Parents Association: The structure through which parents /guardians in a school can work together for the best possible education for their children. The Parents Association along with the principal and school staff work to build effective partnership of home and school.

In St. Joseph’s the Parents Association has been an attribute for many years. Primarily, the focus of the Parents Association has been to fundraise on behalf of the school. The funds collected over the years have been visibly used in the following ways:

• Subsidising the cost of activities e.g. Speech & Drama, Irish Dancing, Basketball, Swimming etc. to provide the children with a ‘taster’ of many different activities. It helps them to develop new interests and gives all children a chance to shine outside the classroom.
• Subsidising the cost of school tours and travel costs to outside events e.g. bus costs to football blitz’s, West Muskerry Athletics competitions, Scith na Scoil, Cork City Sports Day, Lifetime Lab and many more.
• Organising fun activities for the children – visits from Santa and the Easter Bunny, outdoor discos. Also providing treats at Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Communions, Confirmations, 1^st and 6^th Class Graduations.
• In terms of capital spending, the construction of the new school building for senior classes, and contributing to the cost of the restoration of the old, Cookery School building to make it a usable space for the new St. Joseph’s Preschool Service.
• In terms of I.T., the upgrading of technology within the school – the replacement and modernisation of classroom equipment; replacing old/broken projectors and screens with digital televisions in the majority of classrooms (ongoing works). The purchase of iPads for the children to use to aid in interactive work. The purchase of “BeeBots” which are used to teach the children coding skills.

The officers of the Parents Association donate their time to fundraising for the betterment of the school-life of the children. Volunteers are sought at busy times to help with making up hampers at Christmas and Easter, for Church Gate Collection, hosting the teas and coffees for the communion and confirmation children and their families, and marshalling the route for the Family Fun Walk. Communication will be sent via Aladdin when help is needed and we would be extremely grateful for even an hour of your time.

In St. Joseph’s we have a solid link between home and school, and also between school and the wider community. The longstanding tradition of the Parents Association is a valuable tool in making the school a happy, inclusive space for children to actively learn, enjoy, flourish and thrive.

We are very thankful and appreciate all the efforts of the volunteers that have come before us, and to those who will continue the Parents Association into the future.