Board of Management Report

A Board of Management Meeting was held on 15.1.25

The Behaviour Management Policy was reviewed and ratified. The updated policy is available on the school website.

The Board would like to thank the Parents Association for all the work and organising that they did for the Christmas show along with the tremendous fundraising that took place on the night.

The Board would like to wish the Peace Proms choir all the best at their concert in Limerick in February.

The Board welcomes the completion of the pedestrian crossing and would like to thank the Mayo County Council for this installing this.

Enrolment for Junior Infants for next year will take place over the next few weeks. The Board noted that the 6^th Class group is a large class leaving and that the projected numbers for Junior Infants next year is small based on the number in the preschool from this group. All parents are encouraged to spread the word that Enrolment is now open.

 

 

A Board of Management Meeting was held on 9.10.24.

The Child Safeguarding Statement was reviewed and ratified.

The Anti-Bullying Policy was reviewed and ratified along with the annual Anti-Bullying checklist.

The Assistive Technology Policy for the school was ratified.

The Board would like to welcome the school’s newly appointed permanent SNA Hazel Nolan.

The Board would like to thank Paul Curran for organising with the company that he works for (Fidelity Investments) to donate 30 high quality laptops to the school. This is an extremely generous donation and will give our school and students a huge boost in their lessons having this resource available to them and will help maintain the school’s status as a Digital School of Distinction. The Board would also like to thank Dylan Lynskey for last year organising for the company he works with to donate laptops to the school as well. 

A Health and Safety Audit of the school will take place this term.

Staffing for the new school year is as follows:

Junior Infants and Senior Infants – Siobhan Conboy

1^st Class and half of 2^nd Class – Nathan Guilfoyle

 Half of 2^nd Class and 3^rd Class – Edel Walsh

4^th Class – Laura Greally

5^th / 6^th – Michael Regan 

S.E.T – Justine Purcell and Fiona Biesty (Job Sharing)

S.E.T. – Joe Dillon

Principal Release Post – Aine Conlon

SNAs – Sophie Hanson and Hazel Nolan

Secretary: Louise Duffy

We have 109 student on roll.

A Board of Management Meeting was held on 20/9/23.

Staffing for the new school year is as follows:

SNA: Sophie Hanson

Secretary: Louise Duffy

Junior Infants and Senior Infants – Lorraine Roche

1^st Class – Siobhan Conboy

2^nd Class and half of 3^rd Class – Edel Walsh

Half of 3^rd Class / 4^th – Laura Greally

5^th / 6^th – Michael Regan ( Substitute for Margaret Duffy)

S.E.T – Justine Purcell and Fiona Biesty (Job Sharing)

S.E.T. – Joe Dillon

Principal Release Post – Aine Conlon

We have 114 student on roll.

The revised Child Protection Procedures were discussed.

The Child Safeguarding Statement was reviewed and ratified.

The Anti-Bullying Policy was reviewed and ratified along with the annual Anti-Bullying checklist.

Procedures for the election and nomination of the next B.O.M were discussed.

Creative Arts

The school will continue on the Creative Arts programme. This is year 2 and the final year of the programme.

BLAST:

We are delighted that our application for the BLAST  programme has been accepted for this year. The school will receive funding and be assigned a local artist to work for 20 hours in the school this year. This can be in the area of art, music and drama.

A Board of Management Meeting was held on 14/6/23.

Fiona Biesty was ratified to the Ap2 post as I.C.T Coordinator. All recruitment procedures were followed for this position.

The whole school Geography and History Policies were ratified.

It was decided that the outside of the school would need to be painted over the Summer. Three quotes will be obtained before a painter is chosen.

It was agreed that all lightening in the old part of the school will need to be replaced as a health and safety precaution.

Creative Schools:

Creative Schools Week which took place from May 8^th – 12^th.  It was a huge success.

DEIS:

School Tours took place in May. DEIS funds will be used to pay for the bus to these tours.

RSE

The 5^th and 6^th Class student had their RSE programme on April 27^th

Sport:

Best wishes to our school Hurling team who have qualified for the Div 1 County Final of the Cumann na mBunscol competition. This will take place in McHale Park, Castlebar.

Best wishes to teacher Ms Edel Walsh who will be getting married in July.

A Board of Management Meeting was held on 19.4.23.

The Board are delighted that the Centenary Commemoration took place in March and that all went off successfully. €903.05 was raised at the Bake sale held on this day, which is fantastic. This money will be greatly welcomed for the charity work Eilis Duffy will be carrying out over the Summer in Uganda as part of the Nurture Africa programme.

John Keane (our Safety Officer on the Board of Management) carried out a safety audit of the school in April. The whole school premises was inspected.

A Zoom meeting was held with Jojo our Creative Schools Coordinator in March. Members of the Parents’ Association and Board of Management attended this. The Board are looking forward to Creative Schools Week which will take place from 8^th of May – 12^th of May.

