Parent-Teacher Meetings

Parent-teacher meetings will take place next week on Wednesday, 23rd November from 18.00-21.00 and Thursday, 24th November from 15.00-18.00.  A sign-up sheet for appointments will be posted from tomorrow morning on each classroom door.

 

School Closure

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

 

No Basketball for Two Weeks

Please remember that basketball will not take place this week or next week.  The next session will take place on Wednesday, 30th November.

 

PTA Meeting

The next meeting of the Parent-Teacher Association Committee will take place at the Clybaun Hotel on Wednesday (16th November) at 19.00.

 

Open Evening

There will be an Open Evening for prospective parents on Wednesday, 30th November from 18.30-20.00.  All are welcome.  We would especially welcome any parent volunteers who would be willing to meet parents and talk about you and your child’s experiences in the school.

 

Photos

The photo proofs from County Photos were distributed last week.  Please return all orders by Friday, 18th November.

 

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, 2nd December.  This is a great way to support your child’s reading as well as support the school.

 

Science in First Class

As part of World Science Day, First Class carried out an investigation into which area of the school was the warmest. We chose six areas and placed a frozen balloon with 400ml of water in each of the areas. We placed them in their locations at the beginning of the day, and we recorded our predictions. Throughout the day we took measurements of the melted water at hourly intervals. At the end of the day we established that First Class is the warmest area of the school and the front door is the coldest area. The children enjoyed being scientists, and we will have many more opportunities throughout the year to carry out experiments.

 

Knocknacarra Educate Together NS

Board of Management Meeting

13th October 2016, 20.00

 

Present: Louise Shields (chairperson and patron nominee), Maggie Hall (patron nominee and treasurer), Waqas Khawaja (male parent nominee), Áine Ní Chuinneagáin (teacher nominee), Paul Adams (community nominee), Elaine Keane (community nominee), Matt Wallen (principal and secretary)

Apologies: Lynn Morgans (female parent nominee)

Louise chaired the meeting.

 

September Minutes

The minutes from September were ratified.

Principal’s Report

Enrolment

  • There are currently 74 pupils enrolled.

Staffing

  • Additional applications for resource teaching hours have been submitted. We will receive a response before the end of the month.  This may lead to a change in our resource teaching arrangements.
  • Clare Conry was hired as the new 0.75 SNA in our school. We have still not received any response regarding Clare’s garda vetting application.  A student teacher from Mary Immaculate College of Education will be visiting senior infants for the next three Fridays.  She will be teaching, under supervision, for two weeks in November.

Attendance

  • The attendance so far has been very good. Overall, the attendance rate since the start of the year to now is 97.7%, slightly higher than last year at this point.

Building Concerns

  • We have not received a reply from the Department regarding future accommodation. Two TDs responded to the letter by contacting the Minister.  Since the last meeting, I found out we can fill out the ASA (Additional School Accommodation) form.  This has been submitted.
  • Although the electrician never did come to repair the door, I managed to get it repaired simply by cleaning the surfaces.
  • The white entrance door to the school needs repair. The representative of the landlord has been contacted.

Curriculum

  • In-service training for the new language curriculum will be scheduled soon.
  • A draft of the maths school plan, laying out teaching goals and strategies for the entire primary cycle, will be prepared by December.  A similar whole-school English plan will follow that is aligned with the new curriculum.

Policies

  • The Communication Policy, which incorporates a complaints procedure, is ready for consideration.

Misc. Events/Information

  • The entire school went to Barna Woods and Cappagh Park on Monday.
  • A group of French students visited the infant classes on Tuesday.
  • The Galway Fire Department visited the school on Tuesday.
  • Senior Infants and First Class will attend a performance at Baboró on Friday, 21st

Financial Report

  • The budget targets are all being met.
  • The accountant is in the process of completing certification of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 accounts.

Policies

The Communication Policy was discussed and minor changes were agreed.  It will be presented to the PTA for feedback.

Board of Management Training

The Board viewed and discussed the rest of the online Educate Together Board of Management training module entitled The Board as a Corporate Entity.