Board of Management Annual Report 2015/16
The Board of Management is the school committee charged with the day-to-day management of the school. Under the Education Act of 1998 all schools must have a Board of Management and the functions and responsibilities of the Board are laid out in documents published by the Department of Education and Skills.
The Board of Management has eight members. The current Board of Management, as formed in September 2015 are as follows;
Michael Costello | Patron’s Nominee and Chairperson |
Rita Galvin | School Principal |
John Cradden | Patron’s Nominee |
Maria Alcazar | Parents’ Nominee |
Jenny McCarthy | Teachers’ Nominee |
Enda Martin | Parents’ Nominee |
Paula Carroll | Community Representative |
Sinead Keogh | Community Representative |
The Board of Management met on 8 occasions during the school year 2015/16.
- Policy Reviews
This year the Board completed the annual Safety Audit and reviewed the Safety Statement.
The following policies were also reviewed and amended as necessary;
- Job Share Policy for teachers
- Job Share Policy for Special Needs Assistants
- Critical Incident Plan
- Child Protection Policy
- Dress Code Policy
- School Events
It was a busy year in North Kildare Educate Together N.S and some of the events included;
- Holiday Season Concert
- World Food Day
- 2nd Class Musical- The Three Little Pigs
- 1916 Proclamation Day
- Grandparents Day
- World Book Day
The school also achieved its 7th Green Flag and an award of excellence for Science and Maths. Well done to all involved.
- Fundraising
The school has carried out many fundraising events this year with a lot of help from the Parent Teacher Association. Some of those events included;
- Sale of a school calendar
- Harvest Ball
- Christmas Raffle
- Sale of school 21st anniversary cards
- Easter Raffle
- Cinema Club
- Cake Sale
- Fun Run
- Summer Raffle
- Educate Together News / Ethos
- North Kildare Educate Together N.S is in the final stages of transferring patronage from the Executive Committee to Educate Together.
- A coin trail fundraiser was held for One Day Together in aid of Educate Together.
- An extraordinary voluntary contribution was made to Educate Together to alleviate financial difficulties.
- Sinead and Jenny attended the ethos conference organised by Educate Together in October.
- Tom Larkin, a past teacher, carried out some workshops on mindfulness with the children in 4th, 5th and 6th
- 6th Class completed their Places of Worship tour.
- School Achievements
The school year 2015-16 was another very successful one for the students of North Kildare Educate Together National School. Students represented the school with great success in the following areas;
- FAI Kildare Football Competition
- Credit Union Quiz
- INTEL Mini-Scientist Competition
- Texaco Art Competition
- Commissioned Arts Piece
Work was completed on the storytelling chair that is adjacent to both the Junior and Senior Yard. It was opened on the 9th May by storyteller, Niall de Burca and is enjoyed by all of the classes in the school. Many thanks to our committee members: Jonathan Dickson, Niamh Nolan ,Lisa Keegan, Naomi Clancy, Viv Butler Rees, Lorraine Dunne and Rita Galvin who helped bring this piece to fruition. This art work was beautifully designed and created by Liam Lavery and Eithne Ring who were a pleasure to work with over the year.
- Parent Teacher Meetings
Parent Teacher Meetings took place on February 5th and February 11th.
- School Tours
The students all enjoyed their school tours immensely. The schedule for the school tours this school year was;
- Junior Infants: Larchill Gardens
- Senior Infants: Dublin Zoo
- 1st Class: Imaginosity
- 2nd Class: Lullymore
- 3rd Class: Castletown House
- 4th Class: Newgrange
- 5th Class: Kilmainham Gaol & Collins’ Barracks
- 6th Class: Lillyput Adventure Centre
- Outreach Classes: Lullymore
- Parent Teacher Association
February saw the establishment of the Parent Teacher Association.
The committee consists of;
Maria Kane | Chairperson |
Gordon O’Connor | Treasurer |
Aoife Hogan | Teacher’s Representative/ Secretary |
Shane O’Neill | Teacher’s Representative/ Website Management |
Maria Alcazar | Board of Management Parent’s Nominee |
Enda Martin | Board of Management Parent’s Nominee |
Jean Auden | |
Pam Hull | |
Mike Mullally | |
Ciara McCormack |
The Parent Teacher Association has established a bulletin board on the school website for the information of the school community. The Board of Management would like to extend its thanks to all parents who have helped out with activities organised by the Parent Teacher Association.
- After-School Classes
A variety of classes took place after school in North Kildare Educate Together N.S this school year. These included;
- Afterschool Care – HOPSCOTCH
- Gymnastics
- Keyboard
- Speech & Drama
- Tennis
- Artzone
- Soccer
- Stretch & Grow
- Basketball
- Curricular Developments;
On May 16th, staff received initial training in the new language curriculum, of which the first phase will be implemented in September 2016.
- Staffing;
Staffing for the school year 2015/16 was as follows;
Principal | Rita Galvin |
Deputy Principal | Pat Crowe |
Secretary | Adrienne Mullan |
Caretaker | Noel Loftus |
Special Education Teacher | Lorraine Dunne |
Special Education Teacher | Sarah Downes / Cathy Breen |
Special Education Teacher | Fiona Cooney / Audrey Phillips |
Special Education Teacher | Arlene Higgins |
Support Teacher | Pat Crowe |
Outreach Class – Teacher | Fiona Knox |
Outreach Class – Teacher | Aine O’Donnell |
Junior Infants | Jenny McCarthy and Aoife Hogan |
Senior Infants | Lydia McGuinness-Tyrrell |
First Class | Orlaith McLoughlin |
Second Class | Sinead Gallogly |
Third Class | Niall Keating |
Fourth Class | Grace Larkin |
Fifth Class | Elaine Harten |
Sixth Class | Shane O’Neill |
Special Needs Assistant | Sheila Reidy |
Special Needs Assistant | Betty Mullins |
Special Needs Assistant | Viv Butler-Rees |
Special Needs Assistant | Edel Hutchinson |
Special Needs Assistant | Linda Heraty |
Special Needs Assistant | Brenda McCrory |
Special Needs Assistant | Anna Ryan |
Appointments and staff changes for 2016/17;
- The Board of Management would like to extend our sincere good wishes to Elaine Harten who is moving to Co. Mayo and is leaving the staff after 5 years. She will be greatly missed by all of us
- Sinead Gallogly has been appointed to the staff in a permanent capacity.
- Grace Larkin has been appointed to the permanent developing post.
The Board of Management would like to extend its thanks to all the staff for their continued hard work throughout the year.