The Owenabue ETNS Board of Management met for the first time on Monday, 28th February. We welcomed our two community nominees, Padraig Stack and Mary Murphy. We are very grateful to all Board Members who are volunteering their time to support our growing school. Below is the agreed report of the discussions at the meeting. An agreed report will be shared after each meeting.
- Appointments – The Board appointed Padraig Stack to the position of Treasurer.
- Enrolment – We discussed our current priority being enrolment for 2022/2023. We need 52 pupils in September to qualify for our 3rd mainstream teacher. We discussed the challenges of spreading the word about the school, the possibility of hosting an open evening and other ideas that might attract parents and families to the school. We welcome any ideas from the community on achieving this goal.
- Autism Class – The school has applied to open a second Autism Class from September. We are awaiting approval from the Department of Education.
- COVID restriction changes – The new changes to COVID guidelines have had limited impact on the school immediately, but we can now start to plan for open evening, in person meetings and we welcome current and potential parents to get in touch to come see the school. We appreciate it’s been a difficult time not being able to see the classroom or yard areas this year so please do get in touch and come have a look around.
- Back area – The garden area in the back has been developed as a quiet area with a nest swing, planter boxes and a sensory wall. We are delighted with how it has turned out and the kids are very excited.
- Parent/Guardian’s Association – Now that the Board has been constituted, we are keen to start the process of setting up our Parents & Guardians Association. A PGA will be a vital part of the school community. We will be sending out more information in the coming weeks.