Newsletter to Parents
8th January 2024
Dear Parents,
As we begin our second term, I would like to wish all our school community a very Happy New Year and hope that 2024 will be a fruitful one for all. Having just completed a long term in school, term 2 will be quite short and unfortunately will be quite fragmented. However, this means that everyone will be redoubling our efforts to ensure that everyone achieves to plan and that the children will have an enjoyable second term. In the meantime, I would like to bring the following notices to your attention.
School Calendar Term 2
Monday January 8th: School Reopens for Term 2
Monday February 5th: School closed for Spring Bank Holiday
Thursday February 15th/Friday February 16th: Mid Term Break.
Week of Monday February 18th: After School Activities Begin.
Friday March 8th: School closed for Referendum.
Monday March 18th: School Closed for St Patrick’s Day Holiday.
Friday March 22nd: Final Day of Term 2 (12:00p.m. finish)
Monday April 8th: First Day of Term 3.
Confirmed Closures Term 3:
Friday May 3rd & Monday May 6th: May Bank holiday closure.
Saturday May 18th: First Communion.
Monday June 3rd: June Bank Holiday.
Friday June 7th: School closed for Local & European elections.
Tuesday June 18th: 6th Class Graduation
Friday June 21st: Final day of school.
Please note: There may be other closures for staff Inservice. This will be decided by the providers.
Inclement Weather.
This time of year is marked by low temperatures and cold weather conditions. It is common for the children to pick up colds and various viruses. It is very important that the children are protected from the cold as they come to and go home from school. Please make sure that your child has a warm coat/jacket and if possible, wears a hat and gloves to protect them from the cold.
Covid 19
The Covid 19 virus is still very active with a new prevalent strain doing the rounds. There are reports of many of our families experiencing the virus over the holiday period. The latest advice from the HSE is that where a person tests positive for the virus, they should stay away from school for Five days following a positive test. It is not necessary to report cases of the virus and to my knowledge, there is no longer a mechanism for reporting positive cases. Should your child display symptoms of the virus and subsequently test positive for the virus, please keep them at home for five days and inform the school as to the reason for absence.
School Meals.
Unfortunately, due to the Dept of Social Protection being unwilling to provide finance for the breakfast food, we are left with no choice but to suspend this until further notice. The hot meals will continue as before. Regarding the hot meals, it has come to our notice that we have a lot of left over meals at the end of the day. This is because of pupil absence or in most cases where the children do not like the meals ordered for them. We ask parents to talk to their children to make sure that the children will eat the meals ordered for them and where there is uncertainty to reorder meals that the children will be happy to eat.
Enrolment.
We are now accepting applications for enrolment to our Junior Infant Classes for the 2024-2025 school year. Application forms are available from the school on request or may be obtained from the school website (www.iosaballyhaunis.com).
After School Activities
The second session of after school activities is scheduled to begin in the week of Monday February 18th and will run for five weeks up to the end of term. Choice forms will be issued end of January or early February.
With Thanks,
K. Dennedy