Information to Parents – April Board of Management Meeting

The school is currently devising a Bí Chineálta Policy – A formal legal Policy and a reflective Child-friendly version. The input of pupils and parents will be an important part of the devising of this child friendly version.
The Board was very pleased with the Heritage Day in the Community Hall. It was particularly pleased with the community response and engagement of the School’s Display Unit. Tribute was paid to the pupils, staff, the Parent’s Council and members of the Board of Management who were involved in prepping and setting up this display. 
The GAA Coaches from St. Anne’s and Dunhill GAA Clubs will continue the 6 week GAA initiative within the school. Currently plans are underway to organise this.
The school will partake in the Inter-schools Athletic Competitions at the RSC in Waterford on Wednesday, May 7th. Mrs Power will look after the team. 
Mr Cooper’s Class will partake in the Junior Achievement Energize Programme with parent, Helen McMahon in May.
The girls will compete in the Cumann na mBunscoil Camogie competition in the final term of the school year. Ms McGovern will train the team.
Mr Cooper’s 5th & 6th Class will partake in an Education for Sustainable Development: Peer Teaching Programme. This will also take place in May. The 5th and 6th class will pass information learned on Water and Food sustainability and the dangers of plastics on to other classes in the school.
The School will organise an event for Bike Week again this year. Mr. Cooper will organise this.
The School will partake in Spring Clean Day in early May. All pupils will help litter pick around the school and the village to help maintain clean standards.
 
 

Information to Parents
As and from the start of the new school year (2025/26), the school will
no longer have a traditional uniform (grey shirt, navy jumper, school tie
and grey pants or skirt or pinafore) but will use the school tracksuit
instead.
The school hired a tree surgeon, local man Eoin Glavey, to fell some
trees and cut back others. This occurred for the most part over the
recent Mid-Term Break. Some trees had the potential to be hazardous
and were removed. Others were trimmed back to lighten them and allow
light to return to some of the classrooms.
One of our Quiz teams won the Waterford Schools Credit Union Quiz
and went forward to the regional final. The Girls Soccer and Camogie
Teams both advanced to the next round of their respective competitions.
All connected with the school wish them the best.
The Board was very pleased with the Peace Proms. Well done to all the
pupils involved and Mrs Power and her assistants for helping prepare
them. Well done also to the parents who came to support and ended up
getting actively involved.
The Board reviewed and passed the Child Safeguarding Statement and
Risk Assessment Template for 2025.

The pupils did themselves, the school and their families proud last Saturday night at the Waterford Peace Proms. It was a long evening and no-one left with much energy!
Rehearsal with the full orchestra took place from 6-7pm and then the audience starting filling their seats. More than one of us felt a few nerves but we knew we had put the work into our preparation and so we were really looking forward to the show.
The huge choir sounded fantastic! In between our performances, we really enjoyed the amazing music being showcased by the very talented Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland and the super dance acts
The pupils all gave their best efforts. It really was a great evening out.
Thanks to everyone who attended and we hope it lives long in the memories of all.

The Peace Proms concert takes place this Saturday! We will be busy all week with rehearsals at school.
Here are all the details you will need for the day itself.
The concert will begin at 8pm for the audience but the children need to be there for a full pre-concert rehearsal at 5:30pm with the live orchestra.
Punctuality is really important on the day. Audience members tickets will be colour-coded seats in blocks; please allow yourself time to travel, find parking and then find your seat. Doors to the arena will open for the audience from 7pm.
The concert itself will be 2 and a half hours long. This includes a 20 minute interval. 
For the concert, children need to wear a plain white top (t-shirt or long-sleeved top). There can be no logos on these tops. They should wear dark pants/leggings/skirts on the bottom. No shorts to be worn. Their shoes should be comfortable and in a dark colour.
Children should bring a packed lunch with them as they will be at the arena for quite a long time. Lunches should be brought in a paper or plastic bag.
The following items are not allowed in the lunches: no fizzy drinks, no yogurts, no popcorn or crisps.
Children should bring sandwiches/rolls and water to drink.
Their lunch bag should be the only thing they bring with them, apart from a coat. No backpacks please as there will be no storage available for them.
Under no circumstances are children allowed to bring phones with them. If any pupil needs to contact a family member they can do so via one of the teachers who will be with them at all times.  
On the day, when pupils are dropped to the arena, we will all meet at the front door to enter the arena together. Arriving at the door by 5:20pm latest will give us plenty of time to do this. Children will rehearse for 1 hour with the orchestra and then have a one hour break for food and using the bathroom before the show.
After the show, the staff will bring the pupils to the front of the building to meet their parents. It will be very important to let one of the teachers or Alison know in advance if your child is travelling with another family.  
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Hope you are all looking forward to a great evening with many wonderful memories for all involved.

