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Holy Family National SchoolRathcooleMay 15, 2008 |
| Dear
Parents, A short note to remind you that our annual Sponsored Walk takes place this Sunday 18th May at 2.30 p.m. from the school to the park in Rathcoole and back. After the walk there will be a disco in the school hall which will finish at 5.00 p.m. We would like to see as many parents as possible participating in the walk with their children. Some sponsorship cards and money have already been returned to the school and the rest should be returned to the school next week - it would be better not to bring forms and money on Sunday. We would ask parents and children to get as much sponsorship as possible to offset the costs of school tours, school books etc. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
May 12, 2008 |
| Dear Parents of Sixth
Class pupils, A Service of Light ceremony for parents and children who are making their Confirmation will take place tonight 12th May in The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saggart. Please bring a candle (baptismal if available). Children in 6th class will be going home tomorrow 13th May at 12.30 p.m. to allow their teacher to prepare the church for Confirmation. Confirmation photographs will take place in the school at 9.30am this Thursday 15th May. Parents who wish their children to return home after the photographs must inform the school in writing. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
April 17, 2008 |
| Dear
Parents, The school will be closed on Wednesday next 23rd April as the staff are attending a School Development and Planning In-Service course. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
February 28, 2008 |
| Dear
Parents/Guardians, In recent years, as a society, we have become very aware of the problem of child abuse through neglect, emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Each one of us has a duty to protect children and "Children First, the National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children" noted that teachers, who are the main care givers to children outside the family, are particularly well placed to observe and monitor children for signs of abuse. In response to this, the Department of Education and Science published Guidelines and Procedures for all schools in relation to child protection and welfare. These guidelines promote the safety and welfare of all children and are to be welcomed. The Board of Management of Holy Family N.S. Rathcoole has adopted these guidelines as school policy. Consequently, if school staff suspect or are alerted to possible child abuse they are obliged to refer this matter to the Health Service Executive (HSE). The Board has appointed the Principal Mr Hoban as the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) to report matters of this nature to the HSE. If the Principal is unavailable for whatever reason, this responsibility will be taken on by the Deputy Principal, Mrs McNelis. The HSE will then assess the situation and provide support for the child concerned. "Children First, the National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children" may be accessed on the website of the Department of Health and Children (www.dohc.ie) and the Department of Education and Science Child Protection Guidelines can be read on the Department's website (www.education. ie). Parents/Guardians are also welcome to look through the guidelines here at the school. Yours sincerely, |
| M.
Hoban Principal. |
James
Walsh Chairperson B.O.M. |
February 1, 2008 |
| Dear
Parents, A meeting of parents of children from the confirmation classes in Holy Family N.S., St Mary's N.S. Saggart, St. Martin's N.S. Brittas and Scoil Chrónáin will be held in the school hall of Holy Family N.S. next Wednesday night 6th February at 8.00 p.m. and will finish at 9.00 p.m. Fr. O'Carroll will address the meeting. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
Newsletter January 2008 |
| First of all, on behalf of the staff and Board of Management I wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope you all had a nice relaxing Christmas break and we look forward to a good year ahead in 2008. | |
| New Board of Management | |
| A new Board of Management came into
office on 1st December 2007 and the members will serve for four years up to
2011. I wish to thank on your behalf each of the Board members for agreeing to
take on this important duty for the good of the children in our school.
