AGENDA
Pastoral Survey
Wi-Fi
Pre-IB
Community Engagement
Pastoral
Survey- The pastoral survey is taken every two years and hopes to get
the student views and opinions of how pastoral care is working. The
questions are generated by the pastoral committee and 18-20
conclusions were taken from the pastoral survey 2012, these are attached to the email.
We discussed the Health Centre and
the ‘overuse’ of Paracetemol. Nick made students aware that there are few
other over-the-counter drugs that can be given to students and that maybe we
are unaware of the proper procedures that are being followed by the nursing
staff currently. Maria and Alison will be sending us information either
electronically or orally.
Concerning food, Nick encouraged students to talk to their food reps
and directly to the kitchen staff for changes. The main issue with food
is that there is not a lot of money going into that aspect of student life and
this will be examined in the near future. The main factor here is money
so we need to look into the financing of food at the college.
Additionally, sports facilities were
brought up in the questionnaire and it was discovered that a majority of
students were keen to have some sort of exercise regime implemented from
physical education teachers to mandatory sports. This will be looked in
to.
Nick recommended that concerns over alcohol
and antisocial behaviour in the house, including loud music at night and
stealing, be discussed further in houses. ‘Alternative Punishment’ such
as cleaning or helping in the kitchen if caught drinking was dismissed because
it could be demoralising for the staff doing these jobs to see that their work
is a form of student punishment.
Nick addressed concerns over the code
of conduct by telling students it would be reviewed in April, as it is
every year. Restrictors on windows was a
major topic in the survey and Nick assured students that problems over
ventilation in the rooms as a result of the restrictors would be solved.
Finally, many of the other issues such as domestic problems, attitudes towards senior management etc.
were brought up by Nick. He reminded students that his door and Dave’s door is always open for anyone to go and talk or
discuss further concerns.
Wi-Fi- Following
an extensive survey about I.T. and Wi-Fi at the
college there have been preliminary decisions made by the I.T. department and
the I.T. steering committee. We are going to be getting Wi-Fi around the school
in the future, although the when’s and where’s have not
been decided yet. Staff are very careful to bear in mind the social effects of having Wi-Fi in specific areas of the
college. Additionally, there are points for consideration such as
how long would Wi-Fi be available, would it be there at the beginning of the
year, would there be an on/off point etc.
A further issue is whether we will become a ‘laptop school’ or not (laptop school=every student
gets a laptop upon coming to Atlantic College). Another point is that staff will be having a survey to discover what kind of
software is used for their classes and where they would want Wi-Fi.
There was some discussion about basic computing for students, potentially students with the
knowledge of programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Photoshop and more
could hold workshops for fellow students during the first weeks of term.
Many students wanted some sort of basic instruction on using the computers and
software.
The main thing to bear in mind is that there should be a
balance when it comes to Wi-Fi around the school between teaching, learning and
the social environment at AC. If you have other questions direct them to your I.T. reps or Leila Clark and Michael Manning.
Pre-IB-
Attached to this email is John Walmsley’s written answer to many of your
questions. At the meeting we talked about integration.
An point that was iterated repeatedly was the fact that, at this point, we must
have a positive attitude towards the future of
the Pre-IB. If our outlook towards this upcoming change is not positive
it will be our negativity that affects the integration and success of the
Pre-IB course.
The admittance of students into
this program will be based primarily on National Committees and then followed
by interviews with Nick. Bear in mind that no Pre-IB students will have
automatic entry into Atlantic College. They will be applying through their
national committees if they want to attend a UWC. Therefore the idea of a
‘clique’ of Pre-IB students coming into AC should not be a concern because
Pre-IB students may not apply to the UWC movement and if they do they may be
disseminated all over the world.
Dave wanted to remind students that we all contribute to the
finances of the college and that the pre-IB students
are not here simply as a source of income.
The pre-IB students would have a different
code of conduct and structure to their day than the Atlantic College
students. This is because of their age difference and the distinction
between their program.
The main point to take away from the coming of the Pre-IB is
that there will be 24 more student with the same values, following the same UWC
mission but will be taking a different course. Keep an
open mind and continue bringing suggestions concerning integration etc.
to Student Council and John Walmsley.
Community
Engagement- One student brought up the integration of faculties to
provide service and activities to the community on weekends. It was asked if
there would be staff support for events on the weekends
organised by students to integrate the community and to take advantage of the
faculties. The staff are more than happy to support and help out with
initiatives like this. If you have any ideas you want to take forward in
the way of community service and more, even if your idea doesn’t necessarily
fall into your own faculty, please bring it to the head of faculty concerned or
Nick. They rarely say ‘no’ to suggestions
and initiatives and may even provide a small budget, depending on the idea.
These two years should not be wasted and if you plan big things you can achieve
a lot.
Thank you for attending the meeting and for reading these
minutes. I hope you all felt that it was a productive meeting and gained
a little bit more of an insight into how the college works and some of the
reasoning behind decisions.
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