1) Minutes of Meeting 13th December 2011
Agreed. Proposed N. Forde / D. Mescal.

2) Matters Arising
T. Murray thanked the committee for their work with Christmas Concert.

3) Treasurers Report
A. Jennings updated meeting on financial position – closing balance €16,014.45
- Monies paid to Liffey Champion are recoupable from VEC.
- Treasurer confirmed that just over €2,000 was raised at gala ball.
- Agreed to make payment for text a parent - €508.
- Agreed PTA would cover cost for tiered seating for Musical. Costs to be confirmed.

4) Principals Report
School Musical
Auditions and rehearsals are well underway for annual TY and 5th Year musical – Phantom of the Opera. The show will open on Wednesday 1st February 2012 and run for 5 consecutive nights. It is envisaged that the finance available from parents as patrons and companies / individuals as sponsors will be limited. In order to provide finance we hope to ask PTA to cover cost of tiered seating as before (approx €7,000). In addition the Musical cast will bag pack in Tesco Maynooth on 21st January and in Dunnes Stores on Saturday 21st, Friday 27th and Saturday 28th Janaury. The help of the PTA again would be appreciated. Thanks to Mr. Blythe and Ms. O’Hagan for organising these dates.

Christmas Concert
Under direction of Ms. Lawlor, Mr. Hanlon, Ms. Heffernan and Ms. Hegarty Christmas Concert took place on Monday 19th December. Very enjoyable evening with over 500 present. Thank you to PTA for providing after performance refreshments.

School Tour
Thanks to Year Heads and their team of teachers / tutors on very successful 1st and 2nd Year tours pre Christmas.

Playing Pitch Development – Fundraising Update
Work has progressed on the development of playing pitches on the Moyglare Road and phase 1 nearly completed. Due to poor weather conditions work is likely to be put on hold until February / March 2012.

10K Challenge
PTA are organising a fundraising 10km road race / fun run in Maynooth on 20th May 2012.

Upcoming Dates:
11th January TY PTM 4.15-6.45
13th January Study Skills 6th Year
17th January 6th Year trip to Hamlet
18th January 5th Year PTM
28th January 1st Year 2012/2013 Enrolment 9-1pm
8th February Mock Exams
10th February Break for Mid Term 2012

5) School Musical
It was agreed that parents would receive text to ask for help with bag packing supervision.
Agreed to host reception for sponsors on 1st February at 6.30pm. G. Quinn to contact photographer from Liffey Champion / Newsletter
Send text to parents two days prior to tickets going on sale.
After school party to take place on Sunday night. Agreed to cater for 230.
SO’R to contact DJ. T. Murray to contact GAA reps to assist on night. G. Egan to organise catering.

6) A.O.B.
T. Murray requested permission to write to National Parents Council regarding issue of guidance counsellors. Proposed by G. Quinn / T. Hurley.

10K Fun Run
N. Forde updated meeting of 10K fun run.
- Details on Run Ireland website, email: maynooth10k@gmail.com
- Meeting with J. Nevin Wed 11th Jan at 6pm. All members welcome.
- Date of launch to be agreed.
- Agreed that the run would be listed as one of Make a Wish Foundation fundraising events.
- Ad to be placed in Irish Runner magazine.
- Request for help from committee on gathering sponsorship.
- G. Quinn to arrange sign at Bradys.
- A. Coyle to put photos of 2011 run on disc

70’s Disco
A. Jennings to come back with details to February meeting.

Gala Night
Gala night for past pupils scheduled for 23rd February 2012.

Parents / Friends of MPPS
T. Ashe would like to thank all who helped with table quiz on 5th January. It was a great success and €1,000 was raised.

Apologies:
C. Devereux, P. McBride, A. Hafdioui, B. O’Meara, A. Coyle, S. McCauley, I. Ni Unacuain, E. Jones

1) Minutes of Meeting 8th November 2011
Agreed. Proposed B.Conway / A. Jennings.

2) Update on Campaign for School Patronage
T. Murray updated meeting on successful four weeks campaign. Full support has been received from TD’s and Councillors. Positive feedback received at doors from public.. Closing date has been extended to 24th February 2012. Patrons must show their interest by 13th January 2012. Applications closing date 23rd February 2012. Campaign will resume in mid January.

