Newsletters Archived
October Newsletter 2018We are very proud of our school website and most parent queries can be answered by accessing www.stpatricksns.ie or by viewing our Newsletters which are regularly emailed to each family and are also on our website. Please make our website your first “port of call”.
The Reception/Administration Office hours are 8.30am to 3.10pm. The office closes for lunch from 12.00-12.30pm daily. It would be much appreciated if telephone calls to the school were made only in emergency situations, and ONLY AFTER 9.00AM.
There is no need to telephone the school if your child is sick, unless the illness is contagious. Parents should acknowledge their child’s absence from school on their return, in writing, for Junior & Senior Infant classes or on the ABSENCE SLIP in your child’s Homework Journal for 1st- 6thClass.
HSE Documents/Permission Slips/Order Forms etc.
Throughout the school year, various Permission and Consent forms are sent home with the children, for example:
- Junior Infant Immunisation Consent Forms
- Hearing & Vision Testing Consent Photograph Permission Slips
- Permission Slip to share data (child’s name only) with Parents Association **
- School Photograph Permission Slips
- School Photograph Order Forms
- Christmas Card Order Forms
- School Calendar Order Forms
- Art Competition submissions
- Choir Permission Slips
- School Tour Permission Slips
- Dental Permission Slips (2nd/4th/6th)
- Permission Slips for attendance at various Sporting Activities
- ACCORD Consent Forms to attendance at RSE talks for 4th Class (girls only), 5th Class and 6th Class
As there are currently 536 families and over 800 students is St Patrick’s N.S., it is now even more important that all forms are fully completed and returned to your child’s class teacher by the requested date. Deadline dates will be strictly adhered to.
** WE URGENTLY NEED ALL PERMISSION SLIPS RE SHARING DATA WITH PA RETURNED IMMEDIATELY **
Dropping in lunches, bags, homework etc.
It is essential that all your child’s belongings e.g. lunches, bags, homework, etc., are CLEARLY MARKED WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME AND THE NAME OF THE CLASS TEACHER, especially if you are dropping in items during the school day.
Parent/Teacher Meetings
Parent/Teacher meetings will take place on Tuesday November 27and Thursday November 29. Appointment times will be distributed week commencing 22 October. Please see school Journals for children from 1st to 6th. Times for infants will be sent home on a note.
Information Evening – Coláiste na Tulchann
An Information Meeting for current 4th/5th/6th class will take place on Wednesday 17 October at 8pm in Luttrellstown Community College in Seomra Choláiste Tulchann. Information has been emailed to all parents of current 4th/5th/6th classes. Please ring 8228060 if you have any queries.
Aladdin Connect
In order to receive all messages promptly, please ensure that you have your notifications are switched on for Aladdin Connect.
Homework Club
Homework Club takes place Monday to Thursday from 2.10-3.10pm and is suitable for 3rd Class children upwards. There are a number of spaces available.
Sessions take place in Ms Thomas’ classroom Orange 2 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and
Ms McTague’s classroom Green 3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Please ask your child to collect a form from Ms Thomas/Ms McTague and bring together with payment (€4 per session/per day) on the first day he/she attends homework club.
Any queries should be emailed to homeworkclub@stpatricksns.ie
Summer Book Readers Club
Well done to all of the children who participated in Summer Book Readers Club. We had a lot of entries and it was great to see that the children had continued their reading for pleasure over the summer. Congratulations to our raffle winners who each won an Irish Book Token. Keep up the good work readers!
Letters of Attendance
We would ask that if you require Letters of Attendance for Child Benefit/Travel/Visa purposes for your child/children, that you give the office as much advance notice as possible. Please email your request to info@stpatricksns.ie stating the purpose of the letter. If it is for travel/visa request purposes, please advise date of travel so that the letter can be dated within a week of travel.
Head Bumps
It is school policy to inform parents by text if your child has a head bump during the school day. If your child complains of feeling sick or dizzy, you will receive a telephone call from the office asking you to arrange collection of your child.
Staff Car Park
As our staff numbers have increased again this year, parents are asked not to park in the Staff Car Park at any time during the school day, the only exception being parents collecting/disabled or injured children. We would be grateful if you could also inform anyone who may be collecting your child/children on your behalf of this procedure. If you are returning to the school for any reason during the school day, we would ask that you park in the bus stop area and enter via the Pedestrian Gate at the main entrance. (Please close gate after you leave). Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Parent “Helping Hands”
We are once again looking for Parent Helping Hands. We need parents to:
- Help out in Junior Infants and Senior Infants for Maths and Fine Motor Stations;
- To help out at Literacy Lift-off/Guided Reading stations;
- To help out in Junior infants for Fine Motor Stations;
- To accompany children to and from the church;
- To accompany children on school tours;
- To accompany children to sporting events.
