SCOIL COLM NEWSLETTER

1. SCOIL COLM NEWSLETTER Volume 4, Issue 1 September 26th 2013 Principal: Ms C NíChianáin Deputy Principal: Mr O’Donnell Welcome Back to Scoil Colm 2013/2014 Welcome Back to Scoil Colm2011/2012 A very warm welcome back to the whole school community of Scoil Colm for the school year 2013/14. In particular, I would like to welcome Ms Murray’s new second class pupils in their first year in our school.   It has been a busy start to the year with both schoolwork and extra-curricular activities. Once again, we will be making a special effort to maximise the amount of teaching time that your sons receive in class and would ask that you help us with this by keeping all classroom interruptions to a minimum. Please make appointments to meet teachers outside of teaching time where necessary, either by putting a note in your son’s journal or through Alison in our school office.   There are many after-school activities in which your son can become involved and we would encourage them to do so. Breakfast club, homework club, GAA training and orchestra have already begun, so if you are interested in these or any other activities, please contact the school.   For the safety of our pupils, we ask that you ensure that they are not in the yard before 8.40am. Also, although we like to hear of our pupils getting exercise through cycling, we do not have facilities to store or lock pupils’ bikes safely in our school. Unfortunately, we must therefore inform you that Scoil Colm cannot be liable for any bicycles on our premises.   Looking forward to meeting all of you throughout the school year. Claire Ní Chianáin Upcoming School Closures: 4thOctober 2013 Closed for Referendum 28thto 31st October and 1st November Closed for mid-term break PLEASE KEEP OUR PUPILS SAFE Parking / Car Park: Parking in the school car park is for staff cars only. This measure is taken to limit the number of cars driving in the car park for the safety of our pupils. We ask parents/visitors to please help us to keep our pupils safe by not driving in to the staff car park or parking on the footpath directly outside the front of the school. Thank you. Confirmation Confirmation will take place on 13th March 2014. Further details will follow in due course. First Communion First Communion will take place on 10th May 2014. Further details will follow in due course. Notice: On behalf of the whole school community, we would like to welcome our new teacher, Ms Ní Chionnaith, to our school.

2. Page 2 of 4 Students Page Scoil Colm Newsletter Blue Day On 20th September, we celebrated a Blue Day in school. There were two reasons for this. The first reason was to show our support for the Dubs in the All-Ireland final on the following Sunday. The second reason was to have a “Switch it Off” day to save energy. We switched off all unnecessary power to save electricity. On Thursday we went to Walkinstownlibrary.  We were in pairs. I was with Sean Smart. When we got there we got to take out two books but only four of us had cards and I was one of them. The books I got were Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Days Goosebumps Horrorland, The Wizard of Ooze BY Gerrard Cooper Aaron Rooney Josh Reid R4 Pupil of the Year 2013 – Jake Steacy with his teacher, MsCoady and MrMaune.

3. Page 3 of 4 Students Page Scoil Colm Newsletter Sixth Class in room: 7 held a poetry competition. The type of poem each boy wrote was a limerick. All the entries were excellent but the two class winners were Karl D. and Seán W. JiuJitsu There once was a boy from the zoo, Who knew Brazilian jiujitsiu, He started to fight, But it did not go right, He went to the hospital black and blue. By Karl D. Poor Russ There was a boy called Russ, Who sadly got hit by a bus, He was in pain, Then he got crushed by a train, But he only broke his cos! By Seán W. Our New Pupils, 2nd Class 2013/2014

4. Page 4 of 4 Parents Page Scoil Colm Newsletter • INFORMATION FOR PARENTS: • During the last school year, our school staff engaged in over forty hours of meetings outside of school hours, which included: • Staff meetings • School Development Planning • Continuing Professional Development • First Aid Training • Parent-Teacher meetings • I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, parents and other members of the community at Scoil Colm for the many additional hours of their own time which they give voluntarily to activities that enhance school life for our pupils, such as training teams, supervising pupils, after-school programmes and clubs, accompanying pupils to events/matches, attending training courses, etc. Their contribution is very much appreciated. Book Rental Thank you to those who have already paid. Our Book Rental fee also covers the cost of photocopying/ handouts, art materials, text-a-parent, etc. We wish to remind some parents that the fee is still outstanding. Books, photocopying, etc., are very expensive and the rental fee is designed to reduce this cost for parents/guardians. Please ensure payment is made as soon as possible or arrange with the office to pay by instalments over a period of weeks. School Shop Copies, pencils, pens, journals, etc. can be purchased from the school shop on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.00 to 9.30am. Attendance / Early Collection of Pupils The time that your son spends in school is valuable learning time. As parents and teachers, we want the best for the boys and don’t want them to miss a minute of their education. Please remember that your son should not be taken out of school unless it is absolutely necessary. Parents can support us in this by requesting hospital/doctor/dental appointments outside of school hours where possible. Should you need to collect your son early from school for any reason, please remember to sign him in/out in the school office. This is for safety and security reasons. Information on the Board of Management Each school in Ireland is managed by a Board of Management.  In the case of Scoil Colm, which is a Catholic school, the Board manages the school on behalf of the Archbishop of Dublin, who is the Patron.  The school is managed by the Board for the benefit of the students and their parents and to provide an appropriate education for each student. The Board of Management is entirely made up of voluntary members who are willing to act in the best interests of the school.  These include two nominees of the Patron, two parents of children enrolled in the school, the Principal, one other serving teacher on the staff of the school and two extra members. The Board meets at least five times during every school year and the meetings are led by the Chairperson.  At each meeting, there is an agenda of items to be discussed which includes school finances, a principal’s report, building matters, school policies and planning, use of the school premises and other matters which may arise.