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St.
Joseph’s Secondary School, Athboy Telephone
046 9432109 Fax: 046 9432658
e-mail: sjathboy@iol.ie Please
keep this letter in a safe place for reference Dear Parents/Guardians,
We are now in the second month of the school year.
I wish to congratulate both the Leaving Cert class and Junior Cert class
of 2003 on their excellent results. Well
done to the staff and to you the parents for encouraging and supporting them. The school has been running very smoothly so far; thanks in
no small way to your preparation and co-operation with regard to uniform, books
and payment of expenses. The use of
the School Journal has greatly improved the level of communication between home
and school. This can now be used to
give written explanation for lates, absences and items of school uniform which
may be missing in exceptional cases. Where a number of absences and/or lates are
involved and no written explanation has been given, parents will be contacted.
Year Heads will continue to check and sign Pupils’ Journals each week.
The Year Heads for this year are as follows: Mrs. Taite (First Year) Mr. Mahony (Second Year ) Mr. Loughlin (Third Year) Mrs. Cumiskey (Fifth Year) Mr. O’Dowd (Leaving Cert
Applied) Mr. Baneham (Sixth Year) All parents are asked to
check students journals regularly and to sign any notes inserted by teachers.
The Code of Discipline at
the front should be signed by parents/guardians and pupils.
Please do not allow pupils
to wear runners just because their school trousers or skirts are damaged.
Uniform should be changed as soon as pupils return home each evening.
Pupils are to wear black walking shoes only in school, with the
exception of P.E. class when runners only must be worn.
Full uniform must be worn at all times except during P.E.. School Fleeces are available at €20 each (discount price).
Pupils will not be allowed to wear any other jackets in class. Lunch
Time Passes While there is adequate
provision of lunch within the school, Lunch Time Passes have been issued to
those pupils (other than First Years) from whom I have received a written
application from their parents. These
passes are for the purpose of getting lunch, at home or down the town, only.
Students are asked not to congregate in large groups, litter the streets
or engage in any behaviour which might discredit the school.
The school is anxious to co-operate with the current anti-litter campaign
that is being successfully run in Athboy. Students
are asked not to drop any litter on the footpaths, doorway, or window cills.
Further, they are asked to dispose of any litter that can be easily and
safely removed from the street. This year each student who receives a Lunch Time
Pass is being asked to participate for one day
in a Litter Picking Rota at lunch time in the areas of the street
frequented by pupils at this time. Pickers,
coats and bags are supplied for this purpose.
I remind you that Licensed
premises, including the hotel, are strictly off-limits, as are areas to the rear
of both churches and the green area at Barnes’ Avenue.
Failure to comply with these conditions will result in withdrawal of the
Lunch Time Pass. No student has permission to leave the school at any other
time during the day without a note, and in such case must sign out in the
office. New
Classrooms The new classrooms for First
and Second Years will come into use as soon as the ESB supply to the school has
been upgraded. We are also awaiting
a new connection to the Sewerage System which is necessary for the new toilets
in this block of classrooms. Building
Development Full Planning Permission has
now been obtained for a new entrance to the school building to include a new
Social Area for pupils. Permission
has also been obtained for Bus Turning and Parking facilities at the school.
It is proposed to proceed with the new entrance and the Bus facilities
immediately as these will not interupt school life to any great extent.
The Social Area will hopefully be completed over the Summer period once
the State Examination have finished. Expenses Expenses sheets have been
included in the cases where they have not yet been paid.
In some cases, arrears from last year must also be paid.
All such monies due to the school must be paid immediately
as we are presently involved in comprehensive
redevelopment programme and need to supplement funding received from the
Department of Education and Science. Please
make payments to the school by cheque where possible so that pupils are not
responsible for large amounts of cash. Book
Rental Book Rental Bills are now
due. The cost is €70 for
First Years, €65 for Second Years and €60 for Third Years.
