Newsletter
19th September 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Meet the Teacher
It was great to see so many parents/carers at our ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings in Junior and Senior Infants on Monday morning, yesterday in 4th, 5th and 6th Class. and again this morning in 3rd and 3rd/4th Class.
Our teachers have shared lots of information about the learning that will happen in your child’s class this year and how you can help them at home.
Tomorrow (Thursday), we are looking forward to seeing the parents/carers from 2nd Class and the 1st Class meetings are on Friday.
If you have any further questions or would like to speak to your child’s teacher on an individual meeting, please just ask for an appointment and we will arrange a time that suits. Our door is always open and it is always better to speak to us sooner rather than later! If you have a worry or concern, come in and let us know and we will do our best to help.
After School Clubs
We are delighted to be running a range of after-school clubs this term. There has been huge demand for places and most clubs are now full. We hope most children have been allocated at least one of their choices.
Your child will have a slip confirming their place in the club, if they have been allocated one. If they have not received this slip, unfortunately, that means we have not been able to allocate them a place this time round.
Please check the timetable attached and make sure you collect your child on time after their club each week.
If you have any questions about clubs, you can call into the school office.
Secondary School – Open Days
We were delighted to welcome staff from our local secondary schools to talk with parents/carers from 4th, 5th and 6th Class yesterday morning. We hope you found the opportunity helpful. Each secondary school has its own open day, where you can visit the school in person. This is a great way to get to know the schools and find out more about what they have to offer.
Parents/carers of children in 6th Class will need to make decisions about the secondary school their child will attend in the coming weeks. Please make sure you complete an application form for the school you are interested in. Sile, our Home-School-Community Liaison teacher is happy to help with this – please come and chat to her if you have any questions.
Doodle Den
We are delighted that our after-school literacy programme for Senior Infants, Doodle Den, will be starting back this week. We welcome a new teacher, Gillian Murphy, and one of our own team, James Byrne, as the Doodle Den leaders for this year. Doodle Den will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1.30 – 3.00 p.m.
Dates for your diary
Week of 17th Sept – Meet the Teacher
18th Sept – Secondary School Open Morning
26th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday
5th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
New Menus
We are still waiting for the last few menus to be returned to us. We are looking forward to trying out the new food from our suppliers Glanmore Foods in the coming weeks.
If you have not yet returned your child’s menu choices, please do so as soon as you can.
Collecting your child at home time
The playground is very, very busy at home time and there are often lots and lots of children and adults. It can be difficult for teachers to see everyone.
Each class has a space in the playground where they wait at the end of the day. We ask parents/carers to please walk over to your child’s class to collect them and make sure the class teacher sees you. Please do not take your child from their line, before they have reached their usual spot – this can cause confusion and panic if the class teacher does not see them leave.
If your child is being collected by a different adult, please make sure you let the class teacher know beforehand.
Attendance and punctuality
Our top attenders last week were 5th Class with 98%. Our target is at least 95% for every child and for every class.
Remember that school starts at 8.50 a.m. We still have families arriving after 9.00 a.m. on a regular basis. This is not acceptable. We understand that occasionally, the alarm doesn’t go off or there’s bad traffic. On those days, we just ask you to get to school as soon as you can. However, this should not be happening every day. Please make every effort to be in the line waiting for your child’s teacher at 8.50 a.m.
…and finally…
The weather is very unpredictable at the moment – please make sure your child has a coat and that all clothing is marked clearly with your child’s name.
Best wishes,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
[embeddoc url=”https://www.stmarysprimaryschool.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Newsletter-19.9.18.docx” download=”all” viewer=”microsoft”]
[embeddoc url=”https://www.stmarysprimaryschool.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/After-School-Clubs-Autumn-2018.docx” download=”all” viewer=”microsoft”]