September Newsletter

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Dates for your Diary

• Thursday 22nd October – Halloween Dress-Up Day

• Monday 26th – Friday 30th October – School Closed for Mid-Term break

Welcome & Staffing

Welcome back to all the children of Glounaguillagh National School. We extend a very special welcome to our 11 new Junior Infants, along with Aiden (Senior Infants), Aron (1st Class) and Tadhg (3rd Class). We wish all of our school community a happy, successful and enjoyable year ahead and look forward to all that the year will bring. Our total enrolment currently stands at 142 pupils.

Class Groups 2026/2027

• Junior & Senior Infants – Mrs. Fiona Doyle

• Senior Infants & 1st Class – Ms. Deirdre Quirke (Mr. Niall Fenton Toms)

• 2nd Class – Mrs. Emer Fleming

• 3rd & 4th Class – Ms. Ann O’Shea

• 4th & 5th Class – Mrs. Linda Galvin

• 6th Class – Ms. Caitríona McCarthy

• SETs (2) – Ms. Sinéad Pigott and Ms. Aoife O’Sullivan (Mrs. Emma Phelan) / Ms. Norma Tyther (job-sharing)

• SNAs (3) – Mrs. Juliet Russell / Mrs. Natasha O’Sullivan (job-sharing), Mrs. Joanne Falvey and Mrs. Deirdre Griffin

Calendar

Please find attached an updated school calendar for the 2026/2027 school year. We have now received confirmation of the remaining two Oide-led closure days and can also confirm the school-led closure day which falls between the two Oide dates. The updated calendar reflects these closures.

Contacting the School

If you have a query, the school office can be contacted on 066 9769402 or by email at office@glounaguillaghns.ie.

Jean's office hours are:

• Monday: 9.00am – 2.30pm

• Tuesday: 9.00am – 2.00pm

• Wednesday: 9.00am – 2.00pm

• Friday: 9.00am – 12.00 noon

Please note that the office is not manned outside of these hours. You can leave a voicemail or send an email and we will respond as soon as possible.

The school will continue to use the Aladdin Connect App to send whole-school notifications and important information/events to parents. A gentle reminder to ensure that you are registered and can log in to this App at all times, as most school correspondence is sent via the app. If you encounter any difficulties with Aladdin Connect, please contact Jean in the office.

If you have changed your mobile number recently, please contact the office to update your details. We may, on occasion, need to contact you by telephone during the school day, so it is vital that we have up-to-date mobile and emergency contact numbers.

We will continue to send a monthly email update via Aladdin. If you need to change your email address, please contact the school office.

We ask that all visitors to the school make an appointment prior to arrival. We appreciate your cooperation with this.

The school office is now located at the side of the school. A bell is located on the right-hand side of the door for attention. Entry to the school during school hours will be through this door only.

What to do if you or your child has a problem/concern

We value positive and open communication between home and school. If you have a concern relating to your child's education, wellbeing or experience at school, we ask that you follow the school's Parental Complaints Procedure.

• Please contact your child's class teacher in the first instance and discuss your concern with them.

• If a meeting is required, you can contact the school office to arrange an appointment with the class teacher.

• Where a concern cannot be resolved at class-teacher level, the matter can then be referred to the principal in accordance with the school's Parental Complaints Procedure.

  
  

Child Protection

As Principal, I am the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) in relation to Child Protection in the school. Mrs. Linda Galvin, Deputy Principal, is the Deputy Designated Liaison Person (DDLP).

Uniforms

Please ensure that children wear the agreed navy and white school uniform. Please ensure that all items of clothing and personal belongings are clearly labelled, particularly jumpers, coats and tracksuits. This makes it much easier to return misplaced items to their owners.

PE days are as follows:

• Junior Infants, Senior Infants & 1st Class: Thursday

• 2nd – 6th Classes: Friday

On PE days, pupils should wear their plain navy tracksuit and runners.

As the weather can be unpredictable, please ensure that your child brings a waterproof jacket with a hood to school each day.

Earrings: Pupils are asked to wear stud earrings or small, simple hoops in school. This is for safety reasons, particularly during yard time and PE, where earrings can present a risk of injury.

Shorts: During warmer weather, pupils may wear navy shorts as part of their school/PE clothing. Please ensure that shorts are of an appropriate length and style for school. Very short, close-fitting sports or bicycle-style shorts are not considered appropriate school wear.

Absences & Attendance

While certain absences are unavoidable, particularly when a child is unwell, it is important to remember that the school is legally required to inform the Educational Welfare Services of Tusla when a child has missed 20 days or more during the school year. Prior to or following an absence, please use the Aladdin Connect App to submit an attendance note. Aladdin will send automated absence notifications at various intervals as a reminder of the school's obligations regarding attendance.

Medication

Please inform the school office of any changes to your child's medical circumstances or medication requirements. It is important that the school has up-to-date information where a child has a medical condition or requires medication during the school day. In the event that your child requires medication during school hours, we will provide parents/guardians with the relevant Administration of Medication Forms and other documentation required to support your child's care in school. These forms are available on request from the office.

