Newsletter 1: September 12th 2016

Dear Parents,

On behalf of all in Shanbally NS I extend a warm welcome and return to school to all. Having enjoyed our summer, we are looking forward to a great school year ahead.

I would especially like to welcome our new pupils Emma & Willow in Senior Infants, Freya in 1^st and Aaron in 3^rd as well as our wonderful incoming Junior Infants who have settled so quickly under the guidance of Miss O’Donovan. Welcome also to our newest staff member, Miss Rachel Cooney who is with us every Tuesday. You will no doubt have seen the impressive upgrading and painting of schoolyard activities, as sponsored by our Parents Association and funded by you. The PA also arranged for 6 new laptops. All these are greatly appreciated. Well done and thank you to Tracy and her team for organising.

Our staff list for 2016-2017 is as follows:

Teachers

SNA (Base class)

Principal David Nolan Marion O’Donovan Junior Infants Naomi O’Donovan Senior Infants Mary Sheahan 1st Class Margaret Ryan 2nd Class Kathleen Tuohy 3rd Class Patricia Kelly 4th Class Aideen O’Mahony 4th Class Padraig Clifford 5th Class Sandra Moran 6th Class Mairead Tate Language Class Oonagh Cunningham Special Ed Teacher Claire O’Connell Special Ed Teacher Eilish Callanan Special Ed Teacher Nollaig Boland Special Ed Teacher Aidan O’Mahony Special Ed Teacher Rachel Cooney Special Ed shared Teacher –Tuesdays only

Mary O’Reilly (SI) Noreen Meehan (1st) Dee Allen (4th) Regina Landy (6th) Fiona O’Donoghue (SSLD)           Ancillary Staff Secretary: Ruth Mulcahy Caretaker: Pat McCarthy Cleaner:     Beata Koczula Cleaner: Urszula Szaniawska

 

The 2 following Mary Immaculate students join us on extended school placements:

Aoife Hogan       September 5^th to November 18^th

Aoife Kearney   January 23^rd to March 31^st 2017

 

Here is a reminder of the general school calendar (Holidays and Closures) for 2016-2017

School Calendar for 2016/2017:

 

• Thursday September 1^st 2016 Children return to school following summer break

• Monday October 31^st to Friday November 4^th inclusive school is closed for mid-term

• Thursday December 22^nd School closes early (11.45/12 noon) for the Christmas break and will reopen on Monday January 9^th 2017.

• Thursday February 23^rd and Friday February 24^th School is closed for mid-term.

• Thursday March 16^th and Friday March 17^th School is closed for an extended St. Patrick’s Day break.

• Friday April 7^th School closes early (11.45/12 noon) for Easter break and will reopen on Monday April 24^th.

• Monday May 1^st closed for Bank Holiday

 

• Saturday May 13^th 2017 First Holy Communion

 

• Friday June 2^nd and Monday June 5^th School is closed for an extended June bank holiday.

• Thursday June 29^th 2017 School finishes early (11.45/12 noon) for summer holidays.

 

School Calendar Term 1 (Upcoming Events)

• Tuesday September 13^th 2016 School closes early for staff meeting as per text home
• Wednesday September 14^th Shanbally NS Parents Association AGM in School Halla at 7.30pm
• Thursday September 15th 5^th Class visit Coláiste Muire, Crosshaven for their Open Day 10.15-12.45.
• Thursday September 22^nd 6^th Class visit Carrigaline Community School (11.30am to 2pm)
• Wednesday September 28^th Do This in Memory Communion Planning Meeting (7.30pm-8pm) in Shanbally School Halla with Ringaskiddy NS
• Thursday October 13^th Shanbally NS Open Evening 6.30pm to 8pm
• Wednesday October 19^th Board of Management meeting at 7pm

 

Please note that our Schools Gaelic Football/ Sciath na Scol fixtures will be finalised and forwarded in the coming days.

 

 

School Drop-Off & Collection

• Gates are open by 8.35 a.m. If pupils arrive before then with the gates locked, they must wait at the front or side gate until opened by the Principal or a Teacher. The Board of Management accepts no responsibility for unsupervised children in the morning.
• Children are requested to follow our “Meet and Greet” policy as they line up in their appropriate class lines. Official supervision begins at 8.35am.
• All children should be on time in the morning to enable them to participate in the line-up of classes at 8.50 a.m. to hear various school announcements etc.
• Parents are welcome to accompany their children in the mornings. To develop independence and self-management skills, we would encourage children, from an early age, to enter and prepare for class independently.

The normal hours of finishing are

(i)            1.30 p.m. for Junior (from Monday 19^th) and Senior Infant classes. For the moment, in the mornings you should continue to bring Junior Infants directly to their classroom from 8.35am.

(ii)           2.30 p.m. for 1st to 6th classes

• Parents can wait at the front or side gate for their children. If some parents would like to come in, that’s acceptable too.
• Car-pooling is encouraged and has huge benefits.
• All children should be off the school premises by 1.35 p.m. (Juniors + Seniors) or 2.35 p.m. (rest of school). If there is a genuine reason for being late, this should be explained to the Principal. If a phone call is made ahead of time, Ruth in the office will inform the class teacher who will assist in making arrangements until the parents arrive.
• No responsibility will be taken for children who are collected at 1.30pm and who remain on school grounds after that time. Please note that children are not allowed play anywhere on the grounds at this time. We respectfully request that all children stay off the grass areas and not climb railings under any circumstances. At the 2.30 p.m. finish time children awaiting collection should remain on school grounds outside main door. No responsibility will be taken for children who leave the school grounds after 2.30p.m.

I would like to remind you to

• please observe the no parking signs, cones and the yellow box
• please don’t obstruct the footpath & entrance to the carpark as children are then forced to walk onto the road to get around the cars blocking the walkway.