The school staff have up-coming in-service training days for the Primary Language Curriculum and the New Curriculum which is due to be introduced. The school will have a full day closure for this on the 22^nd of May and a half day closure on the 12^th of June.

The Board would like to congratulate the school’s Camogie team that qualified for the County Final recently.

The Board would like to wish the students of 2^nd Class the very best of luck in their Communion taking place on the 29^th of April along with the 5^th and 6^th Class students making their Confirmation on the 12^th of May.

Board of Management Report

A Board of Management Meeting was held on 8/2/23.

The Job Share position in the school for Fiona Biesty and Justine Purcell was ratified for the upcoming coming year 2023/2024.

Carole Keane has been working in the school since January 2023. Carole replaced Aoife Crowley who has moved onto another part of Ireland. We wish Aoife well.

The following Policies were reviewed and ratified:

• Anti-Bullying Policy and check list for annual review of Anti-Bullying Policy and it’s implementation.
• Child Safe Guarding Review and Statement
• Admissions Policy
• Uniform and Personal Appearance Policy
• School Attendance Policy

DEIS: The DEIS Plan of the school was discussed. Key actions are being taken to keep the children motivated and engaged in school life, along with reducing the financial burden on families. These include paying for activities such as Tennis, Krav Maga and the bus to swimming. Various other resources have been purchased to improve the children’s learning experience. As part of the DEIS plan, specific Literacy and Numeracy programmes are being undertaken by all classes to improve in these areas.

Chess Club: The Board is delighted to hear that a Chess Club has been set up in the school by Mrs Biesty. Along with the help of Ms Conboy and Ms Keane children can play chess at various break times throughout the week. The school entered their first ever Chess Tournament in February at the T.F. in Castlebar.

The B.O.M and Parents’ Association will hold a Zoom call with with Jojo, our Creative Arts Coordinator on the  8^th of March.

Board of Management Meeting

A Board of Management meeting was held on the 28/9/22.

The updated English and SPHE curricular plans were ratified at this meeting.

Plans for a Centenary Remembrance were discussed.  John Cunnane (Community Rep to the Board) will organise for local historians to come into the school in October. Following this project work will be conducted by the children and an afternoon in November will organised for the children to present this work to parents and the community at the school.

John Keane (Parent Rep to the Board) will conduct a safety audit of the school in October.

The Board is delighted to hear that the School Lunches Programme will get under way in this school year 2022/2023 as part of being a DEIS Rural school.

The Board is delighted to learn that the school has been accepted onto the Creative Schools Programme for the next two years and look forward to hearing about the Art, Music and Drama programmes that will take place over the next two years.

The Board would like to thank Adrian Hession (Hurling Coach for Mayo schools) for the fantastic service over the last 19 years. He has recently stepped down from this post. Adrian has brought hurling to all corners of Mayo and has been instrumental to hurling starting up in both schools and clubs. We are very grateful to all the coaching Adrian has provided to the school and wish him all the best for the future.

Board of Management Meeting

A Board of Management meeting was held on the 31/3/22.

The Anti-Bullying Action Plan for the school was discussed. All Class teachers will go over the Preventative Measures in this Action Plan once a month along with continuing to follow the Stay Safe programme.

The Board agreed with correspondence from a parent that a pedestrian crossing is needed outside the school and will send a letter requesting this to the County Council. The school was turned down for this request in the past but with the speed zone being reduced to 50km/hr are hopeful that it will be considered this time around.

Local Centenary Commemorations were discussed. John Cunnane has applied for a grant to aid with projects and activities celebrating these occasions. The school are keen to mark these events and will start planning for this. The end of May is provisionally being penciled in for this.

The Board would like to congratulate Ms Aoife Crowley on completing her Droichead programme and would like to thank the Professional Support Team of Mrs Purcell, Mrs Biesty and Ms Conboy for their hard work and dedication in successfully guiding and mentoring Ms Crowley during this time.

The Board welcome our school gaining DEIS scheme (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) under the category Rural Schools. We look forward to learning what supports will be made available to the school over the coming months.

Board of Management Meeting 27/1/22

A B.O.M Meeting was held on the 27/1/22. The Board want the school community to be aware that the Anti-Bullying Policy of the school was reviewed and ratified at the last meeting for the new school year and is available on the school website.

We have chosen Reading this year for our School Self-evaluation (SSE). Due to challenges that have arisen in the pandemic context we feel this is a hugely important area that children need extra-support. It is an area that was particularly impacted during the pandemic and the school have made extra investments in this area this year. A new Reading Programme has been invested in and excellent results are being reported by our Class Teachers and Special Education Teachers.

The School have been allocated CLASS hours – Covid Learning and Support Scheme.  Paul Kilgannon has started this part-time role since November and has been assigned to work with the classes and students most impacted by the disruption to in-school education resulting from Covid.

Our school’s Covid Response Plan has been updated since we returned after the Christmas Break. Hepa Filters have been purchased and have gone into all classrooms and learning spaces in the school. Updated isolation requirements and restrictions due to testing positive to Covid or being a close contact have been communicated to all parents through email.

