September e-Newsletter

9th September 2019

A thuismitheoirí,

Welcome back to all the children of Glounaguillagh National School. We extend a very special welcome to our twenty Junior Infants. Our total enrolment at present is 137 students.

We welcome back Mrs. Emma Phelan who continues to job-share with Mrs. Doyle. We also welcome Ms. Deirdre Quirke who is covering for Mrs. Fleming (Maternity Leave) and finally we welcome Juliet Russell who has joined the school as a Special Needs Assistant.

Dates for your diary:

Please find attached a school calendar for the year 2019/2020.

Other dates to note:

Kerry Jersey Day - Friday 13th September (Wear your Kerry colours to school)

Staff Primary Language Curriculum In-Service(School Closed) – Tuesday 5th November

Parent teacher meetings (2:45pm onwards) - Thursday 14th November

Contact Details:

The school will continue to use Aladdin to send whole-school text messages to inform parents of any important information/events. If you have changed your mobile number recently, please contact the office to update your number. We may, on occasion, need to contact you via phone-call during the day. Therefore it is vital that we have up-to-date mobile numbers and emergency contact numbers.

We will continue to send a monthly update email via Aladdin. If you did not receive same last year please drop a note with your email address to the office.

Uniforms:

Please ensure that children wear the agreed uniform i.e. navy and white. Please ensure that jumpers are clearly labelled otherwise it is impossible to determine ownership.

PE day will be on Fridays as always – On PE day, pupils wear their plain navy tracksuit and runners. Leggings are not appropriate for school.

Absence Notes:

It is essential that your child submits an absence explanation note following an absence from school. All families have been provided with a booklet of these. If you need a replacement booklet please let us know. Children with absences of 20 days or greater are required, by law, to be reported to Túsla – the Child and Family Agency.

Healthy Eating:

We remind parents that children should have healthy lunches. Fizzy drinks, chocolate, chocolate spread, biscuits, sweets, crisps and chewing gum are not permitted. Also due to allergies, nuts or products containing nuts are not permitted in lunchboxes.

Appointments:

Parents/Guardians who wish to speak to a teacher with concerns about their child must make an appointment. Teachers will provide you with an appointment as speedily as is possible. Parents/Guardians who may have any concerns must, in the first instance, make an appointment to discuss the issue with the appropriate class teacher before approaching the Principal. (As per Department Guidelines). Should you wish to discuss any matter with your child’s teacher during the year, an appointment can be made by ringing the office (066) 9769402 or email glounaguillaghns@gmail.com

Book Bills:

Bills for your children’s books will be distributed shortly. We endeavor to keep these as low as possible by reusing as many books as possible from year to year, while still ensuring that your children have access to new and up-to-date material. A contribution to cover art/craft and photocopying costs for the coming year will be included in your book bill. If you are experiencing difficulty paying this bill, please come and talk to us.

Time to Read:

We are delighted that’ Time to Read’ will take place again this year. The children from 2nd Class will take part in this initiative. For “Time to Read” we are partnered with a local company, in our case, FEXCO. Volunteers from FEXCO will visit the school once a week over a period of 20 weeks and read with the children. The children will also visit FEXCO along with a visit to our local library. The initiative was an enormous success the last number of years with the children thoroughly enjoying this experience.

Music/Choir:

Seán Treacy will again visit the school this year to do music with the children from 3rd – 6th class.

Football:

We welcome back Eddie Birmingham who will coach our football teams again this year. Many thanks to Eddie for volunteering to do so and for giving the school so much of his time.

Opening times:

8:50am - School commences

10:30am - Break

12:00 noon - Lunchtime

1:30pm - Classes end for Junior and Senior Infants

2:30pm - All other classes will end

The official school day begins at 8:50am. Supervision is provided from 8:40am. Children should not be dropped off any earlier than 8:40am.

If your child is being collected during the school day for an appointment it is necessary that a note is given to the appropriate class teachers.

Parking:

A reminder to everyone to please park responsibly when dropping your children to, and collecting from, school.

Regards,

Sinéad Pigott