Month: November 2020

Advent Newsletter

We have a few free courses available for parents during the month of November. Click on each image below for more details.

Welcome back to everyone. We hope that all the children enjoyed the Halloween activities at school. Our website www.stbrigidsinfantschool.ie has some photos of the Halloween fun.

Teaching and Learning

We are glad that schools are remaining open and that we can get back teaching and learning. We have a lot to catch up on after the long closure in the spring and summer. All workbooks, reading books, stationery and materials have been delivered on a sale or return basis. Please make arrangements to pay for books and materials as soon as possible.

We cannot give out workbooks which haven’t been paid for.

You can pay one of the staff in the yard, call to the hatch at Jackie’s window, or put the money into an envelope in your child’s bag and tell them to give it to their teacher in the classroom. Anyone who has any difficulty paying should phone the school as soon as possible. Receipts will be issued.

For the month of November we will celebrate “love of learning” all around the school. You can keep in touch about your child’s learning and homework through Class Dojo app. There’s a lot to learn…

Communication and Technology

As we cannot meet in person, we are depending more and more on technology to keep a two-way channel of communication between home and school: Class Dojo app, school and teacher email, text, Whatsapp, or phone calls to our Home School Liaison teacher Olwen at 086 3705773 or the school landline 8348770.

School absence – Please call the office on 8348770 between 9 and 10 am to explain every school absence. Alternatively email the school address info@stbrigidsinfantschool.ie before 10 am. The School Completion Programme attendance monitor Elaine calls families in the case of all unexplained absences every day. A child returning from any absence must have a parental declaration form filled in. The form can be returned by email to Olwen at omay@stbrigidsinfantschool.ie. Or you can request a paper copy from one of the staff in the yard.

Day-to-day queries about homework, lunch menus, PE can be done via Class Dojo or teacher email. The teachers will not reply during the school day as they are working! They will respond after school. Teachers will turn off their notifications when they go home.

Phone calls or socially distant meetings can be arranged if you have important concerns about your child’s education or welfare. Please ring the principal’s office to make an appointment.

Social Media Etiquette – We expect all parents and guardians to be respectful of the privacy and safety of our children, staff and parents in their use of social media. Once again, we urge you NOT to share names/ photographs of any pupil or staff member on any platform. We are currently updating our Acceptable Use Policy (which guides the use of technology and social media for school use). We would welcome your feedback, concerns or comments to be included in the policy.

Phone numbers – We must have up-to-date phone numbers for every family.

Office hatch at Jackie’s window available for anyone who wants to collect a lunch form, fill in an enrolment form or pay for books.

Health & Safety

• Safe movement of people on the school grounds
• Staggered entry and exit times which we introduced just before the break worked well and have reduced the numbers on the path at one time. Please follow the yellow arrows.
• Bikes and scooters must be walked on the school grounds. Children must walk on the path by their parent’s side.
• All adults and teenagers dropping off or collecting children must wear a mask on the school grounds. Please phone the school to advise us if you are unable to wear a mask.
• To facilitate a smooth two-way flow through the grounds, everyone walking through the grounds must KEEP RIGHT and follow the yellow arrows.
• Parents, while the children are in your care, please make sure they stand on their line markers and walk nicely in and out of school. They know what to do!

After listening carefully to feedback from parents, the BoM of the two schools have decided to revert to the old entry and exit system, with staggered entry and exit times. Senior girls will enter and exit by their own gate. Infant School pupils and their parents will enter and exit by the Infant School gate, keeping right, following the yellow arrows. The passageway is now closed.

Before leaving home, children must go to the toilet and wash hands thoroughly. Please dress children warmly this winter as we are sticking to the safety guidelines on increased ventilation and outdoor education.

Enrolments for 2021

We are now accepting enrolments for Junior Infants and Early Start for September 2021. Each application form must be accompanied by a PPS number and original birth cert, which we will photocopy. Offers of a place will issue in writing in November. All offers must be accepted in writing. St Brigid’s Senior Girls and St Fergal’s are also enrolling for September 2021.

Other News

Bernard McGivney, father of two children in our school has been elected as parents’ nominee (father) on the Board of Management. We thank the school community for the support and interest in the BoM.

In St Brigid’s School, we observe the November tradition of remembering and praying for our dead. This year, we remember our past pupils Gary McKenna and Reece Wilde (both died last September) and our family members and neighbours in Finglas who died in 2020.