I would appreciate a prompt payment to Mr. Fox as other bills, such as
Mock and State exam fees, will also become payable during the course of the
year. Please do not include any
money other than that due for the Book Rental with this payment.
Receipts will be issued to pupils on payment of the bill.
In the case of students who qualify for free Book Rental a note to that
effect has been already sent, or is included with this letter. All books must be returned at the end of the rental period in
good condition. If they are lost or
damaged the cost of their replacement will be payable to the school. Calendar You will find a calendar for
the school year enclosed with this letter.
This includes details of Staff Days, Parent-Teacher meetings and dates
for In-House exams. At the time of
posting, it has not been possible to arrange half days for students due to
problems with school transport. This
would have been necessary so as to organise meetings half-in and half-out of the
school day in line with recent recommendations. The times of future Staff-Meetings may change in order to
comply with these constraints. Students
will be informed about practical and oral state examinations as the information
becomes available. Normally,
students will not be left at home unless a majority of pupils from a particular
year are involved in a school-related activity.
In such cases, students not involved in the activity are asked not
to come to Athboy, unless they are prepared to stay in school for the full day.
Study
Skills Seminars A Study Skills Seminar will
be held for examination year students on Saturday 25th October if there is a
sufficient demand. Subsidised
places are still available at €10.00 each. Safe
Pass Fifth and Sixth Year
students may enrol on the FÁS Safety Pass Course which will take place in the
school on Wednesday October 22nd.
New Health and Safety Law requires all construction workers to have
completed this course. Students interested in a career in the construction industry
will benefit from completing this course. Extra
Curricular Activities We are lucky to be able to
provide a wide range of sporting and other extra-curricular activities here at
St. Joseph’s, thanks to the willingness of staff to give up their time and to
parents who sometimes need to collect students from the school outside bus
times. I would encourage all our
pupils to use and develop their talents, academic and otherwise, during their
time in the school. Supervised
Study Supervised Study is
available from Monday to Thursday (4.00 to 6.00 p.m.) at €2.00 per night or
for a fee per term. Photographs
Photographs were taken of
pupils in First, Third and Sixth Year on Wednesday 1st October.
Proofs of these will be made available and parents will be given five
days in which to place an order. Parents’
Association Once again, the Parents’
Association will run a Christmas Raffle and also the Silver Circle in the new
year. A card with five lines will
be distributed to each pupil in the school.
It should be possible for everyone to sell at least one card.
Parents might be able to sell a second card for the pupils.
The Silver Circle is now a long standing tradition in the school.
I would ask all parents to give it their full support and to make sure
that your children do their best to sell full cards. Lines can be sold to relations or neighbours - many of
whom will have had past connections with the school.
I wish to thank the outgoing Parents’ Council for their tremendous work
in supporting activities and the development of policies in the school.
Causes
of Concern This year there has been a
huge improvement in punctuality at 8.55 a.m.
All pupils should proceed directly to the school premises each morning
on arrival in the town. Please do not allow your
children to leave for school with cigarettes, matches or lighters.
I also ask you not to allow them to purchase cigarettes.
Pupils found smoking on the school premises will be fined €25.
This includes the playing fields before,
during and after school. The
proceeds of these fines are sent to the Mercy Missions in Zambia.
In recent weeks several Lazer Pens have been confiscated as they are
deemed to be dangerous in the school envirionment.
Unless the school has the cooperation of parents in this and other
matters we cannot tackle the problems successfully.
While there has been a great
improvement in regard to the wearing of school uniform the following
points should be noted by all parents:
The school Tie must be worn
properly tied.
Key Chains should not be worn
Trousers should not be ripped or
cut at the bottom of the legs and should be neatly hemmed. If at any time you wish to
speak to me on any matter that may arise in relation to your son/daughter’s
education, or with regard to any school-related matter, please feel free to
contact me through the school secretary. I
look forward to working with you all.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Leavy (Principal) |