BIRKENHEAD COLLEGE
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees held at Birkenhead College on
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
1. Present:
T Dobbin (Chair), C Waller (Principal), T Brooksbank, S Beattie,
J Carr, R Nut er, Y Walus, M Darragh
In Attendance: Denise Alexander
2. Apologies :
Reneé Lubbe
3. Minutes of the previous meeting
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 August 2019 were accepted.
Nutter / Brooksbank
4. Matters Arising:
None.
5. Correspondence
o Magazines: Tukutuku Korero.
6. Principal’s Report
The Principal’s report was tabled, and Mr Waller spoke to some items.
o Level 3 HSP requires a commercial kitchen. Our cafeteria could work with the extra
purchase of 3 gas stoves and a few implements. Collecting quotations.
o Looking at establishing vertical form classes. Staff are quite keen on this idea.
o Senior Reports to be issued by end of Term. Very tight timing as exams only finished
recently, but wil be more helpful to students with their NCEA exam revision.
o Continue to look at the Government’s offer to cover school donations. Most schools will opt
to take this grant. It may help parents in their ability to pay subject fees if they don’t have to
worry about the donation. Possible adverse ef ect from the community if we declined the
grant. Decision required by 14 November.
o Student Board Representative voting closes midday Thursday 26 September.
o Three students have been invited to attend the World Championships of Performance Arts in
Los Angeles. This is as a result of their performances at Stand Up Stand Out.
o NZQA are hoping all exams wil be done online by 2021. We trialled a digital history exam
during the practice exams and it worked perfectly. Hoping to expand next year with Year 11
English exams.
o Measles: approx. 40% of our students have provided their measles vaccination proof.
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7. Committee Reports
Finance:
The Budget and Finance Report was tabled.
o The month of August resulted in a surplus of $107,000.
o Projected year-end Working Capital as at 31 December 2019 is $78,664.
o Tracking with projected budget quite well. In a good financial position in terms of working
capital.
o International fees have come back up.
o $40,000 prefab rationalisation may be deferred to next year.
o Budget forms go to department heads this week, and should be returned by 29 October. Wil
come before the Board at the November meeting.
Property
o Covered mainly in the Principal’s Report.
o Kohanga: No response received yet regarding parking arrangements. Looks like they will
be ready to open very soon.
Discipline
It was moved and agreed that the public be excluded from this part of the meeting namely:
Subject
Reason
Grounds
Student discipline
Student confidentiality
Local government official information &
meetings Act 1978 s.48/1b
Dobbin / Waller
It was moved and agreed that the public return to the meeting.
Dobbin / Waller
8. Student Representative’s Report was tabled.
o Senior exams were last week, with the main focus of the term being on those. This week,
there is a big emphasis on getting feedback from the exams, and revision for all senior
students.
o Arts Awards are tomorrow night, lots of performances from a variety of the arts, and students
across all years receiving awards and recognition.
o Dance production was this week, lots of hard work from students in all years had gone into it
and was enjoyed by students.
o Junior and senior options were due yesterday for next year.
o Al councils are announced on Friday for 2020, any students who applied for any of the five
councils will find out if they were selected.
o Tournament week was three weeks ago, with all three of the teams we sent doing really well.
o Lots of universities have upcoming deadlines for next year, so Year 13 students have been
busy preparing applications and references recently.
9. Staff Representative’s Report:
o It has been a very busy month with school exams being the top priority. Staff have worked
incredibly hard to provide an opportunity for all students to sit in external-like situations.
Some students have chosen to attempt external papers outside of the required curriculum
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which is a credit to themselves and the school. Report writing in underway for all students -
this is most certainly the busiest time of year.
10. General Business
o Confirmed the date of tournament week is set nationally, and not scheduled by the school.
Some students would benefit from this time spent studying.
o An unofficial request was received by a board member, as to whether we could set aside a
‘prayer room’. This would have lots of ramifications, but we wil give it consideration.
11. Date of next Board Meeting: Thursday 7 November 2019.
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