The staff of St.Enda’s N.S. is fortunate to have a very active, co-operative and supportive Parents’ Association. They are affiliated to the National Parent’s Council (Primary) (NPCP). They work with the school principal on policy development and engage in activities to support the school. It is a great way for parents to become involved in school life. One of the reasons the school principal, the BOM and the Parent’s Council work so well together is because we have clearly explained our roles and our boundaries. We follow the IPPN/NPC Document called ‘Supporting Each Other’.

Aims of the Parent Association

  1. To enable parents to play a meaningful role in supporting the aims & objectives of the school.
  2. To enable parents to contribute to an enhanced learning environment for the pupils.
  3. To ensure that the work of the whole school community is at all times focused on the collective needs of all the children in the school.
  4. To identify and make available the skills and talents of individual parents that may be valuable to the school.

Parents and Boards of Management

Two parents, one mother and one father of children in the school, are elected to the Board of Management either by postal ballot or at a specially convened meeting. The two elected parents are then the ‘nominees’ of the Parent Body on the Board of Management. As is the case with the one elected staff nominee and the two co-opted community nominees, the two elected parents are now part of a ‘Body Corporate’ i.e. the Board of Management, whose function it is to manage the school.

The two parent nominees contribute to and uphold the decisions and policies of the Board of Management. This means that, other than the agreed report from each Boards of Management meeting, all other matters must remain confidential. They have no function in bringing individual parental complaints or the Parent Association’s issues to the Board. Such issues can be dealt with through the agreed complaints procedure or brought to the Board of Management either through the Principal or by letter to the Chairperson of the Board of Management. The two parent nominees on the Board of Management are entitled to be members of the committee of the Parent Association, and indeed that helps the nominees remain in touch with the constituents they represent.

The National Parents’ Council – Primary (NPCP) and Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) recommend, however, that the parent nominees should not hold officer roles on the committee of the Parent Association, in order to avoid any possible conflict of interest with their role as members of the Board of Management.

We are always looking for new recruits!

If any new parents should wish to know more about the Parents’ Association, they are encouraged to contact the Chairperson Tom O’Regan