September 2015 Newsletter
St. John’s N.S. Kenmare
Bunscoil Eoin Naofa An Neidín
Tel: 064-6642598 / 064-6642300
e-mail: [email protected]
Welcome back to St. John’s N.S. Bunscoil Eoin Naofa to pupils and teachers.
A special welcome to the girls and boys in the two Junior Infants classes as well as all new pupils to other classes who are joining our school for the first time. We look forward to working with you all.
Upcoming Closings;
Monday, October 26th to Friday, October 30th – Mid Term Break
A full list of closures for the coming school year accompanies this Newsletter.
School opening/closing times:
School opening hours 9.20a.m – 3.00p.m.
Junior Infant children finish at 2.00 p.m.
from Monday, September 14th.
Senior Infant children finish at 2.00p.m.
All others finish at 3.00p.m.
Please note that the B.O.M. does not provide supervision for children outside of these hours in particular for children who may be left at school before the official starting time and after closing time in the evening. Parents of infant children are reminded that prompt collection of children at 2.00p.m. is expected.
If your child is being collected for an appointment it is necessary that a note is sent to class teacher. A ‘sign in, sign out’ system at the school office is now in operation if you wish to take your child during school hours for a necessary appointment. Please note that only persons named on the Enrolment Form can collect your child. Any changes to these arrangements must be made known to the school office in writing.
New Staff:
Congratulations to newly appointed permanent teaching staff Carrie Spillane, Mona O’Donoghue and James Devane, newly appointed temporary teachers Ronan Hussey and Libby Conroy, wishing you all the best of luck for the coming year.
Sadly we are saying farewell to teacher Catherine Doyle who has taken up a new teaching post in Killarney. We would like to wish her all the best in her new job and sincere thanks for all her hard work in St. John’s and St. Clare’s National Schools.
Additional Classrooms:
As you have probably noticed work has commenced on our building project which will see the construction of two additional classrooms that will cater for increased enrolment.
Due to the building work being carried out and in the interest of Health and Safety access to the rear assembly area is through the Main Front Door only. We would appreciate if you could drop your child at the main front door. From here your child will go to their class assembly point at the back of the school. To avoid congestion and to develop pupil independence we are asking you not to accompany your child to the assembly area. Supervision is provided there and class teachers collect classes at 9.20a.m. We would appreciate your co-operation in this regard.
Please note that a set down only system is in place at opening and closing times in the school car park. We note particularly that there is congestion when parents park and accompany their children to the school. We are asking you to be conscious of all other drivers and pedestrians when setting down or reversing from car parking spaces. On wet days in particular we are asking you to be patient when there is a higher volume of traffic and to co-operate with signals given by traffic supervisors. We are asking you also to be conscious of bus parking at school opening and closing times.
Please note that parents are not permitted to use staff car park for set down and collection purposes or for entry or exit at opening and closing times. In the interest of all our health and safety we are asking you to co-operate in this regard.
Policy Information Booklet:
We are providing you with a copy of our updated Policy Information Booklet. We kindly ask you to read this booklet carefully and to sign the accompanying Consent Form and return to class teacher by Friday, September 11th.
School Uniform:
We are delighted to see so many of our pupils wearing their full new uniform including crested jumper, blue shirt/ grey skirt or trousers and black shoes. Class teachers have informed their classes regarding the allocated P.E. days when the pupils will wear their tracksuit. On all other days, full school uniform should be worn.
New and Used Clothing Collection:
New and Used Clothing Collection Company will be collecting from the school on Friday, September 25th. They collect clothing, footwear, belts, handbags, hats, linens household textiles etc.
Bags can be dropped to the school by Friday morning. Please support.
Insurance:
You are requested to return all optional Personal Accident Insurance forms with remittance before September 30th (see application form accompanying this newsletter).
Art/Craft & Photocopying:
A contribution of €20 per child (€15 for subsequent children) is requested to cover art/craft and photocopying costs for the coming year. Please forward to class teacher before end of September if you have not already done so.
Healthy Lunches:
We are asking you to take the time to read the section in your child’s Homework Journal regarding our healthy lunch policy. We recommend that pupils should bring a sandwich, a non fizzy drink and a piece of fruit. Crisps are of course strictly forbidden.
In line with our Green School principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, we are asking pupils to bring reusable drinks and lunch containers and to place organic waste in the bins provided. All other wrappings and paper should be put in lunch boxes and brought home.
In as far as possible, we are encouraging all pupils to bring their full lunch with them in the morning. In such a large building delivery of lunches to pupils during the school day is not practical.
To encourage healthy lunches we have designated Monday, October 5th to Friday, October 9th as Healthy Eating Week. During that week we will teach the pupils at all levels about healthy diet and composition of healthy lunches.
For more information on healthy eating check out www.safefood.eu.
Communication with Parents:
Parent/Teacher meetings will be scheduled during the school year. We will give you plenty notice regarding the time and date of these meetings. Outside of this when you wish to meet a teacher an appointment system is in place.
Please take the time to read all correspondence from the school. The school may need to communicate urgent messages to parents/guardians by text to their mobile phones.
It has been brought to our attention that many parents have changed mobile numbers and may also have changed address. Please notify school of any such changes. Kindly fill in details at the front of Homework Journal.
Regular Attendance/Consent:
It is very important that your child attends school regularly. A written note is required if your child is absent for any reason – please write note in notes section provided in Homework Journal. Infant pupils who do not use Homework Journals can send a note to teacher giving details of absence.
Under the Welfare Act 2002 school authorities are obliged to supply the Welfare Board with the names of children who are absent 20 days or more during the school year. In order to reward good attendance during the school year 2015/16 we will be giving awards at the end of the school year. It should of course be noted that children who are sick should not be sent to school as this can have its own negative consequences.
Book Rental:
All classes can now rent a large number of books under our Book Rental Scheme. We have invested a huge amount of finance, time and energy into the covering, labelling and stamping of these books which have now been distributed to all classes.
We kindly ask you to periodically check that each child is taking care of rented books and that they are returned to the school in good condition in June 2016.
We anticipate your help and support in this regard so that our rental scheme can expand and last long into the future.
Finally, we look forward to a successful school year and hope that with your support we can deliver a safe, happy and enjoyable learning experience for all pupils.
Mise le meas,
_________________
Denis Courtney,
Principal and Staff.