Information to Parents
The school has received 5 quotations for Solar Panels and submitted them to the Department of Education for approval. We await the go ahead for the permission and finance to install these large solar panels which will reduce electricity costs.
The school requested and was successful in having the parking area tarmacked on the Ballinageeragh side of the school. This area doubles as a staff and a public car park.
The Administration of Medicine Policy was reviewed and updated by the Board of Management and is available to view on the school’s website.  
The school had its annual Christmas Mass at 10am on Wednesday, December 18th in Dunhill Church. Fr. O Halloran said the Mass and the pupils and staff were involved in readings, playing music and singing. The Mass was well supported by the parents and members of the Community. The Board were pleased with the Mass and how well it was supported.
The Board of Management are engaging with Waterford Council to improve road safety in front of the school. The parking layout in front of the school will change in the interests of safety. The school will be in touch with parents to let them know the new arrangements once these have been confirmed to us by the Council.
 

Information to Parents
The Department of Education has allowed the Solar Panel Application, made by the school last February, to lapse and so following contact and apologies from the Department, the school has had to re-engage with SEAI approved suppliers, obtain 5 quotes and re-upload the application in the hope that the Department of Education are more efficient this time and deal with the application on time.
A list of priorities for school improvement was drawn up by the school (for both inside the school building and outside) and plans drawn up to tackle the work over the next 6/9months. This includes replacing some carpets and floor surfaces within the school, tackling tree growth around the school, repainting parts of the outside of the school, power washing the remainder of the school yards and re-positioning the location of the school’s oil tank.
The oil burner in the heating boiler has had to be replaced recently.
The Board discussed the success of the recent Anne Power Memorial Concert. €4,000 was raised to help bring people to Lourdes.
The school will have its annual Christmas Mass at 10am on Wednesday, December 18th in Dunhill Church. All are welcome.
A Self-Evaluation Report for 2023/4 and a School Self-Evaluation Plan for 2024/25 school year was passed by the board. The current plan concerns the area of Well-Being. It can be viewed on the school’s website.
The Board of Management are engaging with Waterford Council to improve road safety in front of the school.
 

Well done to these pupils who recently received Full Attendance Certificates for the 2023/24 school year. A great achievement - and obviously some very strong immune systems too!

Information to Parents from our Board of Management meeting – 22/10/2024

• The School had it’s the Open Day on Saturday, 19th of October from 2-4pm. It was a very successful day. The Board of Management would like to thank all those who helped in any way.
• In preparation for the Open Day the school organised 2 clean up days, Saturday and Sunday, October 5th & 6th. On the Saturday we had 30 or so parents, staff and members of the Community helping clean, paint and power wash the school. 15 more volunteers were involved on the Sunday.  Again, the Board of Management would like to thank all those who came along to help.
• Over the Summer the School purchased a new 75” Classroom Smartboard for the infant classroom.
• 25 new Laptops were bought for the Computer Room to replace the older laptops.
• A new Marmoleum floor surface was laid in the 5th/6th classroom during the Summer.
• The date for next year’s Confirmation is Tuesday, March 25th in Dunhill Church.
• The Board analysed the results of the Standardised tests that were conducted just before the Summer. The Micra-T (English) and Sigma- T (Maths) school results were well above the national averages in both subjects. The Board was very happy with this.
• Work continues on the School Development plan. This was drawn up earlier in the year to advance the school in all areas.
• As part of this development plan, a school library has been set up in the spare classroom. The school would like to thank all those who donated books to the library. Display Units were made for the school by the Men’s shed which have added to the library and the pupils will begin to use it on a regular basis after the midterm break.
• The school’s Sensory or Chill Room has been set up (also part of the development plan and part of the School Self Evaluation Wellbeing initiative) and is available for use by students when the need requires.
• The Board revised and updated the school Homework Policy (see Policies section on this website) 

1st and 2nd Class paid a visit to the Social Hub for Maths Week! We played board games and also chatted to the Hub members about Halloween when they were children. Everyone really enjoyed themselves!