Parents' Council

What is the Parents’ Council?

The 1998 Education Act set out the foundations for Parents Associations and outlines their role. According to the National Parents' Council (2010) this can be summarized as follows. A Parents Association is;

“The structure through which the parents in a school can work together for the best possible education for their children.

The Parents Association works with the Principal, staff and Board of Management to build effective partnership between home and school”.

Research has shown that children do better and are happier when parents and teachers work closely together and when parents can support their children at home. The Parents’ Council is the main mechanism in a school to support the home/school partnership (National Parents Council, 2010).

What does Kilcornan NS Parents’ Council Do?

• Provides support to the school for major annual events and run functions of educational and social value for the school community and pupils.

• Organise fundraising events for specific school projects or resources.

• To facilitate effective communication between the parents and school management on issues relating to school plans, policies and activities.

• To provide support to parents in the school.

• Communicate to Parents about Parent Council activities/resources, events, and topics of interest via newsletters and social media.

• Suggest and/or organize extra-curricular activities.

• Maintain membership to the National Parents Council.

• To promote the school catholic ethos and to promote a positive inclusive school culture.

• Arrange a yearly AGM to discuss activities and vote on new members to the committee.

• The Parents’ Council is not a forum for complaints against the school, individual teachers, or parents.

Constitution of Kilcornan National School Parents

AGM

The Parents' Council AGM took place in September 2024 and the below members were elected. We wish our new council the very best of luck and look forward to working closely with them over the coming years!

Current Committee

Helen Basini (Chairperson)

Muriel Henihan & Gillian Hulse (Shared Secretary)

Eadaoin Daly & Carol Byrnes (Shared Treasurer)

June Fitzgibbon & Jessica Hennessy (Shared P.R.O.)

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Kilcornan National School, Smartphone-Free Agreement

The use of smartphones, mobile phones, smart devices and other technologies is now a daily feature of people of all ages. However, there is an increasing awareness amongst parents, educators and mental health professionals that the use of smartphones in children can have harmful effects. These include increased anxiety levels as well as exposing children to several risks such as cyberbullying and encountering potentially harmful content online.

Following a national trend across Ireland from concerned parents about the harmful use of smartphones for young children, several schools have implemented voluntary collective agreements. These agreements when signed, state that parents will commit to delaying providing a smartphone for their child/ren until the end of 6th class. Several parents of Kilcornan National School approached the Parents’ Council to see if they would investigate if parents would like to pursue establishing a smartphone-free agreement for our school.

After the initial survey was conducted 85.9% of parents that responded said they were in favour of creating a smartphone-free agreement. The agreement has now been written and outlines why it is needed, the key points from the survey and then states the agreement itself. There is an opportunity to sign up to the agreement at the end.

Voluntary Smartphone-Free Agreement

Whilst the Parents’ Council supports the implementation of the voluntary smartphone-free agreement we also respect each family’s right to decide whether or not their children have access to a smartphone or smart device.