21/08/23
Back-to-School Information Letter 2023/24
A Thuistí agus a Pháistí,
Tá súil agam gur bhain sibh taitneamh as na laethanta saoire.
I hope that everyone had a most enjoyable summer holiday.
Beidh an scoil ag oscailt arís Déardaoin, 31/08/23 – ba chóir go mbeadh gach duine istigh roimh 8.50 r.n.
School reopens on Thursday, August 31st. Download Calendar HERE.
It is vital that children attend school every day and arrive on time.
Children may be dropped to school from 8.40 a.m. and should arrive no later than 8.50 a.m.
Parents are reminded to respect the DROP ZONE at the school gate.
PAÍSTÍ NUA: Fáilte mór roimh Rang Naíonáin Bheaga – go n-éirí leo!
A Big welcome to our new Naíonáin Bheaga! We wish them many happy days at school.
In order to ensure the smooth running of the school, please note the following points and file this letter for future reference:
LABHAIRT NA GAEILGE:
Is “Gaelscoil” í Scoil Uí Cheithearnaigh. “Ní scoil Bhéarla í”. Is í Gaeilge teanga labhartha na scoile, níl cead Béarla a labhairt ach ag am Béarla.
As we are a Gaelscoil, it is the wish of you, the parents, that your children become fluent in spoken Irish from an early age. You chose to send your child here because you are aware of the benefits of bilingualism. It is vitally important that you make every effort to speak ‘as Gaeilge’ while in or about the school. We’re all part of the Gaelscoil family!!
Tune in to TG4 – we can all brush-up our ‘Cúpla Focal’ by tuning in to TG4 or Raidió na Gaeltachta.
TUMADH GAEILGE/ TOTAL IMMERSION – to kick start the children’s fluency after the holidays we concentrate on spoken Irish for the first three weeks of school. Our English programmes begin at the end of September. This is most beneficial and sets the tone for the whole term.
TEACHT AGUS IMEACHT – ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL:
*Please don’t park in the Drop-Off Zone in front of the school gates.
*As stated above all children should arrive to school up to 8.50 a.m.
*In the evening time, Infants will be collected from the yard at home time.
Children from Rang 1 – 6 will be dismissed in two groups:
2.27 p.m. Rang 6 plus siblings / Rang 2 plus siblings (Grúpa Buí)
2.30 p.m. Rang 5 / Rang 4 / Rang 3 / Rang 1 (Grúpa Dearg)
*Do not block the Roundabout – it is dangerous for all. Please use footpaths at all times.
Until 08/09/23 *Naí Bheaga will go home each day at 12 noon until 08/09/23
**Rang 1 will go home at 1.30 p.m. each day until 08/09/23
TINREAMH/ATTENDANCE:As per The Education Welfare Act (2000), which came into effect on 01/09/2002, it is now mandatory for schools to report to the Education Welfare Officer all children who miss 20 days in any school year for any reason. When your child is absent a note must be given to the teacher. If no note is received the absence must be recorded as ‘Unexplained’.
Holidays during term time are not permitted by the Department of Education and should not be taken during the school year.
CONDUCT/IOMPAR: Children are expected to behave with courtesy at all times and to treat property with respect. We have a beautiful building, it is up to all of us to keep it that way.
Good manners are vital and will be expected at all times and on all school related activities. Certain comments, body language, hand signals and eye gestures can be highly inappropriate –– such behaviour cannot be tolerated at school. Please discuss this with your child.
Please clearly label all clothing. Clothes are lost every year due to a lack of labelling!!
HAIR: Hair should always be clean, neat and tidy.
JEWELLERY: For Health and Safety reasons all necklaces worn by children must be worn inside clothes. (Earrings can become tangled in clothing or pulled in the yard – for this reason the only ear jewellery permitted in school are studs)
SCHOOL UNIFORMS – as last year, children from Naíonáin Bheaga /Mhóra and Rang 1 will wear their school tracksuit every day. Children from Rang 2 – Rang 6 will wear their school tracksuits on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and they will wear their full school uniform on Tuesdays and Thursdays. School Tracksuits are available from Kidz Korner, St. Michael’s Square. School Jumpers are available from www.schoolwearhouse.ie – all other items may be purchased in any chain store.
SNÁMH – SWIMMING: Swimming lessons will be organised. Classes from Rang 3 – Rang 6 usually swim during the year.
