Meeting opened by the President Melissa Iredell at 8.10pm.

In Attendance          15 as per attendance registers (parents & teachers (13 + 2)

 Apologies                  7 as per attendance register

Previous Minutes

It was resolved that the Minutes of the meeting held on 5^th April, 2004 be accepted, moved by Jeff Schembri, Seconded by Veronica Casson.

 Business Arising

Lighting - Lights at corner of admin building installed during holidays.  Sensor needs some adjusting.

Traffic - Donna to organise a meeting.

A/C - Staffroom/Admin Block has been installed.  Japanese room will be installed sometime in May.

Back Oval - Drainage at top of oval completed.  Donna to write letter of thanks.  Invoice not received yet. 

Microscopes - No feedback from Staff.  Cameron Osborne will bring up the matter for discussion with staff.

Back Path - Bill Harris noted that there has been some soil washaway on back path.  We will wait to see how it is now that drainage at top of oval has been completed. 

Treasurer's Report

Written report circulated for period ending 30^th April 2004 compiled by Terry Liddicoat.  Bill Harris spoke to same.   Moved by Bill Harris, Seconded by Rebecca Colwill.  

Committee Reports

Book club - Nil

Canteen

Vickie Rollo - Vickie spoke in regard to the new Govt Healthy Canteen guidelines which were the result of the Govt's obesity summit.  Vickie's husband is reviewing the legislation at the moment and will report in more detail at a later date.  The changes must be in place for the start of 2005.  There is a limit on junk food.

Three categories: - Red - Occasional, Orange - every day, Green - everyday.  There must be more green than orange on the menu.  We have to make some minor changes to the menu, but it is not too bad for us because we were already a Diamond Accredited Canteen (Highest Level).  There may be some decrease in profit as we can no longer sell the lollies (belts, ovaltinees & jelly).

The canteen is running well, but they are loosing Margaret Liddle as a convenor due to pregnancy (Congrats Margaret).  They would like another person to replace Margaret.  Profit for T4 2003 & T1 2004 is $2,500.  Bank account $4500, but a large cheque is to be drawn.  Canteen will transfer money to main P&C account at the end or T2.

Clothing-

Leanne Dries - Still awaiting delivery of long sleeve polo's.  Dresses should be in on Friday.

Fundraising & Social

Kathy Dixon - Arrived back from Overseas yesterday.   Mothers Day Gifts were made last Thursday/Friday.  Parent helpers worked Thursday/Friday/Saturday.  Many thanks go to Susan Harding for overseeing the gift making/wrapping and Veronica Casson for organising the Morning Tea in my absence.  Approx 365 gifts were made and 180-200 adults will be attending the morning tea of Friday.  More Dad helpers would be welcome.  Athletics carnival will be in July.  Trivia night is being held on 31^st July, 2004 at the Epping Community Centre in Oxford Street, Epping.  We may have another Fete early next year, because the time of year we had a last fete, there were many others on in the area. 

Gardening

Melissa for Jon - Next working bee Sunday 30^th May 2004 for Kindergarten/Year 1.  Hoping to get enough helpers to retain the back pathway.  A second quote to remove dead trees was $5,000, 1^st quote was $2,300.  Hoarst was not interested in the job.  It is felt that the School should be responsible for the removal of the trees.  The Executive was asked by the meeting to write a letter to Mrs Hanley and possibly copy of same to appropriate School legal department.  Concrete pipes to be included in the letter. 

Safety House

Veronica Casson - First meeting has taken place with Constable Trundle.  There is no money allocated this year for Safety House audits.  There is also no money for balloons or signs.  He will be coming to School soon to speak to the children; Veronica & Margaret will buy some plain yellow balloons and take the K-2 children for a walk around local houses.  The meeting expressed concern about taking the children to houses, of which we are unsure whether the previously approved people are still occupying.  Melissa will write a letter to Local Member, Andrew Tink and possible Police Minister. 

Community Relations

Karen Yates - The Easter Picnic for Stage 1 was held on Thurs 8^th April.  The children had a wonderful time.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to the day.  Thank you to Lisa Tang for taking the photos.  They are now displayed in the office foyer for viewing. 

