Oct 07
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We hope everyone is well settled into school at this stage of the year. Below we have a couple of issues to keep you up to date with ongoing events in the school.
Important Dates – Several parents have contacted us regarding dates for First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Confirmation will take place on Tuesday the 19th of February and Holy Communion will take place on Saturday the 17th of May.
Uniform Policy – Many thanks to all our families for supporting the school uniform policy. A small number of children continue to wear sports jerseys with the school tracksuit rather than school t-shirts. We would ask that all children wear the appropriate uniform or tracksuit in accordance with school policy.
Stray Dogs – We have a concern regarding the entry of stray dogs on to school grounds. If any parent has information regarding these dogs we would appreciate it if they contacted Pearl in the office. We in turn will pass on this information to the relevant authorities in an effort to reduce any danger from these animals to our children.
School Policies – The Board of Management is currently reviewing several school policies, particularly the behaviour policy and enrolment policy. Such reviews take place in collaboration with the staff and parents association. As soon as policies have been ratified they will be made available to parents.
Retirement – Our Deputy Principal, Ms. Geraldine O’Rourke retired in the past month. We will find it very difficult to replace her. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Geraldine for her thirty three years of service to our school community and wish her every happiness in the future.
School Car Park – We are strongly encouraging all children to use school footpaths rather than crossing the car park when entering and exiting the school. We would ask parents to repeat this message at home. We would also ask that the small number of parents who pull into the school car park to collect their children not do so as it is a danger to our children.
Sport – Thank you to all the teachers involved for giving up their lunch hour to run boys and girls football leagues for the last month. It has been wonderful to see the sporting talent on display and the gaelic teams certainly look in a healthy state for the coming year. Well done to all the boys and girls who competed in the leagues. Go n-eiri libh.
Parents Association – The Parents Association have carried out trojan work in the past month administering the school insurance scheme and organizing uniforms for our newcomer children. They have also arranged for visiting scientists to do a sample of lessons with senior classes in the month of November. Following a request from the Association we will also receive a visit from the Garda Mounted division and the Garda Motorcycle unit on November the 14th, something we very much look forward to. Many thanks to all the families who have made the voluntary contribution that makes such activities possible. We would encourage all families who have the resources to show their support for the work our association carries out on behalf of our children.
Photo Appeal – In last months newsletter we made an appeal for old photos which we hoped to put on school walls. We received a large number of sports phots and many now grace our corridors. However we are missing many important images, particularly Holy Communion and Confirmation photos. We would greatly appreciate it if those who do have photos lend them to us. Philip O’Neill Photography have kindly agreed to scan any we receive so that we can display them in our corridors. However before we put up class photos of such events we need to have a reasonable number collected. If you have any such photo please label it clearly on the back eg ‘Confirmation Class 1987’ as well as your own name and address and send it to us care of Ms. Scott in Room 15.
Green Schools –Ms. McWalter and the Green School committee are currently leading our school in the drive towards a second green school flag for Energy Conservation. The children are currently participating in an energy conservation project, batteries are being collected and electrical equipment recycled. We are looking forward to all the childrens suggestions regarding better management of our energy requirements.
Staff Meetings – The Board of Management has decided to bring the holding of staff meetings in line with Department of Education and Science policy. This change is necessary in order to fulfill Departmental requirements regarding the completion of school organisational policies and the constant review of organizational and curricular policies. Staff meetings will therefore be extended to two hours. One meeting a term will commence at 2pm with other meetings commencing at 1pm. Following consultation with the Parents Association it has also been decided to change meetings from the first Friday to the first Wednesday of the month.
The time table for the remainder of staff meetings this year is as follows:
Date: Home Time
Wed. 7th November 12.30
Wed. 5th December 12.30
Wed 9th January 12.30
Wed. 6th February 2.00
Wed. 2nd April 12.30
Wed. 7th May 2.00
Wed. 4th June 12.30
Happy Hallowe’en – We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and a safe Halloween break.
Regards,
Paul Comiskey.
Principal.
Principal: Paul Comiskey, B.Ed., Dip. Ed. Man., M.St.
Deputy Principal: Geraldine OÕRourke Š N.T., H.Dip.