The members of the board are: Mr. J. Walsh - Patron's Nominee and Chairperson of the Board Mrs. F. Martin - Patron's Nominee Mrs. Anita Mansfield - Parents' Representative Mr. David Hennessy - Parents' Representative Mr. D.Manning - Teachers' Representative and Treasurer of the Board Mr. M. Hoban - Principal and Secretary of the Board Mr. D. McHugh - Community Representative Mrs. M. Herlihy - Community Representative |
|
| New Parents' Association | |
| At a general meeting of parents in
the school hall on 22nd October 2007 a new Parents' Association was established
and they took up office on 1st December to coincide with the term of office of
the new Board of Management. I would like to thank the outgoing parents association for their dedication and hard work over the last four years. They had an important role in the running of the school. They contributed significantly to the development of school policies; they were involved in all the major events of the school particularly First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Most of all they carried many fund raising events, the proceeds of which were used to provide extra curricular activities for the children, transport for school trips and educational materials for classrooms. In total that Parents' Association raised in excess of € 110,000 and € 102,000 was spent on a variety of projects in the school as listed above. There is no doubt that the Parents' Association made a very significant contribution to the education of the children in our school. It is heartening to see that many of the outgoing committee have stayed on for the next four years. The members of the new Parents' Association are: Anita Mansfield - Chairperson Diane Begley - Treasurer Susan Rowe - Secretary Ann Dixon Ann O'Brien Sandra Dolan Heidi Winston Helen Kilgallon Matt O'Sullivan Arlene Hennessy Marion Bolger David Hennessy Paul Caverly Edyta Slowinski Denise Perlin Deborah MacDermott Elaine Devoy Margaret Courtney. I am glad to say that the committee are already up and running with the running of the Christmas Raffle which realised a profit in excess of € 3000. This was a fantastic sum of money to raise in such a short time. Many thanks to parents and children for buying and selling tickets and also to those parents who donated prizes. Other fund raising events planned for this year include a Sponsored Walk on 18th May and a Golf Classic on 13th June. More about those events at a later date. |
|
| Important Dates | |
| First Confession: Monday 4th February
@ 7.30 p.m. Mid-term Break: Thursday & Friday 14th & 15th February. Easter Holidays: Monday 17th March - Friday 28th March (2 weeks) Confirmation: Wednesday 14th May @ 11.00 a.m. First Holy Communion: Saturday 24th May @ 11.00 a.m. Mid-term Break: Monday 5th May - Friday 9th May (1 week) Summer Holidays: Monday 30th June. |
|
| Homework | |
| Homework is given on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday but not on Friday unless it has been neglected during
the week. Homework will regularly contain reading, spellings, tables, written work, pieces to be "learned by heart", drawing/colouring etc. The following are guidelines for time spent at homework. Differences in ability will be taken into account - different children will complete the same homework in different lengths of time. Children experiencing difficulties in English reading and spellings will not be given Irish spellings. It is important to remember that it is the quality and not the quantity of homework that matters. The following are general guidelines only: Junior & Senior Infants ...... 10 minutes Rang I & 2 .......................... 20 to 30 minutes Rang 3 & 4 ......................... c.45 minutes Rang 5 & 6 ......................... c.1 hour |
|
| School Development | |
| The Board of Management last year submitted an application to the Building Unit of the Department of Education for 4 mainstream classrooms, 3 Learning Support rooms and other ancillary works to cater for increased enrolments in 2008 and 2009. The Department is at the moment examining the application and when there are further developments we will keep you informed. | |
| Enrolments | |
| I am taking this opportunity once more to inform you that the closing date for enrolments of children for September 2008 is 29th February 2008. After that date places will be allocated in line with our enrolment policy. The enrolment policy is available at any time from the school or it can be viewed on our website. Please check with the school secretary if you have any doubt about your application for enrolment. | |
December 13, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, A short note to remind you of the following:
Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
December 13, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, The school closes for the Christmas Holidays on Friday next 21st December at 12.00 p.m. and will re-open on Monday 7th January 2008. There will be a special Activities Day for the whole school next Thursday 20th Dec. A full programme is planned for each class including plays, art competitions, talent shows etc. It should be an enjoyable day for everybody. The new Parents Association are organising a Christmas Raffle in aid of school funds. Each family is given two books of tickets and I would ask you to do your best to support this fund-raiser. The draw will take place next Thursday evening 20th December in the school hall at 2.30 p.m. There is also a special raffle with some valuable prizes for children who return their sold books of tickets. Finally, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your support throughout the year and to wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas and every good wish for 2008. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
| |
December 11, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, I wish to inform you that at a recent meeting the Board of Management, after consultation with the staff and Parents Association, approved the following policy: The distribution of birthday invitations and/or birthday party packs is not allowed by children during school time. Children are not to distribute Christmas cards during school time either. This decision was taken in the interest of equity. Your co-operation in implementing this policy is appreciated. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