The Anzac Day Ceremony was held last Thursday and was a great success.  All the children from the school leadership team spoke clearly and confidently at the podium.    Mr Robert Waterson also spoke about Anzac Day to the school children.  Also thank you to our other special guests, Mr Ron Waterson and Mr Neville Goldsmith.  The school band also played and was awesome as usual.  Thanks to Mr Cuneo and the band for an excellent performance.  All the laying of the posies ran smoothly.  Thank you to everyone who brought flowers in for the children to make posies.  An extra special thank you to all the teachers and office staff for their effort in organising the children with making of the class posies for Anzac Day, they were absolutely gorgeous.  I would also like to thank Melissa Iredell, Lisa Tang and Geraldine Scott for helping to make the posies for the officials and the beautiful flower arrangements that went in front of the speaker's podium.   Finally I would like to thank everyone else that either helped out on the day or made Biscuits/slices and lamingtons etc. for the morning tea that was held after the ceremony.  Finally I would like to thank all the other people who helped the Community Relations Committee on the day.  Without the help of so many people, the day could not have been the success it was.  Anzac Day photos will be displayed in office foyer soon.

Coming events:  School Open Day on Thursday 17^th June.  We will need helpers on the day.  We will be having a committee meeting soon, possibly on Friday 14^th May, date to be confirmed in School newsletter.  I urge anyone interested in helping on these days to attend the meeting as it helps us organise the day better.  If anyone has any queries, please speak to me after the meeting.

Multicultural - Mira Kim

Nil.

Correspondence In/Out

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Julie Hanley (presented by Mr Osborne) - A very busy start to the term.

• Nick Thomson received a promotion in the holidays to Assistant Principal at Oatlands PS - a well-deserved promotion but he will be very much missed by all at Epping Heights. He will return on the 18 May for a staff function at lunchtime, followed by a possible Parent Farewell in the afternoon. He'll also have time to meet with his class. I have written about Nick's wonderful contribution to the school in Newsletter.
• Mrs Halakas left last Friday for maternity leave - she was farewelled by her class on Friday. A special staff lunch was held to thank her for her contribution.
• Mrs Susan Moroney has been appointed to the school. She will teach Year 4T from Week 3. We will warmly welcome her to the school.
• Miss Kerrin Peyton has been employed to relieve on 3-4H until the end of the year. She will be taking on the role of Debating Coach for Year 5. We warmly welcome her to the school.
• Staff participated in a wonderful School Development Day last Tuesday at the NSW Art Gallery - apart from viewing some of the collection and finding about the programs offered for children, we were also entertained by an Aboriginal dancer and took part in a practical workshop on portraits. This fitted in very well with our Creative Arts target for this year.
• Life Education has run smoothly - thanks to Mrs Barton for her organization and Mrs Storrie the Life Education educator.
• The Anzac Day Service last Thursday was a very moving occasion and I have made special mention and given thanks to all those who took part in Newsletter. Special thanks are due to Mr Trevena for his organization of the assembly.
• The Mother's Day activities organized by the Fundraising Committee have been a great success and I know this Friday's morning tea will be a lovely occasion. Happy Mother's Day mums!
• Peer Support starts this week for all children in Years 1-4 and Year 6. Year 5 and Kindergarten will be involved in some buddy activities. Thanks to David Trevena for his organization of the program. A huge amount of work goes into planning this activity across so many classes. It is part of the leadership skills development program.
• Tomorrow is the Science Competition, Wednesday is the Computer Skills Competition for Year 6 and in 2 weeks the English Competition will take place.
• We currently have a number of 'prac students' working in the school. It is great to have the university students in our school, working with our children.
• Zone Cross Country is coming up on Friday 21 May - children involved need to be preparing themselves for the event.
• Term Invoice goes home tomorrow - thank you all for your prompt payment which really assists with the smooth running of the office.
• Finally thanks to the wonderful Epping Heights community who do so much to make this school great.

GENERAL BUSINESS

Nil

Next Meeting Monday, 7^th June 2004     8.00pm in School Hall.

Meeting Closed 9.30pm 

Signed:   
Melissa Iredell, President

Donna Collier, Secretary