Partnership Schools Ireland (PSI) is a joint initiative by the National Parents Council Primary (NPC) and the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN).

The main objective of a “Partnership School” is to achieve better outcomes for children. This is achieved by the whole school community planning and working in partnership on agreed ideas and activities.

The partnership scheme will be lead by a Committee or Action Team. The Action Team model originated in America and is now used in other countries such as Australia, Scotland. The model has been in Ireland since 2014. The approach seeks to encourage children, school staff, parents and community partners to work together, to form an effective partnership in their school for the benefit of the children. Research has shown that Principals and teaching staff are glad of the extra ideas and the practical supports which are organised by the Partnership Schools Committee Members.
We have set up a committee for “Partnership Schools”, which consists of the Principal, pupils, staff members, parents and members of our community.

The current Committee will sit until the end of the school year 2020. 

Julie, Saoirse, Darragh B and Fionn (Student Representatives)
Norma Murray, Thérése Cahill and Ger Ahern (Community Representatives)
Mary O’ Brien, Patsy O’ Mahony, Emer Mears, Helena Power and Marguerite Hanley (School Representatives)
Katie Eyre, Clodagh Aherne, Gráinne Daly and Angela Geary (Parents Representatives)

Following 2 training sessions provided by the NPC, the team has met and put together a One Year Action Plan for Partnership and set out a number of goals for the school.  These consist of 2 Academic, 1 Behavioural and 1 Partnership goal.  The team will meet regularly to coordinate and review these.  We also hope to involve various community groups throughout the year.

Reading with the Infants!

Ms. Helen Duggan has volunteered to come in once a week to work with pupils in Ms. Power and Ms. Beecher’s classroom. She listens to pupils read and plays oral language games with them. The pupils and teacher enjoy the extra support in the classroom and are very grateful.

 

St. Vincent De Paul Giving Tree

 

The Partnership Schools Ireland (PSI) Committee in St. Colman’s National School, Cloyne recently organised a St. Vincent De Paul Christmas Giving Tree. We asked the community to donate canned goods and other non-perishable items such as cereal, selection boxes and pasta. The collection was a great idea and the community’s involvement made the collection a great success. In the nine short days of the collection, we managed to collect over nine big bags of food, which we were delighted with. The items will now be distributed to families in need all over East Cork by St. Vincent de Paul, who continues to support the family’s needs throughout the year.

We would like to thank the community for all there help this year, we are very grateful for every donation. As Lao Tzu said “Kindness in giving creates love.”

By Saoirse Breathnach and Darragh Burke, Rang a sé

On Friday, November 15th St. Colman’s hosted an information morning in the school hall. This was an opportunity for people to meet and share their ideas and learn about Partnership Schools.