This post contains a copy of a printed letter sent to all parents today. The letter was also emailed to all parents.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I am writing to provide you with some important school updates. A copy of this letter is available on the school website so parents/guardians may use the Google Translate tool to read a translated version in a language of their choice.
Christmas Carol Service
The Junior and Senior Schools’ Christmas Carol Service will take place in the Cathedral tomorrow evening at 7pm. The children are asked to wear their formal school uniform (i.e. not the tracksuit). This is a family event and all members of each child’s family will be very warmly welcomed tomorrow night. The children, other than those who are reading or singing in the choir, are asked to sit with their parents/guardians for the duration of the service. They have been learning the Christmas carols at school and are strongly encouraged to sing with the choir during the service. Everyone attending the service needs to be seated at 6:45pm.
Christmas Raffle
The Parent/Guardian Association committee, along with Ms. Shaw (Sports Coordinator), is organising the Christmas raffle. Each family is respectfully asked to return one completed raffle card with €20 on or before Tuesday 17th December. All of the funds raised will be used to pay for the children’s dance lessons after Christmas which will eliminate the burden of cost for parents/guardians. Your support for the raffle will be very genuinely appreciated by the Parent/Guardian Association committee and the teaching staff.
Christmas Performances
The Christmas performances will take place in the school on Thursday the 19th December at 7pm. The Parent/Guardian Association committee will have a donation box at the entrance to the assembly hall and all contributions will be used to purchase a subscription to Science Fusion which is an excellent online teaching resource for science. The Parent/Guardian Association committee will serve tea/coffee and biscuits. The draw for the Christmas raffle will also take place on the night. Full details of the event planned for Thursday 19th December will be emailed to all parents/guardians and published on the school website on Friday 6th December.
Attendance and Punctuality
This year, we are making a renewed effort to promote excellent school attendance and punctuality. I am very pleased to inform parents/guardians and children that the average school attendance figures for the months of October and November have been higher than any month in the last four years. I am also very pleased to inform parents/guardians that there has been a huge improvement with respect to punctuality in the morning and the staff are extremely pleased with the excellent progress made in this respect.
All children are asked to line up in the back yard when the bell rings at 8:47am. At this time, children, who take mobile phones to school, should hand them up at the secretary’s office for secure storage during the day. When the bell rings at 8:50am, the teachers take the children to the classrooms. Late arrivals are recorded on the school’s Student Management System. Please remember that it is in every child’s best interest to attend school every day and on time. Parent/guardian support with attendance and punctuality is very genuinely appreciated.
School Website
Parents/guardians are advised that new content has been added to the parent/guardian section of the school website.
Anti-Bullying Policy
The Board of Management and staff are currently redrafting the school’s policy on anti-bullying. We would very much appreciate input from children and parents/guardians in to this policy review process. Ms. Denieffe (Deputy Principal) will discuss the policy with a small group of children made up of representatives from different class standards. We will make a copy of the draft policy document available to the Parent/Guardian Association for discussion at their meeting on Monday 9th December. The draft policy document will be emailed to all parents/guardians and uploaded to the school website next week. Through this process, feedback will be gathered from all of the interested parties and considered carefully by the Board of Management before the policy is finalised and ratified in January 2014.
I look forward to meeting parents/guardians at the Carol Service in the Cathedral tomorrow evening at 7pm and, again, at the Christmas performances on Thursday 19th December at 7pm.
Yours faithfully,
________________________
Michael Tunney
Principal