Holy Family National School Newsletter January 2004
	A belated Happy New Year to all the parents/guardians of children in Holy Family National School. This edition of the newsletter will focus mainly on financial issues and so I hope will lead to a greater understanding of the workings of the school.
	New Board of Management
	A new Board of Management for the school has been established and is in place since December 1st 2003. The new Board has a four year term of office and it has already got down to the business in hand of managing the affairs of the school. Given that there is so much responsibility now devolved to schools from the Dept. of Education, most of it underpinned by legislation, it is very important that a school has a fully functioning Board of Management. Past Boards of Management have served our school very well and I look forward to working with the new Board for the betterment of the children's education in Rathcoole. The following are the B.O.M. members: Mr.Jim Walsh (Chairman), Mrs. Mary Herlihy (Secretary) Mr. Derek Manning (Treasurer), Mrs. Anita Mansfield and Mr. David Taylor (Parents Representatives), Mrs. Frances Martin and Mrs. Mary Rooney (Community Representatives) and M. Hoban (Principal). Mrs. Martin has taken on the task on behalf of the Board of overseeing the cleaning of the school and liaising with the cleaners. Mr. Taylor has a responsibility of liaising with the local community re the hiring of the school hall to outside groups for meetings, functions or sporting activities. Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Mansfield are members of the Parents' Association and will report back to the Board on the activities and concerns of that association. Whilst my main responsibility is the day-to-day professional management of the school and providing the Board with information and advice, I have also taken on the responsibility of Safety Officer for the school. We wish the Board well in its collective responsibility in the effective management of the school for the next four years. Please note that if you as parents/guardians have any difficulty or query about your child's education, the person to approach is the school Principal and not members of the Board of Management.
	Emergency Closing
	As you are aware we had to close the school for four days to carry out some emergency repair work to the outside of the building. On the night of Thursday 15th January the strong wind and rain dislodged some plaster work but on closer examination over the weekend it became apparent that there was a real danger that the rest of the plaster could easily fall - thus posing a danger to the children and all others using the school. While the closure caused a considerable amount of disruption, our main concern was the safety of the children and we can thank God that nobody was injured. We arranged an in-service day for the staff on Friday 16th January and the other days lost will be made up later in the year.
	School Finances
	In the last newsletter I devoted a section to school finances with particular reference to money that you as parents pay to the school - money for books, art and craft and stationery. In this newsletter I wish to deal with Board of Management finances, ie.money which is received from the Dept. of Education and Science.
	Secretary/Caretaker Grant
	The Board will this year receive a grant of €30,000 to employ a secretary and caretaker. But over the last few years we have used a portion of that grant to employ a classroom assistant in the Junior Infant classes to help the class teacher catering for the needs of a large group of young children. Splitting that grant three ways means a secretary and caretaker can only be employed on a part-time basis.
	Minor Works Grant
	We receive a grant each year from the Dept. (approx. €6,000) to carry out minor works around the school and over the years we have used that grant to build a shelter; we replaced ceilings and blinds, fitted an alarm system, upgraded the electrical system and carried out other essential repairs to the school. That grant can only be used for specific programmes of work in the school and cannot be used for routine maintenance or other expenses such as the purchase of oil etc.
	ICT Grant
	We have received grants over the last four years for computers but this year it has been severely slashed. We are restricted in the way we can use that grant also - it can be used to purchase computer hardware and software but it cannot be used to provide computer lessons. Hence the need to fund raise to employ a qualified computer teacher so that the children will get maximum benefit from a well equipped computer room.
	Capitation Grant
	The main grant we get for the day-to-day running of the school is called the Capitation Grant and is based entirely on the number of children in the school. I'm sure you have often heard and read in the media about the under-funding of Primary Schools. Well look at the following table and you will see exactly the income and expenditure of our school for the school year 2003/2004 and it will expose the under-funding of schools at a local level.
