Parents’ Association Meeting March 15th 2021
ENNIS NATIONAL PARENTS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES
DATE OF MEETING: Monday 15th March 2021 @20.00 Zoom Virtual Call
TIME: from 20.00 to 21.30
Introduction by Elaine – As Chairperson, Elaine welcomed the committee and specially the new committee members to their first meeting.
BOM update by Emer O’Reilly – Emer O’Reilly and John O’Connor from school board of management both attended the meeting.
Emer outlined how the board is carefully handling the additional monies allocated by the Dept of Ed during the pandemic.
Monies have been received to provide additional cleaning. Cleaning schedules have been doubled.
Monies have been received to purchase sanitising equipment and supplies and spent as outlined by the Dept.
Monies have been received to provide additional IT support to teachers and students. The money has been used to buy laptops and iPad.
A team of teachers worked closely with families in need of additional supports to ensure their children could engage with remote learning.
The school is required to keep details records of how this money is spent. The school is fully compliant in that regard.
Emer filled us in on the plans to convert the existing school pitch into an all-weather astro turf pitch.
The BOM has applied for sports capital grant funding of €150k. It will be next year before we know if the submission has been successful.
Emer asked us to canvass our local politicians to support our request for grant funding.
John explained how the planning permission application was the purpose of flood lighting and fencing.
Emer took us through the findings of the recent school survey. Results have been circulated to teachers and will be circulated to parents shortly.
The survey highlighted areas of concern for parents. The board is working on an action plan as a result of the findings.
A quick hit was the repair of the bicycle shed which was dealt with immediately.
Emer confirmed that the cessation of the walking bus is temporary. Children mix in the walking bus. The dept. guidelines ask that children be kept in bubbles.
It is expected that the walking bus will resume after Easter.
Emer confirmed that the school had received a request from the management of Westpoint, asking school management to ask parents not to use it for collections.
Ennis national school has engaged with the council and with Westpoint management on this matter. The school has asked parents to be mindful that the school community is reliant on the goodwill of our neighbours to accommodate children coming and going to school.
Emer praised the parent body for their cooperation with the school in relation to traffic management. Only parents of children in second class and younger are using the car park. The new pedestrian crossing at O’Sullivan and Hansbury motors has helped matters greatly.
We heard details of ongoing school maintenance issues which are in hand.
Climbing Wall – A special mention and a thank you went to Fíona de Buitléir for donating a climbing wall to the school.
Wear Green to School Day – It was agreed that no fundraiser would take place this year.
Communication with parents – one of the findings in the survey highlighted the need to improve the communication between parent/teacher/school. Some felt that there were too many communication methods and others not enough communication, or they were unsure how to contact the school or teacher.
The PA discussed the possibility of introducing an “open evening” at the start of each academic year where each teacher could have an informal “open evening” for parents in his/her class. This would give the parents the opportunity to meet the teacher and ask questions regarding the curriculum, communication process or any other topics concerning their child.
6th Class Hoodies – The PA sourced quotes from four different suppliers and during the meeting it was agreed that Boru Sports would be the chosen supplier this year based on price and the quality of the hoodies they have supplied the school in previous years.
The colours and design of the hoodies were also agreed on and 4 committee members volunteered to take one 6th class each to assist with the orders.
Elaine – Ms Roseingrave
Nicole K – Mr McInerney
Sarah – Mr Corry
Enara – Mr Walsh
An email was sent to all parents in 6th class asking them to return the forms and money by Thursday 25th March.
If you have any feedback or wish to contact the Parents Association you can do so by emailing pacommittee.ens@gmail.com and we will be glad to assist you.
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