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Minutes of PTA Meetings

Minutes of a meeting held on Tuesday, 28th August 2001, at Rua Real Grandeza 99, Rio de Janeiro.

Present: Ana Cecïlia Meireles (ACM), Bia Sena (BS), Cynthia Fraga (CF), Flávia Miranda Corrêa (FMC), Flávia Rodrigues (FR), Flávio Lopes (FL), Jane Robertson (JR), Jenny Byers (JB), Lucia Damazio (LD), Márcia de Luca (MdeL), Mayra Howie (MH), Ralph Jennings (RJ), Roberto Steinfeld (RS), Verônica Nunes (VN), Yanira Nasser (YN).

Apologies: Maura Xerfan.

Circulation: P.Wiseman, T. Pientznauer, G.Pollard, L.Dimmock, S.Clayton, C. Ribeiro

Item   Action
1. After School Activities
  1. New activity - YN is proposing to introduce a new art teacher who would like to teach caricature and cartoon drawing (he illustrates books). More suited to Class 3 upward and Urca. Lengthy discussion followed on the subject of activities at Urca and LD reported that the response from Geoff Pollard about Judo and Capoeira was negative. RJ confirmed that GP does not want any more after-school activities at Urca, as there is already a lot of sport, music and drama taking place. If YN can find available space at Botafogo she will try to introduce this new activity.
  2. Ballet - The Urca auditorium will not be needed for the end of year ballet performance; this will probably take place at the Teatro Vanucci.
    1. A parent of a child doing ballet has complained that Renata, the teacher, shook his daughter. No one can comprehend or quite believe this of Renata, and LD and YN will look into the matter more closely.
    2. A parent has suggested that the PTA fund the purchase of mirrors for the ballet classes, and also a barre. It would not be possible to attach them to anything, which could be dangerous, but LD decided to investigate the possibility of freestanding ones.
  3. Behaviour - YN had a meeting with the activity teachers, Arnô and Miss Lesley about the children's behaviour and language. There is now a "Livro de Ocorrências" in which all transgressions are noted with a "3 Strikes and they're out" policy to be implemented. The collection system has been tightened up and seems to be working effectively.
  4. Volleyball - the teacher is not paying. YN will wait until the end of August to see if he pays and then review his position.
  5. Capoeira and Judo - payments to PTA for September have been waived in lieu of a donation towards competitions taking place this month.
  6. Accounts - FL requested accounts from YN, who has already given them to Daniela
  7. English lessons for parents - no progress here. Marco Tyler-Woods does not seem keen on the idea. No decision reached.
 YN to check space at Botafogo











LD/YN to investigate




LD














YN to monitor
2. Treasurer
  1. The Tax return for 2000 is nearly ready. MdeL's company is working on it. There is quite a lot of missing documentation to back up the figures for income and expenditure - for example no receipts available from the after-school activities teachers. In future this must be more carefully monitored. MdeL will ask her accountant to list what is missing so that the PTA can review practices and put things right.
  2. The books are showing an end-of-year profit which needs to be distributed. LD to ask the school for a list of its priorities and the PTA will decide how to spend the money.
 MdeL
FL







LD/PTA
3. Website
  1. Karla Taylor has offered to do posters to publicise the launch of the website. CF to confirm with her how many are needed to cover all the buildings. CF will also get a quote for banners. MH suggested fridge magnets and LD will get a quote. The English website is pretty much ready and there was strong feeling that the launch should go ahead without waiting for the Portuguese pages to be ready. CF will need help with translation.
  2. The newsletters on the site are too old and it was felt that the site is better off without them. Any news is now on the Notice Board page.
  3. It was felt that the PTA meetings need to be publicised more to encourage parents who are not officers to attend. It was agreed that the meetings dates should go on to the official school calendar and a reminder note sent home with children, along with Donation Week and Discussion Meeting notices. The meetings notice can be small, say, five to a page and LD will buy a guillotine for Daniela to use to cut them up.
 KT-posters
CF-banner
LD- magnets





CF remove old ones from site

LD to buy a guillotine
4. Catering
  1. No action to be taken on the Carrocinha da Bia. It was felt that parents should take responsibility for their own children's purchasing habits and if they do not wish their children to have certain things they should tell Bia, who is always very responsible and accommodating. (The other alternative is "Just say NO". jb)
  2. Sweet desserts - also no change. The menu will continue to offer both fruit and a sweet.
  3. PE day lunch - there was some discussion about the content of this meal, which some feel is too 'junky'. It was agreed that one meal in the week, which is not nutritionally perfect, is not the end of the world. No change.
  4. Break time snack - Nursery is already having it with great success. It will be introduced for Lower Primary in January as an experiment.
  
