St. Patrick's N.S., Ballylinan

Newsletter 2^nd September 2024

Welcome back: Welcome back to all school community and especially to our new pupils.

Arrival time: School starts each morning at 9:15pm. Please note that the Board of Management provides supervision for pupils as they wait in line (at the rear of the school) from 9:05am, but not before then. On wet mornings, children can enter the school through the front door and are supervised in the sports hall from 9:05am.

Aladdin: Please check that we have the most up to date details for your child on Aladdin, including contact details, medical information etc. Please ensure that you have the most recent version of Aladdin installed on your phone and that you have notifications enabled. In the coming days, you will be asked to give your consent for a range of scenarios via the Aladdin App.

School Tracksuits: There was a slight delay with the delivery of our school tracksuits. These will be given directly to your child in the coming days. PE days will be notified by the class teachers in due course.

Lunches: You can continue to update your choice of school lunches via https://irishschoolmeals.ie/ using the login in details from the last school year. It is important to begin by choosing meals that you know your child will eat. You may provide a small healthy snack for morning break. NO NUTS PLEASE!

Invitations: We ask that you would not distribute party invitations at school. There is a new feature on Aladdin that allows you to share your contact details with the parents of children in your class. This may help you to arrange those all-important birthdays, playdates etc. Deatils on how to join the class list are availble in your Aladdin notifications.

Parents Association: Our school playground and basketball courts had a facelift over the holidays. Thank you to the wonderful team of parents who refreshed our basketball court markings, made and installed new backboards and nets and added playground games to our yard. Thank you also to our parents who welcomed our new parents with a cuppa on Wednesday morning.

Autism Class: Building work continues on the reconfiguration of our autism classroom. We anticipate that this will continue for a number of weeks.

Communication: Positive home school communication is vital. If you wish to speak to your child’s teacher, please call the school on 059 8625195 to arrange a meeting or phone call. Email is not the appropriate forum through which to raise or discuss concerns about your child.

Payments: Thank you to all who have paid the back-to-school expenses already. Payments can be made through Aladdin, by instalment if required.

Homework: There will be no formal homework for the month of September.

Free Book Scheme: The Free Book Scheme has been a positive development for our school. Please have a chat with your child about the importance of looking after their books so that books are in good condition for next years class.

School Lotto: The school lotto continues each Thursday. Your support is greatly appreciated. Sign up here.  

Recycling: Our Green School Committee continue to collect your cans and bottles. These are retuned for cash through the Deposit Return Scheme. We are currently saving towards the purchase of sensory equipment for our school.

Calendar: The calendar for 2024 / 2025 is availbel to view on our website. 

Newsletter 3^rd May 2024

School Closure: The school reopens on Monday 13^th May.

School Lotto: We are delighted to announce the launch of our school lotto. The monies raised through the lotto will go directly towards improving the school facilities and resources. We hope that the weekly option of just €2.50 for one line, or €5 for three lines, will allow everybody to contribute via the following link. It would be fantastic if you could invite aunties, uncles, grandparents etc to support our weekly School Lotto. They might just be a lucky winner. Thank you

 St. Abban’s Athletic Club Student Games: Congratulations and thank you, to all who represented our school at the St. Abban’s AC student games on Friday last.

First Holy Communion:  Congratulations to our second-class pupils who celebrated their First Holy Communion on Saturday morning. It was a really wonderful occasion. Thank you to Ms Cunningham & Mrs Moriarty for all their work in preparation for the day. Thank you also to Mrs Connolly and her wonderful choir who really added to the ceremony and to all who joined us on the day.

Classy Kidz: Classy Kids are now enrolling for September – there are a limited number of places available for ECCE. Call Ann 089 2161320

School Tours: It’s that time of year again and we are busy preparing for the end of year tours. The tour is always the highlight of the school year and eagerly anticipated by our pupils. We appreciate that this is an expensive time for families, particularly where there is more than one child in a family. It is no surprise that the increasing cost and limited availability of buses has had a knock-on effect on the cost of our tours. With this in mind, payments have been activated on Aladdin to afford you the opportunity to pay in instalments so as to spread the cost of tours over the coming weeks.

Headlice: There have been a number of reports of headlice in the junior classes. Please be vigilant.

Hurling / Camogie: Our 5^th & 6^th class boys and girls have enjoyed some hurling and camogie recently and have been fortunate to have some extra skills coaching with Frank and Peter.

Thank you for your support in all that we do. Enjoy the break!