Ubuntu

Minutes of Meeting of PSA on 12th March 2016

Parents School Alliance
Minutes of Meeting
Conference room, Deens Academy

Date:12th March 2016

Attendance: Komala, Manisha, Vineeta, Reeti, Deepa, Sushila, Neelima, Arti, Dhanya, Reena, Aparna, Swati, Kavita, Bonita, Archana Chouhan mam, Shanthi mam , Atiq sir (for transport discussion)

Meeting location: Conference room, Deens Academy

Meeting started: at 10:30 a.m

Agenda& Discussion Points:

  1. Uniform Distribution
  • The currently published schedule is spread over a long period and several concerns have been raised regarding this. A number of suggestions were discussed including online options, aligning it with commingle dates, option at Gunjur. Shanthi mam will check viability on what can be done in the short term for this year and also what can be done in the following year.
  1. Combined Commingle dates for siblings
  • This year the school has worked on making commingle on same date for siblings. However the exercise to combine was a long process and had too many combinations and permutations making it very cumbersome and difficult for staff. It may not be possible to do so for the next year. PSA members have volunteered to help with the process to see if it can be simplified.
  1. Fees Hike
  • Concerns from the parent community have been shared with the school team. However, there is no scope of any change except the installments. Mam shared broad details on spend with major component being salary and rental. Late payment by many continues to be a concern area. PSA has requested mam to look at separation of fees across grades especially higher ones which are using integrated curriculum and also component splits like Mindspark which are not across all grades.
  1. Safety and Security at the drop and pick up times
  • The buses are now entering from one gate only. The cars dropping children at the gates create a chaos at the gate especially at times when buses are also entering.Overall cooperation is required for this, preferably using the road as one-way.  The school has taken pictures and is trying to reach out to people to try and move a distance from the gate and drop. Atiq sir is going to be monitoring at the gate during drop hours to oversee movement.
  1. Need to decrease Working Days
  • This year the number of holidays at Deens has been less compared to majority schools. Also there were many working Saturdays. The final exams are also towards the very end and commingle stretches to a week or 2 in April. This is being looked into while planning for the coming academic session.
  1. Field Trips or Picnics
  • As CBSE rules do not allow picnics; the school would like to stay in compliance. However, field trips will be worked on to include all grades for the next academic session.
  1. Printed material versus electronic material
  • For certain courses this year specifically Computers; a large amount of material was sent digitally. For parents to individually print them out is expensive and time consuming; instead where such material is required it may be better to give a prescribed workbook or pre-printed material. Shanthi mam is going to take some corrective steps around this.
  1. Other Topics discussed
  • Clubs – there are more number of clubs being introduced in the next academic session and school has compared with other schools to ensure cost parity. The allocation process has been reworked. Clubs will continue to remain mandatory.
  • Toilet audits were satisfactory. Some issues with dustbin covers to be attended to. Children need to be taught and reminded on toilet usage both at school and home. School is also exploring bio-disposal options for sanitary waste.
  • Canteen – food shortage reported by some students. Request from mam to immediately report to school (Amruta mam).
  • Notebooks – these are handed over to students at the beginning. In certain cases where more than a certain number of notebooks are used up for one subject, they need to be bought on their own.
  • Syllabus completion – concerns were shared around this topic. Week ending March 12 was supposed to be the last week for completion and correction.
  1. Transport Discussion:
  • NorthStar App Issues – The latest version of the app is working satisfactorily. Many parents have not installed it yet and hence school is unable to switch off the

There are certain issues with coverage in this area and most of it has been fixed now. One major issue with the GPS tracking is rodents destroying wires in the buses while they are parked overnight. This leads to certain routes not working on following days. Team will work during vacation time to find some mechanism to avoid this. Additional feature request shared with school.

  • Buses reaching early to school – adjustment on some routes will be made this year. However, given traffic conditions it remains a variability. Children reaching early are made to wait in a common area where staff will be there at all time so that they are not alone in classrooms.
  • Certain issues with childrens dropping – where error was found action has been taken with staff.
  • Children have to be discouraged from playing inside bus ( for example with water bottles) as it can cause others injury. They should maintain appropriate decorum and the bus aunties/ drivers are empowered to enforce this.
  • As overall feedback it was felt that Deens buses ply responsibly on the roads as compared to many others.
  • Parents are requested to raise any issue through email and it will be promptly responded to.
  • For parents not using Smartphone and hence NorthStar app, they can write in to school for refund.
  • Clarification to be sent by school team on NorthStar payment ; it is not double in case of siblings.