5. Events
  1. Halloween - The sítio may not be useable so the move to Botafogo was discussed. The party needs to be different from Founder's Day and there is still the question of the Vicar allowing a Halloween party on Church land... or is it Community Land?
    Various ideas were put forward:
    • Rafael and André to organise a treasure hunt
    • Talent show to include the teachers
    • More games, less profit
  2. Christmas Dinner Dance - there was general agreement that it should go ahead and the following points were made:
    • Teachers go free and their partners get a discount
    • The date should not be too late as people get so busy with Christmas events
    • MH to investigate the Intercontinental (including music possibilities) via her contact there.
    The Paissandú Club was temporarily ruled out as a venue because the last party held there was so bad and there may still be associations in people's minds. MH also suggested that tickets should go on sale soon and people can pay in instalments, or get a discount if they pay up front.
 LD to talk to PW and Simon Boxall






MH-check venue and music
6. Charity The Twins Day idea suggested by PW was deemed too complicated so there will be a normal No Uniform day on 1st October. Parents will be asked for a minimum donation of R$5.00*, to be collected by the teachers. The flyer should go out along with the others previously discussed.
* This has since been set at R$2.00. 		Daniela to make flyers
7. Uniforms Still no official position from the school. CF to check with the school because she needs to know what to put on the website. CF
8. Newsletter To be abandoned. All the information is on the website and more use will be made of the Falcon and of the PTA notice boards.  
9. Health and Safety There has been no meeting. Points pending:
  • Safety net on Thomson building staircase
  • Weight of satchels
  • Teeth brushing
  • School buses at pick-up. They are now entering the line of parked cars which contributes adversely to the collection operation.
 FR to liase with school
10. Par/Sch liaison Neither Paola Fox nor Virgínia Días were present to report on the matters arising from the last meeting. CF said she had had a letter from Miss Lesley about the Festa Junina. PF, VD to report
11. Mother Tree CF explained the idea behind the Mother Tree effort on the website. Once the site is launched we may get an idea of how many people would be interested in taking part. In the meantime another letter must go out via the satchels asking for people's permission to use their phone numbers on a class list. Form to be devised -CF/JB
12. PTA meetings Some discussion arose as to why the PTA meetings were now being held on Tuesdays, as it makes for a heavy day for parents who may also want to go to breakfast meetings, and for teachers when they fall on the same day as staff meetings. LD to check with Daniela about availability of the Hall and car park on other nights. LD see Daniela
Other business
1. LATASA

MH had previously sent a group email describing a recycling project that LATASA are proposing for schools and institutions. LATASA provides the entire infrastructure to make collecting easy, as well as information and a talk to explain the value of this sort of enterprise. There is also a bonus system whereby points are awarded according to the volume of material collected. These points go towards the acquisition of useful items of equipment for the school, so that the children can see a tangible benefit from their efforts.
The meeting was unanimous in its support of this project and LD will propose the idea to the school.		 LD to discuss with school
2. Dyslexia Appeal Maura Xerfan had sent a group email asking for a donation from the PTA towards the publication of a book on Dyslexia written by a Brazilian who has recently returned from specialising in the U.S.A. The person in question has offered to do a talk to parents and teachers. On the whole it was felt that this sort of donation was not really within the PTA's brief. If the lady would still like to do a talk this could be arranged, although a Breakfast meeting was not felt to be an ideal time as teachers are unable to attend. MX should propose the idea to the members in charge of Breakfast meetings. MX to discuss with RHC and LR
3. Tourism cards FMC introduced an idea which, it was felt, needed more discussion than the lateness of the hour permitted. Agenda for next meeting

There being no other business, the meeting was closed at 9.10 pm.

Next meeting: Tuesday 25th September 2001, 7 pm.

JB 03/08/01

 
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