Parent Association Meeting 29th April 2019

Ennis National Parents Association

                    Minutes of meeting held 29^th April 2019

 

 

1. Review of minutes of last meeting

 

The minutes of the previous meeting were proposed and seconded.

 

2. B.O.M. Update

 

Updates on current maintenance activities within the school (roof, boiler etc) plus longer term policies and contacts signed off; plan for an accessible, biodiversity garden is agreed and out for tender; infant playground is fixed and open; solution agreed for improved layout of middle playground with the supplier; 2 year contract with pre-school agreed; B.O.M. are open to ideas to improve the senior yard (eg. ball wall); B.O.M. working on a plan for ongoing, continuous refurbishment of the school with costs spread over time; B.O.M.  have an upcoming meeting with the council to discuss the access point for the new neighbouring estate; carpark costs are higher than expected.

 

3. School Bingo April 26^th

The school bingo was a great success. The figures were not to hand at the meeting. The V-shaped rows layout used this year was felt to be a better fit than individual tables used the previous year. Several PA members fed back concerns from some parents that it was an expensive night out. There was not a list of sponsors available on the tables as per last year. It was proposed to publish and thank a list of the sponsors on the school Facebook page and also to make a Thank You letter to sponsors available (Action: school).

 

4. 6th class hoodies

Two members are managing the sizing and ordering of the 6^th class hoodies. An extra day for sizing is this coming Wednesday 1^st May with orders being sent on Friday 3^rd May.

 

 

5. National Parents Council Talk

 

The chairperson is to contact the National Parents Council to organise a talk – supporting parents to support their children in mental health. (Action: Estelle)

 

6. School First Communion 11^th May

This important school event is on 11^th May, with approximately 57 children making their first communion. Badminton is to be cancelled for the Friday evening and several PA members will set-up from 2.20pm. a text to be sent out asking for families of 1st class students to donate baked goods for the Communion reception.

 

 

7. Fun Day 7^th June

It was advised that the school has decided to run sprint and novelty heats on a date before the Fun Day to free up the pitch for other uses and to ease pressure on teachers/volunteers. Class teachers will run these races off over the next few weeks, with just the sprint finals taking place at the end of the Fun Day.

 

Suggestions were made around several improvements around security: volunteers to wear high-viz vests and badges; and that the children should wear school PE gear so that they can be easily identified as opposed to any children among the spectators.

 

It was suggested that volunteers should be recruited for a particular yard/slot as, last year, some volunteers left their posts to follow their children. It was also suggested to ask the children to bring in spare clothes/socks, especially if it’s wet. Face-painting was really popular last year and had big queues – so some thought has to be give to how to approach this. The school has yet to finalise plans for the Fun Day and there are currently no actions for the PA.

 

8. 6^th class JESSIES project

 

An email was read from a parent making some relevant points about 1) communication and 2) costs associated with the 6^th class JESSIES project. This project involves the 6^th class coming up with a business idea, planning and then running a business event. Feedback was generally good but the letter highlighted the cost as a problem, that there was some confusion among infant classes in particular about how much money they needed, what the project was about etc and suggested that class teachers should have more control in how the information is disseminated by the 6^th class students. It was also suggested that many of the JESSIEs projects offer a lot of sugary food and that this is not in keeping with ENS as a Healthy Eating School. The school had taken on board feedback from last year’s JESSIES and that now, each of the three 6^th classes run their project on a  different term to spread the cost for the school community. The PA agreed that this is an improvement. Bob and Emer will feed the comments back to Brian Troy.

 

9. AOB

 

Clothing Collection

The clothing collection was discussed which is collected twice per year. It was suggested to have a total received from this endeavour and suggested that the school community should be aware of the profitability of the project as an encouragement to donate more old clothes.

 

PE Uniform for Infants

This was raised as a suggestion, but it was agreed by the committee to park it for now.

 

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Next Meeting  Monday 20th May  2019 at 8pm

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