September 2019 Newsletter
3rd September 2019
Dear Parents
Fáilte
Fáilte romhaibh ar ais ar scoil. Welcome back to the new school year. It is great to have all the children back settling into new routines. A particular welcome to our new Junior Infants, Lilly Rose, Desmond, Aoife & Adele.
Pastures New
At this stage you will have received the email regarding my new position. I would like to sincerely thank you the parents for all your support since 2016. Your children are a credit to you and I look forward to keeping an eye on their progress in the future. To the PA Committee, I would like to thank you for the time and effort you put in to making Gurraneasig NS a better place for the children. I would also like to thank the Board of Management for giving their time and managing the school in a fair manner. I would like to thank the wonderful staff we have in Gurraneasig. The teachers, Frances Harrington(SNA),Margaret O’Regan(Cleaning) and of course our super secretary,Ursula McCloskey. I have fond memories of my time in Gurraneasig, I wish you and the new Principal all the best.
Staffing
We welcome Ms Mary Rita Kennelly all the best in her role as Junior Room teacher for this year.
Teaching Practice
Student teacher (Ms Laura White) will be doing her 4 weeks school placement in the Junior Room from Monday 23 September 2019.
School Closure
Reminder school will be closed on Tues October 2nd due to whole school training on Primary Language Curriculum.
School Opening hours
The Board of Management(BOM) wishes to inform parents that the school is responsible for pupils between the hours of 9.30am and 3.10pm in the case of Rang I to Rang VI and from 9.30am to 2.10pm in the case of the Infants’ classes. The BOM accepts no responsibility for any accidents outside these hours. The internal door will open @ 9.15a.m.It is imperative children are delivered on time to school in the morning and collected promptly in the afternoon and the school be informed if a parent is running late. You are reminded to check your child’s sack each evening for notices/letters from the school or from their teacher. *Junior Infants will finish @ 12pm until Friday 13th Sept.
Attendance, Punctuality & Teaching Time
The BOM wishes to remind parents of the importance of both attendance and punctuality throughout the school year. The BOM also asks parents to schedule pupils’ extra-curricular activities for outside of school time so as not to impose on teaching time.
Pupil Absence
Should your child be absent/late/early leaving from school please inform us in writing/by email/or by completing an absence note for him/her on return to school. These notes can be found at the back of the homework diary. Schools’ obligations under Tusla (The Educational Welfare Services of the Child and Family Agency) guidelines specify that any child with 20 days absence (or greater) have to be reported to Tusla. As a forewarning on approaching that absence level, our school will send a notification to the parents of a child whom has reached 15 days absence. Issues concerning illness would not ordinarily be notified to the Welfare Board. The Sign-Out Register will be in operation again this year. Please sign out your child if they are leaving the school early for any reason. This register is located on the desk in the hall.
Upcoming Events
Tennis
These weekly classes will commence with Alan O’Mahony of Bounce, starting on Sept 18t h and finishing on 23rd October.
Christmas Cards for School Fundraiser
The children will design their own Christmas cards and they will be printed with their name, class and school name on the back. Parents will be able to order them in due course. More details to follow.
School Uniform
The official tracksuit uniform is
- Red polo shirt with crest.
- Navy tracksuit with red piping & a crest on the sweater.
- Shoes / trainers are to be plain, dark & flat.
Alternative Option from the tracksuit bottom
- Girls:- Plain navy skirt / pinafore (with red or navy tights or red or navy long socks) or Plain navy trousers / unbranded track bottoms e.g. Dunnes/O’Neill’s (soft shell).
- Boys:- Plain navy trousers e.g. Dunnes/O’Neill’s (soft shell).
- Plain navy shorts may be worn for all during the summer months.
- Other than the school crest, no decorations / patterns / other crests or logos please on any item of clothing.
- Alternative option to be worn ONLY WITH official school red polo shirt with crest and school navy tracksuit top with crest
Spare Uniforms are available at the front door.
Holy Communion
Parents of children in 2n d class who DO NOT wish their child to participate in the preparation for the Sacrament of Holy Communion are requested to inform same to Ms. McGrath asap.
