General

Nuacht Litir na Scoile

September Newsletter

Dear Parent,

I wish to welcome you all for the school year.  The children appear to be settling quickly and we are looking forward to the term.  We particularly welcome all our new pupils, including Ms Hegarty’s Junior Infants Class and new pupils throughout the school.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few issues:

Please note that we call pupils to class each day at 9.20am. We open our school gates from 9am onwards but cannot accept responsibility for pupils who arrive before this time. We therefore request that you do not leave unsupervised pupils at the school gates, whether they arrive by bus or otherwise.

The pupils have a mid-morning and lunchtime break. Lunches are generally eaten in the classroom and we encourage the children to take any litter or wrappings home each day. We respectfully request that our Healthy Lunches policy is adhered to. This means that sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks etc are not sent to school as part of a lunch. We ask that items such as school jumpers, stationery, lunch boxes (anything that moves!) are labelled and that the name tags are regularly refreshed.

The school is operating a No Nut policy.

We request that the school uniform is worn at all times. Teachers will inform you of the day your child is doing Physical Education.

Please provide us with up to date contact numbers, particularly with reference to mobile numbers. We operate a school text service and we will send a greeting to all numbers on our database later this week.  Please inform the school on Monday, 11^th September if you have not received the introductory message.

The school will provide text books and copybooks to all pupils but they are to supply their own stationery. We request a Voluntary Contribution of €20 per child or €30 per family to cover costs such as photocopying expenses, Art materials, First Aid supplies and much more.  We thank those who have already paid this amount and encourage any outstanding fees to be paid in the coming days.

With construction works ongoing at the school, we ask that you pay particular attention to road safety issues and request that your child is accompanied to and from the school gates. Parents are to park in the carpark near the chapel, or along the Main Road, observing normal parking regulations, paying attention to double yellow lines etc.  The car park at the school is for staff and bus parking only. Extra traffic in this area leads to greater risk for pupil and adult safety and we request that this zone remains free of parent traffic. Please relay this information to all adults who drop off or collect your child from school.

We do not allow mobile phones in the school. The school office can relay messages from a parent to a child or from a child to a parent.

All teachers have/are in the process of setting up Seesaw as a means of communication with parents. Please scan or download the app to your phone.

The School Photographer is scheduled to call next Monday, 11^th September.

Pupils from First to Sixth classes are presently doing cross-country training with an athletics meet scheduled in Milford on September 19^th.

We encourage you to contact the school at the earliest opportunity if you have any queries or concerns and we will seek to address any issues at the earliest opportunity. Please note our telephone (0749139295) and e-mail contact details (kilmacrennanschool@eircom.net) or visit the school website at www.kilmacrennanschool.com. Please call the School Office in advance if you wish to arrange an appointment with a teacher. In order to minimise disruption, we often arrange such conversations outside of class teaching hours.

Yours sincerely,

John Devenney.

This note can also be viewed under the School News drop-bar on our website at www.kilmacrennanschool.com

May Newsletter

The last term of the school year is underway at present and the pupils are busy on a number of fronts. The First Holy Communion is scheduled for this Saturday at 11am and we wish Mrs Neely’s Second Class all the best on the day. There will be tea and light refreshments in the School Hall after the ceremony and the Parents’ Association (in conjunction with the parents of First Class) invite the communicants and their families along on the day.

Our recent Kilmacrennan NS 5k was a great success and we wish to thank all those who organised the event, notwithstanding the participants, sponsors, Parents’ Association, volunteers and An Garda Síochána. Your help was greatly appreciated.

Individual class teachers are organising events such as Sports Days and School Tours. Classes will be notified individually of information pertaining to their events. We are continuing with class-based running for 5-10 mins on a daily basis (First to Sixth Classes). We also had a number of pupils participating in an athletics event in Letterkenny this week and we had numerous winners on the day. Well done to all.

Pupils from First to Sixth Classes will undergo standardised testing in English, Irish and Mathematics, starting from the week of Monday 22 May onwards. The results will issue to parents as part of the end-of-year pupil reports in June.

The next Parents’ Association meeting will be held in the school on the 8^th June @8pm. They ask parents to keep an eye on their Facebook Page (Kilmacrennan PA) for the agenda. They also hope to have an ice-cream treat for the pupils during June.

We are experiencing an increase in enrolment applications recently. We have welcomed several new pupils to our school recently but have not been in a position to accommodate all applicants. Please inform the school at the earliest opportunity of any changes in pupil enrolment plans here as it may facilitate the needs of other families.

The government has announced a new Free Books Scheme for all pupils for the next school year. This is to be warmly welcomed but we will be in touch later regarding the details of how it will work for us.

Anne O’ Donnell, our School Secretary, has informed us that she intends to retire from her position at the end of the school year. Anne has been an invaluable member of staff since 1999 and we wish her well. We are planning an in-school celebration of her time here in the school on the afternoon of Thursday 15 June (tbc). All are invited along and we will be in touch regarding the event at a later date.

The Sixth Class end-of-year barbeque is provisionally scheduled for June 14^th but we will confirm this later.

We hold an in-school ‘Kilmac Got’s Talent’ competition each year in which pupils are encouraged to showcase individual/ group talent. The event will be held shortly and we encourage all to participate. It’s a bit like the Eurovision and such was the interest last year that we held auditions.

Without wanting to be too repetitive, I again ask all to pay particular attention to road safety issues and parking in the vicinity of the school. It can get quite busy at times but it is absolutely critical that the vision lines of the pupils at the crossing points are not obscured by cars that park too close by (or by cars parking on the footpath). If feasible, we request that you accompany your child to and from the gate.      

The school will close on Friday 23 June for the summer recess. We will re-open for pupils on Wed 30 August. The 2023/24 School Calendar will be posted on the website in the coming days.

