THE INFOGRAPHIC BELOW INFORMS YOU OF THE MANY ESSENTIAL AND BENEFICIAL SERVICES THAT THE PARENTAL CONTRIBUTION PROVIDES FOR OUR STUDENTS, PARENTS AND STAFF. A MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE PARENTAL CONTRIBUTION IS AVAILABLE BELOW THE INFOGRAPHIC.

CBS The Green Parental Contribution 2022/2023

€150 per student

As is the case in all voluntary secondary schools, CBS The Green requests financial support from parents of its students on an annual basis.  We are deeply indebted to our parents over many years for their support in this regard. This financial support assists us immensely in covering a range of services for our students as well as running the school on a day-to-day basis.  It would not be possible to provide the essential services that your son requires as part of his education without this contribution.  We receive inadequate funding from the Department of Education and Skills.  Voluntary Secondary Schools receive significantly less funding than the Education and Training Board Sector (ETB) and Community Schools. Put simply, it would not be possible to run the school without this parental contribution.

Your contribution goes directly towards the provision of essential services to enhance your sons’ educational experience in the school.

1.1 ESSENTIAL SERVICES

€150 to be paid by Friday, September 2nd.  We encourage parents to use the school app for this payment.

This payment covers the provision of the following items:

School journal

The school journal is an essential resource for students and parents.  It is used to record homework, test results and is an important form of communication between school and home. Parents are asked to check and sign the journal on at least a weekly basis.  Key policies are printed in the journal.  The journal also contains some important information in relation to literacy and numeracy. It is a requirement that each student possesses a CBS The Green School Journal.

School App / Vs Ware/Texts

Our School App is an instantaneous means of communication. It connects parents, students and teachers and the wider community by allowing us to share information quickly and conveniently. The App is used to alert parents of up-and-coming events and news in our school. The app allows parents to send in an absentee note, permission to leave and late notes to the school office. When a student signs out of school for an appointment or signs into school on his return from an appointment a notification is sent to the parent’s phone to alert them of this. You will be notified via the app if your son is absent from school.

VSware is our Management Information System.  Parents will have access to VSware to monitor their son’s attendance and to view his academic reports.

Text messaging through VSware is also used to communicate with parents.

Postage, Stationery & Photocopying

The costs associated with these are quite significant each year.  Teachers provide handouts/class notes for their students. There is also a significant cost involved in the maintenance of our photocopiers.  Recent increases in the cost of postage have meant an increase in costs associated with the posting of student/school information.

Insurance

The school takes out 24-hour personal insurance cover for each and every student in the school.  This covers social, domestic and leisure activities as well as school activities.

1.2

Your contribution goes towards the day-to-day costs involved in running the school. There are other student services and amenities that we provide for our students to enhance their learning experience in the school. These services and amenities come at an additional cost to the school. Your contribution will be used to offset these costs.

Such services and amenities include:

• Computer Licence Fees: The school has a computer network that requires licencing. All students will be issued with a Microsoft Office 365 licence which gives them access to the full suite of Microsoft Office applications, Teams OneNote, Word, Outlook etc. As part of this Office 365 licence, students will also be able to download the applications onto their personal computer at home. It is intended that through their time in the school, all students will become computer literate and will have access to computers to carry out project work as part of the curriculum in subjects. This particularly applies to Classroom-Based Assessments associated with the New Junior Cycle.  Your contribution covers the licence fees for all computers and the software licences.
• Computers: We are a progressive school that focuses on 21st-century learning using Information Technology. We have a computer room, DCG room and laptops that your son will use throughout his time at The Green. Your contribution goes towards the management and maintenance of these devices.
• Guest Speakers/Workshops: Your contribution funds guest speakers and workshops for students that take place during the school year on varying topics of interest to students.
• Year Book/Newsletters: It funds a school yearbook and newsletters to keep our school community informed of the activities, achievements and successes of our students.
• Student Voice: Student’s voice is very important to us here in CBS The Green. Each year we have a representative body of our students who organise and carry out many activities during the school year. They also travel to many events to represent the school.  Your contribution funds the running costs of the student council.
• Parents Council: We have an active Parents’ Council that organises various events for the school during the year. We encourage all parents to become involved in the council and we are very appreciative of all parents who become involved. In recent years our Parents Council were instrumental in the provision of our school library which requires ongoing funding to update and replenish stock.

We offer a reduced rate for families who have more than one son in the school:

We encourage all parents to pay this contribution.  Parents who encounter difficulties can make arrangements with the Principal.

We are encouraging Parents/Guardians to make the payment through the shop section of the school app. Payment can also be made to the accounts office in the school.

If paying by cheque, please make payable to:

 Christian Brothers School St. Marys.

Payment may also be made by instalments through the school office, with full payment by September 2nd.

Receipts will be issued for payments.

We sincerely thank all parents in advance for their contribution and continued support.

Yours sincerely,

___________________

Anne O’Callaghan

Principal