Parents’ Association Committee 2022-2023
A new Parents’ Association Committee was elected at our PA AGM on November 11th 2022. The following parents were elected;
Chairperson - Steve Dunk. Joint Secretaries - Berni Kane & Lisa O'Brien. Treasurer - Lisa Coyle.
Committee Members; Sinead Magee, Joyce Cunningham, Lorraine McLoughlin, Robert Leavy, Claire O'Malley, Nivea Thomas, Anumol Rajuppun and Selina McKenny.
We look forward to the support of our newly formed committee.
Aims of the Parent Association
1 To enable parents to play a meaningful role in supporting the aims & objectives of the school.
2 To ensure parents are meaningfully consulted in the development of relevant
school policies.
3 To ensure that parents, Board of Management, Principal & staff work together
to ensure the smooth operation of the school by adhering to agreed policies and procedures.
4 To enable parents to contribute to an enhanced learning environment for pupils.
5 To ensure that the work of the whole school community is at all times focused on the collective needs of all the children in the school.
6 To identify and make available the skills and talents of individual parents that may be valuable to the school.
Where effective partnership exists between home and school, the benefits are clear:
- children learn more, behave better and are happier at school
- teachers are more effective when they are supported by parents.
In addition, where there is an effective Parent Association in the school:
- parents can enjoy the support of other parents
- parents are enabled to meaningfully support the aims of the school.
Parents rightly want the best for their children, as do teachers for their pupils. However, there are still some barriers to good home-school communication. When misunderstandings occur it is rarely through lack of goodwill from either party but, more likely, because of different perspectives from which both view the child:
- the parent sees the child in a small group in the home environment. The teacher sees the child in the context of a larger group in the school environment.
- the parent knows the child’s personal history intimately. The teacher has a limited knowledge of the child’s background.
- the parent is concerned with all of their child’s needs. The teacher, although concerned with all of the child’s needs, is primarily focused on the child’s educational needs.
Monastery NS is fortunate that parents, board of managment and principal work together to ensure that their school, provides the best possible education for all of the children that pass though its door. Read about some of the great fundraising activities that have taken place in recent times on the next page. The facilities that exist in our school today would not have been possible without the incredible support of the parents's association over many years.
