Parent association AGM 10th October 2019

Parents Association AGM
Thursday 10th October 2019

Attendees : Estelle Burke (Chairperson), Karen Mangan (Secretary), Sheila O’Connor (Treasurer), Bri-an O’Grady, Tracey Brennan , Sarah Lacey, Tanja Tomac, Lisa Carr, Claire O’Connell, Eimear O’Reilly (Board of Management), Brian Troy (Acting Principal ENS), Bob Enright (Acting Deputy Principal ENS)

Apologies : Sinead Clinton, Cliodhna Kelly and John McFarlane

First we had a short talk from Roisin Garvey – An Taisce Green Schools Co-ordinator – about the fu-ture of the green schools initiatives.
Roisin is working with the school in relation to the Travel Flag.

– She spoke firstly of the huge success of the walking bus and how it is the single most successful and largest walking bus in Ireland. The idea is to look at using the car less so examples would be the walking bus or a cycle bus.
– Roisin is working on establishing a cycle bus to ENS. She is looking into the best route to the school which will include the new infrastructure by St.Flannans/Eire Og. Noel Tierney & John Moloney are helping.
– She is hoping to set up a cycle bus starting at the Hawthorns Estate on the Limerick Road to ENS. ( 2km in total ). A meeting is to be organised with Roisin Garvey, Noel Tierney, John Moloney and any interested parents.
– A “Get in Gear” course will be offered free of charge to parents of the school. This is a cycle train-ing course for adults.
– Information on the meeting and commencement of the cycle bus to be sent via Aladdin.

Next Estelle spoke about all the work the PA had accomplished in the last year (Nov’18-Sept’19)
She spoke of how active the PA are and how good it feels to be involved. She spoke of all the differ-ent areas within the school with which the parent body are involved
– the walking bus – managed by Deirdre McQuillan with the aid of parent volunteers
– the crossings in the carpark in the mornings – managed by Eimear O’Reilly with the aid of parent volunteers
– the Parents Facebook page – managed by Stephen Coote and 2 administrators
– Fun Day – all the parent volunteers who helped to make sure the day ran smoothly
– Fundraising events eg Flag Day

Estelle next listed the events throughout the year that the PA assisted with
– September
– Junior Infant parent/guardian welcome tea/coffee – this is on the first day of school and is a great place for parents to grab a moment after dropping their child on their first day of school. It is a lovely place to meet other parents and is very well received.
– October
– Halloween Hobble – parents help out guiding the children around the town
– Halloween Quiz – this is the first big event in the school, the PA run the tuc shop on the night and help out collecting answers etc
– December
– Christmas Disco – usually on the 1st Friday in December. PA run the tuc shop on the night.
– Christmas School Concerts – free tea & coffee provided by PA
– Walking Bus Christmas Treats – treats sent to Deirdre to hand out to the students on the walking bus at Christmas
– January
– School Photo Day – PA help out with wiping faces straightening ties etc
– Flag Day – last Saturday in January – many parents volunteer on this school fundraising event.
– International Day – PA helped out and ran a tea/coffee stand. So many parents volunteered to run stands and made it a very successful event.
– March
– Confirmation reception – PA organise and run a tea/coffee & food reception for all the confirmed children and their families after the mass in the halla.
– School Hoodies for 6th Class – organisation begins on sizing and gathering signatures and ordering of hoodies.
– April
– Bingo Night – PA run the tuc shop and book the bingo company and source all prizes and sponsor-ship for the event.
– May
– Communion reception – after mass in the halla a tea/coffee & food receptions is held for the chil-dren & their families.
– June
– Graduation Night – PA run a reception in the halla – tea/coffee & food
– Fun Day – PA co-ordinated the volunteers with the school on the day as well as organising and pay-ing for 2 bouncy castles and organising the Ice Cream Van. Many parents volunteered to help the day be a big success.

