End of year Letter from Mr Cadogan – 26 June 2020
Dear Parents, Guardians and Pupils,
I hope that everyone is safe and well. I am sure everyone is on a countdown to the eagerly awaited Summer holidays on Tuesday, June 30th at 12.00 noon. We hope that the school will re-open on September 1st and will keep you updated on that over the summer. Needless to say we will have to be guided by public health advice and other agencies in what we do.
There is no denying the gravity of the pandemic we have lived through over the last number of months. Nobody envisaged when schools were closed in March, with two and half hours notice, that we would not be back together in school again before the Summer. Everyone in our school community has played an amazing part in getting us all through safely while at the same time managing the situation we were catapulted into. Managing your child’s learning from the school and home perspectives was a challenge and I would applaud everyone for their brilliant efforts in very difficult times. Boys may not always have engaged with school work but instead did many fascinating and creative projects. Well done everyone.
We extend our sympathy to members of our school community who lost relatives or friends owning to Coronavirus. To those who may be ill as a result of it, we hope they make a full and speedy recovery.
At this stage of the year we bid farewell to our sixth classes. It has been our privilege to have been with the boys during their years here. Last night we celebrated their Graduation with them from a distance. We wish them well in their Secondary Schools and in the years ahead. We thank Mrs. Cotterell, Ms. O’Hara, Mrs. Mulholland, Mr Geoghegan and Mrs. Behan for all their assistance with the Graduation and Fr. John who also joined us.
Sadly, we say farewell to the following teachers Ms. M. Browne, Mr. Curran, Ms. Dillon and Mr. Gibson. We thank them for all their work during the year and wish them well in the future.
We also bid farewell to Ms. Roseanne Doyle who has worked diligently as a Special Needs Assistant in the school for many years. We thank her for all her work, her commitment and dedication. We wish her long life, good health and happiness in a well deserved retirement.
Class Allocation 2020/2021
In the interests of continuity and best supporting your child’s re-engagement with school, and learning, and friends, as far as possible children will be taught by the same teacher they had last year, except for the current 4th classes going into fifth and Mr. Curran’s Senior Infants going into first. We see the advantages of this being of immense benefit to your child’s smooth resumption of learning. Where it has not been possible to go forward with the same teacher there will be very close liaison between the teachers involved. We look forward to having everyone back in school, the resumption of teaching and learning and helping your child in the best ways possible.
Holiday list 2020/2021
The holiday list 2020/2021 is available on the website – click here.
Child Protection Statement and Risk Assessment
These have been ratified by the Board of Management. A copy is available on the website (click here) and hard copy is available on request from the office.
Book Orders 2020/2021
Book orders remain open online up to midnight on Wednesday, July 22nd where payment can be made via the secure Aladdin link issued to all families. New books ordered will be in the classrooms when children return to school on September 1st. Booklists are available on the school website (click here) if you are not ordering through the school. As previously explained books/stationery are only part of the booklists. It would be appreciated if book rental could be paid by midnight on July 22nd to facilitate the distribution of books used in the rental scheme on the first day of term. If you have not paid book rental by then we will issue you with a full booklist. Please do not leave book ordering until the last moment in case there are “gremlins” in ordering on-line.
School Book Returns
Thank you to all the people who came to the school on Monday/Tuesday for the return of belongings and school books/materials. It was lovely to see you and meet many of the boys again. There is a substantial number of books, including class novels that have not been returned. We would really appreciate if they could be dropped to the upper yard between 10.00 – 11.00 on Monday.
School Reports
School summer reports issued on June 12th. There are still parents who have not received them. Please let us know if it has not arrived and we will send you a duplicate.
School Uniforms
In preparation for the new school year please note that our school uniform from 1st class upwards comprises of grey shirt, tie, V-necked navy jumper, grey trousers, grey socks and black shoes. School tracksuit and school polo shirts are allowed on P.E. days only. All items of clothing should be clearly marked. For the new school year proper uniform must be worn by all pupils. We thank the volunteers who are on duty in the tracksuit room every Monday and special thanks to Carol Berkery, Orna Larkin, and Jenny Simeoni who have run the uniform shop. The sale of tracksuits will take place when we can arrange to get the order delivered and we will notify you. It may well be order/pay on line and come and collect.
I take this opportunity to thank everyone in our school community for their involvement, assistance and support during the year and for the extraordinary lengths so many people went to in the interests of the children during the pandemic. What everyone did was truly amazing despite the great challenges people often faced.
I trust that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Summer. A reminder to all families on the importance of water safety and safety on farms. I hope everyone stays safe and well in the months ahead. We look forward to seeing everyone back in school safely on September 1st.
Beir bua is beannacht.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Cadogan
Principal