10ú Deireadh Fomhair ; Latest News 10th October

Dear Parents ,

Please see the following notices for your attention.

Important Dates for your Diary

• The Parents Association are organising their AGM on this Thursday night , 12th October in the school hall at 8p.m. As you are aware the work of our Parents Association in supporting the pupils and staff of the school has long since been a hallmark of Emo. Our staff and pupils know how lucky we are to have such an excellent group of parents working in the background. However, they are always looking for new members and willing helpers and all classes in the school are represented on the committee. Please set aside an hour on next Thursday to attend the AGM .
• Don’t be mean behind your screenPaula O’Connor will meet parents on Monday night next, 16th October in the school at 7p.m. Her workshops cover all aspects of safety and security surrounding the Internet, digital media, gaming, online interaction, password protection, and etiquette when using social media, bearing in mind the changes to the law.These new workshops have been designed to promote the positive elements of using digital devices, as well as being mindful of the many challenges young people face on a daily basis and the impact it can have on their development, well-being, mental health, and their future.The workshop is open to all parents to attend.
• Grandparents Day has been a feature of the school calendar over many years. All grandparents are invited to the school and each class gets to meet and perform for them on the day. We had obvious difficulties organising same over the last few years but it will make a return this school year. May 1st 2024 has been designated as Grandparents day here in the school. At the moment all the children need to do is let their grandparents know the date. We will be in touch closer to the time with a schedule.

First Friday Mass 

Fr. Eugene led the school in prayer at First Friday mass last Friday, October 6th . All classes from 2nd to 6th attended the mass. Our thanks to Mr. Costelloe and and Ms. Greene for preparing the music and readings.

New Board of Management

As you may be aware, the 2019-2023 term of the school’s Board of Management finishes on 30^th November 2023 and I would like to thank the current Board for all their hard work over the last four years.  The Board of management has legal responsibility for the overall running of the school. It serves a term of four years and that term has now come to an end. I would sincerely like to thank the following members for their diligent attention to our school over the last four years. 

• Patron’s Representatives – Very Rev. Fr. Thomas Dooley P.P. Portarlington and Emo and Mary Dunne ( Chairperson)
• Principal and Teacher’s Representative- Cyril Duggan ( Secretary) and Noel Costelloe ( teacher rep)
• Parents’ Representatives – Siobhán Malone and Gary O’Keeffe
• Community Representatives – Róisín Hogge and Caroline Treacy

In particular. I would like to thank the parent nominees, Siobhán Malone and Gary O’Keeffe, for their valuable contribution, insight and hard work over the past four years. The new term will begin on 1^st December 2023. This will require elections and the appointment of new members of the Board of Management, including two parent nominees (one being a father and one being a mother).Tomorrow you will receive a letter which invites you to consider becoming a parent nominee on our Board of Management.

Parent nominees bring a mother’s and father’s view to Board of Management discussions and decisions, and play an important role on the board.  Board meetings are confidential to board members, but all members of the board work together to make decisions in the best interest of the children and the school.

New Junior Infants 

The junior infants have made a great start in Emo NS. Well done to all the Mams and Dads for supporting their work over the last few weeks. Ms. Dempsey and Ms. Deffew and myself met with all the parents last Wednesday night and were delighted to talk through oral language skills , fine motor skills , jolly phonics, homework and teacher support.

School Calendar

Mid term break : School closes at 2.30p.m on Friday 27th October. School will re-open on Monday ,6th November .

Tinreamh :Attendance

The attendance for the school year 2022/2023 was 93%.

We request that parents do not remove children unnecessarily from school during the year. As part of our attendance policy parents will receive a letter from the school when their child has been absent for 15 days. This letter is to remind parents that their child is nearing 20 days of absence from school. We are legally obliged to report absences greater than 20 days to Tusla.

Punctuality is a life skill and in Emo National School we encourage children to BE ON TIME FOR TEN TO NINE. We understand that when children are late it is not usually the child’s fault so we ask that parents make a special effort to ensure that your child is not consistently late for school.

Parking ; Please continue to respect the STOP AND DROP lane in the Community Centre car park . Please do not drive inside the school gates to drop off children. Please inform grandparents/childminders of these important protocols..

Medical and Contact Details 

Please ensure that the school has necessary medical information in respect of your child. Bernadette is updating this at the moment. Also please inform the school of any changes to contact details etc.

Code of Behaviour and Anti- Bullying 

In this school we are welcoming and friendly to one another . We say gentle hands , gentle feet and kind words . We  speak to pupils on a regular basis both in class and at assembly on Friday about these key messages. In Juniors and Senior infants the emphasis is placed upon behaviour modification. In first class children are explicitly taught our Code of Behaviour .  Over the last few weeks first class parents would have heard about Golden Time and about our yellow and red card system. it is important that parents are familiar with this system and have read through the code of behaviour.

Teachers are also completing awareness raising lessons regarding anti-bullying at the moment . However, the message remains the same. If a child is giving another child a NO feeling teacher needs to hear about it .It is not the norm and children need to tell an adult. We also need to know the context etc. We encourage parents to read through our anti-bullying policy with your child. Many thanks for your co-operation in advance .  https://emons.ie/school-policies/emo-national-school-anti-bullying-policy/

Child Protection Procedures

The revised procedures will be adopted by our Board of Management meeting on October 25th. I will forward the relevant documents subsequent to that meeting.

First Communion and Confirmation Dates. 

Please see dates of sacraments for children in 2nd and 6th classes.

First Confession -28th February 2024 @ 7p.m.

Confirmation – 13th March 2024 @ 2p.m.

First Communion – Sunday 28th April 2024 at 11a.m.

Curriculum 

Our new Science plan is now being implemented throughout the school .Ms. Casey is organising a Science Fair in the first week of November.Our student council is up and running

SPHE/Wellbeing initiatives are underway in all classes. Lisa Jones (Oide advisor ) will visit the school on 11th October to work with staff and meet our wellbeing team.

Student Council 23/24

We thank Ms. Casey for organising and chairing the student council in the school . We value the student voice in our school and it’s great to hear the opinions of children in each of the classes.

1st: Oisín Bastick and Jane Brophy

2nd: Noah Donohue and Ava O’Loughlin

3rd: Barry McDonald and Sadie O’Connell

4th: Liam Malone and Gracie Booth

5th: Pierce Milner and Lucy Donnelly

6th: Caolan Gilliland and Caoimhe Coffey

 

Sports 

Cumann na mBunscol competitions are up and running and Seán Greene has started football coaching. Swimming is ongoing in first, second and third classes.

Siniú,

Cyril Duggan.

Príomhoide