Sheila then spoke about the Treasury report.
– in addition to the handout of the financials she mentioned
– the Flag Day collection – which went to the school to fund the school garden project – amounted to EUR2193.26
– Bingo night – amount was split between the school and the PA. Income was EUR1844.67
– Balance as per spreadsheet EUR494.87
– Balance carried forward EUR708.36
– Amount in account EUR1203.23

Brian Troy then spoke
– praised the PA for all the work done and how some things would/could not happen without the PA involvement
– Thanked Estelle, Sheila & Karen for all their hard work
– Thanked the committee for all their hard work
– Thanked the BOM members Eimear O’Reilly and John O’Connor for all the work on the committee
– Thanked Bob Enright for all work on the committee and being the link to the school and attending all meetings.
– Acknowledged the assets that is the Parents Facebook page and thanked Stephen Coote and the ad-mins for all the work that goes into keeping it update and a great source for parents.
– Thanked Deirdre McQuillan and all volunteers on the walking bus. Praised the walking bu and how beneficial it is for the children.
– Thanked Eimear O’Reilly for the work manning and organising volunteers for the crosswalks in the mornings
– Also mentioned the Green Schools initiative and all the parent involvement
– Mentioned all the different areas in which parents help out the school – Brian Foody in relation to work on the carpark, Lourdes O’Donoghue for her work on the school garden, Eimear O’Reilly for the great addition of the playgrounds in the yards.
– He acknowledged there was still work to do.
– Mentioned the International Evening which was held in January and what a great success that was and how that was down to parent involvement.
– Said how again great work was done by the PA and his door was always open.
– Said how the PA is so successful as everyone works so well together.
– He then spoke about the Board of Management and how a new term for the board starts on the 1st December. The term of the BOM is 4years. 2 parent reps are needed – parents can self nominate. If 2 parents are put forward for one position then it is put to a vote and if that is tied then it goes to a draw. The BOM consists of 8 members – 2 Patrons, 2 Parent Reps, 1 Teacher Rep, 1 Principal (Brian Troy who is also the Secretary of the Board ) and 2 Community Reps.
– The 2 Parent Rep positions that are available are available to all parents – the rule of parents having to have a child in 2nd class or lower no longer stands. There must be one male & one female par-ent rep.
– The meeting will hopefully be in the 1st week back after the Halloween Midterm break.
– He mentioned how satisfying the work on the BOM is, how interesting and how involving the work is and emphasised the confidentiality of the Board and its members.
– Any questions please refer to Brian Troy .

Bob Enright then spoke
– he seconded the thanks to the PA committee
– Said he was looking forward to working with the new committee
– Mentioned how it was his first year on the committee and how surprised he was by the amount of work done by the PA and how important all these events are to the children.

Estelle then spoke again
– spoke of how the committee comprised of 15 members – 1 staff member, 2 BOM members and 12 parent volunteers
– 7 available positions for the new committee as 7 members were stepping down.
– The 7 members stepping down – Estelle Burke, Karen Mangan, Sheila O’Connor, Brian O’Grady, Cliodhna Kelly, Claire O’Connell & Sinead Clinton.

Nominations then began

Current Members with 2+yrs on committee
Nominees Nominated by Seconded
Lisa Carr Eimear O’Reilly Tracey Brennan
Sarah Lucey Brian O’Grady Brian O’Grady
Tanja Tomac Sarah Lucey Linda Brannigan

New Members
Nominees Nominated by Seconded
Nicole Reiner Meyer Karen Mangan Claire O’Connell
Enara Hehir Elaine Keating Sheila O’Connor
Ifeoma Ugweura Bob Enright Sheila O’Connor
Tonya Melody Maura O’Connor Sheila O’Connor
Karen O’Connor Sheila O’Connor Tanja Tomac
Elaine Keating Eimear O’Reilly Linda Brannigan
Jade Cooley Bob Enright Sarah Lucey

*Note : 2 current members are John McFarlane and Tracey Brennan with 1yr on committee.

Positions of the Chairperson, Secretary & Treasurer still to be filled. Estelle to call a meeting of the new committee so positions can be filled.

A list was also left out for anyone who wished to add their name to a volunteer list so they could vol-unteer at one or two events throughout the year.

Karen to collect the email addresses for the new committee for the minutes.

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