November 14, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, We have organised a book fair for the whole school for this week and next until 22nd November. Your child has a catalogue with 100's of good quality reading books. There is a twofold purpose to the book fair: (1) We want to encourage children to read and this is best achieved if they select their own book - they then have ownership of the book. (2) 60% of total sales are returned to the school in the form of books for the school library. Books are on display in the school hall from today - each class will get an opportunity to view the books over the next few days. Books will be sold on Monday evening from 1.20 p.m. to 1.45 p.m. for Junior Infants and on Tuesday evening from 1.20 p.m. to 1.45 p.m. for Senior Infants. Parents should accompany their children to choose and buy a suitable book. Children in all other classes will purchase books in consultation with their teachers. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
November 12, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, Due to a staff meeting all children will be going home this Friday 16th November at 1.45 p.m. Parent/Teacher meetings will be held on Thursday 29th November and Friday 30th November after school time. Next week your child will receive a note with the specific time of appointment to meet your child's teacher. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
October 25, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, This year we have started an initiative called "The Green Schools Programme", the purpose of which is to reduce and recycle the waste and litter in our school. This is a two year programme which culminates in applying for a Green Flag in 2009. A special Green Schools Committee has been set up to oversee the whole programme. The members are: Miss Wylde and Miss Melia; Ciara McCabe, Joe Magee, Jacob Slowinski, Karla Carlyle, Leanne Rath, Eoin Walsh, Clodagh Hennessy, Stephen O'Daly ; Seán Kelly (caretaker). Meetings will be held throughout the year to try and make our school a cleaner and healthier environment. As part of the Green Schools Programme we can now recycle household batteries in the school. We would encourage you to send in any used batteries to be recycled. Our school's Healthy Eating Policy will be reviewed during the year. As an initial step we want children to eat healthy lunches and we are taking part in the Food Dudes Programme. For 16 days from 7th - 28th November fresh fruit and vegetables will be delivered to the school free of charge and children will be encouraged to eat these. After that children should try and bring in their own fruit and veg for lunch each day. This is a programme that the children will be very enthusiastic about and we should encourage them by supporting them in every way. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
October 17, 2007 |
| Dear Parents/
Guardians, This Friday 19th October is Goal Jersey Day - children and adults wear their favourite sports jersey instead of their uniform and contribute a small amount (usually €2) to the well known Third World Charity Organisation "Goal". We look forward to seeing an array of colourful jerseys on the day. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
October 11, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, A general meeting of parents will take place in the school hall on Monday night 22nd October at 8.00 p.m. The main purpose of the meeting is to elect two (2) parents - one male and one female to represent parents on a new Board of Management which will take up office on 1st December. The Parents Association will give an account of their activities over the last 4 years and a statement of accounts. A new Parents Association will be formed to coincide with the term of office of the new Board of Management. The Principal will address the meeting on a number of school related topics which will be of interest to parents, not least of which is an impending crisis for school enrolments next September 2008 and September 2009. Light refreshments will be served afterwards when parents will have an opporunity to meet informally members of the Board of Management and Parents Association. Yours sincerely, James Walsh Chairperson. M. Hoban Principal. |
September 24, 2007 |
| Dear
Parents, All children in the school will be going home next Friday 28th September at 12.30 p.m. due to a staff meeting. The schools in the parish are trying to ensure that there is a place in school for each child over the next few years - we were not able to accommodate everybody this year. If you have a child due to start school next September 2008 or September 2009 please ensure that you have filled up an application form. Brothers and sisters of children already enrolled in Holy Family N. S. have priority over others but only if an application form has been filled up. Application forms are available from the school secretary. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
September 12, 2007 |
| Important notice re. School Timetable and
Insurance |
| Dear Parents/
Guardians, The Regulations of the Department of Education envisage a teacher being in attendance at the school from twenty minutes before the beginning of class until the end of class hours: i.e. 9.00 a.m. - 2.45 p.m. Accordingly, while of course the school grounds will be open to the pupils from 8.30 a.m., the school cannot accept responsibility for children arriving before the official opening of the school (9.00 a.m), going home for lunch, or remaining in the school grounds after school. |
| The Timetable |
| The school building
is open to receive pupils from ................................ 9.00 a.m.
No pupil should arrive later than .............................................................. 9.05 a.m. Classes commence at ................................................................................ 9.20 a.m. Lunch break is from ............................................................ 12.25p.m. to 1.00 p.m. Classes end each day for Infants at ......................................................... 1.45 p.m. For all other classes at ............................................................................... 2.45 p.m. |
|
| Parents who wish to
have their children escorted home should arrange to have them met at the school
gate at lunchtime at 12.25 p.m. and in the evening at 1.45 p.m. or 2.45 p.m.
Parents, whose children go home for lunch on their own, must sign an Authorisation Note which is available from the school. In the case of children travelling by bus, the school cannot accept responsibility for escorting them from the bus to the school or from the school to the bus. Yours sincerely, M. Hoban Principal. |
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