 

Educational Initiatives

After-School Activities

• Homework Club

Currently we are looking to create an after-school homework club. Details are being finalised and will be communicated home after tomorrow’s staff meeting. This should be a very worthwhile option for school parents.

• Guitar Tuition

Miss O’Connell is currently arranging her very popular after-school guitar lessons. You might recall the kind sponsorship of parent Lisa Roberts a few years ago who purchased guitars for the school thus giving an incredible opportunity to learn guitar at less of a cost. This is available for pupils from 4^th to 6^th class.

• Computer Club

Mrs. Tuohy is planning to recommence her after-school Computer Club on Thursdays 2.30-3.30pm for 4th  to 6^th class pupils.

 

Some during School Activities

• Dell EMC Competition VEX Robotics

6^th class are to participate in the 2016/2017 DELL EMC VEX IQ Competition to design, build and programme a robot. This competition is a collaboration between DELL EMC, CIT and Lifetime Labs. Miss Moran, Class Teacher, and Miss Oonagh Cunningham attended the training workshop recently. This programme will run from September 2016 to February 2017.

• Engineering in a Box programme

We are delighted to announce that, in collaboration with Linda Egan (STEAM Education) that our 5^th class pupils will engage in an “Engineering in a Box” programme sponsored by local company DePuy Synthes. STEAM Education works in delivering science, technology, engineering, art and maths. More details to follow.

Thanks again to our staff who with great enthusiasm, professionalism and a love of learning participate in such initiatives.

Policies

Nut and Food Allergy

It has been brought to our attention that one of our new pupils has an allergic reaction to nuts/peanuts. This allergic reaction can occur through ingestion of peanut/nut products, cross contamination and breathing in minute particles of peanut protein in the air. A note regarding our new policy will be sent out once finalised after our staff meeting.

A brief reminder that our main policies are available on our school website www.shanballyns.ie under the Policies section on the Home page.

 

Signing of Homework Journals

I’ve had some enquiries to distinguish between minor breaches and serious misbehaviour, as outlined in the extracts of our Code of Behaviour in our new school journal (1^st class to 6^th class).

Minor breaches would typically constitute non-cooperation with routines that any school may encounter. Serious breaches (which I have never experienced in my time in Shanbally) would typically include aggressive behaviour e.g. physical assault

While such serious breaches rarely, if ever, occur in schools like Shanbally NS given the calibre of pupils and families we have, they must still be referred to in school policies/ journals as a matter of best practice legally and in educational policy.

Please ensure the homework journals are signed and if you have any queries do not hesitate to call.

 

Current Board of Management

A reminder of the makeup of our BOM (October 2015 – October 2019)

Staff Nominee Principal                           David Nolan

Staff Nominee Deputy Principal                Claire O’Connell

Chairperson/ Patron Nominee                   Fr. Sean O’Sullivan

Patron Nominee                                      Vincent Scanlon

Parent Nominee                                      Trish Coleman

Parent Nominee                                      John Cotter

Community Nominee                               Christine Horgan

Community Nominee                               Fergus McDaid

Upcoming Events in the Community

Carrigaline Family Support Centre

• A Community Meeting is being held on Tuesday September 20^th, 7.30-9.30pm in the Carrigaline Lions Youth Centre on Church Road, Carrigaline around the important topic of “Suicide Prevention Action Plan”.
• Free 6 week course on Stress Control on the following dates: Thursday September 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th, October 6^th, 13^th, 20^th between 10 and 11.30am. For more information and to book contact 086-7871016 orcorkbeatsstress@hse.ie
• Internet Safety Talk with Dr. Sinead Devine on Tuesday September 27^th at 7pm in the Carrigaline Lions Youth Centre on issues such as Social networking, chatting on-line, sexting, cyber bullying, mobile phone safety, on-line gaming.

 

Secondary Schools

• Christians CBC Cork Open Evening Thursday 15^th September at 8pm in Sydney Hill

• Coláiste Muire Open Schools Day Thursday 15^th 10.15am -12.45pm  (5^th Class)
• Coláiste Muire Open Evening 7-9pm Thursday 15^th

• Carrigaline Community School Open Schools Day Thursday 22nd 11.30am to 2pm (6th Class)
• Carrigaline Community School Open Evening 6.30 to 8.30pm Thursday September 22^nd

• Rochestown College Open Evening from 7.30 pm Thursday September 22^nd

• Regina Mundi Open Day 5-8pm on Tuesday October 11^th

 

Shamrocks Ladies Football

Shamrock Ladies are hoping to bring their members to the All-Ireland Ladies Football Final in Croke Park on September 25^th (Cork v Dublin). All girls under 10 must be accompanied by an adult. Anyone interested is to respond immediately to indicate how many adult/child tickets you require to Gemma Kavanagh (087) 6167727 or Shamrocks Ladies GAA at (086)0308267.

 

 

Irish Daily Mail/ Mail on Sunday tokens

We are collecting tokens towards a free professional weather station which are available in the Irish Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers until September 26^th. 200 tokens are required. If you purchase these newspapers we would be obliged if you retained the tokens and brought them in to the school.

 

Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme

We have been asked to bring the following to your attention. If you are a parent/guardian on low income, is in school, job training or in receipt of a social welfare payment and/or hold a medical card then you may be eligible for assistance with your childcare costs. Funding rates are available on the Childcare section of the website www.dcya.gov.ie Parents should contact their local childcare service or City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) for more details. Contact details are also available on the above website. The maximum subvention available is €95 but the amount will vary depending on individual circumstances.

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As evidenced in our newsletter all in school are already settling back and applying ourselves in a diligent manner. We look forward to an outstanding school year and we thank you for your continued support.

Beir bua

David Nolan

Principal