Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well and enjoying the amazing weather this week. Our news is as follows

• Our car park is very busy in the mornings and the evenings. We would ask that parents/guardians enter and leave the car park very slowly. Please be aware that there may be pupils walking through the car park so the utmost care is needed. We also have two disabled car park spaces which must be kept free for pupils who require them.  If there are no parking spaces the Gardai have informed us that parents/guardians may park on the footpath beside the school as long as you do not cause an obstruction for our neighbours. Please be aware that staff also use the car park so we ask that you do not block up the car park spaces so they can get into work on time. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter as we all want to ensure that our pupils are safe.   It is wonderful to see so many pupils walking to school at present which reduces the pressure on the car park.
• Please see a flyer attached in relation to Designer Minds Steam club that some pupils may be interested in.
• GAA training started back for our pupils from Juniors to 3^rd class. We are fortunate in that Wolfe Tones GAA club provide a trained coach called Caimin to come in and work with schools here in Shannon. We have training on Wednesdays and as he works with the Junior end of the school the emphasis is on fun games to build confidence in fundamental movement skills.
• At the start of a school year I would like to remind everyone of the importance of establishing good attendance habits from the start of the year.  If your child needs to miss a day please provide a reason for your child’s absence – you can do this via the Aladdin app or by contacting the school office. If your child has a temperature or is vomiting etc they need to be kept at home. We would ask that you schedule family holidays as much as possible during school holiday times. If you do take family holidays during the school year we will not be in a position to provide work for your child during this time. If your child misses 20 days or more during a school year we are legally obliged under the Education Welfare Act to report these absences and the reasons provided by you to the Education Welfare Service which is part of TUSLA. 20 days absence equates to four school weeks which is almost half a term. This can have a significant impact on a child’s learning and attainment. If you have concerns in relation to your child’s attendance please come and talk to us.
• We are delighted that all our school books, workbooks, copies etc are covered by the Department of Education this school year. We do have to ask that parents/guardians would pay for the following items pupil insurance, art & craft materials and photocopying. The cost is €40 for eldest child, €35 for the second child and €30 for the third child. Thank you to all who have paid to date. Payment can be made through Aladdin Connect or in the office.
• I got to work with both 1^st classes yesterday and I was so impressed. They were excellent at sharing with the class. We listened to a story and did some work on it afterwards. I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful pictures created and there even some amazing sentences too. Well done 1^st class.
• Junior Infants are settling in well. Today I popped in and they were busy matching and colouring. They were very proud of their work. Keep it up Juniors!

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal