BIRKENHEAD COLLEGE
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees held at Birkenhead College on
Thursday, 27 June 2019
1. Present
T Dobbin (Chair), C Waller (Principal), T Brooksbank, S Beattie,
J Carr, R Nut er, Y Walus, M Darragh
Secretary Reneé Lubbe
A warm welcome was extended to the 3 new board members.
Mr Dobbin spoke about the various sub committees, namely Finance, Discipline,
Policy, Staffing and Property, and asked the trustees to consider which they would
like to serve on.
Nominations opened to elect a Chairman.
Mrs Brooksbank nominated Mr Dobbin and trustees seconded this.
Beattie / Walus
2. Apologies
None.
3. Minutes of the previous meeting
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 23 May 2019 were accepted.
Brooksbank / Beattie
4. Matters Arising:
o The Ministry are assessing the costs to determine whether the sickbay toilet wil
be converted to a disabled access cubicle. There are currently 3 disabled toilets
on the school grounds; S-block, learning support (R-block) and the sports centre.
5. Correspondence
o MOE: Resourcing Audit letter.
o Magazines: Tukutuku Korero; Education Gazette; STA News.
o NZSTA: Trustee workshops in term 3.
o PPTA Strike information.
6. Principal’s Report
The Principal’s report was tabled, and Mr Waller spoke to some items.
o This year 4 to 5 teachers are being paid under Bulk Grant, as the school is
slightly overstaffed. Income from the International Student department helps to
fund these salaries.
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o Fees for Decile 1-7 schools wil be covered by the government. Field trips fall
under a grey area, as it is debateable whether these trips are part of the
curriculum or optional. Income could increase about $40K if Birkenhead College
goes ahead with the government funded option rather than invoicing students. A
date is not yet confirmed.
o Subject fees remain as is.
o Ms K Fraser is the new truancy officer for Years 9-12. Truancy of icers don’t get
involved with students over the age of 16.
o BYOD is going well. The library may be short of about 10 devices.
o Roofing on H-block to start during the school break. Interior improvements so far
look great.
o There are about 2 years remaining under the current 5YA.
o Landscaping funded by a grant from the Birkenhead Licencing Trust, is due to
start in the school break.
o There are approximately 70 more Year 7 students at Birkdale Intermediate than
last year. The open evening wil be advertised, and the aim is that more articles
about our school and students wil be published in magazines like Channel.
Positive points of difference for Birkenhead College, is our Robotics group, Police
Course and the direction that our music department is going in.
o The International Student department is doing well. New students arrive at the
start of Term 3. A trip to attend fairs in Japan is planned for later this year.
Consideration is also being given to market in South America.
o The local COL is going well and the networking with surrounding schools has
been positive. COL funding may run out after 2 years.
o PSG is holding a quiz night on Friday, 23 August.
o A new quad bike is needed. The school can purchase a good second-hand quad
bike for $5,000.
RESOLUTION: The Board has agreed to the purchase of the second-hand Suzuki LTF300
2001 quad bike for $5,000.
Brooksbank / Beattie
7. Committee Reports
Finance:
The Budget and Finance Report was tabled.
o May resulted in a deficit of $79,530.
o The Year-to-date surplus was $181K.
o Projected year-end Working Capital as at 31 December 2019 was
$74,702.
Property:
o Mr McKissock is in the new role Director of Property and Systems and is doing a
great job. Until a formal Property sub commit ee is established, Mr Waller wil
cover property with Mr McKissock.
8. Student Representative’s Report was tabled.
o Pink Shirt day was not celebrated, but an anti-bullying day was run instead.
o The school ball planning is on track.
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9. Staff Representative’s Report:
o Teachers are pleased that the strikes are over.
o This is a busy time of year.
10. General Business
11. Date of next Board Meeting: Thursday, 25 July 2019.
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