Big thank you to M. Murphy for organising staff, including school principal.

3) Committees
Additional representatives have joined the following committees:

Finance: A. Jennings, J. O’Dea, M. Walsh

Library: B. McMahon, A. Hafdioui. J. Nevin agreed that B. Campbell would assist training people in January 2012.

Book Rental: B. McMahon, T. Hurley, B. Walsh, M. Walsh, N. Forde

10K Challenge: N. Forde, M. Walsh, M. Molloy, T. Hurley. Date to be agreed – 29th April or 20th May 2012.

4) Treasurers Report
Closing Balance: €15,224.66
10K Account: €3,249.34
Reminder text for school subscription to be sent end January 2012.

Resolution agreed for A. Jennings to apply for online banking. Proposed by G. Quinn / M. Walsh. T. Murray to sign mandate.

5) Principals Report
First Year Applications 2012/2013
Closing date for receipt of application forms for First Year 2012/2013 was 9th December. To date 250 applications have been received. These applications will put pressure on the school in terms of accommodation and ability of school to deliver the curriculum to an additional 100 students. There may be a need for 10 first year classes – 8 through medium of English and 2 through the medium of Irish. The VEC have been made aware of predicament and we await direction.

French / Spanish Student Exchange
In association with Maynooth Community Council Twinning Committe we have agreed to continue with a student exchange programme with a second level French School in Cannes, France.
March 2012 – Ireland to France
May 2012 – France to Ireland
Thanks to the teachers organising this exchange Fiona Johnson and Marie Miot.

In addition we have made a link with a school in Madrid Spain and will participate in a student exchange of 25 TY students.
February 2012 – Ireland to Spain
May 2012 – Spain to Ireland
Thanks to Nuala Ni Domhnaill and Nicola Donnelly for organising this exchange.

School Musical
Auditions and rehearsals are well underway for our annual Transition Year and 5th Year Musical. This years musical will be Phantom of the Opera. The show will open on Wednesday 1st February 2012 and run for 5 consecutive nights.

In order to raise funds to subvent the cost of the Musical the cast will be bag packing in December. The PTA’s support and additional supervision is greatly appreciated.

Christams Concert
Christmas Concert under direction of Ms. Lawlor, Mr. Hanlon, Ms. Heffernan and Ms. Hegarty to take place next Monday 19th December at 8pm.

Ceremony of Reflection and Remembrance
This ceremony for parents, staff and students was held on Tuesday 29th November in the oratory. During this annual event we acknowledged our journey as a school community – past and present.

School Tour
Thanks to Ms. Walsh and Ms. Mahony as Group Leaders and their team of teachers / tutors on a very successful 4th and 5th year school tours (148 students) to France over October Mid Term Break.

School Self Evaluation & Literacy & Numeracy Projects
Staff meeting held on 22nd November 2011. Principal briefed the staff on this potentially very beneficial school involvement in the – Draft Guidelines for Post Primary schools – School Self Evaluation.

We have been selected by DES as one of the pilot project schools for this school year and will receive advice, training and resources as part of this involvement. The overall aim of the project is to enable schools to develop improvement plans and enhance the quality of teaching and learning.

Miriam Horgan, Senior Inspector with DES will visit the school on Thursday 15th December to meet with School Development Planning committee and organise time plan and project for remainder of school year.

In addition Principal briefed staff on the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020. The school staff will liaise with students and parents in the next term to start planning for this school development project.

Playing Pitch Development – Fundraising Update
Work has progressed on the development of playing pitches on the Moyglare Road and phase 1 is nearly completed. Due to poor weather conditions work is likely to be put on hold until February / Marcy 2012.

6) Christmas Concert
Christmas Concert taking place Monday 19th December at 8pm. G. Egan to co-ordinate concert reception. PTA members to meet at 6.30pm. J. Flynn to receive invitation.

7) A.O.B.
Question raised regarding number of defibrillators in school. 2 defibrillators in school and 1 portable defibrillator for sports events.

10K Challenge:
N. Forde to contact N. Dixon regarding registering run.
T. Murray to contact M. Molloy to discuss mapping alternative route.
T. Murray to email NUIM President regarding date of run.
G. Quinn to contact Carton House.

