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Parent Teacher Association

Whitechurch National School has an active and enthusiastic Parent Teacher Association. They contribute extensively to the life of the school- organising extra curricular activities, parents social and information events, fundraising and supporting the work of the school in many other ways. Without the support of the PTA, the school would not be able to provide the comprehensive and broad educational experience to the children in the school.

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The PTA Committee for the school year 2022-2023:

  • Rachel O'Donoghue (Chairperson)

  • Sinéad McGoran (Secretary)

  • Etain Magennis (Treasurer)

  • Sarah Richards (Principal)

  • Andrea Deacon (Teacher Representative)

  • Geoff Sparling and Rowan Hillis (Board of Management Representatives)

  • Rebekah Byrne (Hockey Representative)

  • Catherine Bell (PTA Class Rep Liaison)

  • Sarah Courtenay (Communications)

  • Aidan Lonergan (Extra Curricular Activities)

  • Zoe Phelan (Extra Curricular Activities)

  • Susan Farrell (Purchasing)

  • Jim Donnelly (May Fete/ Fundraising Rep)

  • Stefania Ivaturi 

  • Vasilisa Lebed 

  • Mairéad Dorney White 

 PTA Extra Curricular Activities

 

The PTA organises a great many extra curricular activities for our pupils. These activities can vary year to year depending on demand and interests. The current range of activities are listed below:

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  • Coding

  • Chess

  • Swimming

  • Hockey

  • Zumba

  • Glee

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Please click here for a full list of activities, costs and contact details. For further information please contact the PTA via the School Office.

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PTA Parent Nights

 

The PTA organise a number of parent nights each year which provide an opportunity for parents to meet each other and to hear about interesting topics. Recently, our PTA hosted a Parent Night on in March. There was wine, cheese, nibbles and lots of chat and catching up! The guest speaker for the night was Sheila O' Malley from Practical Parenting who spoke about self esteem and bullying.

The night was extremely useful with Sheila giving all who attended an insightful talk full of practical tips.

Please click on the link below to view Sheila's tips for 'bullyproofing' your child:

http://www.practicalparenting.ie/2014/03/13/bullyproof-your-child-or-teen/

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The next parent night will take place during our school's Wellbeing Week and will be on the topic of 'De-clutterring'. See poster below for details:

National

Parents

Council

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The PTA is a member of the National Parents Council. The NPC have a website which you can access in a new window by clicking on the link below:

 

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The PTA recently won the Fred O'Connell Award from the NPC for their Buddy Parent initiative. This sees all new parents in the school paired up with an existing 'buddy parent'. New parents have told us that it really helps to make them feel welcome in the school and is a great source of advice. Pictured below is parent Ann Marie Trenaman accepting the award from the NPC on behalf of the WNS PTA.

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Decluttering workshop poster pic Jan 202

PTA Meetings

 

Our PTA is led by an enthusiastic and active committee. The PTA committee meet regularly to dicuss fundraising, parental involvement with the school, extra curricular activites, and other issues relevant to the parents. The minutes from the previous meeting can be found on the school noticeboard. If you have any issues that you would like to raise at a PTA meeting, please let your class rep know or speak to one of the PTA committee members. Please note that PTA meetings are a forum to discuss the PTA work within the school. If you have a concern or issues related to your child, please talk to the class teacher who will be better equipped to advise you specifically about your child. 

PTA Class Reps

Each class has a PTA Class Rep who run a class What's App Group for parents and help to disseminate information from the PTA. We are very grateful to this year's Class Reps:

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  • Junior Infants- Jenny Sherwin

  • Senior Infants- Catherine Bell

  • 1st Class - Gillian Ryan

  • 2nd Class - Katie Costello

  • 3rd Class - Jill Moffett

  • 4th Class - Eve Prendergast

  • 5th Class - Emma O'Neill

  • 6th Class - Ruth Kennedy

PTA Fundraising

The PTA help to fundraise for extra things for the school not covered by the DES grants. In recent years, the PTA have helped to raise funds for laptops and iPads and a new synthetic soft sports surface for the playground. 

Pictured below is the opening of our new playground. (Left to right- 

Sarah Richards, Principal. Lindsay Delahunty, Sandra Younge & Rowan Hillis, P.T.A. members & Canon Horace Mc Kinley, Chair, Board Of Management.

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