About the Parents Association

The Parents Association at Canal Way Educate Together National School gives a voice to parents within the school community to actively participate in the development and running of the school. As a parent/guardian, you are a member of the Parents Association (PA) and each class has a representative in the Parents Association Committee (PAC). You can find a list of this year’s class reps below.

Every year, the PAC raises money through various events to support our school. With the funds raised, the school can buy new materials, equipment and resources for the children to enhance their educational experience such as yard furniture, hall storage, etc…

We want our school to be inclusive and without financial pressure. However, if you are able, we kindly ask you to support our fundraising efforts with your donations.

Click here to donate to our Fundraising Appeal
  • Class
  • J1
  • J1
  • S1
  • S1
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  • 2
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  • 4
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  • 5
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  • Teacher
  • Clíona
  • Jan
  • Amy O
  • Amy C
  • Helen
  • Dee
  • Katie
  • Simon
  • Ellie
  • Luke
  • Rebecca
  • Conor
  • Ciaran
  • Emma
  • Siobhan
  • Ciaran
  • Parent Representative
  • Diogo
  • Megan
  • Ranae
  • Elisa & Katya
  • Hugh & Aoife
  • Lesley & Carol Ann
  • Vicky & Maria
  • Adina & Andreea
  • Mark & Irene
  • Marjorie
  • Jenny
  • Liam
  • Asumpta
  • Philip
  • Maxine
  • Mehdi & Tanya

WELCOME PACK

Welcome to all the new families joining our school community. You can find useful information about the school and the area here: WELCOME PACK. FUN FACT – Did you know there are around 40 different languages spoken in our school community?

WHAT WE DO

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Our role includes organising after school activities and other events such as the Summer BBQ.

SCHOOL POLICIES

We support the Principal and the Board on policy issues and incidents that may require a review of school policy.

FUNDRAISING

We also have a vital fundraising role. As with all primary schools, Canal Way receives funding from the Department of Education. However, this funding is not enough to cover all the expenses of a busy, thriving school such as ours, and we have to rely on the generosity of parents to help bridge the gap between the grants we get from the DES and what it actually costs to run our school.

The PAC generally has a fundraising target for the year for projects and improvements selected by teachers and children. This could range from materials for subjects to outdoor furniture for the yard or storage for the hall.

Various events are organised throughout the year to reach this target, such as the Winter Quiz, Winter Cards, social quiz, sponsored walk and the popular Summer BBQ. See progress and last year’s results below.

WHAT’S THE PAC?

The Parents Association (PA) includes  all parents/guardians at Canal Way Educate Together School and each class is represented by a class rep in the Parents Association Committee (PAC). Class reps meet regularly, approximately once a month during the school term, to discuss and work on various projects including fundraising events, after school activities and policies.

The PAC is always looking for fresh ideas and volunteers to help with events. Getting involved is a great way to meet other people in the Canal Way community and to support the school we are proud of.

If you have any questions or suggestions you can email us at: [email protected]

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

There are many easy ways you can help the PAC, these are some ideas:

  • Take part in fundraising events

These include events such as the winter family quiz, pub quiz, winter cards, coffee mornings, sponsored walk and Summer BBQ

  • Volunteer your ideas and/or your time

We are always looking for ideas for fundraising events and volunteers to lead or help running them. Whether you’d like to organise a specific initiative or assist existing events, contact your class rep to let them know.

  • Purchase Canal Way hoodies

A percentage of the purchase of Canal Way hoodies and beanies goes towards the PA fundraising target. You can buy yours here: CANAL WAY HOODIES.

  • Register your children for after school activities

We organise a great range of after school activities for the school community but did you know a percentage of after school activities fees also contribute to our fundraising efforts? Consider signing your children up to after school activities at the school. You can find a full list here: AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES.

  • Donate whenever you can

Consider making a donation to the school if you can, or if your employer has a charity donation option as part of their corporate responsibility policies, consider putting forward our school as a recipient. You can donate here: FUNDRAISING 2024/25.

NEWS

EVENTS COMING UP

BAKE SALE | 14th February | Calling all Canal Way bakers!

