13th February 2023

Dear Parents,

As we approach our mid term break,  on behalf of all at Scoil Íosa I would firstly like to thank all of  our parents for their support over the course of the year to date. The remainder of the year promises to be very busy in terms of school life with the sports season, after school activities and parental pursuits dominating our timetable. So much so that we need to re emphasise the importance of the childrens school work and ensuring that they continue to focus their energies on these areas.

Internet Safety.

As you may be aware, last Tuesday 7th February was designated as Internet Safety Day nationally. As such our school under the leadership of Ms. Michelle Flatley, focussed on a number of initiatives related to internet safety and internet usage by the children. Over the course of the week the children across classes from second to sixth class undertook internet awareness activities during which we as a school learned some very salutory lessons. As part of the exercise, all children from 4th to 6th class were surveyed anonymously on device ownership, device usage, Social Media platforms accessed, online interactions and awareness of danger.

The findings of this survey are as follows: 

• 95% of all children in 4th to 6th class own a smartphone or other device.
• 65% of all children surveyed use their device unsupervised on a regular basis.
• 45% of those surveyed spend 3 hours or more daily online either on gaming sites or on Social Media with 7% of children spending greater than 5 hours online per day.
• 51% of the children have interacted online with someone with whom they have never met in person
• 15% of children have shared passwords with strangers
• 58% of children have witnessed hateful or hurtful comments towards others online with 29% of our children having experienced online bullying and 24% of our children admitting bullying other children online.
• 25% of those surveyed admitted viewing inappropriate content online
• 51% of children have been upset by content  they have viewed onlin or interactions they have witnessed.
• 20% of children responded that they would not be comfortable with their parents viewing their internet activity.

As you can imagine the data received raised several red flags for the school staff in relation to the influence of internet activity on our children. It occurs to ourselves that we all need to exercise greater vigilance relative to online activity. The internet is an amazing useful resource for learning but we must make ourselves aware of the very real dangers posed to our children. We discussed the findings at assembly with our pupils and also invited members of the Gardai to address the children at a special assembly. It was incredibly revealing when children spoke nonchalantly of online elements including alarmingly the Dark Web!!!.

Basically we are asking parents to take a greater interest in their children’s online activity and would suggest the following:

• Regularly review their internet activity by checking the cache on their devices which will outline sites visited and general activity. If you find that these have been deleted or erased, that is a serious cause for concern.
• Please limit the amount of time your children spend online or using their devices. We have established that some children are taking devices to their rooms at bedtime and are spending time online until the early hours, not just at weekends but during the school week as well. Parents must take control of this as it is impacting negatively on the children in school, not just in terms of inhibiting active participation in class but also their energy levels which is leading to their struggling atb PE and sporting activities. As childhood obesity is a very real problem among our children it would be preferable if they were enrolled in sports activities both in and out of school. In short, try to replace time spent online with physical activity/hobbies.
• Do not allow your children to take devices to their bedrooms at bed time. If this becomes an issue, switch off the WiFi once you yourselves retire.
• Speak to your children about the possible dangers of online activity. Make yourselves aware of the risks.
• Ensure that your children do not have a fake online profile. If so delete it.
• Underline that your children should never agree to give out passwords or personal information to others online.

School Closure/Mid Term Break

The children will finish tomorrow for their midterm break at the end of the school day (1:55p.m. – Infant classes, 2:55p.m. 1st-6th classes). The school will remain closed until Monday next, February 20th when we reopen at the usual time.

DEIS

• After school activities begin on Monday next February 20th. Children will be informed of their allocation before they break for mid term break.These are free of charge and are funded under the DEIS programme. After school runs from 3p.m. to 4 p.m. and all children who responded will be allocated one activity. Please ensure that your children are collected promptly at 4p.m. on the day of their activity.
• Please note that Art/Craft classes for parents are scheduled to begin on Wednesday February 22nd from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00p.m. in the Friary House . The course will run for Six weeks and is open to parents on a first come first served basis. There are ten spaces available on this course. Interested parents should contact either Sheena Flanagan 087 6261531 or Olive Lyons 0899832489. This course is free of charge. Thanks to Stephen Grogan and Tracy McDermott for their assistance in facilitating this course.
• The school will soon launch our DEIS action plan which will inform all areas of school activity over the next three years. We will be required to produce enhanced performance from the children in the area of numeracy and literacy with improvement targets to be met on a year by year basis. This plan is contingent on all areas of school working together not just with academics but with school attendance, punctuality and retention of pupils in school.

Congratulations.

Congratulations to our Senior Sports quiz team consisting of Séan Donnellan, Evan Feeney, Charlie Finn and Oisín Finnegan who came in first place at the recent local schools Cumann na mBunscoil quiz. Thanks to their mentor Mr. Henry for his work in preparing the team.

Swimming.

Swimming classes for pupils in Third Class will commence immediately following the Mid Term break on Monday February 20th. These lessons are mandatory and are a very important facet of our school curriculum under the DEIS programme but more importantly, they give the children a vital life skill which should be nurtured and encouraged. Please ensure that the children have a swimsuit and towel with them when they return to school.

With Thanks,

K. Dennedy

Principal