Dear parents/guardians,
Fáilte mhór ar ais tar éis an sos samhraidh. Tá áthas orainn a bheith ar ais agus tá na páistí sochraithe isteach go maith cheanna fhéin. We are delighted to welcome everyone back to school for the 2025-2026 school year. We hope it proves to be an enjoyable and productive year for all. A special welcome to our new Junior Infants who have made a great start to the year.
Please see the following notices for your attention:
Staffing Appointments
We welcome teachers Ms. Amy Byrne (2nd Class), Ms. Ríona Duggan (3rd Class), Ms. Ava Tobin (1st/2nd SET) and SNA Ms. Jane Dowling to our staff. We congratulate them on their appointments and wish them every success in Emo N.S.
New Junior Infants
The Junior Infants have made a great start in Emo NS. Ms. Dempsey and Ms. Breda are delighted the way the children are settling in.
We would like to make junior infant parents aware of an important meeting in the school hall on Wednesday 24th September @ 7pm. This meeting will cover topics ranging from oral language skills, fine motor skills, Jolly Phonics, homework and teacher support.
Important Dates
First Confession – Wednesday 22nd April @ 8pm in St Paul’s Church, Emo.
Communion – Sunday 10th May @ 11am in St Paul’s Church, Emo.
Service of Light/Penitential Service and Pledge – Monday 9th March @ 8pm in St Paul’s Church, Emo.
Confirmation – Wednesday 11th March @ 2pm in St Paul’s Church, Emo
Curriculum School Self Evaluation Process
Continuing on from last year, our School Improvement Plan will focus on Spellings and Phonics throughout the school. Teachers will begin to implement agreed changes to classroom practices around teaching and learning.
We are implementing the new Maths curriculum and planning for same. We have taken on a new Maths scheme for 3rd – 6th classes. We would like to thank our Parents’ Association for funding the purchase of concrete learning materials for all classes.
School Closure Days for Teacher Professional Learning
We have been notified of full-day school closures for staff training this academic year.
- Monday 17th November – Child Protection Procedures
- Friday 27th February – Primary Curriculum Framework (Day 1)
- Friday 22nd May – Primary Curriculum Framework (Day 2)
Also, the school will be closed on Friday 24th October. It will be in use as a polling station for the Presidential Elections.
Medical and Contact Details
Please ensure that the school has necessary medical information in respect of your child. Gráinne, our school secretary is updating this at the moment. Also, please inform the school of any changes to contact details.
Code of Behaviour
In recent years, we have implemented our new Code of Behaviour across the school. At the beginning of another school year, we will familiarise the children with the rules once more and how our code of behaviour operates. Our focus is on positive reinforcement and each class operates a reward system for good behaviour. Teachers have also completed anti-bullying/friendship lessons following our return to school.
Mobile Phones / Online Activity
Last year, in liaison with the Parents’ Association, we introduced our ‘Smartphone Agreement’ across the school. We were very pleased with the positive response, with almost 90% of families signing up to it. The agreement states;
‘My child will not own a smartphone or have access to social media platforms until after primary school.’
As a school, we are increasingly aware of the impact that unsupervised internet use and device access can have on students’ well-being, friendships, and learning. With that in mind, we ask all parents and guardians to take the following points into serious consideration:
- Please have boundaries and controls in place for your child’s internet usage and access to devices. School-aged children should not have unrestricted access to phones, tablets, or the internet. We strongly encourage you to have regular conversations with your child about the apps they use and their general online behaviour.
- If you feel your child is ready to manage the responsibilities that come with owning a phone or using messaging apps, we advise that you monitor their usage closely. Based on expert advice and our own experience, we strongly recommend that pupils avoid being part of large group chats, which can often lead to misunderstandings and unkind behaviour, affecting friendships and learning.
- While we cannot control online behaviour outside school hours, we are increasingly seeing the negative effects of such activity spilling over into the classroom. We urge all families to have a plan for managing any issues that arise from your child’s online activity, particularly out of school.
If you would like some support on this topic, we would suggest you visit the webwise.ie site which contains lots of excellent advice and resources for parents.
Our school will be visited again this year by Paula O’ Connor on 4th November. Paula will complete an Internet Safety Workshop with 5th and 6th class children during the day and will also complete a session for parents in the school that evening. As always, we would encourage as many parents as possible to attend.
Activities
Cumann na mBunscol football competitions commenced last week. We have two teams participating in the boys’ and girls’ competitions.
Cycle Safety sessions, kindly supported by the Parents’ Association, began last Wednesday and will continue up to the Halloween break.
Swimming will take place this term for 1st – 4th classes and Mr. Lynch’s Class. Our thanks to the Parents’ Association who are contributing €10 per child to the cost of same.
Our Parents’ Association have confirmed that our annual BBQ and Sponsored Walk will take place this Friday 19th September. More details on Aladdin.
Le dea-ghuí,
Noel Costelloe
Príomhoide