Report from the Board

• School Policies – The following policies were ratified by the Board, Homework policy, Transition policy and Substance misuse policy.
• The Critical incident policy is being reviewed at the moment and will be discussed at the next board meeting.
• School Lunches – The school has been trialling the lunch scheme funded by the Department of Social Protection. Most pupils are enjoying the packed lunches and parents are very happy with the scheme. We have therefore decided to continue with the scheme for the rest of the year and again in the new school year. If parents wish to make any changes to their child’s menu it must be done by Thursday of the previous week.
• First Holy Communion – The Board extends best wishes to all children who are making their First Holy Communion.
• Emergency Works Grant – The school applied for an emergency work grant to upgrade fire safety standards in Kilmullen Lane. We are delighted that the DES has approved a grant of €72,000 for this. The works which will be carried out during the summer include, putting in new fire doors, replacing some external doors, putting in signs and lighting to emergency exits and putting in new paths outside fire exit doors.
• Child Protection training – All staff will attend a child protection refresher course on the 18th May.
• Donation of PCs and printer – The Board wishes to thank one of our parents for kindly donating 4 PCs, a printer some other hardware to the school. We are delighted with the new computers. The PCs will be given to classrooms and will be used by both pupils and staff.  There are still some classrooms with very slow or broken computers and the Board would gladly welcome donations of computers.
• New School Year – Options for school calendars for the new school were agreed. A copy of the calendar will be sent to parents towards the end of June along with the end of year school reports. The school will reopen for all pupils on the 1st of September 2016.
• Classes for September 2016 – The school is in the process of planning for September 2016. Letters will be sent to parents informing them of their child’s class and teacher’s name (if know) as early as possible in June.
• Registering as a charity – The school is in the process of registering as a charity. This is a new requirement for schools and means that all fundraising activities etc will comply with the Charities Regulatory Authority’s guidelines.
• Probations – The school inspector visited the teachers who are on probation, Naomi, Elizabeth and Ashleigh. The inspector commended all 3 teachers on their excellent teaching, planning, IEPs and record keeping. She was amazed that these teachers are just out of college and that their classroom management skills and understanding of special needs were so good. Congratulations from the Board to all 3 teachers.
• School Charges &Voluntary donations – The Board discussed school charges and voluntary donations for the new school year. It was agreed that the school will write to parents at the end of May with details of the charges and voluntary donations. This year parents will be asked to pay the school charges by the end of June so that the school can have the necessary supplies and resources in place by the 1st of September. Parents will also be asked to make a voluntary contribution to the school and will have a range of options for doing this.
• Buildings and accommodation – Some members of the Board met with the school’s patron to discuss the new school building. The Patron reported that the HSE has been in contact with them confirming that the HSE will not be signing the Kilmullen Lane site over to the DES. The Board will be contacting the DES to look for an alternative site for the new school.
• Staff – Specialist part time teaching hours have been approved by the DES for another year for PE, home economics, pool attendant/swimming instructor. The Board has approved for two teachers, Niamh Hassett and Catherine Bergin to attend the Diploma Course in Special Education in St. Pat’s College.
• Dates to remember – 23rd – 27th May school closed, 22nd June Graduation Ceremony

Best Wishes, Stephen Donnelly (Chairperson)