General Information on procedures in St. Joseph's National School

Our aims are: -

  1. To foster an understanding and love of the Irish language and culture and to encourage a sense of pride and delight in their distinct Irish heritage.
  2. To provide a happy positive caring environment in which the needs of the individual child are considered
  3. To foster understanding and an appreciation of the moral, spiritual, social and cultural values of the home and of the community.
  4. To promote self-esteem and self worth in every child and to combine this with a respect for the rights and beliefs of others
  5. To develop expressive and creative abilities to the individual child’s full capacity.
  6. To ensure that each child achieves a standard of educational performance commensurate with his/her ability.
  7. To create in our children a spirit of tolerance and self-reliance so that they will become responsible members of society.
  8. To develop a spirit of inquiry and the capacity for critical and constructive analysis of issues
  9. To ensure that our young people acquire a deep awareness of their local, national and European heritage and identity.

School Organisation

  1. School begins at 9.20 a.m. It is important that the children develop the habit of being punctual for school. Supervision is provided from 9.10 – 9.20 to facilitate parents who are dropping off their pupils. Pupils line up in the class lines at the assembly area in the yard. Pupils on school grounds prior to 9.10 a.m. are not the responsibility of the school management.
  2. Junior and Senior Infant Classes are dismissed at 2.00 p.m. from the fire exit doors of their classrooms.  Infants are not allowed to go home on their own unless this is specifically requested in writing by parents. Whoever collects your child from school should try to be at the school before dismissal time so as not to cause him unnecessary anxiety. The pupils in the other classes are dismissed at 3.00 p.m.
  3. At 3.00 p.m., pupils are expected to leave the school grounds in an orderly fashion and to report home promptly.

 

Safety Coming and Going from School

 

  1. Pupils must walk when entering or leaving the school.  Cyclists must dismount and walk when entering or leaving the school.  Parents must drive carefully near the school.
  2. Pupils are not allowed to climb or swing on the trees, walls, buildings, or goalposts posts.
  3. Pupils must walk to and from the bus.  The school cannot accept any responsibility for escorting pupils to and from the bus to the school.  The parents who feel that their children may need to be escorted on these occasions should make arrangements to ensure that some escort is provided.
  4. Courtesy and respect must be shown to the school bus drivers.  Pupils must walk when coming from the bus in the morning and when going towards the bus in the evening.  Pupils must remain seated on the bus and behave in an orderly and safe manner.
  5. Pupils must conduct themselves in a safe and well-behaved manner when they are waiting for the bus.                                            

Attendance

         Each child  (that is, those between the ages of 6 and 15) is obliged by law to attend school every day on which the school is in operation unless there is a reasonable excuse for not attending.  The Education Welfare Act 2000 obliges our school to report any pupil absent for in access of 20 days within any school year to the Welfare Officer. It is necessary for parents/guardians to send a letter of explanation  to the school or use form at back of Homework Diary for all absentee pupils, which will go on file and may be inspected at a future time by the Welfare Officer. When it is necessary for a pupil to leave school early, a note must be sent to the class teacher. Parents/ guardians are asked to call personally to the classroom to collect the child and must sign their child out in the Home Book in the Secretary’s Office. When any person is collecting a child on behalf of the parent/guardian, the parent must inform the class teacher prior to collection. This is to ensure as far as possible the safety of children through school hours.

School Uniform
Pupils are expected to wear their uniform every day and  a school tracksuit and  runners on P.E. days.   The school uniform consists of

  1. a pale blue shirt/ pale blue t-shirt
  2. a wine  tie,
  3. grey trousers/skirt/pinafore
  4. a wine cardigan/jumper.
  5. Grey tracksuit bottoms for P.E. [available in clothes shops in Kingscourt]
  6. Grey/wine/white tights or socks

Infants may wear the school tracksuit bottoms each day and a blue polo top for ease of dressing. Velcro shoes or runners are recommended for infants.

Pupils should have their names printed on all their belongings i.e. clothes, books, copies and all their equipment and property. The Board of Management does not accept responsibility for the children’s property.

Healthy Lunches

Surveys have shown that children's lunches are often very unhealthy and not adequate nutritionally because they tend to be low in fibre and high in sugar. Our school operates a healthy lunch policy. Please do not give your child sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks or crisps for lunch. Lunch should provide one third of your child's food requirements for the day. The most effective way to plan a healthy lunch is to include one food from each of the food groups - one piece of fruit, fruit juice/water, two slices of bread and meat / poultry /cheese. No glass bottles please. Chewing gum is not allowed in the school. Children are not allowed leave school during lunch time unless their parents/guardians have filled in the consent form and are accompanied by the parent or guardian during lunch time.

