Parent Group Meeting

Wednesday 31^st January 2024

Attendees – Claire Morrison, Danielle Horne, Helen Russell, Mandy Dallas, Paul Fitzpatrick, Taymaa Zlidan, Bibi Amini

Apologies – Zoey McCrory

Claire Morrison welcomed everyone to our first parents group meeting and explained the purpose of forming the parent’s group.  The main focus of the group will be to;

• Raise nursery funds
• Support planning of family events in nursery
• Support the nursery evaluation and improvement process

All those present agreed to focus on these areas.

Fund Raising

We spoke about fund raising for a whole nursery trip.  Those in attendance agreed that Blair Drummond Safari Park would be a good experience for children and families, it might not be something some families could do on their own.

We spoke about this being expensive as we would require to pay for transport and tickets into the safari park.  Claire Morrison will confirm the cost for the next meeting.

We agreed on the following events;

• Mini Mudder – Parents to participate along with their child
• Easter baking sale – Baked goods and Easter bonnets on sale at the mini mudder
• Easter hamper raffle
• Bingo
• Movie night
• PJ day & Crazy Hair day

Family Partnership Events

Those in attendance said that they really loved the Stay and Play session earlier in the year and would like to do this again.  Helen spoke about how her son loves the lunchtime experience and is always asking for her to come and have lunch at nursery.  The group agreed they would like to experience this with their child.

We spoke about Big Chef Little Chef.  Those in attendance thought focussing on cooking on a budget was useful.  Also encouraging families to share recipes / meals that they make at home / is part of their culture.

Those in attendance liked the idea of offering bookbug sessions.  Helen spoke about the baby massage classes we offered last year.  Claire confirmed the staff member who ran this has now left.  Danielle said having a suggestion box for parents to offer ideas would be useful. 

Claire asked if those in attendance felt there was anything the nursery could improve on.  Those in attendance spoke about how they feel informed about what their child is learning in nursery and how useful the weekly update is on SeeSaw.  They suggested that maybe some photographs posted daily, without comments would be useful as a talking point at home with their child.  Those in attendance spoke about how happy they are with Thornlaw and that they feel the nursery is great.

Actions

• Claire to cost trip to Safari Park
• Date for Mini Mudder and bake sale to be arranged and responsibilities delegated.
• Stay for Lunch sessions to be arranged
• Parents suggestion box to be implemented
• Claire to arrange posting of photos to SeeSaw

Date of next meeting – Friday 1^st March @ 1.30pm