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Agreed Report of Board of Management
meeting
Tuesday,
15 September 2009
Attendance
Sr. Helen, Ms.
Kent, Mr. Hillery Ms. Kinsella, Mr. O’ Leary, Sr. Christine
and Mr. Gunning.
As Secretary
to the Board, Mr. O’ Shea also attended.
The Board
welcomed Mr. Gunning to the meeting as a replacement for Mr.
Boyd who has taken up a new teaching position in Loreto,
Clonmel.
It was with
great sadness that the Board reflected upon the recent death
of one of its members – Gerry Mc Donnell. The Board
remembered him in its opening prayer and passed a vote of
sympathy to his wife and daughter.
Capital
Development
The Board was
informed by Mr. O’ Shea of work done over the summer
months:
-
New car
park for staff, students and visitors to the school
-
Re-surfacing of the area around the St. Joseph’s block
as well as the re-painting of this area, internally and
externally
-
Fitting of
new external windows in the St. Joseph’s classrooms
-
Fitting of
new floors in 6 classrooms plus the staff area
-
Re-painting of the Concert Hall, lunch room, corridors,
office and 5 classrooms
-
Installation of 3 interactive whiteboards, large screen
in the Concert Hall and information screens in the foyer
and outside the Concert Hall
-
Purchase
of additional projectors and laptops for different
subject departments
-
The
commissioning of the new fire escape and internal
emergency lighting and smoke detectors
Following
consideration of a written report from a tree surgeon, the
Board decided to make arrangements for the felling of the
three beech trees at the rear of the building on safety
grounds.
Financial
Report
The Board
formally approved the school budget for 2009/2010 as
submitted to it by the Finance Sub-Committee.
Mr. O’ Shea
reported that the annual audit had taken place and that the
auditor’s report would be ready for the next meeting.
Sr. Helen
emphasised the need for the Board and the teaching staff to
be very careful and sensitive when making financial demands
upon families at this difficult time for the country.
School
policies
In determining
policies for review in 2009/2010 the Board decided to ask
the School Development Planning Sub-Committee to examine
some of the oldest policies as well as those suggested to it
by the teaching staff and to put any revised policies before
the Board in the course of the year.
Staffing,
2009/2010
The Board was
informed of the departure of three members of the teaching
staff who have each given great service to Loreto, Wexford
in their careers of varying lengths – Ms. Gahan (retiring),
Ms. MacGonagle (retiring) and Mr. Boyd (new position in
Loreto, Clonmel).
Principal’s
Report
Mr. O’ Shea
made mention of the following in his report to the Board:
-
Total
student enrolment of 708
-
The
receipt of the draft report on the German inspection
Any other
business
The Board
discussed the contents of its Agreed Report.
The next
meeting was fixed for Tuesday, 20 October 2009 at 4.30 p.m.
Agreed Report of Board of Management
meeting
Tuesday,
13 October 2009
Attendance
Sr. Helen, Ms. Kent, Mr. Hillery Ms.
Kinsella, Mr. O’ Leary, Sr. Christine and Mr. Gunning.
As Secretary to the Board, Mr. O’ Shea
also attended.
AMCSS report
Sr. Helen and Mr. O’ Shea reported on the
most recent AMCSS meeting in the region during which the
likely implications for education of the forthcoming budget
were outlined.
Capital Development
The Board agreed to provide a pathway
across the grass beside St. Joseph’s to facilitate student
traffic during fire drills.
The Board agreed with a recent tree
surgeon’s written report to arrange for the felling of three
unsafe beech trees at the rear of the school.
Financial Report
Mr. O’ Shea presented the Board with an
Income and Expenditure Statement from 1 September 2009 to 7
October 2009.
The audited accounts for 2008/2009 were
approved and signed by the Board.
Principal’s Report
Mr. O’ Shea made mention of the following
in his report to the Board:
-
The staging of a school musical,
Fiddler on the Roof, in co-operation with St. Peter’s
College
-
The newly-appointed Students’ Council
– the Board ratified all members
-
The large attendance at the recent
parents’ AGM
Any other business
The Board discussed the contents of its
Agreed Report.
The next meeting was fixed for Tuesday,
24 November 2009 at 4.30 p.m.
Agreed Report of Board of Management
meeting
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
(meeting
brought forward from 24 November 2009)
Attendance
Sr. Helen, Ms. Kent, Mr. Hillery Ms.
Kinsella, Sr. Christine and Mr. Gunning.
Apologies were received from Mr. O’
Leary.
As Secretary to the Board, Mr. O’ Shea
also attended.
1st year places, September
2010
The Board allocated the 120 available 1st
year places for September 2010.
Capital Development
The Board approved a Summer Works
Application for 2010 in respect of water conservation
measures and any other qualifying work considered necessary
by Mr. O’ Shea and the caretakers.
