Post date: Oct 10, 2018 2:44:15 PM
sCOIL sHINCHILL
kILLEIGH tULLAMORE
O. OFFALY
PH. 057 9344349 Roll No.17031F
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
September/October 2018
School Closures 2018/19
Please note the following as dates when the school will be closed during the 2017/18 academic year.
School Reopens for all Students: Thursday 30th August
Ploughing Championships: Tuesday 18th September (One day only)
Presidential Election Friday 26th October
Mid-Term Break: Monday 29th October to Friday 2nd November (Inclusive)
Christmas Holidays: Monday December 24th- Friday January 4th (Inclusive)
Mid-Term Break: Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd February
St. Patrick’s Day: Monday 18th March
Easter Holidays: Monday 15th April- Friday 26th April (Inclusive)
Bank Holiday and Mid- Term: Monday 6th May
Bank Holiday: Monday 3rd June
School Closes for Summer: Wednesday 26th June
We were requested by an Garda Sìochana to open at 11am and to close at 2pm during the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan. When the Ploughing Championships were extended to Friday, the same arrangements followed.
New Staff
We warmly welcome Ms. Aisling Molloy onto our teaching staff. Ms. Molloy is a native of Ballinamere and will teach 1st and 2nd Class this year. Many of the children remembered Ms. Molloy from her days as a student teacher in Killeigh some years ago.
New Pupils
A huge welcome is extended to our new junior infants and to their parents, many of whom are with us for the first time. If we can ever be of any help, please contact the school office at the above number.
Book Rental and School Payments
We operate a rental scheme for the use of English PM, Big Cats, Sails and other differentiated readers from Junior Infants to 6th class. We are working towards a fully differentiated approach to literacy as we have phased out the traditional class reader in favour of individual books designed for the stage which each individual child is at, which is in keeping with modern good practice. Prices for rental were included on your child’s booklist.
Any payments requested by school can be paid online through the email address you supplied to the school. Payments can now be made during the holidays or at a time of convenience to parents. When a payment is made, our system will keep a record of all transactions. Parents may still pay by cash or cheque if it suits them better.
School Matches
Our school boys and girls football teams will be playing their Cumann na mBunscol championships over the coming weeks. This term the emphasis is on football, with the hurling and camogie beginning during the second term.
Nut Allergy
A number of children in various classes have an allergy to nuts. It can be very serious for those children if they come into contact with nuts or any food stuff containing nuts. Therefore we are asking parents not to send lunch to school with children which contain nuts, primarily in those classes. This includes Nutella spread and other similar types of spread derived from nuts.
We thank all Parents and children who have taken care in this regard in the past.
School Policy Reminders
Our Healthy Eating Lunch policy remains as before. Fizzy drinks, bars, sweets, chewing gum, and crisps are not allowed for school lunches. Cereal bars, buns, slices of cake or biscuits from a family packet are allowed but only in addition to a healthy lunch containing sandwiches, unsalted popcorn, fruit, or yoghurt.
Children are asked to put all letters from the school inside the cover of their homework journal to ensure that they reach their parents safely. Please check the journals regularly for notes from the school, particularly the journal of your eldest child. Text alerts will issue occasionally.
From Monday, September 10th we ask all parents to deliver children around to the rear of the school in the morning once they have arrived and to leave them to play. They can join their class line once the bell sounds. The school front door will not be opened until 9.20am each morning so all children arriving before then should proceed around to the rear of the school on. Children arriving for Sìolta will be brought in to the school on arrival.
Our school gates will remain open until 9.30am, after which time all visitors, including children coming to school, must come to the front door. A ‘buzzer’ system is in place for all visitors to the school. This system is in place to ensure the safety of all children and staff in the school.
On wet mornings children may come straight into their classroom. The school yard will be supervised from 9.10am onwards on dry mornings and the school corridors on mornings when the weather dictates that the children should be indoors.
Please note the following excerpt from our Policies & Procedures Booklet which we issue as a reminder during the first term of each school year.
'The school will open to receive pupils at 9.10 am each morning. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before that time. Class assembly time is from 9.20am to 9.40am and formal lessons begin at 9.40am. No pupils should arrive later than 9.30am.
Classes will end each day at 3.00pm. Parents who wish to have their children escorted home should make their own arrangements to have them met at the school gate and the person to escort them should be at the school gate not later than 3.00pm as the school cannot accept responsibility for looking after the children after that time.
In the case of children travelling by the school bus, the school cannot accept responsibility for escorting them from the bus to the school or from the school to the bus. Parents who feel that their children may need to be escorted in these circumstances should make arrangements to ensure that some escort is provided’.