How do I get involved?
All Parent Helping Hands need to be Garda Vetted through the school. You need to bring in proof of address and a photo ID (Passport/Drivers licence) to the school and fill in an Application Form at the office. We need to submit a form to the Patron’s Office. They will then email you an e-form which you must return within 30 days otherwise the form will expire and you will need to begin the process all over again. When the ‘Vetting’ comes through you will be informed by Patron’s Office and the Declaration will also be sent to the school.
Upcoming Events
03 October – Parents Association AGM 8pm
26 October - Presidential Election – School Closed
29 October to 02 November inclusive - Mid Term Break
25 November – Annual Christmas Fair
24 December to 04 January inclusive – Christmas Break
18-22 February inclusive – Mid Term Break
18 March – St Patrick’s Day
15 – 26 April inclusive – Easter Break
06 May – May Bank Holiday
03 June – June Bank Holiday
28 June – School Closes for Summer Break
Upcoming Sporting Events & News
Selection of children for school events and appropriate parental interaction
Many thanks to all of our parents for your continued support of our school teams. We greatly appreciate your help with supervision, jersey care, side-line encouragement, etc. The school is indebted to our teachers who train and run the teams in a voluntary capacity. The school ethos is to promote ‘Sport for All’. However, some events are competitive and for these, children need to be selected. We always endeavour to be as fair as possible when picking children to represent the school.
IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR PARENTS TO TAKE ISSUE WITH TEACHERS REGARDING THE SELECTION PROCESS.
While there will always be differing opinions in this regard, it is the prerogative of the management team to make the final decision. We look forward to another great year for St Patrick’s on the sporting field.
Fingal Primary School Athletics League
16th October 2018 (Porterstown Pk., D15) Race Day Registration: 10.30am (1st Race 11am)
12th March 2019 (Porterstown Pk., D15) Race Day Registration: 10.30am (1st Race 11am)
FINALS DAY (ALL SCHOOLS)
9th April 2019 (Morton Stadium) Race Day Registration: 10am (1st Race 10.30am)
Parents Association News
St. Patricks NS Parents Association's Facebook page is now live at www.facebook.com/schoolPA . Please follow our page to keep up to date on our activities and events.
Save the Date!
Our annual Christmas Fair is going ahead and will be held on Sunday, 25th of November.
To make the day as great and successful as previously we need prizes for our wheel of fortune. Any donation from you or your company, no matter how big or small, will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance! Please get in touch with Adrienne via phone: 086 3192656 or email: ahegarty10@gmail.com
Any parents/guardians who would like to get involved and haven't signed up at the class meetings, please get in contact with Sabine via phone: 087 2869804 or email: sabine.krabbe@gmail.com
Thank you!
Christmas Fair Committee
Reminders
Medical updates
We are in the process of updating our medical records. A new 'Administration of Medication' form was sent home to the parents of children who require inhalers/anapen/epipen etc in school. These forms should be returned as a matter of urgency. We advise parents of children who have medication in school to check the expiry date of these medications with their child's class teacher. If you have any medical updates regarding your child please email info@stpatricksns.ie for the attention of Ms. Threadgold and this information will be passed onto relevant teachers and updated on Aladdin.
Contagious Illness
Whilst there is no need to telephone the school if your child is sick, we would greatly appreciate if you would
contact us if your child contracts a contagious illness e.g. measles, mumps, rubella, etc. There are children in
the school who are at increased risk of contracting these illnesses. Parents should acknowledge their child’s absence from school due to minor illnesses on their return, in writing, in the child’s School Journal.
Contact Details
It is essential that we have the correct address and contact details (e.g. home telephone, parents’ mobile numbers and email addresses) for your child on our database. If any of your details have changed over the summer, please complete a Change of Address/Contact Details Form as soon as possible.
Healthy Lunch Policy
We operate a Healthy Lunch Policy in the school. Fizzy drinks, crisps, popcorn or sweets are not permitted. Please help us maintain the health of our children by following the guidelines which are available to view at www.stpatricksns.ie.
Breaktimes
For your information and to ensure forgotten lunches arrive in time, the following are the breaktimes for the children:
Junior & Senior Infants
10.20-10.30am Small portable snack taken to yard for eating under supervision
10.30-10.50am Eating time in the classroom
12.00-12.30pm Any remaining food can be taken to yard to be finished under supervision.
