The Donabate Community Council Parent Council
‘Together, may we give our children the roots to grow and the wings to fly.’
Parents are a valued partner in the education of their children. Parents came together to form the Parents’ Council during the school’s first year (2008-2009) and our constitution was finalised and adopted in the winter of 2009. Every year as part of a collaborative approach, parents actively volunteer their time to work with the Principal, staff and students of the School. Our role is to support and initiate activities that will advance the aims and objectives of Donabate Community College through:
- Discussion, interaction and providing feedback on the drafting of policies. Examples include Mobile Phone Use, Communication, Suspension and Exclusion and the School’s Constitution
- Fund Raising
- Parent Reps on the Board of Management (one male, one female). For 2015/16 School year our Parent Reps on the Board of Management are Lynda Drysdale and Pat Cussen
- Organising the Parent Council AGMs
- Organising training material for parents on Edmodo, Ipads etc
- Arranging training courses – Drug Awareness (held in 2014 and 2015)
- Facilitating events in the school – End of Year evenings, TY, Pre Debs events
- Working with teachers on issues such as Cyber Bullying and relaying information etc to parents and students
- Issuing newsletter – once a term
- Acting as a conduit for other parents to engage with the school.
Over the first few years, the Parents’ Council concentrated on actively fund raising for the school with over €32,000 raised towards the purchase of a school bus. Following a survey of parents in 2014/15 it was agreed that the monies raised would not go towards the cost of a school bus, but towards other school projects – the Parent Council is working with the teachers and students of the school and will be engaged in spending projects as part of the 2015/16 school year. In these challenging times we always welcome new ideas for fund raising, if you have any ideas or suggestions we would love to hear them.
The Parent Council have held Winter Fairs in the school annually. From 2016 this will be a Spring Fair. As well as contributing to our fund raising efforts the fair has become an important social occasion allowing the parents to visit the school and come together over a cup of tea. ; our first Spring Fair will took place on 16th April, and thanks to the overwhelming support from the community was a great success. In the summer term of 2016 we will hold a second hand uniform and book sale; this will be held after the completion of the state exams. We ask that you hold on to any items you no longer need for your child until we announce the date and drop off for items.
The Parents’ Council iPad Review Committee, have been meeting regularly since February 2016 to address the issues raised by parents regarding their experience with the iPad scheme. As a result of the discussions carried out between this group and the school management the following assistance has been put in place for 2016/2017:
- Incoming first years will receive a €50 donation from the school for their ebook rental
- Text books for non exam subjects have been removed from the book list resulting in an additional saving of €50
- Wriggle will provide training to support parents
The committee will continue to work with the school during the 2016/2017 year; the iPad scheme will be reviewed again in Spring 2017.
Our AGM is held in the first term every school year and we have always used this opportunity to engage a speaker to provide information on topics of interest to parents. Past events have dealt with issues such as:
- The challenges of raising teens
- Positive Mental Health
- Internet Safety and Cyber Bullying
The issue of cyber bullying is of great concern to the school and to parents. In view of some of the tragic cases in the news the school asked the Parents’ Council to work with the Student Council on how we can deal with this issue in our community.
Our current committee was formed at the AGM in November 2015.
- Lynda Drysdale (Chairperson and Parent Rep to BOM)
- Anne O’Connell (Vice Chairperson)
- Mary Brooks (Co Secretary)
- Karen Kelly (Co Secretary)
- Andrea O’Reilly (Treasurer)
- Donna Briody (Vice Treasurer)
- Pat Cussen (Parent Rep to BOM)
- Mary McSharry
- Fintan Keeling
- Anne Marie Cahill
- Geraldine O’Donoghue
- Cliona O’Reilly
- Mary Conlon
- Monica Kavanagh
- Catherine Molloy
- Pól Bond
- Donna Briody
- Fiona LaForgue
- Camille Ingoldsby
- Sonia Francis
- Fiona Holohan
- Colette Murphy
- Geraldine Oliver
- Vikki Doyle
- Marian Flynn (School Representative)
- Mary Becker (School Representative)
The Parent’s Council meet monthly during the school year, minutes are taken and noted. Our aim is to issue a newsletter to parents once a term.
If you have any ideas/suggestions for speakers or events you would like to see in the school, please let us know.
We would like also like our section of the website to contain a list of useful resources. Please let us know if there is anything you would like us to add to this.
You can contact us via the school office or email us at parentscouncil@donabatecc.ie
Useful Links/Pages for Parents
NPC www.npcpp.ie National Parents’ Council Post Primary
Webwise online safety resources
NCCA www.ncca.ie Information on the national curriculum
Scoilnet www.scoilnet.ie Portal for Irish Education (includes free access to Encyclopedia Britannica online for students)