Parents’ Association Meeting Jan 14th 2026
ENS Parents’ Association Meeting Minutes
Date: Wednesday, 14th of January, 2026
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: ENS Staff Room
Meeting Invitees:
Jenny Butler
Claire McCarthy
Lorna Ganda
Brian Troy
Kat O’Shea
Mariusz Cwirko
Nileptha Sergeant
Fiona Eason
ENS Parents/Guardian Community
Apologies – unable to attend:
Eileen Tobin
Agenda Detail:
1) General Welcome and Feedback
2) Awareness and Plan to Address/Nominate for the Treasurer Role/Responsibilities
The Treasurer position has become vacant/open, and we thank the prior Treasurer for
her efforts and leaving the account and Treasurer Binder in such good order for her
successor. A new treasurer who also has prior experience with the PA in recent years
and an accounting background: Michelle Summerly is nominated by Brian Troy and
seconded by Jenny Butler. The PA committee welcomes Michelle to the team and
looks forward to working with her.
Also, awareness of
– Current PA bank account balance is €2,624.59, following 13th of January
request in branch for cheque of €529 for Clare Crusaders, and €2.40 bank fee
for cheque preparation. Standard bank/account fees of €36.93 were also
automatically withdrawn by the bank from our account on 31/12/2025.
– National Parents’ Council Annual Membership Fee of €100 to be paid this
month to renew our annual membership. This is different from the annual
insurance fee that was paid at the start of the 2025 school year, and required.
– And, the current bank/debit card has an expiration of Feb 2026 and is in the
Treasurer’s name from four years’ ago, and will likely need to be renewed.
3) Child Safeguarding Statement and Risk Assessment
Brian Troy raised that the annual policy and risk assessment for child safeguarding is
underway. Part of this will include a parental survey and student survey that will
assess the level of information that parents and students have on child safeguarding.
4) Finalizing Event Reports and Lessons Learned from December Events
4a) 2025 Disco was held on Friday, 5
th of December 2025.
This event was a great collaboration and there were many happy ENS families at the
Disco! As circulated in the event report and available in the Treasurer’s binder, Net
Income from the Disco for PA was a record-breaking €1090.41, after all expenses
were paid including €879.43 to Mangans and €167.14 for the glow sticks purchase.
Ensuring complimentary water for the children to drink toward the end of the Disco
was a welcome addition this year, and should be revisited next year.
Rebooking the DJ and the Halla are recommended for 4
th December 2026.
Discussed possibly increasing the purchase of glow sticks for next year – decision
made that the quantity this year was enough. Also some glowsticks should be
unwrapped/activated so that families don’t accidentally shear off the activation tab in
the way they are trying to pull it off and cause an accidental ‘dud’ of a large glow
stick.
Discussion around and recommended to revisit prior to next year, if PA might do
messaging in advance and post signs on the Halla doors, to the effect of “no
photos/video recording in the Halla during Disco,” to ensure the comfort and privacy
of all children participating at the Disco. There was some parent feedback that some
students may have had access to their/parents’ phones at the Disco in the Halla, this
year, and discussion around the perception of how they were used with their student
peers during Disco.
4b) Split-the-Pot Raffle was another bright spot in December! Many thanks, again,
to all involved to make it possible. The raffle went to €2,116 total, and was split four
ways with €529 to each of two ENS family winners, a donation to the Clare
Crusaders, and the PA’s account.
Applying for the permit for this event will be added to our event calendar for
back-to-school 2026.
In addition to this, the split the pot options should be discussed in October before the
next disco to determine if we continue to split it as per the last few years in the event
of a large pot.
Also, needed: Persons wanting to go for Clare Crusaders donation currently set
with a cheque ready for 10:30am this Friday, 16th January with Fiona at Clare
Crusaders Clinic. Clare Crusaders were sent a Christmas Card in December to
confirm our forthcoming donation amount, and Jenny spoke with Fiona at the Clinic
in early January by phone to arrange a meeting time. Agreed by the Committee that
Lorna, Brian, and Jenny would be present for the donation, and three sixth Class
students may be invited to accompany, as well. Also, maybe next year, we can set this
in advance so we can finalize the donation in December.
4c) Christmas Concerts were held on 17th and 18th of December.