	Income 2003-2004    Expenditure 2003-2004  Capitation Grant  € 27,000    Insurance  € 9,000  Hall Rental  € 2,500    Cleaners  € 10,000        Maintenance  € 3,000        Heating  € 3,500        ESB  € 2,400        Phone  € 1,300        Advertisements  € 800        Substitute Teachers  € 600        Refuse Charges  € 250        Water Charges  € 150        Sanitary Disposal Bins  € 600        TV Licence  € 150        Auditor's Fees  € 1,000        Religion Kits & Services  € 450        New Refuse Bin  € 300        New Fire Extinguishers  € 350        Affiliation Fees  € 500        Teaching Materials  € 1,000        Miscellaneous  € 500            Total  € 29,500    Total  € 35,850
	Those figures demonstrate that the school will be in the red to the tune of approximately €6,000 by the end of the year. We can see no way to cut back on expenditure without doing damage to the education and general welfare of your children and many of the expenses are to comply with current legislation e.g. Refuse and water charges, TV licence, fire regulations etc. The Board of Management are asking you as parents to make a Family Contribution to the school which is being organised by the new Parents Association (see the Parents' Association article below). Last year we raised a substantial amount of money in our Golf Classic which was used for Music classes and equipment; Computer classes; Educational materials necessary for the implementation of the New Curriculum e.g. Science; Extra curricular activities such as Gymnastics and our latest project - French classes for children in 6th class. I think most reasonable people would agree that we are doing a huge amount to cater for the needs of children in our school and this is not the time to stop and cut back. Therefore we do not want to use any funds that were intended for the above resources and services to be used for the day-to-day running of the school. We will be running another Golf Classic in June, not just to maintain the level of services but to enhance them, and work has already started on organising that. More details at a later date.
	French Classes
	We are indebted to Miss Murphy, a part-time resource teacher in our school who has generously offered to give children in 6th class a course in conversational French after school on a Thursday evening for 10 weeks. Miss Murphy is a fluent French speaker and it will be of enormous benefit to children before they enter secondary school. There is no charge on children.
	Dates Reminder
	February mid-term break: ...................... 19th & 20th February St.Patrick's Day: ..................................... 17th, 18th & 19th March Easter Holidays: ........................................ 5th to 16th April May Bank Holiday: ................................... 3rd & 4th May June Bank Holiday: ................................... 4th & 7th June
	Parent/Teacher Meetings: ......................... 17th & 18th February First Holy Communion: ............................... 15th May Confirmation: ................................................. 2nd June Sports Day: .................................................. 18th June School Tours: ............................................... 22nd June
	In-service Dates
	The children will not be in school on Monday 23 rd February and Tuesday 16 th March, as the staff will be attending in-service training on those days. We have chosen those dates to minimise as much as possible disruption to the children's education.
	PARENTS ASSOCIATION Holy Family NS, Rathcoole
	The outgoing Parents Association has completed its 3-year term of office and a new Parents Association was established at the AGM last October. The new Parents Association consists of 13 members in total with 2 members of the outgoing committee remaining on board, one of whom has taken the helm and been appointed our new Chairperson. Hopefully through the guidance of the experienced members the new association can follow in the footsteps of the outgoing committee and continue their fantastic work and maintain the high standards they have set. The new Parents Association wish to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Parents Association for their enormous efforts, their time and commitment to the school and hope they are now enjoying a well earned rest!
	Annual Family Contribution
	One of the first objectives of the Parents Association is to raise awareness of the Annual Family Contribution. Included in your newsletter is a summary of the expected outgoings for the coming year and as can be seen it is apparent that the income from the Department is nowhere near enough to cover the day to day running of the school. Therefore, it falls upon us, the parents, to do our best to make up this shortfall. It is for this reason that the AFC is of utmost importance to our school. The amount being sought from each family is outlined below and is a one off annual payment. As can be seen the amount works out at less than €1 per week per child for the academic year, which we are sure you will agree is not an enormous amount. We hope to have all AFCs collected by Friday 13th February 2004. A pre-addressed envelope is attached for your convenience. We wish to thank all parents who continually support the AFC and look forward to a positive response this year. Families with one child attending ........................... €30 per annum Families with two or more children attending ........ €50 per annum Thank you for your continued support.
	New P.A. Members
	Maria Murphy (Chairperson), Diane Begley (Jnt Treasurer), Elma Young (Jnt Treasurer), Susan Rowe (Secretary), Anita Mansfield (Brd Mgt Rep), David Taylor (Brd Mgt Rep), Sandra Dolan, Ann O'Brien, Triona Ryan, Helen Butler, Ciaran Butler, Anne Marie Galligan, Teresa Prendergast.

	Other Newsletters:	April 1997
		October 1997
		March 1998
		April 1999
		October 1999
		November 1999
		November 2000
		October 2001
		November 2002
		October 2003