Lunches & Allergies

We remind parents that the following are not permitted in lunchboxes: fizzy drinks, chocolate and chocolate bars, buns, chocolate spread, biscuits, sweets and lollipops, crisps and chewing gum. Due to allergies, we ask that nuts and products containing nuts are not included in lunchboxes. In addition, we ask that eggs are not included in lunches for Ms. O'Shea's class. Thank you for your cooperation in helping us to maintain a safe environment for all children.

Hot Meals

A reminder that parents can manage their child's hot lunch orders through The Lunch Bag app. If your child does not require a hot lunch on particular days, you can select those days and opt out using the calendar within the app. If you wish to opt out of the hot meals programme completely, please contact Jean in the school office. Please note that if you opt out of the programme completely, your child will not receive a cold lunch on school tour days or on other occasions when lunches are provided through The Lunch Bag.

School Fees

The cost of resources, photocopying, art and craft supplies and other essential school resources has risen considerably again this year. At the same time, schools continue to face reductions in funding across a number of areas, including Capitation, Minor Works and Ancillary grants, as well as financial assistance generally. As a result, our annual school fee is €60 per child this year. While we do everything possible to keep costs as low as we can, we are finding it increasingly difficult to meet our essential school costs. Payment links, with a full breakdown of the costs included in the €60 fee, will be sent via Aladdin. Alternatively, payment may be brought to the school in a sealed envelope with your child's name clearly marked on it. Any family experiencing financial difficulty, or for whom paying this amount would present a difficulty, is asked to contact me in confidence.

Parking & Road Safety

The safety of the children around drop-off and collection times is always a priority. We ask all parents and guardians to please be mindful when approaching the school and to park responsibly when dropping children to or collecting them from school.

• Please do not park behind staff cars.

• Please pull fully into the designated car-parking spaces, if available.

• If the car park is full, please use the other side of the road to park safely.

• Please do not stop in the immediate vicinity of the school gates to allow children to get out of the car.

• Please be mindful of parking on the junction and do not obstruct the junction.

• Please do not reverse out onto the junction.

• Please do not double park or stop in a position that obstructs the flow of traffic.

• Please avoid unnecessary idling at collection times, where possible.

• Please be mindful of neighbouring properties and do not block entrances or driveways.

We would ask parents to please be considerate of other road users and, most importantly, the safety of the children. If your child is dropped to or collected from school by another family member, please pass this information on to them and ask them to behave responsibly in the area surrounding the school. As you are aware, we are participating in the Safe Routes to School Programme. We look forward to bringing an update to parents and the wider school community as soon as it is ready.

Arriving at School

The school opens to receive pupils at 8.40am. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before this time, as supervision is provided from 8.40am. School commences each day at 8.50am. The first 20 minutes of the school day are allocated for assembly, supervision and preparation. This 20-minute period also allows us to facilitate the safe arrival of pupils and to spread out traffic around the school gate. Children may therefore arrive between 8.50am and 9.10am. Pupils arriving from 9.11am onwards will be recorded as late on Aladdin. On wet mornings, we would suggest that children remain in their car with an adult until the school opens to receive pupils at 8.40am. For families walking or cycling to and from school, please remember to wear high-visibility vests.

Extra-Curricular Activities

• Football: Football will get up and running at the start of October, with our school team participating in the Cumann na mBunscol 6-7 Teacher competition on Thursday, 1st October in Killorglin. We are delighted to have PJ Reidy back with us to coach football again this year.

• Basketball: We are delighted to welcome Mariyah, who will be visiting the school weekly to work with a number of classes. We wish Mariyah the very best of luck with her season with Glenbeigh Falcons and look forward to working with her throughout the year.

• Student Council: Student Council elections will take place this week. We look forward to hearing the ideas and suggestions of our pupils and to working with our newly elected Student Council throughout the year.

• Active Schools & Amber Flag: Our Active Schools and Amber Flag Committees will be formed next week. We will once again focus on the values and principles represented by these initiatives and on putting them into practice for the benefit of our whole school community.

Re-turn Bin

We are continuing with our Re-turn Bin this year. Empty plastic bottles and cans can be sent into school for recycling. All funds raised through the Return Bin will go directly towards supporting the school. We appreciate your continued support with this initiative.

Website

We remind you all to check the school website regularly for updates and the latest school information: www.glounaguillaghns.ie

Budget 2027

A sincere thank you to all of the parents and guardians who took the time to read Sunday's message regarding Budget 2027 and, in particular, to those who have already been in contact with local representatives. We have been very grateful for the positive feedback and support. We hope that Budget 2027, which will be announced on 6th October, will bring meaningful progress on a number of issues affecting primary schools, including class sizes, school funding and provision for children with special educational needs. Thank you again for your support. It is very much appreciated.

Regards,

Sinéad Pigott

Principal

P.S. A reminder that you cannot reply directly to this email address. Please contact the school office at office@glounaguillaghns.ie.