报告。风险评估之后建议学校，为了有风险的学生的健康和安全，整个学校的场地都应该被围栏安全包围。然而这不会影响学习以外的时间进入学校场地。这项工作将由理事会执行，董事会会审查围栏，并提供额外的资金，以确保围墙符合我们的标准。
•  物业委员会随后通知我们，新的教室 ( 8 – 11号 ) 符合规则正由理事会处理中。翻新费用低于预算 $53,000 元。但是，董事会将会支持花费额外的 $20,000 元来升级教室的加热系统。
• 财务委员会讨论了学校的校车。在评估成本和花费之后，决定不再租用校车，因此租用期只到今年 2017年为止。这笔钱将用于租用公共汽车上。
• 然后我们又收到了校集会和家长会的报告。
• 财务委员会还讨论了有关宁波的会议和关于我们每年访问宁波姊妹学校的相关问题。Academic Ezy ( 一个促进和实现国际学习中国的组织 ) 每年赞助一位老师出席会议并拜访姊妹学校。2017年董事会继续支持这个赞助的活动，但是不是再拨款赞助第二名老师出席。
• 董事会随后讨论了董事会奖学金政策，用以了解资金来源和去向。这是之前的董事会所成立的奖学金政策，用来支持教职员工进行专业发展。政策委员会会审查这个政策的准确性和相关性。
• 政策委员会没有报告，因为他们没有招开会义。他们会回顾学校之前的校园活动政策和现今的奖学金政策。
• 人事委员会报告说，校长的评估工作目前被视为年度流程的一部分。
• 社区委员会讨论了即将到来的社区会议。此会议将在9月12日晚上在新的教室举行。请查看您的学校新网页，在新闻栏目里，有对您的邀请。

最后，董事会受邀参加 Powhiri，欢迎新来的学生和家长，以及来自中国宁波的姊妹校的学生和老师们。

与往常一样，我们欢迎您的意见和反馈，並感谢您抽出宝贵的时间来阅读本更新 ( 简报 ) 。

温馨的问候，

Cornwall Park 小学董事会