Financial Report
Mr. O’ Shea presented the Board with an
Income and Expenditure Statement from 1 September 2009 to 4
November 2009.
Principal’s Report
Mr. O’ Shea made mention of the following
in his report to the Board:
-
The requirement to proceed with
parent-teacher meetings and staff meetings within school
hours as a result of industrial action by members of the
ASTI
-
Ongoing discussion of this year’s
excellent Leaving Certificate results
Any other business
A vote of sympathy was passed to Margaret
Oliver (teaching staff) on the recent death of her father.
The Board discussed the contents of its
Agreed Report.
The next meeting was fixed for Monday, 30
November 2009 at 4.30 p.m.
Agreed Report of Board of Management
meeting
Monday, 30 November 2009
Attendance
Sr. Helen,
Mr. Hillery, Ms. Kinsella, Mr. O’ Leary, Sr. Christine and
Mr. Gunning.
Apologies were
received from Ms. Kent.
As Secretary
to the Board, Mr. O’ Shea also attended.
German inspection report.
The Board agreed its response to this report
and warmly congratulated the German teachers.
1st
year places, September 2010
The Board
considered appeals from the parents of the following
students whose applications for admission into 1st
year, September 2010 had been unsuccessful.
Capital
Development
Mr. O’ Shea
reported on his recent meeting with representatives of the
Loreto trustees. He stated that the intention now was to
seek an urgent meeting with senior officials in the Building
Unit to establish the DES position on the status of the
school’s application for an extension/refurbishment.
Any other
business
The Board
discussed the contents of its Agreed Report.
The next
meeting was fixed for Monday, 14 December 2009 at 4.30 p.m.
Agreed Report of Board of Management
meeting
Monday, 14 December 2009
Attendance
Sr. Helen,
Ms. Kent, Mr. Hillery Ms. Kinsella, Mr. O’ Leary, Sr.
Christine and Mr. Gunning.
As Secretary to the Board, Mr. O’ Shea also
attended.
Capital Development
Mr. O’ Shea
advised the Board that a summer works application had been
lodged in respect of water conservation measures and the
replacement/repair of all windows in the old convent
buildings. He also advised that a meeting with senior
Building Unit officials had been sought.
Financial
Report
Mr. O’ Shea
presented the Board with an Income and Expenditure Statement
from 1 September 2009 to 9 December 2009.
Road Safety
Measures
The Board
agreed to request an early meeting with the Town Clerk, Pat
Collins, to review road safety outside the school.
Principal’s
Report
Mr. O’ Shea
made mention of the following in his report to the Board:
-
The new
Health and Safety Statement
-
The
success of the school musical, “Fiddler on the Roof”, in
respect of which the Board extended its congratulations
to all concerned
-
The
ongoing review of the school’s learning support policy
-
The phased
introduction of the ePortal system
-
Forthcoming school events
-
The
likelihood of industrial action by public sector unions
in the New Year
Any other
business
The Board
discussed the contents of its Agreed Report.
The next
meeting was fixed for Tuesday, 19 January 2009 at 4.30 p.m.
Agreed Report of Board of
Management meeting
Tuesday, 2
February 2010
(meeting
changed from 19 January 2010)
Attendance
Sr. Helen,
Ms. Kent, Mr. Hillery Ms. Kinsella, Mr. O’ Leary, Sr.
Christine and Mr. Gunning.
As Secretary
to the Board, Mr. O’ Shea also attended.
Capital
Development
Mr. O’ Shea
informed the Board of recent meetings with the DES (19
January) and the school architects (25 January) at which a
future scheme of work for advancing the
extension/refurbishment programme on the existing site was
agreed.
Road safety
measures
The Board was
informed that Mr. Hillery and Mr. O’ Shea would be meeting
Wexford Corporation officials on 3 February to discuss
safety measures on Spawell Road.
Annual report
to parents
The Board
formally approved the contents of its annual report to
parents covering the period from 1 September 2008 to 31
August 2009.
Financial
Report
Mr. O’ Shea
presented the Board with an Income and Expenditure Statement
from 1 September 2009 to 2 February 2010.
Principal’s
Report
Mr. O’ Shea
made mention of the following in his report to the Board:
-
The
commencement of mock examinations in the school
-
Outline
proposals for an exchange programme with a German
school, St. Ursula Schulen in Villingen, were accepted
and welcomed by the Board
Any other
business
The Board
discussed the contents of its Agreed Report.
The next
meeting was fixed for Tuesday, 9 March 2010 at 4.30 p.m.
It was
indicated that Michael Denny (Loreto Education Centre) would
attend this meeting.
