An Focal Deireanach – Vol 13, No 5 16th October 2026

Upcoming Events

• Monday, 19^th October – Nasal flu vaccine administration
• Friday, 23^rd October – Fancy dress for Halloween
• Thursday, 5^th November – School closure to facilitate staff training related to autism – Afterschool @ KETNS one-day camp
• Wednesday, 11^th November – Rescheduled County Photos visit
• Friday, 20^th November – Multicultural Family Event
• Wednesday, 25^th November – School Closure to facilitate staff training related to language awareness – Afterschool @ KETNS one-day camp

Industrial Action

A second strike day that was scheduled for Wednesday, 21^st October has been called off, and the school will open as normal.

Nasal Flu Vaccine

On Monday, 19^th October Cleary’s Pharmacy will be here to administer the flu nasal vaccine to children.  A note was sent home last week.  Click here to avail of a flu vaccine for your child in our school clinic.  Please complete the online form by tomorrow afternoon.  If you have completed a consent form and want to withdraw consent, email clearysgalway@gmail.com by 8am on Monday Oct 19th 2026.

Upcoming Multicultural Evening for Families

Everyone is invited by the Parent-Teacher Association to a multicultural evening that will take place in the school in November.  More details can be found below and later in this newsletter in the notes from today’s PTA meeting.  You can take a look at pictures from last year’s event on our Facebook page (just scroll down one or two posts).

School Photos Day Rescheduled

Due to the potential closure due to strike action, we had rescheduled the photos day with County Photos to Wednesday, 11^th November. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Halloween Fancy Dress

A reminder that our final day before the mid-term break, children are welcome to wear costumes for Halloween on Friday, 23^rd October.  It is an ordinary teaching and learning day, so please keep this in mind when choosing a costume.  We also ask that nothing resembling a weapon be a part of any costume.  We look forward to an enjoyable day.

Active School Flag

We are delighted to announce we have been awarded our third Active School Flag.  This requires a huge amount of effort on the part of everyone in our school community.  Special thanks to Fionnuala and the members of the Active School Committee who have worked so hard to achieve this!

New Computers

Many thanks to Fidelity Insurance for a donation of 25 laptops to the school.  We are very grateful for the devices.  6^th Class used them for the first time to help complete a survey with all the children on how they feel their wellbeing is addressed in the school.

Homework Policy

The school’s Homework Policy is currently under review.  The policy can be found here.  While it was discussed at the PTA meeting today, parents can give feedback by replying to this email.

Duplo

If anyone has Duplo (large lego blocks) they no longer need, the school would happily accept any donations.

2027-2028 Admissions Application Window Opened

We have begun accepting applications for the 2027-2028 academic year on our website.  Children with siblings are given priority, but an online application must be submitted through our website not later than 8^th January 2027 for a place in junior infants.  Please feel free to pass this information on to friends and neighbours.

Maths Trails

As part of a number of activities to mark Maths Week, classes paired up for maths trails around the school.

Pumpkin Patch Visit

The Junior and Senior Infants visited Ardrahan Pumpkin Patch yesterday.  The day was great fun for all! 

Garda Visit

Cáit, our local community Garda, visited the school with her colleague David.  They visited the infants classes to talk about their role in our community, and they also spoke to 6^th Class.

Languages Connect

5^th and 6^th Class are enjoying the Languages Connect lessons this term with Lise.  They are learning about various languages and having specific lessons on an introduction to French.  This past week 6^th Class participated in the European Day of Languages Class Language Challenge as part of a world record attempt to discover more about languages.  This was the photo uploaded for the world record challenge.

Baboró

This week many classes attended events in Baboró.  This is a fantastic asset in our community, and many classes were able to attend performances.  More photos are available on the website.  Continued thanks for parents’ voluntary contributions and fundraising efforts that covered the cost of transport.

Philosophy Family Space

Members of the Public Philosophy Team are running a philosophical space for families as part of the festival which is open from 11.30-5.30 on Saturday and Sunday. There are activities to do together, an interactive sculpture and lots of thinking activities. For more information visit: https://www.baboro.ie/festival/programme/the-thinking-studio.

PTA Meeting Minutes – Friday 16 October 2026

Multicultural Event

• Briefly discussed event, explained that info session was held. Possibility to hold further session at a different time that might suit all. WhatsApp poll to be done if going forward.
• Passports and prizes to go ahead again this year.
• Discussion on holding the event in different rooms in the school but decided to use the Halla to keep it more sociable.
• The event was explained to parents of Juniors who had not attended last year. Anyone with queries can also contact Claire or Vajiha with any questions or ideas.
• WhatsApp groups to be “reactivated”.

Homework Policy

• Homework policy is due to be reviewed and copies were handed out and read. Only change pointed out was the fact that we don’t use much digital technology anymore in terms of homework.
• Everyone in agreement that the homework on Aladdin works well for the senior classes.
• There was a general discussion about homework and homework in after school.
• Homework was also explained to the parents of Juniors present.
• Big emphasis on the fact that the school do not want the homework to be difficult experience for the children. Some pressure is sometimes needed, but if homework is a chronic problem then this should be discussed with the teacher.

Other items

• Up-to-date list of important dates for November to be done up.
• Costume day will go ahead as normal on Friday 23^rd October.
• Parent-teacher meetings will likely be in November, with details to follow.