Newsletter
1st September 2017
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Welcome back!
I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday. It is lovely to see all our children back at school. They have settled in so well and are busy showing their new teachers how fantastic they are!
We extend a special welcome to our Junior Infant class and to the children who are new to the school this year.
Welcome back to Ms. McDevitt who returns from maternity leave, Ms. McBride and Ms. Lougheed return to us full-time and we welcome Ms. Marron who is new to the school this year.
Look out for information about welcome meetings for parents/carers in the coming weeks. This will be a chance to meet your child’s new teacher and find out more about their learning in their new class and how you can help them at home.
Holiday Works
I hope you like the improvements to the playground outside. Colm, our caretaker has been very busy over the summer building the beautiful raised beds. Thank you Colm! Our thanks to Hines and Bennett Construction for the new walls and railings.
Inside, we have had the floor professionally cleaned, a new wifi and phone system installed, doors upgraded and classrooms painted. It has been a busy few months!
Supervision in the Morning
A reminder that children are welcome at school for breakfast club (which starts again on Monday) and to wait in the playground from 8.40 a.m. Children should not arrive to school before this time and we ask that children are not left waiting unsupervised at the gate before this. We have staff outside and inside to look after the children from 8.40 a.m. but the school cannot take responsibility for children before then.
Attendance and punctuality
We want all children at St. Mary’s to have excellent attendance and our target is at least 95% for each child (this is no more than 9 days of absence across the year).
Please let us know if your child will not be in school by calling the school office on (01) 8300841, emailing office@stmarysprimaryschool.ie or filling out the absence form on our website.
Our efforts in improving attendance have really worked well and we want to see the same improvement in punctuality. We want every child to be on time for school, standing in the line each morning ready to go inside with their class and teacher at 8.50 a.m.
From Monday, children who are late, will have to enter through the office door and sign into our late book. We will be recording a reason for the lateness and how many minutes of learning time has been missed.
Dates for your diary
12th September – 5th Class to ‘Fighting Words’ writing workshop
19th September – Doodle Den begins
4th-11th October – Book Fair
27th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday
6th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
Letters from the Office
We often have requests from families for letters and forms to give to the Social Welfare Department, Passport or Embassy, St. Vincent de Paul or other organisations. We are happy to provide these but they can take some time to produce.
From now on, we will issue these letters, stamp forms or photos, on Thursdays only. You can request the letter at any time and we will add your name to the list. We will then send the letters home with your child on Thursday afternoons.
School Books and Tracksuits
Thank you to all families who have already paid the €60 for books, copies and school resources. If you have not made this payment, please call into the school office or pay online. We are happy to take money in instalments if this is easier for you. Copies of your child’s booklist will be issued next week, for your information and records.
Tracksuits can be ordered with Liz and cost €21 each, or €23 for larger sizes.
Updating Information
Early next week, we will also send out copies of our educational visits form to be signed for local visits this year. If we have not received a signed photography policy, we will also ask you to return this to us.
If your contact information has changed over the summer, please ensure we have your new address, telephone number or other details. This is particularly important if we need to contact you in case of emergency.
Thank you.
Term dates for 2017-2018
| 31 August 2017 | Children back to school at 8.50 a.m. |
| 30 October – 3 November 2017 | Mid-Term Break |
| 22 December 2017 | School closes for Christmas Holidays |
| 23 December – 7 January 2018 | Christmas Holidays |
| 8 January 2018 | School re-opens at 8.50 a.m. |
| 15 and 16 February 2018 | Mid-Term Break |
| 19 March 2018 | St. Patrick’s Day – Bank Holiday |
| 23 March 2018 | School closes for Easter Holidays |
| 24 March – 8 April 2018 | Easter holidays |
| 9 April 2018 | School re-opens at 8.50 a.m. |
| 7-11 May 2018 | Mid-Term Break |
| 4 June 2018 | June Bank Holiday and Mid-Term Break |
| 29 June 2018 | School closes for Summer Holidays |
Eid Mubarak to all of our Muslim families celebrating today. عيد مبارك
Enjoy the weekend!
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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