September 2020 Newsletter

General news/info

  • Welcome- A big welcome back to school to all of our pupils, staff and parents.  A special welcome to our 22 new Junior Infants. We are enjoying getting to know you all!  We are delighted to welcome Ms. Kate Byrne who is teaching Junior Infants while Ms. Stafford is on leave. Welcome also to Gretta Kehoe who has joined the cleaning staff of the school.
  • School population- This year we have 187 pupils, admin principal, 8 class teachers, 1 SEN teachers, 3 SNAs, caretaker, secretary and cleaner.
  • School JumpersPlease ensure that your child’s name is clearly printed on their uniform and tracksuit jumpers.
  • Carpark Safety-Please continue to take care in the carpark at drop off and collection times. Please remember not to drive in or park where the buses park near the gate of the school to ensure the children’s safety
  • Aladdin Connect/School Payments-We would like to thank all parents for their co-operation with Aladdin Connect.  Next week we will send you the bill for your child’s schoolbooks etc.  Please note that the amount due includes book rental, workbooks, photocopying, online content subscriptions and art and crafts.  As you can imagine, this all costs quite a lot and unfortunately, we cannot facilitate an amount per family for rental/photocopying this year-each pupil will have an individual bill which will need to be paid. Thank you very much for your understanding.
  • Covid Preparations-A big thank you to all of the school staff for all of the work they did getting the school building and the response plan ready for our reopening.  A special thanks to Seanie, Jim and Bernie who did Trojan work and also to John Conran for providing us with space to store extra furniture.
  • New Build update-We are now at the tender stage of the build of our new classroom, accessible toilet and staff room extension.
  • Shining Lights Awards-We will continue to give Shining Light awards this year. These awards will be given to pupils who stand out in terms of the respect, kindness, manners, forgiveness, support etc that they show to others. These awards can be given by any staff to any pupil across the school.
  • Arrival to school-Please note that the school does not open until 9am and pupils should not be dropped earlier than this as there is no supervision for them.
  • TWITTER– Please follow us on @RathnureNS and the individual teacher Twitter pages below.

School policies

  • SEESAW-As you are aware, we will be using the Seesaw app at times during the school year. Some of the teachers are setting simple activities for homework through Seesaw and we ask that your child would complete them.  Thank you all for your patience as we all get used to this new way of working!  If you are having any issues with the set-up please email your child’s teacher to let them know and we will work to resolve them.
  • School Lunches-A reminder that all school lunch rubbish must be brought home by all pupils.  This is important as parents will then know exactly what their children are eating while at school. If your child does not like something that they are getting for their lunch, please change their menu on the Fresh Today Website.  Please note that 5pm Thursday is the cut off for any change to FreshToday lunch orders for the following week.  Also if you are aware that your child will be absent for a particular day or week please cancel the lunch accordingly. Please avoid giving young pupils ‘Frube’ yoghurts for lunch as they can be very messy. We operate a Healthy eating Policy at Rathnure NS. One small     nut-free treat is permitted for lunch on Fridays.

School committees

  • Health Promoting school- Mindfulness Monday takes place on the first Monday of each month.  We ask on this day that the pupils try to partake in a mindfulness activity at home with their family-perhaps taking a walk, reading, baking, playing a game together etc are some ideas.

Curriculum info

  • Literacy Initiatives- Ms. Doyle is planning the best way to safely provide Literacy Lift off in the classes and we will let you know more soon.
  • Standardised Testing-All classes 1st to 6th will undertake Standardised tests in English and Maths during the week of 21st September.  The classes will complete the test level they would have done in May 2020.  This will give us an idea about where all pupils are in terms of Literacy and Numeracy and it will inform us for planning for Term 2.

Sport

  • Wexford GAA Football Coaching- Coaches from the County Board will visit the school on Mondays from 21st September for a number of weeks. The coaches will follow the school’s Covid Procedures, the coaching will mainly take place outside and all equipment will be cleaned between classes.  Pupils should wear tracksuits on Mondays please.

Parents association

  • AGM- The AGM of the Parents Association will take place sometime in October. Further details regarding getting involved to follow.
  • Clothes Collection Fundraiser– Please drop bags of clean used clothing at the front gate of the school before 11am on Tuesday next 15th September.  A reminder to use strong bags please.

Dates for your diary

  • Tuesday 15h September-Clothes Collection Fundraiser
  • Monday 21st September-First Day of GAA coaching
  • Week beginning 21st September-Standardised Testing
ClassTeacherEmailTwitter
Junior InfantsMs. Kate Byrne kbyrnerns@gmail.com@Ms_ByrneRNS
Senior InfantsMrs. Deirdre Byrnedbyrnerns@gmail.com@MrsByrneRNS
First ClassMrs. Lisa Murphylmurphyrns@gmail.com@MrsMurphyRNS
Second Class Mr. Darragh Kinselladkinsellarns@gmail.com@MrKinsellaRNS
Third ClassMrs. Breda Quigleybquigleyrns@gmail.com@MrsQuigleyRNS
Fourth ClassMr. Dean Wrightdwrightrns@gmail.com@Mr_WrightRNS
Fifth ClassMs. Úna Hayden uhaydenrns@gmail.com@MsHaydenRNS
Sixth ClassMrs. Alice Keoghakeoghrns@gmail.com@MrsKeoghRNS
SENMs. Sinéad Doyle sdoylerns@gmail.com@MsDoyleRNS
PrincipalMrs. Taragh Nolantnolanrns@gmail.com@MrsNolanRNS
SecretaryMs. Clodagh McDonaldsecretary@rathnurens.ie 

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