Dear Parents Issue: 02 September 29th 2021
Condolences:
Our heart-felt condolences to Mrs Burke and her family on the recent passing of her father Mr Des Coen, may he rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very sad time.
FOUND: a mobile phone has been found in the school yard. If you think it might be yours, please contact the office.
A Note of Thanks:
- Sincere thanks to all the children who wore their Jersey to school in support of Galway camogie. The sum of €475 was raised for them. (And congratulations to the team on winning the O’Duffy cup!!!)
- A special word of thanks to Edit Kovacs (mom of Viktoria in Mrs McSpadden’s 2nd class) for her donation of yarn and sewing material. The senior girls will put this to very good use! We are so grateful for your generosity.
Important Dates to note:
- Thursday Sept 30th Staff Meeting Term 1 – all the children will go home at 1.15pm
- Presentation College Athenry Open Evening Video will be posted on their school website: www.presathenry.ie from 4pm – 10pm on Tues October 5th. This is for all 6th class girls & their parents.
- Presentation College Athenry online application form will be available on their school website: www.presathenry.ie from Friday October 8th until 1pm on Friday October 29th.
- Thursday October 21st: Cash for Clobber Collection
- Monday October 25th to Friday October 29th: Halloween Break
- Thursday Nov 25th Staff Webinar Term 1 – all the children will go home at 1.15pm
- Monday February 21st to Friday February 25th: Mid-term break
- Tuesday March 22nd: School Photographer
- Monday April 11th to Friday April 22nd: Easter Holidays
HSE Vaccination & Screening programmes:
- HSE Consent Forms have been given to all the Junior Infants in respect of MMR and 4-1 vaccination programme and the School Health Screening programme. Parents should complete these forms and return them to the school as soon as possible, if they have not already done so.
Green School:
Last year’s Green School Committee will attend a virtual awards ceremony on Wednesday October 6th where they will be presented with their Green Schools Travel flag. The school earned this flag towards the end of last school year and it is the reward for all the efforts that pupils, parents and staff made in using “green” methods of travelling to school.
Aladdin:
- Please make sure that you have downloaded the Aladdin app and have notifications switched on, as teachers may be using it to correspond with you during the school year.
- If your child has been absent from school please record the reason for the absence on the Aladdin app (you will need to wait until teacher has marked your child absent first, before you will be given the option to record the reason).
- If at all possible, please pay monies due for Book Rental and School Costs via the Aladdin app.
PE Clothes:
- Children may wear their PE clothes to school on the day that their class is doing PE (and they will stay in their PE clothes for the day i.e. no need to change back into their uniform). See schedule below:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Mrs Duffy
Junior Infants |
Mrs Murray
Senior Infants |
Miss Murray
5th class |
Ms Alani
3rd class
Mr McDonald Senior Infants |
|
| Miss Tyrrell
Junior Infants |
Mrs Greally
4th class |
Miss Dolan
1st class |
Mr Kelly
5th / 6th class |
Mrs Monson
6th Class |
| Mr Hanley
1st Class |
Miss O’Byrne
2nd class |
Mrs McSpadden
1st / 2nd class |
Miss Feeney
3rd class |
Punctuality & Attendance:
- Punctuality: The staff of Scoil Chroí Naofa consider punctuality to be of paramount importance. Please ensure that your child is in school by 8.50am to avoid disruption to the beginning of the school day. Roll call is taken in the early morning, every day. If your child arrives late to school, they should go to the main front door (red door 1) where the secretary will let them in & bring them to their class.
- Absences: In accordance with Section 18 of the Education Welfare Act 2000, when a pupil is absent for part or all of a school day, parent(s) must notify teacher or Principal of the reasons for the pupil’s absence. If a pupil is absent for more than 20 days during the school year, the school authorities must inform the Education Welfare Board who consult with parents. In order to comply with the Act, staff and I need your cooperation with the following:
- If your child is absent, please log the reason for the absence on the Aladdin app
- If your child has to leave the school during the school day, the person who is collecting your child must sign him/her out at the Secretary’s Office.
Contact Tracing Update from NPHET:
From Monday September 27th routine contact tracing of asymptomatic close contacts in primary school children will no longer take place. It is recommended that:
- Anyone who has symptoms of Covid-19 should self-isolate at home immediately and contact their GP for advice and guidance and to arrange a Covid-19 test if appropriate
- All children should attend for vaccination when eligible
- Automatic contact tracing for primary school children who are asymptomatic but were close contacts of cases outside of household settings is no longer recommended
- Primary school children who are identified as a close contact and who are asymptomatic will no longer be routinely required to restrict movements unless advised by Public Health Risk assessment.
- Primary school children who are identified as household contacts who are not fully vaccinated or have not had a confirmed infection with Covid-19 in the last 9 months will still be required to restrict their movement and will have testing arranged for them by the HSE contact management programme
- Public health advice remains that any primary school child with symptoms consistent with Covid-19 should immediately self-isolate, should not attend school and should follow current public health advice
- It is important to continue to adhere to good respiratory etiquette, hand hygiene practice and also adhere to the general public health measures and physical distancing advice
The HSE has provided information for parents about the changes to contact tracing and testing for children aged between 3 months and 13 years in early learning and care, school aged childcare, education, primary school sports and social settings. You can find it here:
You can find other resources for parents for download here:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a04fc-advice-for-students-and-their-families/
Videos and posters outlining the common symptoms of Covid-19, and stressing to parents that if a child has any new onset symptoms as listed and feels unwell or seems off-form, not to send them to school and contact their GP for advice, if necessary.
