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Holy Family National SchoolNewsletter November 2002 |
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| Education Welfare Act 2000 | |
| This Act which was passed by the
Oireachtas in July 2000 came into effect on 1st July 2002 and it has many
implications for parents, teachers and Boards of Management.
Essentially the Education Welfare Act is about promoting school attendance and it replaces the School Attendance Act of 1926. One of the statutory provisions of the act is the establishment of a National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) which will have different roles and responsibilities. The NEWB will appoint Education Welfare Officers (EWO) for the whole country and essentially they will take on the duties that the Gardaí and School Attendance Officers used to have up to June 30th last in relation to school attendance. Under the act a parent is obliged to send his/her child between the ages of 6 and 16 to a recognized school. The school in turn is duty bound to register all children attending. The parent is obliged to inform the child's teacher of the reason for any absence during the school year. The reason for the absence should be in writing because if the child is absent for more than 20 days the Principal is obliged to inform the NEWB of this and to supply it with all notes received concerning the child's absence. The Welfare Officer is then duty bound to contact the parents of the child/children in question. What I have outlined above is a brief summary of how the Act is supposed to be implemented. However to date no information or guidelines have been issued by the Department of Education for the implementation of the Act; no staff have been appointed to the NEWB other than a CEO in an interim capacity; no Education Welfare Officers have been appointed, even though provision had been made for 350 appointments. Until we receive information and guidelines from the Department, we would ask parents: A . To provide the class teacher with a written note giving the reason for a child's absence. B. Not to ring the school informing us that the child will be absent or the reason for an absence. It must be in writing. C. To be aware of the 20 day rule because a quick glance through our records show that a significant number of children would have been absent for more than 20 days in the last year. This in particular applies to parents who take their children away on holidays during the school term-a practice which we never condoned because it disrupts the child's education. Remember that the Principal is required by law to report all absences in a school year in excess of 20 days and all suspensions in excess of 6 days to the NEWB. |
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| Staffing 2002/2003 | |
| There have been a number of staff
changes in Holy Family N.S. this academic year. (1) Mrs. Jones who had been teaching infant classes for many years is our new resource teacher catering for a number of children in our school and Brittas N.S. (2) We welcome to the staff a former past pupil of the school. Miss Melia is a newly qualified teacher and teaches Snr. Infants. (3) Mrs. Walsh retired after 36 years teaching - 33 of which was spent in Holy Family N.S. She was a very hard working dedicated teacher. We wish her a long and healthy retirement. Many parents probably came into contact with her through her involvement with First Holy Communion classes. Mrs. Walsh was replaced by Mr. Sheedy who is teaching 5th class. In the short time he has been with us he is very popular especially among those children who have an interest in hurling. (4) Two Special Needs Assistants and a Classroom Assistant have also been appointed. |
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| Enrolment | |
| Many parents will be aware of the
fact that there will be pressure on schools to cater for the number of children
in Saggart/Rathcoole area over the next number of years. An indication of this
trend is that already 48 children are registered for Jnr. Infants for Sept.
2003 which will mean 2 junior infant classes. In our enrolment policy priority
is given to brothers and sisters of children already attending the school and
children from the parish of Saggart/Rathcoole. We have a number of children
presently enrolled in school from outside the parish. It seems likely that we
will find it difficult to cater for new enrollments from outside the parish
from now on. I would urge any parents who have not already enrolled a child for Sept. 2003 to do so as soon as possible. |
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| Parents Association | |
| The Parents Association as usual are
already working hard behind the scenes preparing for upcoming fund-raising
events. Events planned for this year include: Readathon: Feb 17th to March 21st Sponsored Walk: Sunday May 25th Golf Classic: Thursday June 19th Details about each event will follow at a later stage. Money generated from these events will be used to maintain and expand on the many extra curricular activities taking place in the school namely Gaelic Football, Hurling, Camogie, Rugby, Computer Classes, Tin Whistle Classes, Swimming Lessons, Irish Dancing and Modern Dance Lessons. Many of these are free to children or provided at a reduced rate. This is the Parents Association's third and final year of their term of office. The best way that you as parents and we as a staff can thank them for their years of voluntary work is to ensure that each fund raising event is well supported. You never know some of them might be so overcome with your enthusiastic support that they may be prepared to carry on the good work for another 3 years!!! |
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| Music | |
| The B.O.M. has appointed Mrs. Mc
Keon as a Special Duties Teacher with responsibility for coordinating music in
the curriculum for the school. Tin Whistle classes are continuing every Wednesday for children from 2nd to 6th class. Children from 4th and 5th classes will be performing this year in the Hallelujah Concert in the Point Theatre on Sunday 8th Dec. All the children in those two classes have prepared for the concert but we are limited to 40 children singing in the Point. Children from 4th 5th and 6th classes will be singing in the choir for the St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Carol service on Tuesday Dec.3rd. On Friday Dec. 20th (the day of Christmas holidays) a Christmas Carol Service and concert will be performed in the School Hall. Parents who are in a position to attend are very welcome. Songs from The Hallelujah Concert in the Point will be performed. We are at present in negotiations to perform and stage a children's opera in the school in the course of this year but nothing is finalized yet. |
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| Stay-Safe Programme | |
| It is now a number of years since
the introduction of the Stay Safe Programme into Primary Schools in Ireland.
The programme has now been updated. A training evening for teachers will take
place on Friday Dec.13th at 1.00 pm. The children will go home at 12.30 on that
day. A meeting will be held in early January 2003 to appraise parents of the Stay Safe Programme. This will be an important meeting because we need the co-operation of parents in the implementation of the programme. A special booklet for parents will be distributed at that meeting. |
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| School Closings | ||
| Other Newsletters: | April 1997 | |
| October 1997 | ||
| March 1998 | ||
| April 1999 | ||
| October 1999 | ||
| November 1999 | ||
| November 2000 | ||
| October 2001 |
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