The PAC and 5th Classes are delighted to invite everyone to Canal Way’s first Valentine’s Day Cake Sale taking place on Friday 14th February.

There will be tea and coffee for the grown ups (from 8.30 to 9.15am) and delicious treats throughout the day for all classes.

We are looking for volunteers to bake and drop their cakes that morning (no nuts or seeds please!) so if you can help, please let your class rep know.

Donations will be welcome on the day so please send some coins with your child. Each sale will bring us closer towards our fundraising goal which is aimed to purchase Maths resources for senior classes, branded jerseys for the school team and playground markings/games to keep the children engaged during yard time.

Any little donation helps!

If you can’t attend, you can still make a donation on this link: BAKE SALE FUNDRAISING PAGE. We hope to see you all in the school hall on Friday 14th!

PARENTS SOCIAL EVENING | To be confirmed

The PAC is looking to organise a social evening for parents/guardians in the Spring. Theme and dates to be confirmed. Please complete the survey sent by your class rep if you’d like to share your feedback and suggestions!

SPONSORED FUN RUN | Sunday 28th April

After last year’s successful sponsored walk, we are organising a second edition with a few tweaks! Save the date, more details coming soon.

CANAL WAY SUMMER BBQ | Saturday 14th June

The school’s biggest event of the year will take place on Saturday 14th June, save the date and get in touch with your class rep if you can volunteer on the day.

MOVIE NIGHTS | To be confirmed

If you’d like to volunteer for any of our upcoming events, please let your class rep know. Any help is greatly appreciated!

FUNDRAISING GOALS

Our fundraising target for 2024/25 is €12000 to be used for Maths resources for senior classes, jerseys for the school team and markings/games for the yard.

See the fantastic fundraising results achieved last year and how it was achieved::

Results from the Survey of Parent/Guardians May 2021

Summary 

What is the Parents Association about and what should it be doing? We wanted to know what parents/guardians thought. We invited you to tell us and 177 of you did. Thank you!

This is the first time a survey like this has been carried out among the parents/guardians. It has been a challenging time for everyone in the school but the responses were mostly very positive, offering support to the work of the association and giving very useful comments and suggestions as to how it can play its part even better going forward.

While a small committee (the Parents Association Committee – PAC) meets monthly to plan events and share ideas, importantly the Parents’ Association is made up of every parent/guardian in Canalway Educate Together School.  We hope this survey will become an annual part of the work of the association- finding out what it can do to support each other, our children and the school.

Key Messages 

  • The Parents’ Association and the Parents’ Association Committee are a valued resource and doing very positive work, and many respondents said thank you.
  • Respondents especially noted the good work of the PAC in coordinating extra-curricular activities and fundraising.
  • Respondents want more opportunities to meet with other parents, share information, advice and support, and build community.
  • Not all respondents are aware that the Parents’ Association includes every parent or guardian in the school. We need to communicate the existence and function of the Parents’ Association better.
  • There was a strong interest in getting more involved with the Parents’ Association, either by serving on the PAC, or by volunteering time and skills.
  • There were a number of comments about communicating with school management, and representing parents’ collective concerns and issues.

Next Steps

The Parents Association is taking these results on board and already are taking steps to:

  1. Improve communications with parents/guardians as to the role of the PA; how you can support its work and get more involved; and supportive information for particular stages of school-life e.g. starting at the school and moving on to secondary.
  2. Facilitate more peer support, information and support events and practical supports to parents/guardians including a Buddy System and Information Pack for new parents/guardians; tailored information and support events such as transition to secondary school.
  3. Reflect the views of parents/guardians in the work of the PA and include this in its Constitution.
  4. Clearly communicate the purpose of fundraising for the school. Government capitation grants do not cover the full costs of running the school, and so educational “extras” such as IT resources, library books, sports equipment and so on are only available to our kids when we raise money for them. This should be made clearer to all parents.
  5. Aim to repeat a survey annually to inform the work of the PA; and
  6. Share the results of the survey with the School Board.

To read the full report click below to download:

Parents’ Association Survey Results May 2021