Dear parents
We are closing in on Hallowe’en now and all our staff are very pleased with how the pupils have settled back in to the new school routines. There is great excitement and anticipation among the children in the school at the moment as they look forward to the annual dress-up, dress down which takes place on this Friday, 23rd October. We are looking forward to a very enjoyable day.
Dates for your diary
Hallowe’en Dress up dress down – Friday 23rd October
Mid-term break: School closes on Friday 23rd October and re-opens on Monday 2nd November.
First Communion (3rd class) and Confirmation Dates (sixth class 2019/2020).
Unfortunately, the November dates for both these ceremonies have now been deferred. We will let you know there is a new date.
School Culture
We will continue to work on the value of RESPECT in the next term. The root belief that we are exploring with the children is as follows:
“A safe and caring environment fosters kindness, love and respect
Health and Safety Reminders
Our thanks to all parents and teachers for their co-operation with new procedures and protocols in the school since our return. The children have adapted to new routines brilliantly and we will continue with these new routines after the mid-term break with some slight changes.
- Pods in 3rd to 6th classes will be changed.
- Parents are also reminded that children should wait in their car and not congregate at the gates before the official opening time of 8.35.
- In an attempt to keep fresh air moving through the building, windows and doors are left open as much as possible, particularly at break times to ventilate the rooms. An extra body warmer might be no harm for the winter months. Children also need to bring a coat to school as we want the children to get out for their breaks as much as possible.
Curriculum
New Primary Language Curriculum
Our teachers have been spending time over the last few weeks on planning for the new language curriculum across the classes.
It is recognised internationally that developing skills in one language will help children to develop similar skills in another language. An important part of this language-learning environment through the new curriculum will be an emphasis on playful and engaging experiences for younger children. In the classroom children are encouraged to talk and respond with opinions, thoughts and ideas alongside the work to develop reading and writing.
We are continuing to place an emphasis on reading at home and your continued support is much appreciated. Teachers have noticed that children know their sounds much better, reading fluency is improving and they are moving through the reading levels quickly.
Digital Strategy
Together with our Parents Association we have purchased 16 new iPads. This is brilliant news for our school as each child will now have access to their own iPad after the mid-term break.
Seesaw is up and running in the school and is proving popular with both children and teachers. It allows pupils to store their work in an online space and gain feedback from their teacher. It can be used on a computer (PC) or tablet. It effectively enables teachers to set tasks or assignments and include instructions or templates for students to use at home. The purpose for the parent or family account is for oversight only. Our communication with parents will continue to be through Aladdin, the school office and not seesaw messaging. There was a Seesaw webinar on Wednesday night which many of you will have accessed and if not the webinar was recorded and will be available to watch on www.esci.ie at a later stage.
Green Travel Flag
We received our travel flag during the week. Congratulations to the current sixth class and Ms. Lewis for their work on the travel flag last year. Fifth will continue to work on the Green flags that we have received to date this year and consolidate the key messages with all the children in the school.
Educational Visits
- We look forward to Cycle Safety for 4th class in November. Once again we are delighted that this initiative is supported by our Parents Association.
- Ms. Lewis’ class visited Emo court recently. John Duffy did a brilliant tour of the gardens and the wonderful trees that are there. We enjoyed it immensely. Our thanks to John and the team in Emo Court who do such a wonderful job in maintaining this beautiful amenity. Photographs of the visit can be accessed here
Child Protection and Anti Bullying
In accordance with the requirements of the Children First Act 2015, the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools 2017 and Tusla Guidance on the preparation of Child Safeguarding Statements, the Board of Management of the school has agreed a Child Safeguarding Statement and Assessment of Risk. This document may be viewed on our website at this link. It is important that parents are aware of the content of this document.
Should you need to report a child protection issue The DLP (Designated Liaison Person) for the school is Cyril Duggan and the deputy DLP is Florence Fennelly.
Student Council
Ms. Casey held meetings of the Student Council. They will be busy making suggestions and discussing the important school issues of the day. The Student Council for this year is as follows:
6th Class: Cóilí Coss.
5th Class: Jane Allen
4th Class: Cian Keegan Loughlin
3rd Class: Darragh Lawlor
2nd Class: Robin Mitchell Leavy
1st Class: Darragh O’Keeffe
Sports
Our football leagues in fourth, fifth and sixth classes were completed last week and thoroughly enjoyed by the children who participated. Our thanks to Mr. Cushen, Ms. Casey, Ms. Lewis, Ms. Greene, Mr. Slevin and Mr. Costelloe for helping out with same. Laois GAA coach Donie Brennan will continue with football coaching after the break with 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes.
Kind regards,
Cyril Duggan
Priomhoide