ABOUT US

Our mission

Our mission as the PaRK IS Parents Association is to work in partnership with both parents and the school to promote a thriving environment for the academic and personal enrichment of all PaRK IS students and to work towards creating a strong PaRK IS community.

The mission of the PPA is thus as follows:

1. Contribute to the academic and personal growth of PaRK IS students,

2. Foster communication within the PaRK IS community,

3. Contribute to a strong PaRK IS community,

4. Serve as a voice on behalf of the parents in matters of common interest for parents and students.

Program of Activities

The PPA fulfills its roles by engaging in several areas of activity and by implementing its Action Plan, as proposed to the academic years of 2023/24 and 2024/25:

1. Increased Parental Involvement:

When parents are engaged and take part in school affairs, it creates a positive and supportive environment for students, improving academic performance, attendance rates and school accountability.

The PPA aims to encourage and facilitate parental involvement in school activities and academic life by: 

• Keeping parents informed through various communication channels (PPA website as a platform for sharing information, PPA Facebook page, PaRK IS weekly newsletters).
• Implementing year group representatives, as planned by the previous PPA board. • maintaining regular breakfasts with parents to encourage integration of new and existing families into the PaRK IS community.
• Organizing events outside the school to help integrate international parents into Portugal, the Lisbon area in particular (guided tours of Lisbon/Sintra, guided tours of museums, wine tastings, hikes, visits to historic sites).
• Organizing annual school sports day that welcomes parents to attend and support their children as well as participate in the parents' race!

2. Strengthen Relationship with School:

Effective communication leads to better understanding, collaboration, and cooperation among all stakeholders, creating a more cohesive and informed school environment. 

By leveraging the collective voice of parents, the PPA helps bring the community closer to the school staff and school management, facilitating collaboration to overcome issues and to keep improving the satisfaction of the community. The PPA addresses issues that impact multiple parents and students, such as those related to policies, curriculum, resources, and student well-being, through:

• Regular meetings between the PPA and the school.
• Promoting better understanding of the PaRK IS future plans, and projects, helping to address any current or future issues that may affect the PaRK IS community.
• Advocating for the needs and interests of students and their families at the school.
• Proposing ideas and projects that could bring additional value to the students and school community. 

3. Educational Enrichment:

The PPA aims to contribute to achieving an outstanding academic and personal growth environment for PaRK IS students, taking advantage of the excellent capabilities of PaRK IS to fulfil the students' individual potential, broaden their horizons and foster their love of learning:

• Define common areas of interest where the PPA can support the school, such as extracurricular events (STEM related, inter school competitions, health awareness events such as CPR instruction, security about medicines and oral care).
• Promote the enrichment of the co-curricular portfolio with STEM-related activities (e.g., participation of students in Mathematics Olympiads, a Formula Student project, a Computer Science club, and similar opportunities).
• Propose end of year trips for every grade (e.g., similar to MyCamp at the end of Grade 4, it's an old students' wish to have memorable trips in other Grades).
• Organise lectures with guest speakers from businesses and NGO entities for both students and parents. 

4. Sense of Community  

A sense of community fosters a supportive network, promotes school spirit, and strengthens the overall school culture. The community starts at the level of each Campus and extends to the whole of the PaRK IS community.

The PPA aims to build a sense of community amongst parents, teachers, and students by: • maintaining the welcome breakfasts and buddy system.

• Organizing the annual end-of-year "Happy Saturday", and other cultural and social events that bring together parents and the school, and support the wider community.
• Maintaining the 2nd Hand Uniform sales.
• Facilitating Car Pooling and transport solutions.  

5. Volunteer Support  

The PPA relies on volunteers to organize and execute their activities, both at a Campus level and a whole school level. This volunteer support can extend to various school events, like social events or mentoring programs. PaRK IS' network of engaged parents provides a valuable resource for the school to tap into, enhancing the overall functioning and success of the school. 

These activities will have a start and end date, specific objectives, and will rely on volunteer parents, with the support of the PPA Governing Bodies:

• Whole school events such as Christmas fairs, summer international fairs, the end-of-year "Happy Saturday" and a family sports day that all involve students, staff, and parents.
• Events outside the school to help integrate international parents and promote a general parent community.
• Organization of fundraising events to help fund projects within the school as proposed by the students e.g., school trips, improvements to common areas, new technology.
• Additional activities that will be suggested by parents or the school and adopted by the PPA.

Consult the full program here and the association's statutes here.

YOUR PPA SUPPORT TEAM

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