The latest school newsletter (April 2012) is now available on the Newsletters page.

The Board of Management has discussed book rental for the coming school year 2012/2013. They have come to the agreement that the fee will remain the same as last year. It will be as follows, €95 euros for the first child and €85 per child after that.

• Family of one child: €95
• Family of two children: €180 (€95 & €85)
• Family of three children: €265 (€95, €85, €85)
• Family of four children: €350 (€95, €85, €85, €85)

Fees include €25 for Arts & Crafts and €15 for photocopying/resources and the covering of books (€40).

Book rental fees may be paid in installments of your choice to Suzanne in the office. However please have at least half of your fees paid by Friday the 27h of April, as school books for the coming year will have to be ordered as soon as possible. Fees should be paid in full by June 1st.

Parents who wish to buy their own books must let the office know before the end of April, so that the correct number of books may be ordered. Also if you are purchasing your own books, an Arts & Crafts fee of €25 and a €15 for photocopying per child must be paid to the office. When this is paid you will then receive your booklist in May. However those who do not pay will not receive their lists. It is very important that all fees for Arts & Crafts and photocopying are paid as each class will be allocated this money per child paid.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to come to me any afternoon after school. Thank you for your co-operation.

Mise le meas,
Múinteoir Caitríona
(Teacher in charge of ordering school books)

The visit by Minister for Education Ruarí Quinn to Gaelscoil Philib Barún earlier today was featured prominently by two local radio stations, WLRfm and TCRfm, and podcasts from each station are now available at the links below:

• News at One @ WLRfm (WLRfm.com)
• Minister for Education & Skills Visits Tramore (TCRfm.ie)

A full catalog of these and all other articles covering the campaign are available on the Media Articles section of the school website.

The Minister Ruairí Quinn was welcomed to the school today. The school drummers welcomed him initially and he participated in a question and answer session with sixth class pupils afterwards. A wide variety of topics were covered including his sporting interested, his political career and the long wait Gaelsoil Philib Barún has had in temporary accommodation.

The Minister explained that the DES is building many schools throughout the country but afterwards at a meeting with the Board of Management and Parents representatives he advised that the school continue with dhb Architects to design and seek planning permission for a permanent building. If funding becomes available then the project may go to tender.

The Principal, Daithí de Paor, asked that the length of time that schools are waiting for permanent accommodation be factored in to decisions by the DES to progress projects.

Finally the Chairperson of the BOM, Sean Breathnach, asked that the Minister return to open our new school when it is built. Minister Quinn accepted the invitation.

The Board of Management have been informed that Ruairí Quinn, Minister for Education and Science, will visit the school on Friday next (20th April 2012) to meet pupils, staff and parents.

We are grateful to Ciara Conway TD who has arranged the visit to highlight the school’s disappointment at our omission from the Department’s Five year Building Programme. We will use the occasion to impress upon the Minister that our 27 year wait for a permanent building is unjust and and indeed a scandal.

Pupils from 6th class will hold a question and answers session with him and he will then be shown around the school. He will meet with a delegation from the Board of Management and John Breen, Chairperson of the Parents Association.

A Senior Architect from the Department of Education and Skills, Margaret Brennan, has been appointed design team leader to oversee the design of a new school building for Gaelscoil Philib Barún. She has met with the Board of Management and with the architects appointed, dhb Architects Waterford, to progress the project through planning permission stage. We are determined to press ahead with the architectural planning in the hope that we can have it included in the building list should funding become available with the support of the Minister, Ruairí Quinn.

The school has been informed that a Whole School Evaluation will take place in Gaelscoil Philib Barún the week starting the 21st May 2012. DES inspectors will visit the school and classes to view teaching, learning and the administration in the school. Staff, pupils and management will be preparing for this over the next few weeks. The inspectors’ report will subsequently will be published on the DES website. This is part of the DES ongoing inspection of all primary and secondary schools.

The Waterford News & Star have featured an article about the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny’s surprise at our exclusion from the recent building programme. You can read the full article here.

The latest school newsletter (March 2012) is now available on the Newsletters page. There was no newsletter in February.

The school Principal, Daithí de Paor, and John Wall, School Board of Management, met with Taoiseach Enda Kenny last Friday afternoon at the Carriganore Campus of WIT. The Taoiseach was opening a research facility and following a ceremony a meeting was arranged by Paudie Coffey, TD.

The Taoiseach spoke in Irish with Daithí and asked how long the school was in temporary accommodation. He showed particular interest in the school’s name. Daithí told him of the school community’s frustration at being excluded from the DES’s five year building list having been in temporary accommodation for 27 years. The Taoiseach accepted a letter from Daithí and opened it and read part of it promising to raise the matter with the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, at his next meeting with him when he returns from China. He said that he could not guarantee any result as many schools had said that they were not being fairly treated and indeed schools in his constituency had not been included in this list.

We are very happy that the Taoiseach has noted our case and that he will make representations on our behalf. Daithi’s letter can be accessed here.