Partnership Schools is an action group set up to promote co-operation between the school, parents and the wider community to achieve specific goals. The idea being that an excellent school, a strong family and a healthy community all combined together is best for nurturing and growing our children.
Our team is made up of 2 teachers, 2 or 3 pupils, 2 parents and 2 community members. After receiving some initial training, we got to work setting our specific goals for the year. Once our goals were set, we used our collective imaginations to come up with creative and interesting ways to achieve them.
Our 1st goal is to increase children’s’ awareness of Maths in everyday life. This led to some great practical Maths, like baking and a cake sale with the children doing everything involved including the shopping for ingredients, the baking and the selling. Our 2nd goal is to increase positive relationships both in school and outside. We encouraged random acts of kindness, set up a buddy system for new children and will be looking at ways to help 6th class pupils with the transition to secondary school. The 3rd goal we set ourselves was to increase listening and develop active listening skills. Amongst our ideas are listening meditations and games and workshops on birdsong and sign language, helping us all to appreciate our hearing. Not all of our goals and activities have been accomplished yet and we have certainly been slowed down by lock downs and other Covid considerations. We'll need to be even more imaginative to realise our aspirations and ambitions!
Our final goal is to further encourage a climate of partnership and to this end we hope to set up a Parents Association. This will be open to any parent and once formed can support the school in many ways. The Parents Association can advise the Principal and the Board of Management on any matter relating to the school as well as ensuring parents are always consulted with things such as developing school policies. All sorts of activities could be arranged to keep parents involved, support each other and tap into the skills and talents of individual parents. The actual aims and objectives would be decided by the parents once the group is established.