FOIRMEACHA LE LÍONADH (Forms to be Returned):
Allianz Insurance company provide an insurance scheme for children of school going age. Cover of €9 gives your child 24 hour-a-day cover for 365 days. Please speak to parents who have availed of benefits in the past – it is excellent cover. Forms will be available in the office and online.
Insurance forms must be filled in and returned by Friday 11th of September if you require your child to be insured. One form per family.
LEABHAIR – SCHOOL BOOKS
School books and copies will be provided by the school from September (including Homework Journal from Rang 1 – Rang 6)
Each child will need to purchase pencils, colours, etc. for school and home – a list for each class is available HERE
AIRGEAD SCOILE – SCHOOL EXPENSES:
The Art/Craft/Photocopying/Extra Classroom Resources/Text-a-Parent Charge is €20 per child per year for the first child and €15 for the second child. Third and subsequent children €5 each. This charge must be paid for each child. This is not a voluntary expense, Scoil Uí Cheithearnaigh does not collect a voluntary contribution.
All monies that are not paid online must be put in envelopes with class, name and title clearly marked.
CONTACT DETAILS:
If your telephone number or address has changed please inform the office immediately.
It is vital that we are able to contact parents/guardians at all times. Also it is up to you to ensure that your current mobile phone number is logged with School Text so that you can receive important school text alerts, please check with the school if you change your number or do not receive school texts.
LÓN SLÁINTIÚIL (Healthy Lunch):
Students in Scoil Uí Cheithearnaigh receive their lunch every day under the governments Free School Meal programme. Our school lunches are provided by ‘Glanmore Foods’ – families order their food for the coming week online (orders must be placed by 2 p.m. each Thursday for delivery the following week). The lunch comprises of a sandwich (choice of breads and choice of fillings or optional pasta/salad choice), a snack item (rice cake, pancake, etc.) and a piece of fruit. Children are asked to bring their own water from home.
*Please note that if the lunch menu is not changed before 2 p.m. on Thursday, you will receive their last ordered lunch.
WE ARE A NUT FREE SCHOOL! Please check the ingredients of anything that you send into school – peanut butter, Nutella, ‘fruit and nut’ mix, etc…..
*Naíonáin Bheaga will not start receiving our school lunches until the 11/09/23 when they begin their full day at school. They will only require a snack for little break.
BUSANNA – BUSES:
Parents of children who come to school by bus please note that the responsibility for safety and discipline on buses rests with the service provider. If you have any concerns about your child’s safety please contact the service provider without delay. If you have any reason to believe that a child was standing or unbelted for any reason you must contact the service provider immediately – it is a matter of life and death.
All contact details for bus service providers are available from the office.
MÚINTEOIRÍ RANGA 2023-2024:
Please see below our list of classroom teachers for 2023/24
Naíonáin Bheaga…… Múinteoir Gráinne
Naíonáin Mhóra …… Múinteoir Síle
Rang 1 ……………… Múinteoir Rachel
Rang 2 ……………… Múinteoir Fíona
Rang 3………………. Múinteoir Siobhán
Rang 4 ……………… Múinteoir Stiofán
Rang 5………………. Múinteoir Uinseann
Rang 6 ……………… Múinteoir Nioclás
Special Education – Múinteoir Aisling; Múinteoir Áine-Máire; Múinteoir Ciara; Múinteoir Aileen; Múinteoir Grace.
Club Iar-Aire – After-School-Club will run each evening from 1.30 p.m. – 2.30 p.m. and from 2.30 – 4.30 p.m. Contact Valerie or Ita for details.
Cairde na Scoile – Parents’ Association – Since Covid struck we have not properly re-formed our Parents’ Association – Cairde na Scoile – it is definitely time to do so! There are so many activities for which parental help is vital! Coffee mornings; Halloween Dress-up; Crannchur na Nollag; Díolachán na Nollag; Pancóga; Lá Fhéile Pádraig; Céimniú Rang a Sé; Gardening; Fundraising and much more…… To this end, we would like to invite parents to a short meeting with a view to reforming our Parents’ Association Committee (‘Cairde na Scoile’) on Thursday, 28/09/23 at 8 p.m. in our school hall. Please don’t stay away because you’re afraid you’ll be landed with a job! We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen!
Teagmháil – Communication – As we look forward to September, it is important to keep in mind that lots of little incidents happen in school every day and it is our job to deal with them. Problems only arise when we don’t find out about incidents. Please encourage your child to tell the teacher when something happens that makes them uncomfortable. If you as a parent know that your child is unhappy about something, please inform us straight away and we will do all in our power to rectify the situation.
