MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

October/November  2020

General news/info

• Message of sympathy and support-The whole school community would like to pass on a message of sincere sympathy to the Fitzgerald family at this very difficult time. We are all really missing Evan from our school, we are thinking of him all of the time and we are praying for him and all of his family.
• Covid 19 Response- Thank you to all of the school community, staff, pupils, parents and Board of Management for engaging so well with our Covid 19 Response Plan.  Everyone has embraced the control measures in a positive way and we are very happy with how things are going at school.  We also had a phone-call with our school inspector last week and she would like to pass on her thanks and congratulations to the whole school community for how well everyone is engaging with the new routines.
• Coats-As we move through the winter months there is more change of inclement weather and there will be days of heavy rain when we will need to stay indoors for breaks. Please ensure that your child has a coat with a hood at school every-day as we will try as much as possible to get outside for our breaks even when there is some light rain/drizzle.  The pupils need fresh air and a break outdoors and it also gives an opportunity for the air to circulate in the empty classrooms twice a day.
• Baked Goods-We are delighted to see so many pupils baking and cooking for their mindful activity.  In hindsight though and in light of the control measures, hopefully you understand that it would be better if pupils did not bring in food to share with others at this time.
• School Jumpers–Please ensure that your child’s name is clearly printed on their uniform and tracksuit jumpers.
• Carpark Safety-Thank you very much to everyone for being patient, vigilant and careful in the carpark at drop off and collection times–it goes a long way to ensuring that the carpark is a safe place foreveryone.Please continue to park from the corner of the John Kelly Hall back towards the arena as it provides a safe passage for pupils to walk to and from the school gates.  Please pass this message onto anyone who might be dropping or collecting your child.
• Aladdin Connect/School Payments-Thank you very much to everyone who has paid for their child’s schoolbooks etc through the app.  For those who have not yet paid, we would ask that you try to make payment this month.  Please contact the school should you have any difficulty with this.
• Mobile Library-The mobile library van had kindly been putting together a box of suitable books for each class when they visited every fortnight. Unfortunately, now at level 5 restrictions, the mobile library is not visiting Rathnure.  Pupils are more than welcome to bring their own book from home to read at school.
• TWITTER– Please follow us on @RathnureNS and the individual teacher Twitter pages below.
• Parent/Teacher Meetings-Generally we hold our parent teacher meetings in November. This year, however we won’t be holding any form of PT meetings until the new year.  Teachers have been in touch with parents of those pupils who are receiving additional support, there is additional communication through Seesaw and all teachers are contactable by email should you wish to get in contact with them at any stage.
• Enrolments-Please note that the school will begin accepting enrolment applications from 1^st December 2020.  The Admissions policy and application form for admission (enrolment for ) is now available on the school website www.rathnurens.ie

School policies

• SEESAW-We are delighted with how the children and parents are engaging with Seesaw.  It is a great way of communicating, of setting and receiving homework and it is also a brilliant assessment tool as we have an online portfolio of each child’s work.  If you are experiencing any difficulty with the app, please make contact with the class teacher by email.
• School Lunches-A reminder that 5pm Thursday is the cut off for any change to FreshToday lunch orders for the following week. 
• Homework- As you are aware, we have been assigning minimal homework since we returned to school. Taking this into account and also that Seesaw has opened up new possibilities for us in terms of pupil/teacher interaction and corrections and assessment, we plan to do a formal review of homework in the new year which will involve teachers, pupils and parents.  We hope to have an outcome that will give us a good balance between meaningful homework and vital family time.

School committees

• Health Promoting school- Mindfulness Monday takes place on the first Monday of each month. We ask that pupils upload a photo or video of their activity onto Seesaw.

Curriculum info

• Literacy Initiatives- Ms. Doyle, Mrs. Murphy and Marion have worked through a block of Literacy Lift off in 1^st class this term.  Thanks to them all for working hard to make it possible.  Senior Infants will have Literacy Lift off this half term.
• Gaeilge Team– Some of the teachers have come together as a team to work on ideas on how to incorporate Gaeilge more into the school day and how to get us all ‘ag labhairt níos mó’ (speaking it more).  Mrs. Quigley, Mrs. Byrne and Mr. Wright are working hard behind the scenes so watch this space for some great ideas!!!

Sport

• Wexford GAA Football Coaching- Coaches from the County Board will visit the school on Tuesdays for the rest of this term. The coaches will follow the school’s Covid Procedures.

Parents association

• AGM- All parents are welcome to attend the AGM of the Parents Association will take place on Wednesday 18^th November at 8pm via zoom. Details regarding logging into the zoom meeting have been sent out in a noticeboard message.
• Clothes Collection Fundraiser– Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the clothes collection. We were thrilled to have raised €900!!
• New Ipads– The school would like to thank the PA for purchasing seven new mini ipads for our school.  This means that we now have a full set of ipads that are getting great use in all classes for Lift off, research, projects, maths/literacy practice, Seesaw etc.  We are very grateful!!
• Thank you- A huge thank you to the members of the PA who are stepping down this year.  They have done great work during their time on the committee-Ann Morrissey, Marie Doran and Michelle O’Connor.  We welcome the new committee members Geraldine Doyle, Mary Kavanagh and Roisín Kirwan. 

Class	Teacher	Email	Twitter
Junior Infants	Ms. Kate Byrne	kbyrnerns@gmail.com	@Ms_ByrneRNS
Senior Infants	Mrs. Deirdre Byrne	dbyrnerns@gmail.com	@MrsByrneRNS
First Class	Mrs. Lisa Murphy	lmurphyrns@gmail.com	@MrsMurphyRNS
Second Class	Mr. Darragh Kinsella	dkinsellarns@gmail.com	@MrKinsellaRNS
Third Class	Mrs. Breda Quigley	bquigleyrns@gmail.com	@MrsQuigleyRNS
Fourth Class	Mr. Dean Wright	dwrightrns@gmail.com	@Mr_WrightRNS
Fifth Class	Ms. Úna Hayden	uhaydenrns@gmail.com	@MsHaydenRNS
Sixth Class	Mrs. Alice Keogh	akeoghrns@gmail.com	@MrsKeoghRNS
SEN	Ms. Sinéad Doyle	sdoylerns@gmail.com	@MsDoyleRNS
Principal	Mrs. Taragh Nolan	tnolanrns@gmail.com	@MrsNolanRNS
Secretary	Ms. Clodagh McDonald	secretary@rathnurens.ie