Report
to parents from the Board of Management (BOM) on the
operation and performance of Loreto Secondary School,
Wexford for the year ended 31 August 2008.
Introduction
This report
has been prepared to comply with section 20 of the Education
Act, 1998. It covers the year to 31 August 2008. It was
approved at a Board of Management meeting on 26 November
2008.
The next
report will issue in December 2009.
Spiritual
A variety of
services and liturgies took place during the year, as
follows:
-
Start-of-Year Mass, Graduation Masses for 4th
and 6th year students, Class Masses, Masses
for Advent, Christmas Carol Service, November
Remembrance Mass
-
Commissioning of Eucharistic Ministers in 6th
year by Bishop Denis Brennan
-
A retreat
for 3rd year students
The school’s
Religious Education department was greatly assisted by our
chaplain, Fr. Jim Fegan (Adm.) and by Sr. Carmel O’ Brien
throughout the year.
The school was
represented at meetings throughout the year planning for the
400th anniversary of the founding of the Loreto
Institute in 2009.
Charity and
Social Awareness
The school’s
Justice and Peace Group undertook a major initiative when it
devised a series of school-based posters to highlight
bullying in school and in the workplace.
Students and
staff raised considerable sums of money for the following
charities:
Concern, St.
Vincent de Paul, Bothar, Crumlin Childrens’ Hospital, The
Hospice Movement and Loreto Missions (with particular
emphasis on the work of Sr. Winnifred in Peru).
Academic
Excellent
results were achieved by 121 students taking the Leaving
Certificate. The school rejoices in the academic success of
all students.
Very
impressive results were achieved by the school’s 121 Junior
Certificate students in 2008.
The BOM
congratulates all students and their teachers on the
continued excellence of results in the school.
No subject
inspections took place in 2007/2008.
Staffing
The school’s
total teacher allocation from the DES for 2007/2008 was
45.21.
Of the DES
total of 45.21, 1.20 was set aside for students with special
educational needs under the overall co-ordination of the
school’s Learning Support teachers, Ms. Wilson and Ms.C.
Larkin.
The BOM wishes
every future success and happiness to Sr. Ita Moynihan who
left the teaching staff on 31 August 2008 to take up a new
position within the Loreto Provincialate.
We are
particularly keen to welcome the following new teachers who
were appointed to our staff in summer 2008:
Ms. Lisa
Shannon Irish
Ms. Elaine
Kinsella P.E.
Ms. Patricia
Curran Science
Ms. Annette
Byrne Business, Maths, L.C.V.P.
I.T.
The Anseo
system continued to monitor the daily attendance and
punctuality of all students. The school announced plans to
introduce a text alert system for parents when students did
not register their attendance for school.
All Transition
Year students studied for the ECDL information technology
qualification.
Lunchtime
access to I.T. for students continued to be facilitated.
Capital
Development
A combined
report from the conservation architects and our design team
was submitted to the Building Unit in March 2008.
A meeting in
the school between the design team, Building Unit officials,
Loreto Trust Board representatives and school authorities
scheduled for Thursday, 5 June was cancelled at short notice
by the Department of Education and Science (DES) and has
not, to date, been re-scheduled. This meeting was intended
to “kick-start” the project following the refusal of
planning permission by Wexford County Council in May 2007
and the submission of the combined report as outlined
above.
The Board of
Management continued to press for progress and, indeed, to
explore all and other possibilities. In the meantime, our
700 students and staff continued to work in 1792 buildings
with leaking roofs, no sports hall, no dressing rooms, no
library, insufficient and inadequate classrooms, no
universal access for the wheelchair-bound, no canteen and
with major health and safety concerns.
Extra-curricular and co-curricular activities
The BOM
expresses its gratitude to the teaching staff for organizing
the following activities for students in 2007/2008:
Irish and
English debating
quizzes
hockey
basketball
tennis
soccer
yoga
rounders
athletics
football
camogie
self-defence
tag
rugby
educational
tour to France
field trips
theatre trips
school choir
school musical
(in co-operation with St. Peter’s College)
supervised
internet access
horse riding
Maths Olympiad
recycled
material fashion show
Young
Entrepreneurs competition
Transition
Year
104 students
took Transition Year in 2007/2008, the highest number ever
in the school’s history.
Student
appraisal of the school’s Transition Year programme
continues to be very positive.
A major review
of the Transition Year programme took place and has led,
amongst other things, to the introduction of more modular
courses for the future.
Child
Protection
Child
Protection Guidelines and vetting procedures have been in
full operation throughout 2007/2008 following staff training
in December 2005. The Designated Liaison Person (DLP) was
Mr. Billy O’ Shea and the Assistant DLP was Sr. Carmel
Swords.
