Welcome back everyone! And a very special welcome to all our new pupils, their families and our new staff members. Wishing everyone a wonderful school year. Raymond Important: Return fully completed ‘contact/medical forms’ (on yellow paper) tomorrow, if you have not already done so. These are the phone numbers that we use when a child is ill, etc.
School times: Junior infants, 8.50-12.00 for the first two weeks (8.50-13.30 from Wednesday, 15th September.) Senior Infants, 8.50-13.30. 1st-6th classes, 8.50-14.30. School buses depart at 14.30.
School guide for parents and guardians: The updated guide was distributed to Junior and Senior Infants yesterday. Pupils in the older classes will receive the guide early next week. Please keep this booklet in a safe place – for reference during the year.
Bus Tickets: All buses are running as per last year’s schedules. New tickets should arrive within the next few days. For now, continue to travel as usual.
Parent Teacher Association coffee morning: tomorrow (Friday) from 9am, in the PTA room (opposite the infant classrooms.) All are welcome.
Open Day to mark the 5th Anniversary of the School: Sunday, 12th September 12noon-2pm. All are welcome. Details to follow. Next week we will be asking families to donate a cake or a few buns for the event.
After-school activities: See overleaf for information on ComputerXplorers (private company.) Details on PTA after-school activities will follow in the coming weeks.
Optional Pupil Personal Accident Insurance: return the attached form, along with payment (in an envelope marked with the child’s name and class) by Friday, 10th September. Cash or cheque. Send envelopes to the classteacher or the secretary.
School Buses: This month there will be a particular emphasis on better behaviour. (Last term we heard a few sad stories about behaviour on a couple of our bus routes.)
The following behaviours are being targeted:
1. Unsafe behaviour (not wearing seat belts, standing up when the bus is moving, throwing objects, loud shouts or screams, horseplay at the bus stop.)
2. Bad language
3. Serious (or repeated) name calling.
Where any such behaviours are reported, the principal will withdraw a child’s permission to travel for between 1 and 3 days. (Parents would then need to drive the child to/from school.) No exceptions will be made to the above. (One child using bad language towards another = one child off the bus; the other child retaliating = two children off the bus.)
In addition, we will be working to identify the children on each bus who should be honoured for exemplary behaviour. (That’s the behaviour we are used to seeing around our school – children being polite, kind-hearted and responsible.)
Book Now! Optional 1.30pm-2.30pm daily activity sessions for the Junior and Senior Infants who use school buses (and/or who have an older sibling in our 1st-6th classes 🙂
Minimum number of days per week = 2 (this gives the supervisors a chance to get to know the children.)
Regular bookings only: same days each week, no chopping and changing. Pay in advance only.
‘Quick-Pay:’ Make one pre-prepared payment per week or month, in an envelope marked with child’s name and dates. Send the envelope to the classteacher or the school secretary. €3 per day, cash or cheque. Use your school calendar to calculate payment. No refunds if the child is absent from school. Don’t pay for days that classes finish early, school holidays, etc.
This charge may rise to €3.50 per day from November if families take up too much office time (asking the secretary to calculate their payment; making changes; needing reminders to pay, etc.)
The school makes no profit on this handy service for parents – the increased charge would be put towards an increased bill for secretarial services.
Sunday, 12th September: Open Day to celebrate our 5th anniversary, 12noon-2pm. All are welcome. Visit the classrooms. Visit the PE hall for music by the Quade Quartet and for drinks and cake. [The best time to say hello to your child’s teacher in his/her classroom is between 12noon and 1pm. After that, you may find the teachers in the PE hall.]
Wanted: donations of cakes and buns. (Drop them into the office on Friday, or from 11.30am on Sunday.)
Please note that Chloe, Laura, Fergal and Aideen can’t be there on Sunday, due to prior commitments. They will invite parents to an ‘open classroom’ event before the end of the month. (But please come along on Sunday anyway – these rooms will be open.)
Fridays September 17th, October 1st and 15th: PTA coffee mornings (‘the 1st and 3rd morning of every month.’) 9am. All are welcome.
Friday, 24th September: Staff Meeting. Infant classes finish at 12.15pm, other classes finish at 12.30pm. (Families with siblings: infants will be supervised until 12.30pm.) The 15-minute separation helps the traffic-flow.
Sunday, 26th September: PTA Sponsored Walk, 2pm, Forest Park, Courtown. Sponsorship cards will be distributed closer to the event.
Thursday, 30th September, 1pm-1.25pm: Parents and Guardians of the new Junior Infants are invited to attend a short information meeting with Jacinta and Chloe (daily routine in the infant classroom, lunches, clothing & footwear, homework.) The Junior Infants will be supervised by other staff during this meeting.