Book Rental Scheme & Homework Diaries / Classroom Resources
Monies payable for these (Junior Room €20, Middle & Senior Room €25) is to be given to your child’s class teacher or drop it in to the office.
Year/Term Costs
The school is ever aware of outgoings for parents and have strived to keep our yearly costs to a minimum. The cost for this year is €135 per child (or €45 per child per term.
Teacher Contact
School mornings are a busy time and it would be appreciated that should a parent have any issue which needs clarification or discussion with a class teacher outside of PT meetings, please write a note on the child’s homework diary for the teacher’s attention. Additionally, an appointment can be made via the school office or school email address – secretary@gurraneasigns.com to meet the class teacher. This will ensure that all issues are dealt with diligently while still guaranteeing that teaching time is not interrupted or delayed.
If an appointment is requested with the Principal, please ensure that any relevant issues have first been discussed with the class teacher. As the Principal is a Teaching Principal, appointments may have to be arranged for outside teaching time.
Medical Conditions
Should your child have any medical condition / allergy that could possibly require intervention please furnish the details of same to Ursula so that we have up to date medical info where appropriate.
Healthy Eating/Allergies
Unfortunately we cannot accept birthday cakes,etc being brought into classes for other children to share due to numerous allergies that children have. Friday remains an individual treat day.
Personal Details
Text-a-Parent
Please ensure that you have given up-to-date phone & email contact details to the school office. Occasionally, parents change their phone/number and forget to inform the school. This is especially true of the mobile number required for our Text-a-Parent service. If there are any important changes in Personal contact details, please inform the school as soon as possible. Please download the free TextaParent App to your phone so that school messages and calendar updates can now be sent to the App. https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app
School Calendar 2019/2020
Please see the attached School Calendar for all School Closures.
Car parking & One-way system
Our informal one way system works well for the school during our start & finish times. If you don’t know about it, please ask. The one way is used by the parents of the school. Please be considerate to the locals, they are not party to this informal one way system, so be prepared to meet traffic. The local community use the road as normal. _ ** Please be aware and DRIVE SLOWLY & CAREFULLY.
- Always slow your speed in the vicinity of the school.
- Parents are requested NOT TO PARK IN THE ENTRANCE TO THE SCHOOL on the yellow box, but to park safely in the school vicinity. Please DO NOT PARK ON NEIGHBOURS GRASS.
- DO NOT BLOCK neighbouring entrances / laneways or any access areas.
Traffic / Speeding
Please be mindful of all others travelling to school. We have some families who walk and cycle to school, which as an Active & Green school, we encourage. School has over the past year received complaints of excessive speeding/dangerous driving at drop-off and collection times. School advises all to arrive and depart safely at school regardless of time and road/weather conditions. The school has contacted Cork County Council & Kilbrittain Garda Station in relation to road traffic. We will also liaise with local Gardaí in relation to applying for a special speed limit of 30kmph in the school vicinity. Thank you for your continued co-operation in promoting the health & safety of our school community.
Parents Association(PA)
The PA is, year on year, a wonderful support to our school. It works very hard to help make Gurraneasig N.S. a better place for the children. The PA is also a wonderful opportunity for the parents of our school to get involved and feel part of the school community. This year the PA hopes to grow its committee and encourage parents to lend a hand and join.
Pupil Accident Insurance
Please note the PA who organise payment of this invaluable insurance policy have asked that when you are paying your classroom resources costs could you please add on your payment for this policy €8 per child(24-hour cover).
Payments to school
Some parents prefer to pay school costs etc on line. If you wish to do so, please note the schools bank details below: Allied Irish Bank South Main Street Bandon Co. Cork Account Name: Gurraneasig National School 1 Account IBAN: IE61AIBK 9340 4607 3040 47 BIC: AIBKIE2D For reference please put your childs name & item (Tour, Term cost etc) so we will know who the transaction applies to.
Secretary
Ursula works on Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays.
Mar focal scoir
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your child all the best for the coming year and hope that they will have a fruitful and happy year with us in Gurraneasig NS. “Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí”.
Is mise le meas
Eoin Fitzpatrick
Príomhoide