Parents’ Association AGM Thurs Nov 8th 2018
Parents Association AGM
Thursday 8th November 2018
Estelle Burke (Chairperson) welcomed everyone to the AGM and gave a brief introduction as to the role the Parents Association plays in building a strong community between the school and the parents. She reiterated that all parents were, in essence, members of the PA. She also mentioned and thanked the other volunteers in the school – from the walking bus attendants, the parents that help with the car park/pedestrian crossing in the morning and those that served on the Health Awareness program. Also all the other parents that help out at events throughout the year.
Estelle gave a run down on all the activities of the PA over the previous year (Nov ‘17 – Oct ’18)
December 2017
For the past three Christmasses we have offered refreshments to parents attending their children’s Christmas Concerts for the relevant week in December.
We also run a refreshment stand at the fabulous Christmas disco, offering tea and coffee, cold drinks and snacks for the party revellers – the profits made at the tuck shop helps fund other activities throughout the year and in particular the fun day in June!
January 2018
In January the committee volunteered to help out with the School Photos. This involved a full day of co-ordinating all the children for their relevant photoshoot, fetching them from classes, ensuring they get their photo taken with siblings if appropriate and …in some cases …some last minute grooming!
Also in January we held our annual flag day to raise much needed funds. The Parents Association recruited and managed volunteers to man the various positions, they were also responsible for collecting the buckets, counting and lodging the money.
March 2018
A regular event in March was the 6th Class Confirmation reception – the committee members were responsible for setting up the halla, decorating it with flowers and banners and manning the refreshment table.
The next event in March was the return of the Bingo night which was a great success with lots of spot prizes donated by local businesses. All proceeds were given directly to the school.
April 2018
The Communion Reception was held, the committee were overwhelmed with the generosity of parents who provided a fabulous spread. The committee set up the halla, manned the refreshments.
May 2018
Towards the end of the school year the committee oversaw the ordering of commemmorative hoodies for 6th class students. This involved the design of the hoody, measuring the students and ordering and distribution of the hoodies.
June 2018
Every June – the highlight of all the childrens year is definitely the School Fun Day – the Parents Association book and pay for the bouncy castles, organise the ice-cream van, pay for dancers, organise face painters. They also recruit volunteers from parents to help at the relevant activity station and organise and manage the time-slots in order to ensure each station is well-manned.
This year the school took part again in a ‘Health Awareness Week’ , one activity involved a chef visting the school, and volunteers from the committee helped with cleaning up afterwards.
The final task for the school year was to set up and decorate the halla for the graduation cermony for 6th class and again, organise and man the refreshments table. They also arranged for a celebration cake for the night.
We also arranged for some goodies for the children on the walking bus.
September 2018
Before you can blink it’s September, and the school year has begun again. The first course of action for the committee for every new school year is to offer a tea and coffee reception to the parents of the incoming junior classes. This is a lovely way to start the year off, offering a friendly welcome to new parents who may be anxious about their child starting school.
October 2018
Halloween as usual threw up two events that the parents association helped out with – the annual Table Quiz – which is always a fun night and the Halloween Hobble.
The quiz is a organised and run by the school, but the parents association as always helped with setting up the halla in the afternoon before the quiz, collecting and distributing answer sheets on the night and running a refreshment stall on the night.
The committee also helped recruit volunteers to help with the Halloween Hobble around town to ensure the saftey of the Junior and Senior Infant classes as they collected the ingredients for their special potion.
Throughout the year the Commitee are also responsible for liasing with the school on a number of parental queries – such as uniform, walking routes, health and saftey etc
SheilaO’Connor introduced herself to the floor outlining her role as Treasurer. She ran through the treasurers’ report for the year of income and expenses. Opening Balance €808.51
Brian Troy acknowledged all who came to AGM, he also thanked the Parents Association and spoke about how vital it was to the staff and the children of the school to have the support of the PA. He highlighted how he has found the PA helpful to the school from when he was a teacher, to being a representative when he was Vice Principal and now as Principal he sees the fundamental role the PA play in the school. He also spoke how studies have shown how beneficial it can be for both students/parents when one gets involved in organisations that is part of their children’s day to day lives. He would encourage others to participate when and if they could and felt that it should be encouraged through word of mouth from other members of their positive experience. Brian referred to the Fashion Show and acknowledged what a big undertaking it was for the PA that year and how it paid for the amazing hall that the school is so fortunate to have. The hall of course is very much in demand for use by other clubs and this also allows the school to thrive.
Estelle listed the names of the outgoing committee members and thanked them for their help.
Aimee Keller
Kamila Koltko-Kandler
Estelle informed the floor that two places on the committee had now become available and asked if any individuals would be interested in coming on board. 5 persons put themselves forward and as per the constitution this meant it needed to go ballot. Subsequently John McFarlane and Tracey Brennan were the successful candidates.
A.O.B
2 dates to be noted
7th December 2018 Christmas Disco
26th January 2019 Flag Day
This concluded the AGM.
The date of the next committee meeting – 29th November 2018.
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