Care of
Students
All Class
Teachers continued to take a keen interest in the pastoral
care of their students. In addition, the school’s two
Guidance Counsellors, Ms. Fallon and Ms. Young, were
available to assist in any possible way.
A dedicated
Student Care Team was very active in 2007/2008. Comprising
the Principal, Deputy Principal, Chaplain, Counsellors,
Learning Support Teachers and Class Teachers where required,
this team met at least fortnightly and ensured that adequate
provision was made for all students experiencing particular
difficulties in school and in their personal lives.
Student
Empowerment
Clodagh
Rochford and Claire Farrell were the Head Girl and Deputy
Head Girl respectively in 2007/2008. They were assisted by
prefects and vice-prefects in each class group.
The Students’
Council continued to be active and forged even closer links
with the school’s Parents’ Council e.g. development of
school policies, Christmas lunch for both councils hosted by
the school.
Code of
Behaviour
Students
continued to co-operate in a very positive way with the
school’s behaviour code as evidenced by favourable comments
throughout the year from teachers and visitors to the
school. The Board thanks the students for this excellent
behaviour.
Parental
Involvement and Contact
The school
organized information meetings for parents in 2007/2008 on
the following matters:
-
New 1st
year students, September 2008
-
Subject
choices for 2nd, 4th and 5th
years
-
CAO/CAS
-
Parent-teacher meetings for every year group
All meetings
were very well attended by parents. Due to the fact that the
school does not have the space to hold large general
meetings of parents and students, it became necessary on
health, safety and comfort grounds in 2007/2008 to use a
local hotel as a venue for some of these larger meetings and
events.
The school
website was updated weekly and contained a great deal of
information for parents on current news as well as all
school policies. For families without internet access, hard
copies of all updates and policies continued to be available
from reception.
The Principal,
Deputy Principal and all teachers were available on an
appointment basis to meet parents to discuss any concerns
about students.
The Parents’
Council was particularly active in 2007/2008 in the
promotion of three Healthy Eating Weeks for students. A
major initiative undertaken primarily by the Parents’
Council was the provision of hot food for students at
lunchtime and prior to evening study in co-operation with
Taste Restaurant.
Representatives of the Council met with Mr. O’ Shea,
Principal, on a regular basis to liaise on school matters
and the Council is also represented on the School
Development Planning Group that meets weekly.
Parents were
asked by the school throughout the year to help ensure a
high level of attendance at school by their daughters.
School
Development Planning
All
policies that make up the school plan are available on the
school’s website:
www.loretowexford.com.
The following
have been the main developments in school planning
throughout 2007/2008:
-
The
ongoing review of subject development plans in all
departments
-
The
ongoing work of the School Development Planning Group,
representative of staff, students and parents, to
prepare draft policies for consideration by all
educational partners in the school
-
The formal
review of the following policies:
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1.
Curricular provision |
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2.
Student attendance |
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3.
Admission |
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4.
In-school management |
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5.
Anti-bullying |
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6.
Health and Safety Statement/Fire Drill |
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7.
Student attendance |
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8.
Class Teacher system and Student Care Co-ordination
Team |
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9.
Homework |
Professional
Development of Staff
Teachers
attended DES and other in-service in a wide range of subject
areas.
The teaching
staff also received professional input on the following
topics:
The Loreto
ethos and Kolkata challenge
Voice
protection
Student
councils
Mind
development
Board of
Management
The BOM held
nine formal meetings in 2007/2008. At the end of each
meeting an agreed report was approved for circulation by
teacher and parent representatives.
Financial
Accountability
The
Independent Auditors’ Report to the trustees for the year
ended 31 August 2008 concludes as follows:
“ In our
opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view
of the state of the school’s affairs as at the 31 August
2008 and of its results for the year then ended and have
been properly prepared in accordance with the Education Act,
1998.
We have
obtained all the information and explanations we consider
necessary for the purposes of our audit. In our opinion, the
school has kept proper books of account. The financial
statements are in agreement with the books of account.
In our
opinion, the Board of Management’s Report is consistent with
the financial statements.”
O’ Brien
Harnett & Associates,
Chartered
Accountants and Registered Auditors,
97 Haddington
Road,
Dublin 4.
The Board is very grateful to
families who supported the Voluntary Contribution Scheme
that yielded €61,485 in 2007/2008, down €2,286 on the
previous year.
Community
Links
The BOM is
particularly appreciative of the assistance provided by the
local Wexford community in providing work experience
placements for Transition Year and LCVP students in
2007/2008 and for its generous sponsorship of Transition
Year mini-companies.
Throughout the
year school facilities have been made available to the
following groups:
Presentation
Secondary School, Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club,
Wexford Parks Tennis, Wexford Ladies Hockey Club and the
Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Billy O’ Shea,
Secretary to
Board of Management.
December 2008
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