Health/Safety

  

Pupils who are ill should not be sent to school. Any infectious illnesses should be notified to the school immediately.  Children should return to school only when fully recovered.
  1. Parents are asked that teachers be made aware of any physical disability or allergies, which their child might have.
  2. Please check your child's hair regularly for outbreaks of Head Lice. If there is an outbreak of head lice in a class, all parents of pupils in that class are informed by note, and asked to take immediate action to treat infestation.
  3. Requests to remain indoors at break times should only be made in exceptional circumstances (limbs in plaster, recovering from/awaiting surgery). These requests must be made in writing to the class teacher.

 

Accident Procedures

  

Accidents occur despite supervision. Minor accidents are treated at school. Slight cuts and grazes are normally treated by cleaning with cold water and applying a plaster to the wound. When a dressing has been put on a wound, parents are requested to inspect the wound when the child comes home from school.
  1. In the event of an accident/child becoming ill, every possible effort will be made to contact the pupil's parents or the persons delegated to take responsibility for the pupil.
  2. Please complete the form giving details of home/work phone numbers. The school should be notified immediately of changes of address etc.
  3. Non co-operation in this matter could result in a delay in having your child attended to medically, should the need arise.
  4. Please ensure that alternative contact consent has been received and that they live locally.
  5. The school will not accept responsibility for any medical expenses incurred. Parents may avail of the personal insurance at a small yearly premium, which will cover medical and dental bills as a result of an accident.

Home/School Communication


Frequent communication is of vital importance in developing and nurturing co-operation between home and school. In our school, communication between parents and teachers may take one of the following forms:
1. Individual consultation: This occurs where a parent has asked for an interview with a teacher or has been invited to visit the school to exchange information or to discuss matters of concern. A note to the class teacher requesting such an appointment is always essential. It is also necessary that the purpose of the visit be stated so that teachers may undertake whatever preparation is necessary with regard to information and records.
2. Appointment with Principal: A note to the principal requesting an appointment is always essential.
3. Parent / teacher meetings for pupils are generally held during the first term. (October/November).
4. Meetings are held in connection with preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation.
6. An enrolment information meeting is held in the third term each year for  parents of the new prospective Junior Infant pupils.
In addition to the above forms of home/school links, the following means of communication are also utilised:
1. Notes in the pupil's homework notebook and notes in writing from school.
2. Details of school holidays or early school closures  are always communicated in writing and by text through text- a-parent messaging. Regular letters informing parents of events and successes of our school are also communicated through regular letters

Religious Formation

1. Parents have a key role to play in the religious formation of their children. They are asked to follow the Religion programme from the child's book, and to help with the Religion workbook when it is sent home.
2. The pupils receive the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion when they are in Second Class, and they receive Confirmation when they are in Sixth Class. The preparation of the children for sacraments is a shared responsibility for pupils, teachers, parents and parish clergy.
On certain occasions throughout the school year, the children may participate in prayer services or a class Mass.

Homework

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As a general rule, every child from Infants to Sixth Class is given homework from Monday to Thursday. Parents are asked to ensure that their children complete the homework each night. In the event of the homework not being attempted or not being completed, teachers may insist that the children complete the homework during some of the breaks.
Where exceptional circumstances prevent the completion of homework, please forward an explanatory note to the teacher.
Do not do the child's homework for him. Work set for homework will have been prepared in class. Please check your child's homework for neatness and point out mistakes.
Changes have taken place in the way in which certain areas of Maths are being taught. In helping your child, please adhere to the methods being used in school. Providing alternative methods may lead to confusion for the child.
Text Box:Oral work is as important as written work. Please listen to the child read, and examine spellings and tables.
Parents should check homework sheet and/or homework each night.
As a general rule, homework is not given at the weekends.

Reading     

    
  
Text Box:It is primarily in the home that the habit of reading is fostered. Encourage your child to join the library and help him to appreciate that reading can be fun and not a chore which is confined to school or homework. Encourage reading in free time and during holidays.
Problems with Reading        
Children with reading difficulties may be referred to the Special Education Teacher . For a support programme to be successful, it will require the encouragement and active co-operation of parents. Specifically, parents are asked to listen to their child reading on a nightly basis. Use the method, which has been outlined above. Don't panic about the child's reading or cause him to panic. Be positive. The road to good reading may not be smooth, but the child will get there in the end.
Text Box: Ways to help the School

 

1. We are very appreciative of the support, which parents and pupils give to the school’s fund raising activities.
2. Take an active part in the Parents' Association.
3. Remember – When you give time to the school, you help your child!
When you give time to your child, you help the school!