St Brigid’s Parents Association

Minutes of Meeting held on Wednesday 12th October 2011

Treasurer’s Report

• €487.14 as of 1st of October. A special thanks to Andrew Peet who organised a deposit account with AIB for the Christmas Fair takings. This will cut the charge to the Parents Association which is greatly appreciated.

Matters Arising

• A query was made regarding the letter for extra PE lessons in the girls school. This query is specifically to do with the mention of a GAA coach. Is this an extra cost for parents as it was mentioned GAA coaches generally will come in for free. The wording of the letter is to be clarified.
• Joanna thanked everyone who spoke at and attended the AGM. Although the numbers were disappointing, the meeting was very successful and resulted in a new team volunteering to help organise the Christmas fair.

Christmas Fair

• A big thank you and welcome to the new volunteers for the Christmas fair.
• The Credit Union in Foxrock have very kindly sponsored a prize for the fair again this year to the value of €200.
• The possibility of a recycling rebate was discussed. Claire is trying to make contact with the schools’ recycling contractor to confirm but it looks as if it is only offered on a weight quota basis. Changing contractor to accomodate the fairs needs was also suggested.
• The printer has been confirmed for the raffle tickets. A special thank you the printer: Dermot Malone -of Perfect Image - for his services.
• The ticket prizes will remain at 2.50 per ticket and there will be 10 prizes available. .We are going ahead with raffle for the luxury prize on the day but instead of only selling tickets for that raffle on the day, we are also going to sell them in advance along with the normal raffle. Also going to sell tickets after Mass?
• The rugby club will be asked to set up a games stall in the yard.
• Also suggested to use the basketball hoops.
• The games room will not be going ahead this year. Many thanks to Emma Meir for all her help over the years with the room.
• The wheel of fortune will be remodelled to decrease the amount of slots on it.
• Advertising to be stepped up this year with a suggestion of posters around the village to encourage outside attendance.
• The annual walk around of the school promoting the fair to the children will go ahead on the 7th of November.
• The Parish magazine, Contact, will mention the fair in their next edition.
• Nicole Delaney and Nina O’Daly presented the idea of organising a school calendar. Logistics, amounts to be printed and costs discussed but overall it was considered a very good idea and should proceed if possible. Selling price suggested at 7.50 per calendar. This is to be confirmed. It was also suggested to involve the 6th class boys and girls in designing a cover for the calendar as a competition and to leave a blank area in the calendar so the 6th classes can use it for signatures. The calendar can be advertised as a souvenir of the 6th classes final year. A notice to go out ahead of photos to be taken to the parents so children can be well groomed ! The disclaimer form signed by parents was also discussed and the list of parents who did not sign it to be contacted to receive their permission for photos to be taken of their children. The money raised from the calendars agreed to be kept separate to see what was taken in. Advertising of the calendars considered an added bonus at the moment. Sandra to go back over previous minutes in 2005 to see if the last calendar issued was mentioned so as to get an idea of cost and sales.
• It was suggested to invite the school choir or the gospel choir to give a small concert in the yard on the day.
• A special mention to the parents who help out at the stalls and who will be leaving in the next few years and will need to show the replacement parents the ropes.
• The parents who run the main rooms have all been confirmed.
• Cuddly toys for washing....volunteers needed.

Girls Board of Management

• No representative present. The election for new Board of Management representatives will take place on Wednesday the 19th of October.

Boys Board of Management

• The number of children will be confirmed. The role call for this number was on the 30th of September 2011 and it is 469 pupils in the school. The school will be fine regarding the pupil/teacher ratio.
• The Junior Infants parents social night is being held tonight - the 12th of October 2011.
• There are 2 junior and 2 senior GAA teams in the school now and they are both doing very well in their leagues. The junior team won their league and congratulations to them.
• The Science Group will be coming to the school. This event will be subsidised by the school.
• The election for the representatives of the boys Board of Management will probably held in November .
• The boys school will be closed on election day as the school is a polling station.
• Finally a big congratulations to Ms McAdam and Mr Coleman who are getting married (to each other !) this month.

Educational Committee

• Gabrielle O’Herlihy is confirmed for Wednesday the 26th of October. Joanna gave her the results of the recent Parents Association survey and she will tailor her presentation to the most requested suggestions. The highest request was for talks on bullying and self esteem which she will speak on.

Tea Committee

• None

Any Other Business

• None

Next Meeting: Wednesday 16th November 2011