First Class upwards
10.20-10.30am Small portable snack taken to yard for eating under supervision
11.45-12.00noon Foods not suitable for outdoor eating can be eaten in the classroom
12.00-12.30pm Any remaining food can be taken to yard to be finished under supervision.
Labelling/Lost Property
The chances of returning lost property are greatly increased if ALL ITEMS ARE CLEARLY LABELLED with your child’s name. Please ensure jumpers, PE sweatshirts, coats, lunchboxes, beakers, etc, etc, are labelled with your child’s name. Order forms for www.mynametags.ie are available from reception.
Hand Towels
New foam soap dispensers have been fitted in all WCs. Please ensure that every child brings a small hand towel/facecloth to dry his/her hands after using the WC. This should be kept in a school bag pocket and changed regularly.
Reminder re dismounting bicycles, etc
In the interest of everyone’s safety, all cyclists (pupils, staff, parents & siblings) should dismount from their bicycles at the main gates of the school. For safety reasons, we would also ask that you do not allow your children to use scooters or rollerblades on school grounds. Please also ensure that your bicycle/scooter/flicker is securely locked.
Infant Children (Junior & Senior Infants)
Infant children (Junior & Senior Infants) should not be left unsupervised in the yard in the morning. Parents/Guardians should remain with their child/children until they are handed over to the care of their teacher at 8.30am. Under no circumstances should Infant children be dropped at the school gate to enter school grounds alone.
Health & Safety
We would ask that you discourage children from walking along the low wall outside the main school entrance. Also, children should NEVER enter the school via the staff car park entrance.
Extra Curricular Activities
ALL QUERIES RELATING TO EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE ACTIVITY ORGANISER.
Please see email/notification sent to all parents on 07 September for contact details of all activity organisers.
Places still remain for some extra curricular activities, for information please contact providers directly.
Art & Craft Workshops (Monday & Friday)
Classes take place from 2.10-3.45pm. All enquiries to Blathnaid O’Brien Donovan BEd (Hons) 0874123247.
Yoga Adventures – (Wednesdays with Jana)
I have one place left for yoga classes in the group: 2.10pm-3.10pm (1st class up to 3rd class). Trial class only for €4.
To book a place or any other queries, please contact Jana, a fully qualified children’s yoga teacher, by email: adventuresyoga@gmail.com or on 0863130992 facebook.com/Yoga-Adventures-with-Children
Piano Lessons:
Some places remain for piano lessons, please contact Trudy at:
Futsal (indoor football) programme
Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact Noel McManus on 0879830443 or fundamentalfitnessireland@gmail.com for information
Diswellstown Community & Recreation Centre Activities and Local Community Activities
The Drama Hub (formerly DramaWorks)
The Drama Hub (speech and drama classes) are held every Saturday from 1pm for 4 - 13 year olds in Diswellstown community Centre.
For further details contact Clodagh on ph:086 373 6056 or visit our website at www.dramahub.ie.
Classical Ballet Classes
For Students Age 4 – 18 years. Beginners Always Welcome.
Fully Qualified I.D.T.A.Teachers.
Classes Every Monday from 4.15 inDiswellstown Community Centre,
St Patricks National School.
- Tiny Tots Ballet (Age 4-6 yrs) - 4.15 to 5pm
- Classical Ballet (Age 6+) - 5 to 6pm
- Classical Ballet (Grade 1) - 5.30 to 6.30pm
Classes recommence Monday 10th September. Registrations now online at www.chesterschoolofdance.com
Sara Chester A.I.D.T.A 0877923955
Touch-type, Read and Spell
Touch-type, Read and Spell is a computer based literacy course for children with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dysgraphia and other learning differences.
I continue to run classes in the following venues and there are a limited number of places available as other students have now successfully completed the course.
MONDAY St. Brigid’s National School, Castleknock 2.35-3.35 pm and 3.50-4.50 pm
TUESDAY Luttrellstown Community College 3.10-4.10 pm and 4.20-5.20 pm
WEDNESDAY Castleknock Community College 2.50-3.50 pm and 3.55-4.55 pm
THURSDAY St. Francis Xavier Senior School (beside Tesco Roselawn) 2.45-3.45 pm
To reserve a place and for details of a FREE TRIAL, please contact Carol Pitcher on 087 2868910 or send an email to castleknockttrs@gmail.com for further information on how this course might benefit your child. Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook