October Newsletter
The month of September always comes with a sense of excitement and anxiety and flies by so quick that you wonder what you were ever worried about. All the children have settled in and are ready to go for another year.
School closed: Reminder school is closed on Monday the 14th of October to facilitate teacher inservice.
Storm Lorenzo: Winter is coming! Storm Lorenzo at the writing of this newsletter is only status yellow in Donegal. If that changes and conditions are worse than can be expected, you will receive a text from the school. Please as always put the safety of your children first if you feel the weather is too extreme. We will use this system for all emergency closures of the school.
Behavioural and Anti-bullying week: Thank you to everyone who submitted their responses to our behavioural surveys. These surveys enable us to put forward a draft policy that will be in operation for the month of October. We are asking for feedback from the parents about the policy and how the children are responding to it. Please send in your comments/suggestions by email to aengusns@gmail.com. The policy will be available on the school website from next Monday. At our next Board of Management meeting in early November we will further discuss the policy, take note of recommendations from parents and change or ratify the policy. We will be asking all parents to send in confirmation that they agree to Behavioural and anti-bullying policy after this.
Book Money: Book money is now overdue. Please contact me in the office if you are experiencing any difficulties in paying.
Communion and confirmation dates: As soon as the school hears from the parish we will let the parents know.
Wainfest: All the classes have a trip to go on during this week and we are asking for €5 to cover bus expenses.
Nuts: Reminder!!!! The school is a nut-free zone. Please adhere to this especially during Fridays when they are allowed a small treat. We ask you to be aware of not sending in cakes with nuts in them for cake sales. Refer to the healthy eating policy on the website if you have any queries.
Hair lice: Please check your child’s hair regularly.
Labels: We would ask parents to label your children’s clothing including their coats and school uniform.
Birthday invitations: As is the school policy we remind all parents that the school will not distribute or be the place to distribute birthday invitations in school. We do this because there can be fallout if a child is forgotten or not invited to the party.
Bus behaviour: The bus companies have asked us to remind your children of the importance of safety on the buses. Please remind your child to buckle up and remain seated during all times on the bus.
Parking: Please refrain from parking on the road. There is space in the car parks and it may only take an extra minute to drive in and pick up your child safe from the yard. The safety of the children is all of our responsibility. Please save your embarrassment and mine and park in the designated areas.
Sport: We had 53 children involved in the Cross country in Buncrana. We came second overall in the under 11 girls team section and third overall in the senior girl’s team section. Áine from fourth and Darragh from sixth came second and third respectively in their races. Behaviour was excellent throughout the day as per usual. At the moment we are competing in the 6-a-side boy’s soccer. We drew our first match against Whitecastle and we have training every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at lunchtime for fifth and sixth class boys. The girls’ tournament is after Christmas. We continue to train every morning for hurling and camogie and have training on Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunchtime for all children who wish to hurl. You can follow the progress of the teams on the website.
BOM Renewal: The current Board of Management of the school is due to finish its four-year cycle at the end of November. Details of the new election process will be made known in the next few weeks.
Parents Association: A New Parents Association executive committee has been formed. They are as follows:
Chairperson: Claire Burgess
Secretary: Anne Straine
Treasurer: Dawn Straine
We wish them well in their roles.
The school and the Board of Management would also like to thank the members of the outgoing board, Karen Doherty (Chairperson), Donna Moore (Secretary), and Tracey Campbell (Treasurer). Outstanding work has been done over the last number of years with the upgrade of facilities and resources. Not only have the P.A. made the school a better place for the children currently in the school but also for future generations. The challenge is now to continue to work together for the betterment of the children of St. Aengus NS.
My door is always open,
Séamus