When text is being sent for subscriptions include request for additional PTA members.

Apologies:
Mary O’Shea-Pernot, Bernie O’Meara, Anne-Marie Coyle, Mary MacCourt

1) Minutes of Meeting 18th October 2011
Minutes of meeting were proposed by G. Egan and seconded by D. Mescal.

2) Matters Arising
J. Nevin to clarify if text a parent is in operation.

3) 40th Anniversary Gala Ball
Gala Ball taking place next Saturday 12th November. Approximately 200 tickets sold to date. A request was made for people to make every effort to sell the last of tickets in coming days. Final numbers to be confirmed with Carton House Hotel by Thursday. B. Conway to request MTFC and H. McCabe to ask Maynooth GAA to upload onto web home page for this week. S. McAuley to check availability of text a parent and if in operation send out message.

4) Meeting 17th November Patronage of New School
- Full page advertisement in Liffey Champion this week
- Decision to postpone second meeting scheduled for 22nd November as Foras Patrunachta scheduled to hold meeting on 23rd November and may cause confusion
- Information brochure to be completed by Friday and will be delivered by An Post. Brochure will be delivered to all schools and crèches also.
- Need to clarify usage of GAA pitches with other patronage bodies. Project 61% GAA and 39% MPPS
- Agreed to postpone setting up Design Team Sub-Committee until decision of patronage has been announced. T. Murray to followup with S.Ashe regarding what is happening with Design Team
- Displays to showcase school, students and staff, Presidential visit to be erected for meeting
- Banners and posters to be erected in town, poster in library
- Information stands after this meeting in shopping centres
- G. Quinn invited parents to write to local press expressing their thoughts on MPPS
- How to sell over-crowding issues positively. Making people aware of numbers if capped will people have choice of which school to go to
- Concerns regarding funding to carry out works if Departments budget has been cut. Will MPPS be sold and project becomes cost neutral
- T. Murray to clarify butterfly effect with S. Ashe
- Confirmation meeting tomorrow evening copy of ad and agreed wording of notice of meeting to be circulated at meeting – B. McMahon, C. Devereux and D. Mescal to distribute
- Agreed to hold PTA meeting next Tuesday 15th November at 8pm in preparation of meeting 17th November

Delivery of Brochure to Schools and Creches next Monday:
Pre-Schools:
Presentation Girls School (1): A. Jennings
Carton Crescent (1): H. McCabe
Pebble Hill (2): T. Hurley / B. Walsh
Kinder Crescent (1): T. Hurley / B. Walsh
Beaufield / Evelyns (1): T. Murray
Straffan Woods (1): T. Hurley / B. Walsh
Moyglare Abbey (1): T. Hurley / B. Walsh
Rockfield (1): H. McCabe
Kilcloon (1): G. Quinn

Primary Schools:
Mulhussey / Kilcloon: G. Quinn
Scoil Ui Riada : S. McAuley
St. Marys BNS: B. Walsh
Scoil Ui Fhiach: M. Walsh to confirm if we have permission to distribute through school
Presentation Girls School: A. Jennings
Educate Together Celbridge: V. Murphy
Primrose Hill: V. Murphy
Scoil Mochua / Aghards: V. Murphy
Rathcoffey NS: G. Quinn
Educate Together Maynooth: G. Quinn
Scoil Ui Dhalaigh: G. Quinn

5) Treasurers Report
Opening Balance: €11,800.17
Income – Subscriptions: €808.39
Gala Ball Funds: €3,680.00
Expenditure: €160.69
Closing Balance: €16,449.25

10K Account: €3,249.34
Expenditure Breakdown: Supplies 10K Run €160.69

6) Principals Report
Leaving Certificate Students
John McGinnity, Admissions Officer/Assistant Registrar NUIM, will deliver a talk to Leaving Cert students on Monday 14th November about the courses on offer in NUIM. In addition presentations will be made to students in Leaving Cert year in recognition of the grades achieved in their 5th Year Summer Exams.

