Upcoming Dates

Monday, 1st and Tuesday, 2nd June – School is closed for the Bank Holiday

Tuesday, 16th June – School Tour to Loughwell Farm

Thursday, 25th June – Sports Day and Family Picnic

Friday, 26th June – Last Day of School with a Short Assembly for Parents at 11.30

 

 

Visits to Papa John’s, Silver Strand and the Library

We had a busy week with two excursions.  On Monday we visited Papa John’s in Salthill.  Each child made and then enjoyed a personal pizza.  On Thursday, we lucked out with the weather and had a great time at Silver Strand before heading to the Westside Library.

Pizza

Rolling out the dough

  IMG_2442

 Building sand castles

IMG_2506

Story time at the library

 

Portfolio-Sharing Meetings

If you haven’t already, please sign up for a meeting appointment for the 8th-10th June. Your child will share his or her portfolio.  Parents will also have a ten-minute meeting with a teacher.

 

 

School Tour

Please ensure we receive payment for the School Tour by Monday, 15th June at the latest.  The fee is €15 which will cover all activities as well as bus transport.

 

 

Sports Day and Family Picnic

We will have a sports day with lots of outdoor physical activities on the 25th June from 11.00.  Parent volunteers would be most welcome for this occasion.  This will be followed by a family picnic at 12.30 to celebrate the completion of our first year as a school.  Families are asked to bring something to share (a sign-up will be posted to ensure we have a balance between different types of food).  All families are welcome, including the new families who will be joining us in September.

 

Show and Tell

We have started sharing our favourite books.  Please look out for the timetable which is posted beside the front door.

 

 

New Families

Most of the new families that will join our learning community next year (in either junior or senior infants) visited the school this past week.

 

Fees and Voluntary Contribution

We will have the same fee structure next year for senior infants as we did for junior infants.  The fee of €80 will cover all expenses next year including all school books, stationery, art supplies, photocopying, use of school readers and the Educate Together subscription.  The only expense not covered by this is the annual school tour.  We’d kindly ask for €40 to be paid by the end of the school year so that we can purchase the majority of the books and materials over the summer.  The balance can be paid by 1st September.  A letter explaining these fees as well as the establishment of a voluntary contribution to support the school will be distributed to parents next week.

 

 

Gaeilge

We learned a useful phrase to tell others about our favourite books and television shows.

 

Cén clár teilifíse is fearr leat?

(cane clahr tell-i-fee-shuh iss far lyat?)

What is your favourite television show?

 

 

Cén leabhar is fearr leat?

(cane lyow-er iss far lyat?)

What is your favourite book?

 

 

Is fear liom _________.

(iss far lyum _________.)

My favourite is…/I prefer…

 

Knocknacarra Educate Together NS

Board of Management Meeting

22nd April 2015, 19.30

 

Present: Louise Shields (chairperson and patron nominee), Maggie Hall (patron nominee and treasurer), Lorna Siggins (community nominee), Edward Joyce (community nominee), Vajeeha Ali (female parent nominee), Waqas Khawaja (male parent nominee), Áine Ní Chuinneagáin (teacher nominee), Matt Wallen (principal and secretary)

Louise Shields chaired the meeting.

 

 

Introductions: The members introduced themselves.

March Minutes:The minutes from March were ratified with minor changes.

 

Principal’s Report

Enrolment

  • We are still in the process of enrolling the final children who will join the new junior infant class. In addition, there are 4 children who have accepted a place in next year’s senior infant class.  Therefore, next year’s enrolment will be approximately 50-52.

Staffing

  • We are awaiting the announcement regarding the low-incidence resource teaching hours for the coming school year. This should lead to an additional teaching hours in the school.  We also should receive a response regarding an application for a SNA next year.  Once this announcement is made schools will have to make clustering arrangements or be granted part-time hours.

Attendance

  • At this point, 4 children have missed 20 days or more. Several other children have missed between 15-19 days. Most of these children were out of the country for extended periods of time or had serious illness.  From the opposite perspective, 2 children still have perfect attendance and 2 others have missed two days.

IT

  • Six tablets with cases should arrive soon. A visualiser was also ordered.

Building Concerns

  • We’ve decided to put the Aistear (structured play) room in the current staff room and will have the Senior Infants in the current Aistear room.
  • Matt has written to the Department requesting some clarity regarding the school’s long-term accommodation.
  • As part of writing our Health and Safety Policy, a member of the Board will act as a Health and Safety Officer for our audit of the school.
  • Based on discussions with the children, we’d like to purchase an adaptable playhouse for the outdoor space as well as purchase some new play items. Money for this was allocated from the Table Quiz held in October.

Curriculum

  • Our current theme is Growth. We have established a small garden.  Aistear activities have included gardening, sand table, dramatic role-play (garden centre) and jigsaws.  Lessons in all curricular areas have focused on plant and animal life.  We have identified 20 themes that will be the core of our infant curriculum over a two-year timeframe.
  • Assessment of children will be completed using the Belfield Infant Assessment Profile in May.
  • We have gradually transitioned to assigning a small amount of regular literacy homework to reinforce the work done at school.
  • As a new school, our focus related to the School Self-Evaluation Process is on completing the required policies and ensuring our curricular plans for infants are being developed.

Other Policies/School Planning

  • The enrolment policy was examined by Educate Together and returned with recommended changes.
  • The Child Protection Policy draft is ready for review and hopefully will be ratified at the May meeting. Health and Safety, Attendance and Critical Incidents will be ready for discussion and review soon.  They will hopefully be ratified at the June meeting.  The Code of Behaviour (including an Anti-Bullying Policy) will be ready for discussion and review in June.
  • A three-year plan for writing other policies as well as reviewing is in process and will be agreed before the end of the year.

Misc. Events

  • We had a very successful Spring Fair. While we surpassed our fundraising goal (bringing in just over €700), the day was a great way to build awareness of the school as well as develop the school community.  Many thanks to the parents and local businesses who volunteered and supported the event.
  • A calendar will be presented to the Board of Management for approval at the next meeting.
  • The Pupil Online Database (POD) of the Department of Education and Skills must be updated before the end of the month.
  • A meeting for incoming parents will take place in May. A visit to the school by the children will take place the following day.
  • Our school tour will be to Loughwell farm on Tuesday, 16th We also plan to take an excursion to the library and the beach in late May.  We also will organise our first Sports Day.
  • Matt will be attending the ET Principals’ Conference tomorrow and Friday.
  • Matt completed an Occupational First Aid course yesterday. Áine will complete the same course next month.
  • All are welcome to attend the ET AGM in May.

Financial Report

  • The accounts remain healthy and match budget targets.
  • Paperwork was completed to change the signatories on the account, and these will be submitted to the bank as soon as possible.
  • A brief discussion regarding the introduction of a voluntary discussion was held.  Matt will prepare a proposed letter for discussion at the next meeting.

Policies

  • The Enrolment Policy was discussed.  The Board ratified the policy.
  • The Child Protection Policy draft was discussed.  Several changes were agreed.  A revised draft will be circulated to Board members with the intention of ratifying the policy at the next meeting.  The possibility of seeking legal advice as well as advice from the Patron will be considered as part of completing the revised draft.

Establishing a PTA

  • It was agreed that the process of forming a PTA can begin.  The first AGM, including election of the committee and officers, will hopefully take place in the autumn.

BOM Training

  • It was agreed that over the next several months Board members will complete the first online training module from Educate Together.  Matt will arrange for log-ins.  The module is broken into five units.  We’ll endeavour to discuss one unit at each of the subsequent meetings.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, 27th May, 19.30