The Ballyraine Parents Association was set up a number of years ago with the main aim of encouraging parental involvement in various aspects of school life, such as facilitating events of educational and social value for parents, guardians and pupils, or providing finance to improve facilities within the school. All parents and guardians of children attending Ballyraine National School are entitled to be members of the committee.
Traditionally, the Parents Committee have organised a number of social events that are generally enjoyed by all who attend, such as the fun day in Ards forest, which provides a chance for parents and children to meet informally. The committee also organise a number of fund raising events such as the Bag Pack in Tesco in the lead up to Christmas, which raised enough money last year, to purchase the sports equipment for the new assembly hall.
Following the AGM in October of 2009, the current committee were formed.
The Parents Association are hoping in the future to procure a number of "Interactive Whiteboards" for use in the school, and to that end, a fundraising 'Dream Auction' is to be held in the future, where by donations of items and services are to be auctioned at a social event in a local establishment.
"Whiteboards" although not funded by the Government are generally seen as the way forward in teaching and are in common use in schools throughout the UK. An 'Interactive Whiteboard' is a large, touch-sensitive panel, resembling a traditional whiteboard (or blackboard), that connects to a computer, enabling the information displayed on the computer screen to be viewed on the interactive whiteboard. The computer connected to the interactive whiteboard can be controlled by touching the board directly or by using a special pen, allowing the user to access and control applications on the computer or write, draw and highlight on the board. They are used as replacements for traditional whiteboards or flipcharts, and provide ways to show students anything, which can be presented on a computer's desktop (educational software, web sites, and others). In addition, interactive whiteboards allow teachers to record lessons for review by students at a later time. This can be a very effective instructional strategy for students who benefit from repetition, who need to see the material presented again, for students who are absent from school, for struggling learners, and for review for examinations. Some of the ways that 'Interactive Whiteboards' can be used in the Classroom include:

Use the built in maps to teach continents, oceans, countries, or states and capitals.
Present presentations created by student or teacher
Digital storytelling
Teach whole group computer or keyboarding skills
Brainstorming
Reinforce skills by using on-line interactive web sites
Use highlighter tool to highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
Teaching students how to navigate the Internet
Use the software to create lessons in advance at home or at school. Then save them for future use or to be shared with other teachers
Teaching steps to a math problem.
Have students share projects during Parent/Teacher/Student conferences
Teaching vocabulary

With the ultimate aim of procuring a number of whiteboards, (perhaps one for every other classroom), at an estimated cost of €2,500 each, the Parents Association committee will be delighted to accept any offers of help and/or items or services for auction, and hope to be in touch in the near future. Any parent interested in joining the Parents Association should contact the association via the school secretary, and we would especially welcome the involvement of parents of infant classes.
By Fergal Doherty

If you have any suggestions, ideas or issues you would like to bring to the committee, please talk to any of the committee members or to the teacher representatives. If any of you are interested in joining the committee, you can talk to any of the committee members or to David Oliver.

IT'S YOUR ASSOCIATION, YOUR SCHOOL AND YOUR CHILDREN !