About DAPA
Dollar Academy Parents’ Association (DAPA) was founded on the 30 August 1960 with the aim to represent and act for the parents collectively and to protect their interests in any matters pertaining to Dollar Academy and the Trust.  In recent years DAPA has also successfully provided opportunities for parents and members of the Academy staff to interact in a social environment.
 
The committee meets approximately every 6 weeks to discuss any matters that have been raised by the Academy or parents, and to plan for future social/fund raising events.

A committee member is elected from DAPA to the Board of Governors. The present governor, Dottie Burt, has been in place for 5 years, and was last year appointed to the executive committee.

Anyone wishing to serve on the committee will be made very welcome and should contact the chairperson or any committee member.

Review of the Year
It has been another busy year with a lot going on.  Below are some of the key highlights.

Family Ceilidh
After a few years of rest the committee organized a Family Ceilidh which was a sell out success.  It was held on 17 March in the school dining room.  The venue was well dressed by the team with a lot of attention to the tables.  The evening was lead by ‘ET’ who kept everyone entertained, especially the children, which gave the parents plenty of time to socialise.

This proved to be a very popular event and was extremely well received by all those that attended.  Read on for details of the 2008 event.

Cross Country
DAPA was in attendance at both the junior and senior events to hand out drinks to all those involved.
 
Sports Weekend & Barbecue
The DAPA refreshment stall was again set up on the Friday and Saturday at the pavilion.   On the Sunday afternoon, following the Pipe Band display, the ‘DAPA barbecue’ was held outside the Junior School.  This was very well attended again with 300 Devlin beef burgers being sold, it was just a pity the weather wasn’t as good as previous years.

Parents' Coffee Morning
This was held on the first day of term, and there was a very good turn out of both new and existing parents.  There was plenty of chat; it is a great opportunity to make contact with other parents who live in the same locality or who have children in the same year groups.  

AGM
The DAPA Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 30 October in the Captain's room, at the top of the Maguire Building.   Refreshments will be available from 7:15pm, with the official proceedings starting at 7:45pm.  All parents are very welcome, with input taken from the floor during the meeting.  The timing has been selected to coincide with the Junior School Halloween disco (which starts at 7.30pm).

An important item for this year's AGM is a much needed review of the DAPA constitution.  Copies of both the current and proposed constitution can be found on the Dollar Academy website under the Parents/DAPA section.

Specially commissioned Dollar Academy china mugs will be available at the AGM for £5 each.  Mugs can also be purchased from the Thrift Shop or from committee members.

SOME RECENT DAPA DISCUSSIONS: AN INSIGHT INTO THE WORKINGS OF PARENTS ASSOCIATION
(1) The school has raised the issue of taking children out of school during term time on a number of occasions.  The need for continuity of teaching during term time is very important for both teachers and pupils; therefore parents are urged to comply with the term dates.

(2) The school asked for the views of the Parents Association when choosing a replacement school tracksuit. A variety of factors were taken into consideration including a range of unisex sizes, weatherproofing and cost.

(3) The Parents Association were included in the consultation process for a new promotional DVD to accompany the school prospectus.

(4) DAPA is to meet with the local community policeman to discuss a number of matters, including issues relating to traffic congestion around the school.

Donations to the Academy
Due to the success of the Ceilidh and Sports Weekend, DAPA should be in a position this year to make a donation to some area of the Academy.  In the past DAPA funds have been used towards such items as team sports bags, screen printing equipment for the Art Department and computing technology.

Future events
Following on from last year's successful event, we are organising another Family Ceilidh on Saturday 15 March 2008.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

DAPA have taken on board comments made by parents about their desire for more Scottish music at the Ceilidh and the entertainer has confirmed that this will be the case.

There must be parents with talents that DAPA would benefit from.  A lot of us will leave the committee at the same time so it makes sense that we have a good spread of interested parties.