Finally, we seem to be making progress on the proposed permanent ASD two-classroom/ resource extension to the main building. Following a meeting earlier this week, it seems that the builders are planning to be on site towards the end of June. We certainly are looking forward to this.

Yours sincerely,

John Devenney.

School_transport@education.gov.ie

www.gov.ie/schooltransport

9 March 2023

Dear Principal,

Please see information note below regarding the School Transport Application Process for 2023/24 School Year

I would be grateful if you could circulate to families who may use school transport for their information.

Bus Éireann will contact all existing applicants via email directly, and a wider media campaign will commence this week. Further information is available on www.gov.ie/schooltransport andbuseireann.ie/schooltransport.

Information for families regarding School Transport Application Process for 2023/24 School Year

Families are asked to note that the closing date for payment/registering medical cards has been brought forward so that Bus Éireann can process applications, arrange transport and issue tickets to families as soon as possible for the 2023/24 school year.

1. New Applicants – Apply By 28TH APRIL 2023

The Bus Éireann family portal is now open for new applications for school transport services for the 2023/24 school year. New applications are considered as:  pupils who will be attending junior infants in primary school or first year in post-primary school for the first time in 2023.  pupils that may move home address or will be attending a new school in the 2023/24 school year Applications can be made by visiting www.buseireann.ie/schooltransport

The closing date for new applications is Friday 28 April 2023.

Any new applications made after the closing date are considered late applications and families are not guaranteed a seat.

2. All Applicants- payment/enter medical card details – closing date 9 June 2023

The Bus Éireann family portal will be open to accept payments/medical card details from the 3 April 2023 until the 9 June 2023. Payments made after the deadline date will be deemed late and families are not guaranteed a seat at that stage. Payments/medical card details must be submitted for:

 new applicants, and;

 pupils who have previously applied/availed of school transport and require a seat on a service for the 23/24 school year. …..

2 Children (who are eligible for school transport) and who possess valid medical cards (GMS Scheme) are exempt from paying the annual charge however, their medical card details must be submitted to Bus Éireann.

Bus Éireann will accept medical card details from 3 April 2023 until 9 June 2023.

Medical card details received after 9 of June deadline are considered late.

Families are strongly urged to make sure that they pay/enter valid medical card details on or before the deadline of 9 of June 2023.

The Annual Charge for School Transport Services for the 2023/24 school year is set out below:

Category of pupil

Annual Charge Primary Eligible/ Concessionary pupil €50 Post-primary Eligible/ Concessionary pupil €75

Maximum annual charge for families €125

3. Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for School Transport for the 2023/24 school year is as follows:

 Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post-primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post-primary school/education centre as determined by the department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language

.  Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application and payment process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

 Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who complete the application and payment process on time, will be considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats

.  Because of the nature of concessionary transport for non-eligible children and the priority of providing places for eligible children, there may be an excess of demand over supply for concessionary places, in these cases Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for spare seats using an agreed selection process. …..

3  In addition, temporary alleviation measures will continue for the 2023/24 school year, pending completion of the school transport scheme review.

This means that transport will be provided where such services are in operation for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who apply and pay on time.

4. Pupils from Ukraine

Pupils from Ukraine who require school transport should not apply on the Bus Éireann family portal but should visit gov.ie/ukraine for details on how to apply. Please note that any pupils from Ukraine who are currently on school transport do not need to re-apply for the 2023/24 school year unless they have changed address or school.

The Sacrament of Confirmation was held last Sunday. A most enjoyable day was had by all and we wish to thank parents, pupils, teachers, Fr Dunne and Bishop McGuckian for their help in making it a special event for the confirmandi. Many thanks too to all who helped with the refreshments in the School Hall afterwards.

The pupils are busy on a number of fronts. We will celebrate World Book Day in the school this Friday 3 March with pupils free to dress in literary/ film/ character style if they wish (Normal school dress for those don’t wish to participate). We wish to congratulate our pupils on participating in Feis Loreto, Letterkenny recently with over fifty children participating in poetry, music and song on the day. It was a most enjoyable event. We also congratulate our quiz team on winning the Garda Divisional quiz recently and wish them well in the County Final in the Mount Errigal hotel on Thursday 9 March.  Finally, there was great excitement as a large number of athletes from third to sixth classes represented the school in the Sportshall event in the Aura this week.

Seachtain na Gaeilge – where we all make a special effort to speak Irish – takes place in the days before St Patrick’s Day. We hope to have an in-school ceolchoirm or concert that week where pupils will showcase their talents to other classes.

Gymnastics is a part of our PE curriculum but staff feel that pupils best learn from the experience and expertise of qualified personnel. Accordingly, we hope to facilitate three workshops hosted by Citadel for all classes in the School Hall on Wednesday 15, 22, 29 March and we respectfully ask for a €5 contribution per child to cover the cost of the three lessons (family max payment of €10).

The Board of Management committed to the replacement of ten interactive whiteboards (in place since we opened the new school fifteen years ago on 31 March 2008) and with eight upgraded screens now purchased through fundraising and the Digital Schools Grant over the past eighteen months, we hope to purchase the final two this school year. For this purpose, we will host a Sponsored Walk for each class level during Wellbeing Week (beginning on 21 March). We will distribute a card to each family and ask for your support.

Teachers are scheduled to participate in curricular training regarding school literacy and the school will close for pupils on Monday 20 March 2023.

Finally, we recently asked for your support in keeping the school grounds and environs as safe as possible for children. We thank you for your support thus far and, as pupil and parent vision lines have been restricted in recent times, we reiterate that that YOU DO NOT PARK ON FOOTPATHS and that YOU DO NOT PARK NEAR THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING POINT.

Go raibh maith agaibh