Ger Brick did Internet Safety and Cyberbullying workshops on the 12^th of January 2022 with the children of 3^rd to 6^th Class. He also did a workshop with the parents of the school that evening. All parents were invited to this and there was good attendance. The workshops were done through Zoom. There has been a positive reaction to these workshops from both students and parents. The school has registered an event for Internet Safety day on the 8^th of February.

Nuala Dalton from the PDST was in the school on Tuesday 25^th of January as part of the PDST giving sustained support to schools. She was working with the school in the area of Anti-Bullying. She has reviewed both our Anti-Bullying Policy and procedures along with our Behavioural Policy.

Our Festive Fun Day was a huge success before the Christmas break. We would like to thank the Parents Association for giving €250 towards the panto and also to SuperValu Ballyhaunis for providing a selection box for all children in the school!

We wish the Parents Association well as they start out into a new year.

B.O.M Meeting 21/10/21

A Board of Management Meeting was held on the 21^st of October 2021.

The Anti-Bullying Policy of the school was reviewed and ratified for the new school year.

An Internet Safety Workshop carried out by guest speaker Ger Brick has been organised for January. It will be for the children in 3^rd -6^th Class and that a parents evening will be held on this topic with all parents in the school being encouraged to attend through Zoom.

The Board is delighted that the school has held it’s number in order to hold onto it’s 5^th Mainstream teacher.

An Incidental Inspection took place in October which went really well.

Plans are in place to get the Parents Association up and running again and the Board would like to offer help that is required.

The Board wished the very best to Mary Teresa in her retirement.

B.O.M. Meeting 20/5/21

• A Board of Management meeting was held on Thursday the 20^th of May.
• The Board would like to wish 6^th Class all the best as we approach the end of the year.
• The Board is delighted that the school have won their appeal to retain the 5^th Mainstream Teaching post in the school. The situation of this post being reliant on the school holding their numbers by the end of September 2021 was discussed and how important it would be to keep all our present students and to make any new families moving into the area aware of the school being open for enrolment.
• The Board is delighted that the school has been awarded the Amber Flag award which acknowledges the conscious effort that is made by the school to promote the well-being and positive mental health of their school community.
• The Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) programme was approved for both 5^th and 6^th class to be carried out in June.
• A vote of sympathy was offered to Lorraine Roache on the passing of her father recently.

Board of Management Meetings on the 10/2/21 and 10/3/21

• Board of Management meetings took place on the 10^th of February and the 10^th of March 2021.
• The Board welcomed new parent representative Carina Herten to the Board of Management.
• The roles of Board members were reviewed and are as follows:
• Frances Murphy –Chairperson, Margaret Duffy – Principal and Secretary to the Board, Fr Jerald David, Joe Dillon – Teacher Representative, Sheila Hunt – Treasurer, John Cunnane – Community Representative and Local History Researcher, John Keane – Parent Representative and Safety Officer, Carina Herten – Parent Representative and Parent Liaison Officer.
• Sheila Hunt delivered the Treasurers Report and noted that the annual accounts were due to be submitted by the end of February.
• The Board thanked both Shelia Hunt and Louise Duffy for their hard work in preparing these accounts
• The date for Lorraine Roche’s return to school from her maternity leave was approved.
• The Board sent their best wishes to Margaret Duffy who is currently on sick leave.
• The Board welcomed a  Wellbeing Week starting on Monday 15^th of February  planned by the teachers as part of the Amber Flag initiative promoting mental health which the school is currently participating in.
• An updated Admission Policy was discussed.
• The partial reopening of the school was discussed and the Board were happy with how all parents are adhering to the guidelines and that children being dropped off and collected at school was running smoothly.
• The Board offered a vote of sympathy to Louise Duffy on the passing of her father.
• The scheduled return of 3^rd -6^th Class was greatly welcomed.
• The teachers were thanked for their hard work and dedication over the past few weeks of remote learning. Parents we applauded for their huge effort and it was noted that engagement levels with pupils to the remote learning was high.
• The next Board of Management meeting will take place on 12^th of May.

Board of Management Report 3rd February 2020

The first meeting of the new Board of Management was held on 3rd February.

• The new Board is as follows:

Chairperson: Frances Murphy (Patron’s Nominee)

Secretary: Margaret Duffy (Staff Nominee)

Treasurer: Sheila Hunt (Community Nominee)

John Keane: Parent’s Nominee

Sara Kenny: Parent’s Nominee

John Cunnane: Community Nominee

Joe Dillon: Staff Nominee

Fr. John Walsh: Patron’s Nominee

• Staffing

The Board approved to extend Fiona Biesty’s maternity leave until the end of this academic year.

• Other

It was agreed by the Board to conduct a survey amongst parents to find out which is the best way to communicate school related information to parents

The next meeting of the Board is March 23rd 2020