Exams
Junior Cert and Leaving Certs had their Pre Mock exams prior to Halloween break.
Leaving Cert PTM: 24th November 4.15-6.45pm (students invited to attend with parents if they wish)
Junior Cert PTM: 1st Dec 4.15-6.45pm

Junior Cert and Leaving Cert reports will be posted by Friday 18th November.

All other students (1st, 2nd and 5th years) will do their Christmas exams in the first week of December (5th – 9th) Their PTMs will take place next term. Reports will be posted in the first week of January.

Applications for 2012
Forms for next years incoming first years available from the school from 23rd November – closing date for applications 9th December 2011. Revised Admissions Policy available on school website or hard copy at reception.

School Tour
148 4th and 5th Year students and 18 staff members had a very successful educational and enjoyable school tour to Paris prior to Mid Term Break. Thanks to Ms. Walsh and Ms. Mahony and their dedicated staff for all the work they put into this worthwhile trip.

Gaisce Hike
Gaisce Hike for 5th Years also took place in mid October. Thanks to Ms. Creighton for organising this activity.

Sport
Very Successful Year so far:
Gaelic Football – Senior and Junior footballers begin their season this week and Ladies teams in action in their competitions soon.

Camogie – Under 14, Junior team and Senior team all in action and performing very well.

Basketball – All teams starting competitions this week.

Rugby – Senior boys team also doing well in Leinster competition.

EPortal / Text Messaging for Parents
This service will commence re: attendance this week.

Library
Brian Quigley has rejoined the school for the remainder of the term up to Christmas.

Musical
Auditions started today for this years production of ‘Phantom of the Opera – The Musical’. Bag packing for Musical Funds in Tesco and Manor Mills in December. It was agreed that the PTA will donate €1,500 to this event.

7) Mock Interviews 6th Years
V. Murphy updated meeting on mock interviews that take place for students in other schools. Mock interviews could be part of TY programme, 5th year students and 6th year students. S. McAuley to discuss with J. Nevin,

8) Correspondence
No item for discussion

9) A.O.B.
The matter of students attending two debs was raised. As the students organise this event the school has no input into it. However S.McAuley has agreed to discuss the matter with J. Nevin.

Apologies:
Carol Devereux, Victor Murphy

1) Election of Incoming Committee Officers:
The following Officers were elected:
Chairperson: Teresa Murray
Deputy Chairperson: Breedge Conway
Secretary: Shelly O’Riordan
Assistant Secretary: Mary MacCourt
Treasurer: Anne Jennings, Julie O’Dea
PRO: Gerry Quinn
Events Officer: Grainne Egan
Assistant Events Officers: Mary MacCourt, Barbara McMahon
Fundraising Officer: Deferred to next meeting
Library: Barbara McMahon
Book Rental: Committee to be formed

A note of thanks from all the committee to outgoing Chairperson, John Flynn and Secretary Fiona Maguire for all their dedication and hard work over the last number of years. They have achieved so much and will be missed by all.

2) Minutes of Meeting 13th September 2011:
Minutes of meeting were proposed by J. O’Dea and seconded by B. McMahon.

3) Treasurers Report:
G. Quinn gave update of financial statement:
Balance:€11,017 Expenses: Newsletter, Information Booklet
10K A/C: €3,249

The issue of seeking permission for over-draft at the AGM was discussed. The constitution states that the PTA committee must remain in credit. G. Quinn stated that a meeting was requested at September PTA prior to AGM to discuss such issues. There is no longer a necessity for overdraft facility.

It was agreed that if such changes to finances was required the committee would consider reviewing the constitution and an extraordinary general meeting would have to be called.

It was agreed that some of the expenses are excessive such as postage for annual subscriptions. H. McCabe suggested that we hand deliver correspondence to local addresses and post remaining correspondence.

Next Finance Committee Meeting Tuesday 25th October at 8pm.

4) Principals Report:
Presidential Visit 7th October:
J. Nevin congratulated everyone on the great success of the Presidents visit. It was a real team effort with so much staff and parent support, especially on the evening before. It was a wonderful occasion to showcase the school and this was done magnificently.

Pre Mock Exams / Parent Teacher Meetings:
Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate mid term / pre mock exams will take place from Tuesday 25th October to Friday 28th October. Reports will be completed by 15th November before parent teacher meetings:
Leaving Certificate: 24th November 2011 – 4.15 – 6.45pm
Junior Certificate: 1st December 2011 – 4.15 – 6.45pm

The Leaving Certificate Students are invited to attend the meeting on 24th November with their parents.

