Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are well this week. Our news is as follows

• We would ask all parents to take extra care in the car park – particularly at 2.40p.m. If there is no parking space please do not cause an obstruction. Shannon Gardai have informed us that parents may park on the road as long as you do so in a safe manner without causing an obstruction. Please watch out for pupils who are small and may be difficult to see. Please enter and leave the car park very slowly as it can be difficult to see a young child in the car park. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter as we all want our pupils to be able to get to  and from school safely.
• All classes will cover the Stay Safe programme as part of Social. Personal and    Health Education this term. This personal safety programme aims to give children

1. the skills necessary to enable them to recognise and resist abuse/victimisation and bullying
2. teach children they should always tell an adult about any situation they find unsafe, upsetting, threatening, dangerous or abusive
3. develop children’s self-esteem, assertiveness and self-protective skills                Further information and lesson plans for all class levels may be accessed at www.staysafe.ie. Alternatively if you have any queries please contact your child’s teacher or the principal.

•  For health and safety reasons all doors  and the back gate  will be closed at 9a.m. when the bell rings. Teachers need to get back to their classes and cannot leave their classes to open any door or the back gate. If your child is late the main door at the front is open and they can enter through this door. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter. Similarly if your child needs to leave school early for any reason please come to the main office at the front of the building and our secretary will organise for your child to come to the main office for collection.
• First Communion takes place on Saturday in Mary Immaculate Church at 1.30p.m. for pupils in 3^rd class.  The pupils have been a long time waiting for this day to come.  On behalf of all in the school community we wish  our pupils making First Communion all the best. We hope you have a lovely day and that the weather is kind to us.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the unexpected good weather this week. Our news is as follows

• Our 3^rd class pupils will celebrate their First Communion on Saturday week 26^th September at 1.30p.m. in Mary Immaculate Church. I know that the pupils and their families are looking forward to this celebration which was postponed earlier in the year. While it will be different compared to other years we still want it to be a memorable and enjoyable experience for the pupils.
• Please ensure that your child’s jumper/cardigan/tracksuit top is labelled with their name. In the warm weather pupils can take these off and it is impossible to know who owns which top without the name. In these Covid times we cannot have pupils accidentally wearing the wrong top.
• Thank you to all who have signed up to use the Aladdin Connect app. This is free to download for you. We will resend the link today to any one who has not signed up yet and if you need any assistance with this please contact the office on office@tolasns.com or ring 061 362894.
• Thank you to all who have paid for schoolbooks already. If you wish to pay for the books and cannot find the contactless payment link please contact the office and we can provide a new link for you.
• As it has been warm this week please ensure that your child has a drink at school every day – water is fine. We cannot provide drinks to pupils at present due to Covid restrictions.
• Well done to our new Junior Infant pupils who are now doing the full infant day since last Monday. I am sure there are a few tired pupils in the evening but they are adjusting to the longer day really well. I know they are learning lots of new things too and making new friends. Keep up the good work Juniors!
• Thank you to all our pupils but especially those in 3^rd-6^th class who gave Mr Quinn a great send off (from the yard and socially distanced) last Friday. A big thank you to 6^th class who shared some of their memories of Mr Quinn with us from their time in the school. Thank you to all the pupils and staff who wore the Liverpool colours to mark the occasion for Mr Quinn. It was lovely to see and I know Mr Quinn was very moved by this tribute. Mr Quinn wore the Tola’s jersey to mark his last day with us!!!

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope that you are all well as we approach the end of our second week back at school. Our news this week is as follows

• Well done to our Junior Infant pupils. They have been getting to know their teacher and classmates and learning lots of new things. They have been super at following their new routines also.  From next Monday they will have a full infant day starting at 9a.m. and finishing at 1.40p.m. They will need to bring a small snack for the first break and their lunch for the second break.
• We have launched the Aladdin Connect links this week. Thank you to all the parents who have downloaded the app already. If you are having trouble downloading it please email the office at office@tolasns.com and our school secretary Tracey will be able to help you out.
• For your information I have attached the following documents to this week’s newsletter which may be helpful as we navigate the return to school
• 1.Covid 19 Advice for parents re symptoms
• 2.Covid-19 Isolation Guide for those aged 3 -13 years

• The second annual Culture Night will take place on 18^th September.  We would love to see our towns diverse and international cultures displayed for all to see just how proud we are to live in Shannon and the surrounding areas. We are a very talented community and would welcome any and all submissions. Obviously because of covid this event will take place virtually via LoveShannon’s Facebook/Instagram and Website www.loveshannon.ie In some ways this will bring this event to more people as it is streaming all day and conveniently many of the activities are happening via video link (previously recorded and submitted) Culture night will run from 10am until we run out of time or contributions whichever comes first. If you have any queries at all please contact us on 086 0775199 /086 3382038 / 086 3218848. Many thanks and regards, Niamh O’Callaghan Loveshannon, Damien O’Rourke Cuppa Tea TV, Madge O’Callaghan Amherst Writers Group

