Welcome Back!

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Thursday, 28th August at 8.50.  As always, supervision will begin from 8.40 and Breakfast Club is available from 8.00.  The school day will end at the ordinary time.  We especially look forward to welcoming our new junior infants and children who are joining other classes. 

School Lunches

We will resume the hot lunches from the first day back.  (Junior Infants will not have hot lunches until the full days begin from 8th September).  As before, you’ll need to choose the lunches using the Carambola App.  This will need to be done by tomorrow (Friday at 5pm) to ensure your child has their choice.  If nothing is selected, a meal will be provided.  For new pupils to the school, login details will be sent as soon as possible. 

If you are experiencing any difficulty, feel free to call the school tomorrow or to contact Carambola directly.  A new tendering process is required by the government, and if you are interested in being a part of a small committee to help make this decision, please let Matt know.

School Secretary Strike

School secretaries and caretakers are due to strike from 28th August, seeking pension parity and access to leave. We support this campaign and hope the Department of Education engages with Fórsa, the trade union representing school secretaries and caretakers, to avoid disruption.  You can read more about the campaign here: https://act.forsa.ie/pensionparityschools. We stand in solidarity with Claudia and her colleagues, acknowledging the essential role they play in schools across the country.    

Aladdin

A reminder that we use Aladdin Connect to communicate between home and school.  For those new to the school, you should receive a separate email explaining how to access this service.  Aladdin Connect is the easiest way for parents to inform the school of absences.  A reminder that we will phone parents if a child is absent without explanation.  If your child will not be in attendance the first day for any reason, please note this using Aladdin Connect or reply to this email.  We also use Aladdin to grant permission for various activities.  If you are having any difficulty using Aladdin, please let us know.

School Expenses

As you are aware, the Department of Education has put significant money towards providing school books free to primary school students.  We will provide all school books, stationery, art materials, photocopying, the Educate Together subscription and 24-hour pupil personal accident insurance.  We are endeavouring to keep the school expenses as low as possible again this year at just €35 per child.  The €35 can be paid via bank transfer or in cash at the office.

Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is open to all children enrolled in the school, providing breakfast and supervision from 8.00 onwards.  There is no need to book ahead, and parents will be invoiced at the end of the month.

Traffic Management Plan

We ask for your continued cooperation in following a traffic management system for drop-offs and collections.  Many thanks for helping to make drop-off and collection time safer, more efficient and more respectful to our neighbours.

  1. The primary thing to remember is to drive slowly and with caution as young children are arriving to school.  Time, patience and courtesy are the key.
  2. Our long-term goal is to reduce the number of cars travelling to school each day in favour of active transport options (walking/cycling).  While we know it is likely to be necessary for parents of younger children to park and accompany their child to and from the school, we’d encourage older children to use active transport.  Parents can park at Cappagh Park as well and start and end the school day with a pleasant walk.
  3. Only park in the direction of the flow of traffic.  All cars should go all the way to the end of the road and turn before coming back.  Please do not cross the line of traffic.
  4. The only turning should be at the top of the road (see the picture below).  Please do not turn in the middle or in front of the school and absolutely nowhere near the sharp bend in the road.  No one should ever reverse onto a path.
  5. When parking on the far side of the school, please do not mount the kerb in any way that causes an obstruction for pedestrians.  We are working with Galway City Council to try to clear the overgrowth that is obstructing part of the path. 
  6. Pedestrians should only enter the school grounds at the pedestrian gate rather than the first gate that is solely to be used by cars entering the school grounds.
  7. When parked, please turn off your engine rather than letting it idle to limit pollution as well as make it more pleasant for pedestrians.
  8. Please do not park in the estates and definitely ensure that no driveways are ever blocked to show respect to the local residents.
  9. At the end of the school day, please do not let your children play in the neighbourhood green out of respect to our neighbours.  Cappagh Park is a short walk away.
  10. We continue to have a Drop-off Zone for the mornings.  Please do not park in the area marked as green below.  Parents who wish to drop their children and don’t need to leave their car can use this area.  Children should exit the car only on the side facing the footpath.

Park in the direction of the flow of traffic, with turning only taking place at the top of the road.  Please don’t park in the red areas.  The drop-off zone is marked in green.  Thanks for your continued cooperation!