New SEN Model
All children from 1st class upwards have completed standardised tests in both literacy and maths last June. The results of these tests have helped us to determine which children are in need of extra support and in which area.
The new Special Education Needs (SEN) model allows for the school to, where deemed necessary, assist a child with difficulties they may be having in a particular area through in-class support, withdrawal for group or individual support or whatever support the teachers feel is most appropriate to support the child’s learning. An example might include a child struggling with fractions who might not otherwise be eligible for extra support. In this case, an SEN teacher may take that child along with a group of others for extra support, either in the class or to another room to provide the necessary assistance.
In this way, we hope to support the needs of all pupils through the work of our SEN team.
What does GDPR mean for Irish Primary schools?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on the 25th May 2018.
The following will apply to schools and their data as part of GDPR:
1. Personal data must be fairly and lawfully processed
2. Accuracy - personal data must be accurate and kept up to date.
3. Security - personal data should be kept secure in terms of encryption and accessibility.
4. Keep data for no longer than is necessary.
5. Individuals rights - right of access to information, right to rectification.
6. Information is only shared with those who need it.
All documents relating to the school’s policy on GDPR can be seen on the school website www.killeighns.ie
School’s Athletics
Congratulations to our excellent cross-country athletics team who competed so well at the recent Offaly Primary Schools Cross-Country Athletics Championships in Tullamore Harriers. Eabhadh Multaney-Kelly (3rd class) and Sinead Walsh (6th class) came first overall in their races while several children won medals for finishing in the top 10 in their races. Our 6th class girls won gold in their team event while 3rd class and 4th class girls’ teams both finished with silver medals. Our 4th class boys won bronze for finishing 3rd overall in their team event. Regardless of medals, every athlete performed to the best of their abilities and we are really proud of them as a group.
Thanks to Mr. Breslin and Ms. Moriarty for looking after the team so well and to all those who ran in the school trials before teams were selected.
Battery Collection
As part of our Green-Schools Programme, we collect small domestic batteries at school, which are collected by WEEE Recycling. Please feel free to encourage your children to bring used batteries to school and to deposit them in one of the blue boxes near the front door.
30th Anniversary of School’s Opening
The current school building opened in 1988 which means this year we celebrate 30 years at the current site. We have decided to combine the celebration with the lighting of the Christmas lights on Saturday, 8th December. An event will take place in the school from 6pm - 7.30pm involving a display of photos and memorabilia, as well as light refreshments. We extend an open invitation to past pupils, former staff and past parents to come together on that evening to reminisce on 30 years of Scoil Shinchill. Mass will follow in St. Patrick’s Church, followed by the lighting of
If you have old school photos, we would be delighted to scan them and make a colour copy for display on the evening. If photos are sent in to us, they will be sent home with the children once scanned.
Run a Mile- Active Flag Programme
This year, we are seeking to be awarded the Active Flag in recognition of the school’s proactivity in the promotion of healthy physical activity. While we have long been associated with the promotion of sport, particularly team sports, we are seeking to improve the core fitness of every child, regardless of their interest in sporting competition.
It is perhaps indicative of the more sedentary times we live in that skills like running now have to be taught. Previous generations would have picked up these skills more naturally.
Our Running programme each day takes 15 minutes. The number of completed laps of a marked out area in that time will be recorded and an increase in the number of laps from day to day will be recorded as progress. Totals will be added up and the cumulative distance covered will be recorded on a map of Europe as distance travelled between Killeigh and Rome. The map will be on display in the school’s GP room.
Board of Management Annual Report 2017/18
Our annual report from the school’s Board of Management for 2017/18 will be published on the school’s website www.killeighns.ie and available to view from Monday 15th October. The report contains details of activities undertaken during the school year by the school and the board, it also contains updates on the proposed new ‘Sìolta‘ building.
Strictly Jigs & Reels for Killeigh Community Centre
Killeigh Community Centre Development Group are to present the Strictly Jigs & Reels show which will take place in Tullamore Court Hotel on Saturday 17th November 2018.
The event has a lot of similarities to Strictly Come Dancing but there is a little ‘twist’. The event will be a fun evening of entertainment with people for whom dancing might not be an activity they would be naturally associated with, taking to the stage for a good cause.
On the night of the main event, Saturday 17th November in Tullamore Court Hotel, there will be a panel of judges to review each performance and then give their comments before giving the couple their score. There will also be audience voting on the night which will have an effect on the overall score for each couple.
We strongly support the work of the Killeigh Community Centre Development Group as the work they are doing will be of great benefit to us all when the project is completed.