An Focal Deireanach – Vol 3, No 11

Parent-Teacher Meetings

A reminder that parent-teacher meetings will take place this week on Wednesday, 23^rd November and Thursday, 24^th November.  If you haven’t signed up yet or if you need a reminder of your appointment time, the sign-up sheets can be found on each classroom door.

School Closure

A reminder that the school will be closed on Friday, 25^th November.

No Basketball Again This Week

There will be no basketball this week.  The next session will take place on Wednesday, 30^th November.

PTA Meeting

The minutes from the last PTA meetings are included at the end of this newsletter.

Open Evening

Please pass on the word about the Open Evening for prospective parents on Wednesday, 30^th November from 18.30-20.00.  All are welcome.

Scholastic Book Club

Today you will find a new Scholastic Book Club leaflet in your child’s homework folder.  All orders must be returned by Friday, 2^nd December.  Please visit http://schools.scholastic.ie/knocknacarra-etns, where you can browse the latest books and order online. For every €1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20¢ in Scholastic Rewards.

Planting Bulbs at the 1916 Memorial

First Class went to Cappagh Park on Friday.  Galway City Councillors Neil McNeilus and Donal Lyons guided the class in planting bulbs around the 1916 Memorial and the seven trees that were planted last spring to honour the signatories of the Proclamation.  We look forward to visiting in the spring to see all the flowers in bloom.

Visitor on Bees and Preserving Biodiversity

First class also had a visit from Robin Barry of Bee Wise.  Robin shared some fascinating information about the importance of biodiversity, particularly the valuable role bees and other insects play in the environment.

Parent-Teacher Association Meeting on 16th November 2016

Review of Last Year

• Joined the National Parents Council – Karen will keep this on
  • They offer courses like:
    • Supporting parents to support children’s mental health and well-being
    • How to encourage children to build healthy friendships and relationships
    • How to address bullying
    • Screen time management
  • Introduced the Code of Child Protection
  • Set Rules around distributing Birthday Invitations
  • Introduced the Healthy Eating Policy
  • Passed the PTA Constitution
  • Agreed to leave the treasury as a separate line item in the school’s finance
  • Organised the Spring Fair
  • Organised the Pot Luck
  • Organised the Social Event for Families

Communication Policy

• This includes the complaints procedure.
• The document was circulated for feedback to the PTA members, and it will also be emailed to all parents.
• Parents who have feedback are asked to give it to Matt directly.

Pot Luck

• It was decided to hold a whole-school assembly followed by a Pot Luck again at the end of the term.
• It was agreed it will be held at Aras Bothar Na Tra, Dr. Mannix Road on Wed 21^st of December at 1-3pm.
• A team of parents will be needed to stay back and clean up after the event.
• The children will arrive from school on a bus. Any children who need to return to school will be brought back by bus at the end of the event.
• The first 30 minutes will be devoted to an assembly led by the children.

Spring Fair

• The Spring Fair date has been set for Sat 6^th of May.
• The raffle was discussed:
  • Pre-selling tickets this year
  • Giving a letter with school letterhead to people sourcing the prizes
  • Getting fewer but larger prizes than previous years
• Discussed getting Galway FM to broadcast from the Fair but may not be practical due to cost and space/numbers.
• Ruth will investigate getting Matt an interview on the Keith Finnegan show.
• Discussed First Class running some stalls under adult supervision, e.g., Tombola, Soak the Teacher, etc.

School Plan Strategy meeting date

• This was set for Wed., 18^th
• It will involve the Board of Management and the PTA.
• Louise Shields, Chairperson of the Board of Management, will facilitate the discussion.
• All parents will be welcome.

Elect PTA Committee

The PTA committee for 2016/2017 was elected.

Chairperson                       Diana Ilie

Vice Chairperson              Trish Darcy

Secretary                             Ruth Fagan and Clare King will share this role

Promotions                        Daniel Maurice, who will link up with Elizabeth O’Connell

Class Parent Representative

The need and value of such a role was discussed, and it was decided that such a person would be of value to parents as a more available resource with whom they could ask questions and discuss general PTA business.

First Class                            Trish Darcy

Senior Infants                    Ruth Fagan

Junior Infants                    Gosia Michalak-Marchi

PTA Facebook page

• A parents’ private information sharing service was discussed. Considered were Whatsapp and Facebook.
• It was decided to set up a closed group on Facebook.
• Daniel agreed to set this up.
• He will put a sub group/section on it for people interested in supplying child minding.
  • Reference was also made to a website for minding children, elderly, pets, etc. – www.mindme.ie

Open Evening

• The school posts this on its Facebook page and pays for it to be promoted.
• It was agreed that we will drop flyers into Montessories, Creches and Playgroups.
• Matt will organise the printing of the flyers.
• Trish will make a list of all the Montessories, Creches and Playgroups in the Knocknacarra/Rahoon area taken from the HSE website listing all childcare centres.

Set Dates for Future PTA meetings

• It was decided to hold these meetings for the most part on the second Wednesday of every month. 14^th December, 18^th January, 15^th February and 15^th March were scheduled.  Meetings will take place at 19.00 at the Clybaun Hotel.  Future meetings will be decided at a later date.