Parents Council

The Parent’s Council plays an important part in the running of our school.

• Represent the views of parents.
• Liaise with Parent Representatives on Board of Management.
• Organise talks on topics that interest parents.
  Provide a forum for debate and discussion on matters that are of interest to parents/children.
• Support staff at school events e.g. concerts, band events, Sports Day.
• Assist staff with the Rental Book Scheme and covering books.
• Fundraise to finance bus fares & workshops for the children.

The regular newsletter that comes from the school gives parents a sense of what is going on in the school, but being at the Parents Council meetings provides an opportunity to ask questions and get more information. There are approx. 6 meetings in the school year. The meetings are an informal gathering and any parent, who is interested in coming along, is very welcome.

The meetings are attended by a teacher representative and any parents interested in coming along. The ideal Parents Council is made up of a parent from each class in the school. Before the Covid pandemic parents volunteered to be the “Class Representative” for their child’s class. They attended the regular meetings and they also helped out with any events that may have needed some parental assistance throughout the year.

At the Parents Council meetings parents are briefed on all the extra-curricular workshops and events that are being made available to the children. Mr Naughton uses the meetings as a forum to get parental input on major policy decisions e.g. healthy eating, anti-bullying. The Parent’s Council meetings are the perfect forum for discussing thoughts and opinions on any of these items.

Each year the Parent’s Council do a small amount of fund-raising on behalf of the school. The funds from these initiatives are mainly used to:

• Finance buses for a number of different excursions (e.g. athletics, camogie, basketball, NUIG event for science week etc.). This means that the children can participate in these wonderful opportunities, without the school having to ask parents to fund them each time.
• Extra-curricular workshops for our children vary from year to year (e.g. lego workshops, heritage workshops, dance workshops, safe cycling workshops etc.).
• Treats for our children to mark special occasions & achievements throughout the school year (e.g. sacraments, band events, sports day, etc.).

All these “little extras” benefit the children, by providing them with additional opportunities that are not part of the mainstream curriculum.

Any parent willing & able to help out is always very welcome to do so. Scoil Chroí Naofa recognises that collaboration, help & support from parents is an integral part of ensuring its continued success.