Mid Term Break:
Monday 31st October to Friday 4th November inclusive. School re-opens at 9am on Monday 7th November for all students.

School Tour 2011:
4th and 5th Year Tour depart for France on Thursday 27th October to Sunday 30th October. 148 students and 18 teachers are looking forward to this annual event. Thank you in advance to Ms. Mahony, Ms. Walsh and their team of teachers for all the hard work they have put in to this worthwhile trip.

The remaining 4th and 5th Year students not going on tour will be released from classes on 27th October.

Junior Cert Results 2011:
Well done to all the teachers, parents and students on the great results in this years Junior Certificate exams.

Top Students were Laura Griffin 9A’s and 2 B’s and Donnacha Healy 10A’s and 1B.

School Grounds:
J. Nevin informed meeting of health and safety issue regarding cars entering school grounds. He is appealing to parents not to drive onto school grounds and to use the bus bay facility at the Boys School. If it is necessary to drive onto school grounds please observe the one way system. J. Nevin has asked the committee to appeal to friends and family regarding same. It was suggested that this message would be sent to all parents when text a parent is up and running in the coming weeks.

Parent Teacher Association:
Thank you to PTA for organising a very worthwhile and interesting AGM last Thursday night and in particular to the excellent guest speaker, Sean Ashe, CEO of Kildare VEC.

Following the AGM S. Ashe has met with J. Nevin and evidence of parental support for the new school should be sent to Department of Education. It was agreed to hold a special committee meeting next Tuesday 25th October at 7pm. Correspondence would be hand delivered locally by the committee and a followup call would be required. Details of how this can be achieved will be discussed at meeting.

Thank You:
Thank you to all who contributed to the School Sports Fund Draw on 16th September last. Approximately €2,670 was raised for the fund.

Thank you to Ms. Murphy and the members of the Students Council for organising Sports Day on 30th September.

Well done to Mr. Ryan and the 6th Year LCVP class on raising €1,350 for jersey day on 6th October.

5) Matters Arising:
Parents requested that S. Ashes presentation at AGM be uploaded on school website.

S. McAuley updated meeting on 40th Anniversary Gala Ball. It was agreed at September meeting to arrange a gala ball as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations. The ball will take place on 12th November in Carton House and tickets are €55. As this is an event that the committee agreed to organise we would encourage as many members to attend. Tickets available at school office and will be on sale at meeting on Tuesday 25th October next.

6) Correspondence:
National Parents Council hosted training session for parent committees in Pipers Hill School on 6th October 2011. Unfortunately the correspondence was received at short notice which did not allow enough time for more members to attend.

Brennan Insurance Policy for renewal. A. Jennings to arrange.

Apologies: Eleanor Jones, Mairead Murray, Barbara McMahon

Minutes from Last Meeting

1. Minutes
Proposed by Shelly O’Riordain, seconded by Teresa Murray
Note to amend- to show Carol Devereux in attendance.

2. Financial Update

PTA Acct
Previous balance €14, 656.83
Income €5,644.03
Expenditure €8.618.89
New balance €11,681.97

New Acct
Income €19,311.71
Expenditure €16,011.90
New balance €3,299.81

Issue over signatures on account – now resolved.

3. 40th Celebrations
Sinéad O’Connell provided the PTA with an update on school events planned for the 40th celebrations. Plans so far include:

- Launch of celebrations with President Mary McAlese’s visit on October 7th - certain protocol to be followed for visit.
- Gala Musical evening
- Fun day on 10k run day

4. Principal’s Report
Johnny welcomed all back to the start of another school year. He talked about the upcoming visit of President Mary McAlese to the school and that she would officially launch the school celebrations.

He announced the appointment of Íde Ní Uallacháin as 2nd Deputy Principal. He also welcomed new teacher who had joined the staff for 2011/2012 – Ms Clusker, Mr Lloyd, Ms Harnan, Ms Kelly and Mr Blythe.
He congratulated the students, teachers and parents on great LC results. Top female student was Grace Dempsey with 600 points and Ruairi Brett with 550 points. He advised that presentations would be made to both at the upcoming 1st Years Welcome on 22nd September. He also advised that the new inaugural Tom Ashe Bursary ward would be presented the same night and thanked Tom for this sponsoring this award.

