A letter to parents of new Junior Infants
(also sent via email)
Dear Parents
I just wanted to drop you all an email with a few points that might be helpful for you getting your child ready to start school next week.
The Junior Infants teacher will be Gráinne Berry, who is really looking forward to meeting the children on TUESDAY AFTERNOON, 31st AUGUST, from 1-2pm.
On Tuesday, Grainne will meet the children in the school yard to bring them safely in to the school, where they will spend an hour in an informal atmosphere, meeting their teachers and new classmates. They will be brought out to the schoolyard again at 2pm where you can collect them and hear all their news!
The children DO NOT need to wear their uniforms on this visit. I will have school ties ready for each of them on Tuesday to bring home, so that they will have their full uniform ready for Wednesday morning and all the photographs that will no doubt be taken at home. (School ties cost €3 each and you can pay for them via Aladdin Connect at some stage before end of September)
The school year starts the following day, WEDNESDAY 1st September, at 9:30am. For the first week and a half (ie up to Friday 10th September) the children will have a short day to ease them into 'Big School', ie they will finish at 12:30pm. From Monday 13th September they will finish at 2pm, and this finish time will continue through their time in Junior and Senior Infants.
For those who ordered school lunches online, lunches will be delivered to the school from Wednesday 1st September. For those who have not ordered, you might like to send in a small snack with your child. There will be plenty of water and fresh fruit available for them in the school, and, with the early finishing, they will not get too hungry.
Annual contribution: We ask each family to make an annual contribution to the school to help cover the costs of art and craft materials, printing, photocopying, IT equipment and book rental. The contribution is: €40 for the first child, €30 for the second child, €20 for the third child and €10 for the fourth child. This can be paid securely online via Aladdin Connect anytime before the end of September. Indeed, many of you have already paid this, and for this we thank you.
PE days - the children should wear their PE gear to school on their assigned PE day(s) and this will be communicated to you early in the term, when the teachers finalise their rota.
Your Contact Details - if you have recently changed address, mobile phone no. or landline, please let us know via Aladdin Connect so we always have the most up to date contact information in case of emergency
Covid Protocols and Return to School Declarations - after any period of absence from school (holidays, illness etc) we ask every parent to complete a 'Return to School Declaration' to state that you have no reason to believe that your child has an infectious disease and that you are adhering to all medical and public health guidelines. This protocol is in place to protect our school community. The Return to School Declaration can only be completed after 3pm the day before start of term (ie 31st August)
That is all I can think of for the moment, but if you have any questions or concerns that have not been addressed here, don't hesitate to get in touch via email.
We are looking forward to a fun, active and safe year.
Regards,
Fiona Hopkins School Secretary
