[ AGM 2005 ] [ Academic Council Report ] [ Student Report ]
Executive Council Report 2004 - 2005
Speech by Mohammed Vassighi, Chairperson of the Executive Council
The report refers to the year 2004-2005 and I will comment on the work of the Executive Council from December last to the present day. Before I begin I would like to introduce the Executive Council members and outline the areas of responsibility covered by the Council.
The Executive Council or EC - is made up of 7 members, 4 of whom are parents and 3 of whom are teachers. At present the 4 parent members are: Stefania Dennerlein, Matthew Wyatt who has been co-opted to take the place of Mauro Kolobaric, Stefano Carrese who has been re-elected at this meeting and of course myself Mo Vassighy. The teacher members are Domini Mac Rory as the Chairperson of the Academic Council, and two teacher elected representatives, Tony Wilkinson and Lucy Michaels.
The Executive Council is one of the two decision making bodies of the Association and has responsibility for all the legal and financial aspects of the school. The Council makes decisions on a wide range of issues including: the fees to be paid by parents; expenditure for leasehold improvements; the hiring of teaching and ancillary staff and matters pertaining to the overall welfare of the school.
If you remember it was this time last year that we made the agreement with the owners of the villa giving us security of tenure for another 12 years. This agreement came into effect on 1st January 2005. As part of this new contract the owners undertook to carry out work on the Chemistry, Art, English and Drama block - also known as the Dependance. This work was carried out during the summer months of July and August 2005 and involved putting in damp proofing along the side of the building housing the Art Studio and the subsequent removal of the old plastering in the Art room as well as the water-proofing of the terrace above the Chemistry laboratory.
The Executive Council also approved a series of other interventions designed to improve the working environment. The Biology laboratory received new furniture; the Early Years, French room, Italian room and the small office had air-conditioning installed; new windows and doors were put in the Drama room and the Biology laboratory. Thanks to the generosity of two ex-students who donated €5,000 we were also able to erect a new climbing apparatus in the garden for the older children. The area from the red circle to the swings was levelled and a new drainage system and covering was put in place. A soft-landing covering was also put under the swings.
For the second year running, a lot of work has taken place on the site and I hope that you were pleasantly surprised on your return to school in September.
The Executive Council is committed to maintaining and improving our facilities not only for the benefit of our children and teachers but also in order to remain competitive in the market. We will of course keep the situation under constant review.
In the course of the year the EC receives requests from the Academic Council, the parents and the staff. Following a request from the AC to introduce Italian for Italian children in Years 1 and 2, the EC made available funds for the implementation of this proposal in Year 2 with the possibility of extending it to Year 1 if it is felt to be appropriate.
A change to the cleaning schedule was also approved at EC and most of the rooms are now cleaned early in the morning instead of at the end of the school day. This allows both teachers to work in their rooms after 3.30 and after school activities to take place on the premises.
The Council also makes decisions concerning the late payment of fees or requests for financial aid. The policy over the last number of years with regards to requests for aid has been stringent and as a non-profit organisation such requests can rarely be granted and generally only when a family is experiencing a temporary financial difficulty.
Setting the budget is a major area of responsibility for EC and during the discussions in May this year the Council, among other things, addressed the question of staff salaries. EC approved a further 5% salary increase retroactive to September 2004 and awarded a 3.5% cost of living increase from September 2005. The Council also decided that there would be no increase in school fees for 2005-2006 and allocated an amount per capita to cover educational trips. The forecast for this present academic includes a small deficit which will be amply covered by the accumulated surplus of previous years.
At a previous AGM one of the parents suggested that our school website should be renewed. The EC took up the idea and thanks to Lucy Michaels, one of our Maths teachers, we now have a brand new site which Domini tells me has resulted in a notable increase in inquiries. Thank you to Lucy for all her hard work. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
These are just some of the issues addressed by the Council during the course of 2004-2005.
We are pleased that at the close of the fiscal year The New School remains on a firm financial footing having made a number of significant improvements to our facilities. The Executive Council would like to thank the parents and staff for their continued support and wish everyone a happy and successful school year.
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