• Thank you to all our parents/guardians for your co-operation with our new dropping off and collecting routines. We appreciate that you are not entering the building or infant yard. At some times it can be busy in the yard/path with a lot of parents gathering. We would appreciate if you could wear a mask if you cannot maintain 2m distance from other pupils/parents at this time.
• As you are aware tomorrow Friday 11^th September is the last day that Mr Quinn will spend with us as part of our staff. You may also know that Mr. Quinn is a committed Liverpool fan and this has been a wonderful year for him after 30 years in the wilderness! To mark his last day the staff will be wearing red – some may even go so far as to wear Liverpool jerseys!!!If the pupils from 1^st-6^th class would like to wear a red jumper/jersey/tshirt with their uniform they may do so. Please do not go out and buy something new – only wear it if you have it at home.
• On behalf of the Board of Management, pupils, parents and staff I thank Mr Quinn for his years of dedicated service both as a teacher and Deputy Principal to all in the school community. We will miss his kindness, good humour, empathy, I.T skills and his absolute commitment to always do his best for the pupils in St. Tola’s. His new school are getting a gem and we wish him many years of happiness and fulfilment in Ennis Educate Together.

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

• Welcome back to all our pupils, parents/guardians and staff members as we begin a new school year. This has been an extraordinary year but it is so lovely to have everyone back in St Tola’s again and we all hope that it will be a great year for all. I hope it is a year where you learn a lot, renew old friendships and make new ones and have fun doing all of this. Thank you to our wonderful staff who have worked so hard to ensure that everything was ready for the pupils last Monday and who have already ensured that the new routines and procedures are implemented in a child friendly way. Thank you to all our parents/guardians who have co-operated so well with us in making the changes in relation to dropping off and collecting. A huge thank you to our wonderful pupils who have embraced a lot of change (e.g. handwashing, different yards and breaktimes, staying in their pods while in the class etc.) over the past week and have done so with good humour and grace.
• The school doors/gate will be open from 8.45a.m. and we ask that pupils do not arrive before that time. The doors/gate will be closed at 9a.m. We understand that on occasion the morning might not go according to plan. If a pupil is late we ask that they come through the main door at Tracey’s office.
• I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Junior Infants and their parents/guardians along with the new pupils who have joined St Tola’s in other classes. We hope that your time here in St Tola’s will be enjoyable and fulfilling and we all look forward to getting to know our new pupils and their families better over the coming months and years.
• I would like to thank a number of local companies who have generously supported the school in helping us to prepare for the return of the pupils.  Zimmer  Biomet have provided us with a large sign for outside and signs for every classroom that are written in a child friendly way and give guidance to the pupils on how to protect themselves from Covid-19. They also donated hand sanitiser, floor signs, floor tape and sent down some staff members to help us with putting up the signs. EI Electronics donated hand sanitiser, floor and wall signs and a screen for the secretary’s office.    They provided a staff member to install the screen also.  Collins Aerospace donated medical grade visors for all the staff. To all of these local companies we extend our thanks. In such a challenging time for business we are extremely grateful for this support.
• Thank you to all parents who have returned the updated contact forms. If you have not done so please send them in with your child or you can take a photo of the completed form and email it to office@tolasns.com

• Thank you to all parents/guardians who have paid for the books online.  If you have not already done so we would ask that you make the payment at your earliest convenience. If you need us to resent you the link ring the office or email and we will resend it out to you.
• I would like to welcome two new staff members to St. Tola’s. Aoife Killeen and Vivienne Raftery join us and will be working as Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). I wish them both well and hope that their time in St Tolas will be fulfilling and enjoyable.
• For this school year 20/21 the teachers are as follows
• Junior Infants – Ms Lisa Hackett, Senior Infants – Ms. Fiona Burke, 1^st Class – Ms Karen Riordan,
• 2^nd Class – Ms Lorna O’ Neill, 3^rd Class – Ms Lorraine Connolly, 3^rd Class – Ms Kelly Ann Brady
• 4^th – Ms Noreen Vaughan, 5^th – Ms Maria Hehir, 6^th – Ms Siobhan Kelleher
• Special Education teachers – Ms Clare Fitzsimons, Ms Edel Halliday, Ms Ciara Cleary, Mr. David Quinn and Ms Amanda Corry. 
• Special Needs Assistants – Ms Mary O’ Shaughnessy, Ms Sinead Duff, Ms Aoife Killeen and Ms Vivienne Raftery.

• I would like to extend heartiest congratulations to Mr David Quinn on his appointment as principal teacher in Ennis Educate Together N.S. Mr Quinn will be with us for one more week and will finish in St Tola’s next Fri 11^th September. He has given 17 years of dedicated and loyal service to the pupils of St Tolas and he will be missed by pupils, parents and staff alike. Mr Quinn has served as Deputy Principal here since 2010 and he has been a fantastic support to me in my role as principal. On both a personal and professional level I will miss him.  Ennis Educate Together are lucky to have a dynamic, committed and enthusiastic principal joining them but we know that David will always carry a little bit of St Tola’s with him . Go n-éiri an t-ádh leat Mr Quinn!

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal