Parents are the primary educators of their children and the work of the school can only be of maximum benefit to its pupils if the school and parents work in harmony and share a view of the educational needs of the pupils.

All reasonable aspirations and opinions of parents will be taken into consideration in the formulation of all aspects of school policy.

Parents will be kept informed of their children’s progress in school and an annual report will be sent to parents at the end of each school year.

Parents will be welcome to call to the school at any time to discuss a child’s progress, behaviour or any aspect of his/her school life.
Parent-teacher meetings will be held annually at which individual parents will be appraised for their child’s progress and development and given an opportunity to raise any matters concerning same.

Parent-teacher meetings will be held in connection with First Confessions, First Holy Communion and Confirmation at which teachers and priests will outline the relevant religious programme and discuss these with the parents.

A series of talks will be given annually by teachers or visitors on aspects of the curriculum, with particular emphasis on how parents can help their children.

While the principal and teachers do not claim to thrive on complaints, any parent with a complaint about any aspect of their child’s education or about anyone concerned therein is asked to first discuss the matter with the teacher or principal. Most complaints can be readily resolved by discussing them with the teacher but if this fails it is still open to parents to pursue the matter through the proper channels.

The school will seek the co-operation of the parents in implementing its homework policy, its general rules and its curriculum. The goodwill of parents is an invaluable assistance to teachers in all aspects of their work. When teachers undertake activities outside school hours and outside the school itself the active help of parents will be needed. School tours, sports, plays, etc. are difficult to run without the active involvement of parents. Apart from the practical help, which can be given by parents, the moral support given to pupils and teachers alike by parents’ interest in such activities is an incentive to improve and expand the range of extra-curricular activities in the school.

The present financial arrangements for the running of national schools is so inadequate that the Department of Education capitation grants and the parish contribution combined do not even meet the day to day running

costs of the school. The people of this parish have been very generous in their support for a programme of school building and renovation and, as part of this programme, this school had its facilities greatly improved in recent years and this improvement is ongoing.

Distinction must be made, however, between the provision of adequate buildings and facilities and the very different matter of providing the materials and equipment to enable the school to continue to provide for the fullest development of pupils and to keep abreast of developments in educational thinking and technology. Computer learning facilities, introduction to continental languages, etc. can no longer be seen as mere novelties at primary school level. Teachers and parents together must decide which educational developments are practical and worthwhile in the context of this school and must realise that the development of a school extends beyond building and renovating and is a continuous process requiring financial input not available from external sources.