(A sheet outlining the correct procedure to be followed when dealing with a concern is available below).
**Please keep an eye on our school website for school updates**
Ag tnúth le bliain shona thairbheach,
Le gach deá ghuí,
___________________________________
Ruairí Ó hAnnluain agus Foireann na Scoile
“Míle buíochas do gach duine a chabhraigh linn sa scoil i mbliana”.
Many, many thanks to all who helped out and supported our school during the year!!!
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Scoil Uí Cheithearnaigh
Complaints Procedure Policy
This policy has been drafted in accordance with the procedure agreed between the INTO and the CPSMA, as set out in the CPSMA Management Board Members’ Handbook (2016) Appendix 50, pp. 101/102
Parental Complaints Procedure – Only those complaints about teachers which are written and signed by parents/guardians of pupils may be investigated formally by the Board of Management, except where those complaints are deemed by the Board to be:
- on matters of professional competence and which are to be referred to the Department of Education;
- frivolous or vexatious complaints and complaints which do not impinge on the work of a teacher in a school; or
- complaints in which either party has recourse to law or to another existing procedure.
Unwritten complaints, not in the above categories may be processed informally as set out in Stage 1 of this procedure.
Stage 1
1.1 A parent/guardian who wishes to make a complaint should approach the class teacher with a view to resolving the complaint.
1.2 Where the parent/guardian is unable to resolve the complaint with the class teacher, she/he should approach the principal teacher with a view to resolving it.
1.3 If the complaint is still unresolved the parent/guardian should raise the matter with the Chairperson of the Board of Management with a view to resolving it.
Stage 2
2.1 If the complaint is still unresolved, and the parent/guardian wishes to pursue the matter further he/she should lodge the complaint in writing with the Chairperson of the Board of Management.
2.2 The Chairperson should bring the precise nature of the written complaint to the notice of the teacher and seek to resolve the matter between the parties within 5 days of receipt of the written complaint.
Stage 3
3.1 If the complaint is not resolved informally, the Chairperson should, subject to the general authorisation of the Board and except in those cases where the chairperson deems the particular authorisation of the Board to be required:
a) supply the teacher with a copy of the written complaint; and
b) arrange a meeting with the teacher and, where applicable, the Principal Teacher with a view to resolving the complaint. Such a meeting should take place within 10 days of receipt of the written complaint.
Stage 4
4.1. If the complaint is still not resolved the Chairperson should make a formal report to the Board within 10 days of the meeting referred to in 3.1 (b).
4.2. If the Board considers that the complaint is not substantiated the teacher and the complainant should be informed within 3 days of the Board meeting.
4.3. If the Board considers that the complaint is substantiated or that it warrants further investigation it proceeds as follows:
(a) The teacher should be informed that the investigation is proceeding to the next stage;
(b) The teacher should be supplied with a copy of any written evidence in support of the complaint:
(c) The teacher should be requested to supply a written statement to the Board in response to the complaint;
(d) The Teacher should be afforded an opportunity to make a presentation of case to the Board. The teacher would be accompanied and assisted by a friend at any such meeting;
(e) The Board may arrange a meeting with the complainant if it considers such to be required. The complainant is to be accompanied and assisted by a friend at any such meeting;
(f) The meeting of the Board referred to in (d) and (e) will take place within 10 days of the meeting referred to in 3.1 (b).
Stage 5
5.1. When the Board has completed its investigation the Chairperson will convey the decision of the Board in writing to the teacher and the complainant within 5 days of the meeting of the Board.
5.2. The decision of the Board shall be final.
5.3. This Complaints Procedure shall be reviewed annually.
In this policy “days” means school days.
Note:
(a) Only those complaints about teachers which are written and signed by parents/guardians of pupils may be investigated formally by the Board of Management, except where those complaints are deemed by the Board to be:
- on matters of professional competence and which are to be referred to the Dept. of Education and skills;
- frivolous or vexatious complaints and complaints which do not impinge on the work of a teacher in a school;
- complaints in which either party has recourse to law or to another existing procedure.
Unwritten complaints not in the above categories may be processed informally as set out in Stage 1 of this procedure.
(b) It is not within the remit of the parents’ association to deal with complaints of any description. Please follow the procedure outlined above.