PTA MEETING MINUTES - Thursday, 9 January 2014
PRESENT:
Donna Connolly
Emily Bradley
Val Whelan
Amanda Maerz-Young
Tara Crawford
Yvonne Garrigan
Toni Walsh
Sinéad Watson
1.
YULE @ SCHOOL FEEDBACK
Yule @ School held on Friday, 20 December last went very well, was well
received by all who attended and, as an added bonus, raised over €900 for
the school. Once again a big thank you to all involved in organising and
volunteering before, during and after.
2.
BOOK GRANT
A new book scheme initiative has been launched by the Department of
Education whereby a €100 per pupil grant is available to provide school
textbooks. Unfortunately every silver lining has a cloud. Since WETNS
launched its own book rental scheme in September 2013 we would not
qualify for this grant. However, a petition will be sent to the Minister to
see if this grant can be available to all schools even if they already have an
established book rental scheme. Paper copies of the petition will be
distributed to parents and hopefully also an online version will be available
for those who wish to register their voice through electronic media.
Donna to liaise with Jacqui Lockhart, WETNS book rental scheme
co-ordinator.
3.
WETNS ON THE MOVE sponsored activity day - Friday, 14 February 2014
A more in-depth discussion ensued around activities for WETNS on the
Move 2014. As was the case last year, there will be two programmes of
activities. Proposed activities include:
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Junior Programme (Junior Infants, Senior Infants & First Class)
(Four activities from the list below)
Athletics - co-ordinated by Anne Marie and Tara
Tae Kwon Doh - led by Billy
Junkyard Drumming - co-ordinated by Toni
Story Circle - with Maeve
Pet care talk - Emily to investigate
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Senior Programme (Second - Sixth Classes)
(Six activities from the list below)
Orienteering - co-ordinated by Terry Lawless
Dance - led by Zoe from FYI Dance
Table quiz - co-ordinated by Yvonne
Singing workshop - co-ordinated by Toni (To be confirmed)
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Instrumental workshop - co-ordinated by Toni (To be confirmed)
Archery - to be investigated by Donna
Art/Animation workshop - co-ordinated by Amber (To be confirmed)
Finger knitting - co-ordinated by Val
Tae Kwon Doh - led by Billy (To be confirmed, space/time permitting)
Timing presented some minor issues last year so it was agreed that the
Junior Programme could be extended and the Senior Programme could
start earlier. Donna requested feedback from teachers on how they feel
the day went last year and any improvements/comments they would like
to offer.
Tara agreed to video and/or photograph the activities for posting on the
website.
All issues will need to be clarified by the next PTA meeting at the end of
January and, as is ever the case, a goodly number of volunteers required to
make the day run smoothly. So if you or someone you know would like to
get involved make yourself known to any member of the PTA committee.
4.
BAKE SALE - Friday, 31 January 2014
The next bake sale will be held on Friday, 31 January 2014 at 1.40 pm and
2.4o pm collections. Sinéad requested that it should be stressed to
parents that children are encouraged to bring no more than €2 to spend at
the bake sale. Adults are of course permitted to spend whatever they wish
(always assuming they can get close enough through the feeding frenzy!)
Also the location of the last bake sale presented an issue with the school
buses pulling into and out of the yard. It was suggested to move the
location, with Brendan and Carmel's agreement, over the other side of the
yard outside Brendan's house. As always, baked donations requested.
5.
BIKE WEEK - week commencing 19 June 2014
Donna confirmed that our new bike week co-ordinators will be Claire
Lauder and Koryne Smyth.
6.
HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS
The holiday greeting cards went down very well with pupils and parents
alike. It was agreed that co-ordination of the production of the cards
should be done in a timely fashion next year but in any event the Cards for
Schools company were praised for their flexibility and efficiency in
producing the cards so quickly.
7.
WORLD BOOK DAY - 6 March 2014
Val co-ordinating World Book Day this year. Details to follow once these
have been clarified.
8.
SEACHTAIN na GAEILGE (IRISH WEEK) - 10-14 March 2014
Proposed activities include Siopa as Gaeilge where pupils will be
encouraged to attend at a shop and buy as Gaeilge to improve their Irish
language skills. A céili was also mooted as a possible activity and possibly a
visit and talk from the rangers at Glendalough. Any suggestions for other
activities to Tara who is co-ordinating.
9.
PADDY'S DAY - Monday, 17 March 2014
Yvonne to contact Eugene Dooley to find out what the overall parade
theme is this year. We will then shoehorn our own ideas into this theme.
10.
SUMMER FAIR - Sunday, 15 June 2014
The Summer Fair is scheduled for Sunday, 15 June 2014. More anon.
11.
PARENT CLASS REPS
A number of people have approached Donna regarding the parent class
rep situation. It was agreed that having a parent class rep is a useful point
of contact for parents. Yvonne to dig out the parent rep 'job spec' that
was compiled last year.
12.
NEW BUILDING STATUS
Yvonne voiced the disappointment of many regarding the news that
WETNS cannot expect a new school building this year as was originally
envisaged. Sinéad will request that Danny Haskins provide an update on
the situation to keep parents informed of progress in this regard.
13.
NEXT PTA MEETING - Thursday, 23 January 2014 at 9 am in staff room.
Progress reports on all aspects of WETNS on the Move required on that
date. All welcome.