He gave an update on the joint sports development – planning permission had been granted. GAA have had grant approval. DAR golf was waiting for weather to improve and would start the final layer of the pitch – 700 tonnes of sand and draining piping. The plan is to have seeded before the end of September. This phase costs €427k. The GAA would the school to promote their upcoming golf classic. They thanked Carton House for giving green fees for free. They hope this event will raise €15-20k.

Johnny thanked the parents who had been involved in the book rental scheme during the summer months. He also talked about the 2nd hand book sale planned for September 16th.

5. Department of Education Sanctions New Schools
Johnny then talked about the developments over the summer months wrt the dept of Education and new schools. On June 27th the Dept had announced that 40 new schools would be built and within that allocation a 2nd school had been sanctioned for Maynooth. He talked about the new process announced for determining patronage of these new schools. We discussed Tom Ashe’s letter in response to this announcement where he talked about how the current school served the community well and that a new patronage would only cause division within the community. We discussed his proposal of a Junior and Senior school under the patronage of the VEC. The committee fully supported this proposal. They believed it was important for parents to know about this proposal and that the minister should also be aware of our preference. We agreed that the PTA would write a letter to the minister. We also agreed that the PTA should invite parents and guardians from all feeder schools to the AGM where Sean Ashe would talk on the future plans for secondary education in Maynooth. It was agreed that a sub-group would meet to compose the letter to the minister. (John, Fiona, Johnny, Íde, Teresa and Gerry)

6. Book Rental Scheme
Teresa provided an update on the book rental scheme prepared by Barbara McMahon. She thanked Grainne and Barbara who had given a huge amount of time to this over the summer months. 42 families had not availed of the rental scheme. We need to make the scheme mandatory for it to work – exclude the rental books from the book list. The colour coded zippy bags were a great success. We will need to monitor the financial investment required to maintain and we will need to see impact of budget and if book grants will be impacted.

7. 10K Run
We need to agree date asap for next years run. We should look at either May 13th or 20th – check Curragh/Lucan dates. Also to register the run we need to agree on route as it will change from last year. We should look at including the new 1.3km track as part of the run. At the next meeting we will select a sub-committee for this event.

8. Gala Ball
We agreed that the PTA would organise a Gala dinner dance as part of the 40th celebrations. We should advertise this on facebook, newsletter and also contact part pupils. Siobhán McCauley agreed to contact Carton re dates. A sub-committee was also set-up – Dearbhla, Shelly, Julie, Brid, Ann and Siobhán.

9. Presidents Visit
Johnny advised that a very detailed protocol had to be followed. There were 85 guests invited. There were 8-10 people in welcome party; she would unveil a plaque, visit resource area 1, the garden of remembrance, see samples of school successes. The new school choir would perform. The school were providing a meal post the visit for the invited guests which Twist would cater for. He requested support from the PTA in getting the canteen ready.

10. AOB
- Vic asked members to support the upcoming Liz McDonnell run. He would forward details to Fiona to pass on.

- Ann reminded the committee that we needed to get subscriptions out earlier this year. We talked about ‘letter in the bag’ versus ‘text a parent’. We should try to encourage the mandate again this year. Fiona would forward letter and mandate form to Ann. We also need ‘Text a parent’ up and running.

- Fiona will provide contact details for Tyrone to Julie re updating the PTA web-site project.

Next Meeting on Tuesday 18th October at 8pm

We need your  help in keeping this site current, interesting and informative. If you have any comments or suggestions (good , or bad) on content/layout, or if you have something you want to share, please email us at  mppsptaweb@live.ie or enter a comment on the 'Comments' page.

Thanks

MPPS PTA

Visit School Days.ie - Irelands Online Resource for parent and teachers or read their January 2010 newsletter - Click HERE

The first meeting of the committee for the new Maynooth Teen Café will be held on Thursday 3rd December in the Glenroyal Hotel at 7.30.
Interested members of the public are invited to attend.
Click HERE for further details