Tea, coffee, and biscuits were provided complimentary to ENS
parents/guardians/grandparents attending the concerts. A new box of single-serving
instant coffee was purchased from Mangans, so we should be well-stocked on coffee
for the next event.
5) Fundraising Goals Discussion and Flag Day Planning
Brian Troy has the permit needed for Flag Day, and requested stickers and buckets for
collectors. New stickers have been ordered.
Date is Saturday, 14th February from 9AM – 5PM for collectors.
Locations: Ryan’s Centra, Spar Turnpike, Home Gallery on Kilrush Rd, Zest, Centra
on Gort Rd
In Aid of: STEM equipment/initiatives
Jenny and Nileptha will get letters out to shops where we are to be collecting.
As in recent years’ past, Fiona will organize the schedule of volunteers. Brian Troy
will be a volunteer on the day, as well, and in charge of collecting and securing funds
to be counted and banked by school representatives.
Also, each location will need a copy of the permit and a high viz vest, on the day.
Recommended to generate a QR code for the school’s Sum Up profile, so card
donations can be accepted at each bucket.
Open discussion for Fundraising goal.
Current PA bank balance after NPC renewal will stand at approx. €2,500.
Suggest we maintain an amount to keep our bank account healthy and account for the
operating expenses of insurance, NPC membership, bank fees, etc.
Jenny suggests that what we have is currently enough to likely budget toward games
for Fun Day and sustaining this Spring’s planned PA events, as we committed to any
parents who may have asked about our short-term fundraising goals around the time
of Split-the-Pot. And, now we can set a new goal for PA for the longer-term. This can
be revisited ahead of the Bingo scheduled for April, with a possible survey for
broader parent/guardian community input, as Spring Bingo will be PA’s next
fundraising event. (Flag Day funds are for the school’s account and used directly by
the school.)
6) Look forward to future events and planning
– Lorna has reached out regarding 6
th class Hoodies and received a reply on
pricing. Recommendation in Chairperson’s binder is to do a survey of 8
colours, so 6
th class students choose their top two favs from the 8 colours.
Choose the four highest voted colours for the final order forms. There
ultimately needs to be a minimum of 10 pieces ordered from each colour, per
the binder. Payments can be taken through Aladdin.
– Jenny has checked-in with County Photos as of this month (in January) to
reconfirm what was set last Autumn: that our dates were reserved to have
photographers for Confirmation and Communion
– Communion reception is an event where we will likely need additional
support on the day of the reception, as several Committee members have
children in 2
nd class. Sub-Committee/request to broader parent/guardian
community recommended after February PA meeting. Key items are
organizing food donations to the Halla, handing aprons to children entering the
Halla, possibly PA-provided gift bags to children, ensuring families are aware
of photographer in Halla, and no less than 6 people to serve food and cold
drinks and help clean-up at the event. 3
rd Class parents have traditionally been
asked to donate/volunteer, as they experienced the reception the prior year.
Flowers and balloons are potential decorations provided by PA, as well as gift
bags, which would be worked on in advance.
– Bingo is proposed for Friday, 24th April with Noelle volunteering as caller.
Committee recommends having 2-3 Bingo callers total for the event, and
Jenny will reach out to extend the event to others who participated last year or
may be interested. Brian Troy has followed up on Halla booking. Jenny has
submitted the lottery permission form with Garda. Gathering donations is
likely the next step, to be discussed at our February meeting, with a clear plan
to thank sponsors/donors. Tuck shop has traditionally been offered along with
Bingo.
– Jenny offered to start leading the planning for Fun Day. Date is provisionally
set for Thursday 18th June to allow for time to move to the Friday if the
weather is inclement. Jenny will start to reach out to reserve a bouncy castle,
ice cream truck, and some games. Anyone want to partner or form a
sub-Committee that can meet outside of this larger Committee meeting to get
this underway?
– Graduation reception with cupcakes and decorations and any gift for 6
th class
students, with support from 5
th class parents/guardians. 8 volunteers are
recommended for June. To be discussed at a future PA meeting, as time did
not permit in the January PA meeting.
– Lorna following up on Scholastic Book Fair reward balance being used for
the school this year. Jenny will follow up with Scholastic to secure a date in
Spring 2027 for another Book Fair at ENS.
Next Meeting date: 12th Feb 2026
7:30pm ENS Staff Room
