Parent Presentation on Building Resilient Students by Lance King.
Back by popular demand, if you have not been able to attend before, please do come to this very helpful parent evening!
Thursday, 13th November 18:00 Conway Street

INTERNATIONAL NIGHT Friday, 21 November Portland Place

REC Meeting Friday, 12th December, 10:00

Teachers’ Holiday Tea Wednesday, 17th December Portland Place

University Planning Evening Wednesday 14th January, 18:30 Conway St

Winter Benefit Evening Saturday, 31 January, TBC

REC Meeting Friday, 6th March 10:00

Open Meeting with Speaker on Parenting in London week of 16th March

REC Meeting on 2009/2010 Planning Thursday, 14th May 10:00

Staff Appreciation Lunch Wednesday, 27th May Portland Place

Open General Meeting Wednesday 3rd June 10:00

Volunteer Brunch Thursday, 18th June

Grade 8 Boat Trip Saturday evening, 20th June Westminster Pier

Posted by Mary Jane Kupsky.
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Our housekeeper has been with our family for 4 years and has...

had a few families return to their home countries this past summer. She has some time available and would like to meet new families from our community. She is very honest, reliable, thorough and comes highly recommended. For references, please call Wendy Szuch at 0207-794-5671 or to speak with Nara directlly, call 07940701412.

Posted by Mary Jane Kupsky.
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Minutes
Westminster PTA REC Meeting
Tuesday, October 7th, 10:00 AM

Attended by: Westminster PTA: Executive board, parent class representatives and committee members, Westminster staff: Terry Hedger, Ed Sterling

Introductions: Susan Morris, PTA president started off by explaining the PTA structure for meetings. The REC meetings are attended by PTA Executive Board, parent class representatives and all PTA committee members. Westminster staff includes Terry Hedger principal, Ed Sterling, Dean of Students, and other Westminster staff as needed. Susan thanked everyone for their participation and noted that this group forms the framework for parent support of the school and has tremendous benefits for our children’s education. The PTA REC contact list was passed around to check for accuracy. A number of committees could still use additional members.

Grade 6 could benefit from one additional class parent. Contact Susan Morris to volunteer (see PTA contact list.)

Principal’s Report:
Terry updated us on a number of issues:
• The Southbank.org site has been improved and is now up to standard. It will be an important tool in helping Southbank attract new students and keep enrolment numbers up. Kim Spooner, Southbank’s Director of Communications has worked on improving all of Southbank’s materials which have been very positively received by parents. The school is seeking new strategies to attract students, including working with the embassies.
• The Southbank.net site, which is designed primarily for internal use by students, staff and parents, will also be getting some attention. The goal is to have most of the information on the .net site accessible only via a password and not available to the general public. Parents should have received a password for the e-portal (on the .net site) to enable them to access their own child’s grades, attendance records and contact information. It was noted that parents new to the school this year may not yet have one. Terry will check with Southbank’s IT coordinator, Russ Webly, to check on this.
• Software training to support the curriculum was raised as an issue at Back to School night in 8th grade. Parents were concerned that students did not know how to use Excel to complete a math assignment. Terry has asked staff for a review of the schemes of work to determine what software is needed by students to complete assignments in various subjects. The IT department will work with class teachers to insure the training is included in the curriculum where needed.

Dean of Student issues: Ed Sterling updated us on several issues:
• Student Boundaries for lunch: Parents have questioned the rationale behind the geographical restrictions for students who have off campus lunch privileges (i.e. Why are some shops/restaurants off limits). Ed explained that the boundaries are between Devonshire and no farther south on Portland Place than the McDonalds. They are not allowed to go west of the school towards Marylebone Village, and can go no further east than Great Portland Street. One of the reasons for the boundary is so Ed and his staff know where students are and can search for them should the need arise.
• Student safety: Ed has spent a great amount of time educating students on appropriate and safe behaviour outside the school and will not give off campus privileges to the seventh and eighth grade classes until he feels they are ready to handle the responsibility. Any parent who wishes to rescind the permission they have given for their students to go off campus should contact Ed. He is working with them on keeping safe on the streets and reminded parents that all children should have the school’s tel. number in their mobiles and always travel in pairs. Fit for Sport is taking students out to Regents Park during lunch, however few students join in; only 7 or 8 go out each day.
• Emergency notification procedures: Written procedures will be sent out in the weekly mailing. They outline the steps the school will take in the event that parents need to be contacted. Parent class representatives would only be involved as a last resort when mobile phone and internet is not available.

Upcoming school events

• Cyber safety presentation: Monday Oct. 13th 9:30 Conway St. Hall
Southbank MYP teacher, Julia Meshi, has been trained as a CEOP Ambassador (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) and will give parents a training session in safe use of the internet. It was requested that internet bullying also be included. There was general concern about the issue of bullying. Terry indicated that the PSE program includes this topic. Susan suggested that if parents felt the issue of bullying was not sufficiently addressed in either this upcoming training or in the PSE curriculum, an ad hoc parent committee could be formed to develop ways to better address it.

• Information session on MYP Assessment: Monday, Oct. 20th, 9:30 , Portland Place

Class parents were asked if they could send out an e-mail reminder to encourage attendance at these events.

Parent class representative/committee instructions
Mary Jane Kupsky has prepared handouts for committee members and class parents which outline procedures and give suggestions for communicating with parents. The handout for Class Parent Representatives give information on accessing the Gmail system which now includes updated emails for all parents who have given permission. Mary Jane has offered to assist parents and provide training to any class parent or committee member who is not familiar with Gmail. Contact Mary Jane at MJDKUPSKY@aol.com.

Committee Reports
Active committees reported on progress:
• International Night: Julie Taylor Mills reported that she and her committee will shortly be contacting families for help in coordinating the various country tables. The event is Nov. 21st, at Portland Place, 18:30.
• London Life committee: Simone Bummelhuis and Rita Halbright reported that parents will hear shortly on a daytime cultural event they are organizing. They will endeavour to plan both day time and evening activities.
• Ladies lunch: Susan Morris is continuing to organize informal lunch time gatherings at London restaurants. If you would like to join the mailing list, e-mail her at susanmorrisuk@yahoo.com

Charity, Fund Raising and Winter Benefit Update
The PTA is still working with the other two campuses PTAs to determine whether a winter fundraising benefit should be held this year. There has been little interest from parents on organizing it. Susan expressed how important the charity component of the school is and the PTA will be working with the School to determine what funds are needed to help support the Mwreni School for the Blind in Tanzania. The PTA has been assisting this school with various projects and is again sending students for a charity and education trip this year. More information to come on this issue.

Upcoming PTA Meetings/events
• Cyber safety presentation: Monday Oct. 13th , 9:30 Conway St. Hall
• Lance King- Building Resilient Students, Thursday, Nov. 13th 18:30
• International Night, Friday November 21st, Portland Place 18:30
• REC meeting Friday, December 12th 10:00 am.
• Teachers’ Holiday Tea, Wednesday, December 17th, Portland Place
• University Planning Evening, Wed., Jan. 14th, 18:30 Conway St.
• REC meeting, Friday March 6th 10:00am
• REC meeting (Planning for 2009/2010 school year), Thursday May 14th 10:00
• Staff Appreciation Lunch, Wednesday May 27th Portland Place
• Open General Meeting, Wednesday, June 3rd 10:00.
• Volunteer Brunch, Thursday, June 18th
• Grade 8 Boat Trip, Saturday eve. June 20th;

Posted by Mary Jane Kupsky.
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Posted by Mary Jane Kupsky.
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