Digital Age of Consent:
- Children under the age of 16 (digital age of consent in Ireland) require parental consent to access social media platforms and pupils under the age of 13 should not have social media platform access at all i.e. TikTok or Snapchat etc.
- These laws and parameters are laid down by the Government to protect juvenile users.
- Misuse of social media platforms by primary school pupils should not be taking place, as primary school pupils should not be using these platforms in the first instance.
- I would highly recommend all parents read this article “I wouldn’t give a child a smartphone until they are at least 14 years of age” written by Richard Hogan and published in the Irish Examiner: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandwellbeing/arid-40191249.html. Richard Hogan is a systemically trainer Family Psychotherapist registered with The Family Therapy Association of Ireland. He writes every Thursday for the Irish Examiner where he explores mental health issues for teenagers, couples and families.
Technology:
- There will be no in-person assemblies for at least term 1 of this school year. I will be recording a Junior and a Senior Assembly which will be shared regularly with all of the classes
- All teachers have created a Seesaw profile for all pupils. Seesaw will be used for remote learning, should the need arise.
Wellbeing:
- The “Weaving Well-being” programme was implemented in the school last year from 2nd class up to 6th class.
- It consists of 10 lessons for each class level and is grounded in evidence-based interventions from the rapidly expanding field of Positive Psychology.
- It is underpinned by the concept that a state of well-being is not simply the absence of the negative, but the presence of the positive.
- This programme gives children the opportunity to weave positivity into their daily lives through a range of activities in a variety of areas e.g. resilience skills (including mindfulness) and developing self-efficacy through empowering beliefs.
- This year “Welcome to Well-being” is being implemented from Junior Infants up to 1st class.
- This programme is designed to enhance children’s well-being across all dimensions – social, emotional, spiritual, physical & mental. Enhancing children’s well-being can lead to a wide variety of other successful outcomes including increased academic performance, better relationships & increased resilience.
- Both the “Welcome to Wellbeing” and “Weaving Wellbeing” are being implemented in the school within the framework of the SPHE curriculum.
Parents Council Information:
- A Cash 4 Clobber collection has been arranged for Thursday October 21st. This is the last Thursday before the Halloween break. Bags will not be brought into the school building, given the current public health situation. Instead we would ask that all bags be left in the shelter in the bottom yard on the morning of Thursday October 21st. As the bags will be left outside until the truck comes to collect them, please make sure the clothes are in plastic bags that are properly tied up and have no holes!
- The school has also signed up with www.designacard.ie again this year. Each child will be given the opportunity to design their own Christmas Card. A sample of their designs will be sent home in November, giving you the option to purchase a pack of Christmas cards designed by your child. A portion of the sales price will come back to the school and be used by the Parents’ Council to fund different things for the children.
Health & Safety Reminders:
- Please DO NOT WALK UNDER THE BARRIER. The barrier is in constant use from 8am til 2.30pm. Parents and children should use the pedestrian entrances (i.e. the gaps in the wall).
- For the purpose of social distancing cars will no longer use the staff carpark. The school are using this as a yard which gives us more space to keep the children in smaller groups during break times.
- No cars are allowed onto school grounds except in exceptional circumstances agreed with principal. All cars should be parked outside the school grounds in car parks outside the school gates and at the Church.
- Please ensure that your child does not walk on the wall.
- Please note that Coláiste an Eachréidh and Gael Scoil Riada are operating out of the old Presentation Secondary school building. As a result there will be difficulty parking and a lot of additional traffic.
The Board of Management will not accept responsibility for children in the school yard before 8.40am or after 2.30pm.
General Reminders:
We seek your co-operation with the following reminders:
- Staff request all outstanding monies for book rental and school costs be paid as soon as possible. Please do this via the Aladdin app, if at all possible. (Any issues please contact the office).
- Please label all children’s clothes and belongings clearly including lunchboxes, drink containers and pocket-sized bottles of hand sanitiser.
- Please ensure your child brings their raincoat to school for days that will be wet. Outdoor activity is being encouraged by the Department of Education.
- Your co-operation to ensure that your child wears the full school uniform every day (except on PE day) is most appreciated.
- Check your child’s hair to ensure that any infestation of head lice is treated at once. Long hair should be tied back.
- Class teachers call the roll first thing in the morning, every day. If your child has an appointment in the morning, please notify the teacher the day before so that your child can be marked present.
- Birthday invitations should not be distributed on the school premises as it causes upset to the children who are not invited.
- Some children have a Severe Nut Allergy. Therefore, children are not allowed to have nuts at school.
- If you Change Address, Email or Phone Numbers, please inform secretary so she can update school records.
Community Links:
- Thanks to Kim in Ultra Flex for offering the school access to her on-line academy for the rest of the school year. Ultra Flex is back in Athenry every Tuesday in the town hall. For further details contact Kim on (087) 7799489.
- Fun 2 B Fit with Maeve Mullins is also back. This is happening on a Friday in District fitness.
- 4pm: aged 4 – 7 year olds,
- 5pm: aged 8-12 year olds,
- 6.15pm Adult class: 30min HIT FIT dance workout.
Contact Maeve on (087) 7915324 for further details.
- Brownie & Girl Guides re-open in Athenry on Friday 1st October. If you wish to register your child in either brownies or guides, please email: [email protected]. Please give your child’s name and date of birth. If you are available to volunteer as a unit helper please mention this on email.
Yours sincerely
Fergal Naughton
Principal
