Community spirit

Community spirit is central to school life and the festivals we celebrate bring everyone together.

We have a vibrant school community with families from a wide variety of backgrounds. In addition to local families, many families relocate to the area to send their children to Raheen Wood School.

Please click here to download our guide about the local area and relocating.

Parental involvement: how to support your child’s journey

All parents and guardians are expected to attend class meetings and participate in School Festivals, as those are vital to the functioning of the school.

If you want to know more about school festivals, please click here.

1. Contribute your time

Many families participate in school life working together in a variety of roles and creating activities to strengthen our community.

As a parent or guardian you can:

• Organise or support fundraising activities.
• Become a Class Parent Representative: a parent/guardian whose main role is to share information from the class teacher with the parents of the class and to work with the teacher in the organisation of class specific activities.
• Join the Parent’s Association (PA).
• Become a member of the Board of Management.
• Assist with class trips, camps, activities and community work days.
• Join the Advent Fair Team or one of our community groups such as the Craft Group or the Hiking Group.

2. Contribute from home

We understand that families may be too busy to give much of their time to the school and so this is not a requirement.

However, there are other important ways in which you, as a parent or guardian, can support the school:

• Make a voluntary contribution, to help finance the distinctive Steiner focused aspects in our school, which are not state funded.
• Work towards understanding Steiner Waldorf Education so that you are aware of the principles of your child’s education and can support teachers in their work.
• Ensure that your child comes to school regularly and punctually, and arrive in good time to meet your child when the school is over. It is also important to leave the premises promptly unless you have a legitimate reason for being at school and your child is properly supervised.
• Ensure your child comes to school well rested, dressed in suitable clothes and equipment for the weather and for the activities of the school day, and with enough to eat during the day. Try to ensure that homework is done.
• Be open and honest in their communication with the teachers about their children’s health, family circumstances and anything else that may affect their behaviour.
• Familiarise yourself with the school’s rules, policies and procedures and, by respecting and following them and encouraging your child to do so, help with the smooth running of the school.
• Ensure that your child’s after-school and weekend activities are appropriate and do not compromise school work. For instance: limit your child’s exposure to mobile phones, tablets, television, videos and computer games according to the child’s age. It would be of great benefit to children in the lower school, and especially in Kindergarten, to keep them away from screens entirely.