Thursday, 7th October: ‘Breakfast Together’ event in aid of the ‘Childline’ charity.
Thursday, 7th October (3rd & 4th classes) and Thursday, 14th October (5th & 6th classes:) Gorey Credit Union quiz nights for local schools. 7pm sharp, Amber Springs Hotel. A number of the children in our older classes will participate in the events.
Wednesday, 13th October: Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Annual General Meeting, 7.30pm. Includes guest speaker. Hear about all the work over the past year. Elect a new organising committee. Further details to follow.
The short history of our school is filled with experiences and events that couldn’t have happened without the remarkable voluntary efforts of parents and staff. You are invited to continue that tradition.
We appreciate that people may only be available to help in different ways and at different times (of the day, week or year.) To help in the classrooms, please speak with your child’s teacher or keep an eye on the classroom door or the homework journal for notices. (You can also use the form overleaf.)
To help at whole-school level, the following may be of interest:
Book Covering: meet in the kitchen any morning next week. Cover some of our new rental books with protective plastic ‘contact.’
‘Breakfast Together,’ 7th October: Parent helpers will be needed on the morning, (distributing bowls of cereal, etc.)
Van (or jeep and trailer): The school has applied to Wexford County Council for ‘free trees’ – for our woodland area to the rear of the school. If our application is successful, we will need a volunteer to collect the trees from the Council’s depot near Barntown.
Book Fair: We will need Cashiers each day of the event (8th-13th October.) Details to follow.
Part-time (or relief) vacancy
Afternoon Supervisor/Activity Leader for the 2010-2011 school year. Working with Junior and Senior Infants, 1.30-2.30pm daily. €12 per hour, (averaging €60 per week, and processed through the Board of Management’s payroll system.)
All interested applicants should submit a letter of application and curriculum vitae (including the names of two referees) to the school office by 3pm, Wednesday 21st October. Canvassing is not permitted.
This will be a 5-day position if bookings are high. Otherwise, this will be a relief position only (covering for sick leave, etc.)
The successful applicant must submit a Garda Vetting (‘police check’) form to the school principal.
Parent Teacher Association (PTA) After-school activities
Enrolment for Term 1 activities will take place on Thursday, 9th Sept at 1.15pm for Senior Infants and 2.15pm for 1st – 3rd classes, (first-come-first-served.)
1. Drama and Dance (Tara-Ann Byrne) for 1st – 3rd classes, (see PTA notice board for course programme.) Thursdays, 2.30pm-3.30pm (start date to be confirmed.) Minimum of 8 children and maximum of 12 children. Cost €40 for 8 weeks. (If parents in 4th, 5th & 6th classes are interested in Drama and Dance, please speak to Candace at enrolment.)
2. Soccer (Mikael Allain) for senior infants to 3rd class, (see PTA notice board for course programme.) Wednesdays, 1.30pm-2.30pm for senior infants and 2.30pm-3.30pm for 1st-3rd classes beginning Wednesday, 15th September. Minimum of 8 children and maximum of 10 children. Cost €30 for 6 weeks. (Please note that Mikael will do some in-school work with 4th, 5th and 6th classes during November and December.)
Parents who can’t make it to the enrolment sessions on Thursday can send an envelope with payment to the school office by Monday, 13th September. (Please remember that places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, beginning with parents who book and pay at the sessions on Thursday.)
Parent Teacher Association (PTA) After-school activities: message from the principal
Please note the following points:
These activities are coordinated by a parent member of our PTA committee on a voluntary basis. (Do your best to keep her workload to a minimum.)
For PTA after-school activities each child’s parent or guardian takes a turn at supervision. This means arriving 10 minutes early on your allocated day; being available to the after-school teacher and the children during the activity; and helping with dismissal for ten minutes after the activity.
All supervising parents complete a Garda Vetting (‘police check’) form, (handled by the school principal only.)
PTA after-school activities vary from year to year. (Families who find that their child has a special interest in or flair for a particular activity could then seek out local clubs or studios.)
Parents should ensure that the child is willing to undertake the after-school activity. (No refunds available for ‘change-of-mind,’ being dropped from the class because of disruptive behaviour, etc.)
Children with special educational needs are very welcome to join any class (first-come-first-served,) but special assistance or supervision would need to be provided by their own parent (or other family member.)
PS, enrol for ComputerXplorers this Thursday at 9am, 1.30pm or 2.30pm. Alternatively, return form (distributed last week) and payment to the school office. (This after-school activity is operated by a private company.)
