Letter to Parents 12th january 2015

12^th January 2015

Parents/Guardians,

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year!!  I’m delighted to see everyone returning to us and ready for another term.  With this new term in mind, I want to raise a few house-keeping issues with you all.

Traffic Issues:

May I remind everyone that at no time is any car permitted to park in our designated bus space.  All of us together have worked hard to introduce the effective measures which are now working quite well.  However a simple thing as parking in the bus zone  brings us back to square one, particularly on wet days.   Our Board of Management are in complete support of the idea of calling the Gardaí or passing registration plate numbers to the authorities if this continues.

Parent’s Association:

I would like to thank our Parent’s Association for organising the calendar and selling of school Christmas Cards!  I want to especially thank Siobhan Russell who did a fantastic job on short notice in relation to the calendar.  There was an awful lot of work put into these ideas by the group and I sincerely appreciate everyone’s effort.  We are currently looking for more interested parents to get involved with this group.  Please contact Deirdre here in school over the next few days if you would like to put your name forward.

Punctuality in the morning:

I want to remind everyone that if your child is ten minutes late each morning , this will add up to 50 minutes per week of lost school time.  It’s an important skill to teach your children and I would appreciate you ensured that your child/ren are on time for school each day.

Uniforms:

I’m delighted with the respect being paid by the girls to tracksuit/uniform days as well as to wearing school jackets to school each day.  May I ask parents to please ensure all your child’s items are clearly labeled with their names.  I also want to remind everyone that our rules only allow either black or brown tights to be worn with the school uniform. 

Zumba Dance Lessons:

As part of our Health Promotion here in Scoil Bhríde, we have a visiting Zumba Teacher who will take from Senior infants to 6^th classes on Friday 16^th and 23^rd January.  The cost of these lessons is €2 per pupil, which you might send in during the week please.

Yours in co-operation,

Séamus

Letter to Parents 10th November 2014

Parents/Guardians

DRAMA FEES:

Please note that over the next few days we are collecting the annual €20 towards our Drama Classes.  Please send this in as soon as you are in a position to do so.

School Calendar 2015

Please see below some examples of this year’s Scoil Bhríde Calendar.  They will be on sale in the coming weeks, costing €10 each.  Please note that the children’s Christmas Cards will also be on sale too.

First Class Activites with Ms. Cullinane's Class

Friendship Week Trip

                                                                                                                                15^th October 2014

Parents/Guardians,

As mentioned in my last note, we are hosting a “Friendship Week” next week here in Scoil Bhríde with particular focus on the wellness and happiness of the girls.  Part of this initiative involves some local trips which give the chance for the children to ‘hang out’ with others from their class whom they may not play with on a regular basis.  These outings will take place next THURSDAY 23^rd October.

Junior and Senior Infants as well as First Class are going to “Rumley’s Farm” and the cost is €14 per child including the bus price.  Second to Fourth classes are going to Cuskinny Activity Centre in Cobh while Fifth and Sixth Classes are going to the Glen Resource Centre.  Both of these trips are €20 per child including the cost of the bus. The anti-bullying workshop which takes place on Friday 24^th October for the girls in 3^rd – 6^th classes will cost €4 per child.

I would appreciate if you could start sending in the money for these trips and the workshop in the next few days.  The children will also be told if there are any extra arrangements re gear for these excursions.

As part of the Friendship week, we will be calling on members of our community such as grandparents to come in and talk to the children while the girls will also receive friendship wrist bands (which we received from Amnesty International) which will symbolise the unity element of the event.  We are also introducing “Super-Troopers” which helps to instigate a family orientated healthy living lifestyle in a fun way!

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to let us know!

Yours in cooperation,

Séamus

Social Media Talk 2014

Social Media and Mobile Phone Usage Ideas

Social Media : (Facebook /Youtube / Twitter/Instagram/Skype/Blogging)

·         Ensure all computers/tablets/phones that have access to the Internet are used only in public rooms at home, not in bedrooms.  Try to supervise your children’s Internet activity through the history section of your internet browser.

·         Create an email address with your child if you wish and ensure that you know the PASSWORD.  Keep a check on it, plus passwords.

·         “YouTube”…be aware of how dangerous this site is.  Check the search settings that you are allowed to control.

·         “Facebook”.   Must be over 13 years to use it.  Security settings must be kept high.  Again, ensure you have the password for your childs Facebook page.   Be mindful of the “apps” that your child has allowed to access their page.  Do not allow them to put photographs on their page

Mobile Phones (Viber/WhatsApp/SnapChat/Kik):

·         WHY HAVE A SMART PHONE?

·         The same as above, make sure you are aware of your child’s mobile phone pin. 

·         Keep an eye on the pictures they are taking/receiving

·         It should be left in a public part of the house when not in use/bedtime

·         If your child has an Android Phone, take note of the “apps” they have downloaded

·         Take note of the amount of phone credit they are using.   Do not put them on a bill-pay.                                          

Useful website:

www.immunizenet.com