Newsletter 1 Sept 2015 - School website

Newsletter 1 – September 2015

Dear Parents,

On behalf of all the staff I would like to welcome you all back to school for the 2015/2016 school year. We especially welcome the six new Junior Infants that have started with us; Kaylagh Coleman, Katie Owens, Adam Loughrey, Robert Forde, Jaime Tiernan and Romeo Regan Roberts . We wish the former sixth class the best of luck as they begin attending secondary school. Thank you to the parents and children of last years sixth class for their gift of a new O’ Neils Football and framed picture. The staffing arrangements for this school year include; Ms. Gillian O’ Connor ( in place of Mrs. Hession)  in the Junior Room, Mrs. Erica Gibbons in the Senior Room, Ms. Shauna Barker ( in place of Ms. Gillian O’ Connor) as Learning Support teacher and Ms. Jen Hunt as Resource Teacher. Ms. O’ Connor will resume her role as Learning Support Teacher once Mrs. Hession returns to school.

Some things to note!
Please ensure all school uniform jumpers are clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Swimming every Thursday at a cost of €7.50 per child each week. This will continue until just before the Halloween Break.
All children must have a pair of slippers at school to change into in order to keep classrooms clean.
The children in the Senior Rooms are required to get a 30L size plastic storage box for their books and belongings.
All Junior Infants are required to have a change of clothes in the school for accidental incidents/spillages etc.. (this doesn’t have to be a uniform!)
School starts at 9:20am. School finishes at 2pm for the Infants and 3pm for all other children.



School Calendar
School began September 1st
Halloween Break: School will be closed from Monday 26th October to Friday 30th October 2015.  Reopens Monday 2nd November.
Christmas Holidays: School will be closed from Wednesday 23rd December 2015 to January 5th 2016. Reopens Wednesday 6th January 2016.
February Mid-Term Break: School will be closed On Thursday 18th February and Friday 19th February 2016.
Easter Holidays: School will be closed from Thursday 17th March to 1st April 2016. School re-opens Monday 4th April 2016.
Friday April 29th and Monday May 2nd (Bank Holiday Weekend)
Friday June 3rd and Monday June 6th (Bank Holiday Weekend)
The last day of school for the 2015/2016 school year will be June 28th 2016. (this may have to be changed where the school had to close during the year due to unforeseen circumstances)

SSE – School Self Evaluation
The SSE school report for the school year 2014/15 will be available in the coming days to read online on our school website once it updates.



Green Schools
Gortjordan National School will continue this year continue working towards getting a “Green Flag”. An Taisce award a Green Flag to participating schools after meeting the criteria over a minimum nine month period. We hope to get our first green flag in Gortjordan this year. More information about our Green Flag events etc.. will be sent home and put up on our website at www.gortjordanns.com.

Irish Dancing Classes
Irish dancing will continue again this year from 3pm to 4pm every Thursday after school. It will cost €5 per child per session.

School Uniform
The Gortjordan N.S School Uniform is available for purchase at the School Wear Centre and also at Ken Murphy’s in Ballinrobe at the request of parents to have it made available more locally. Prices do vary between the shops. Gortjordan N.S does state in its’  uniform policy that the crested t-shit and crested jumper part of the uniform is compulsory and it was verified that a large majority of parents were happy to continue with the uniform as it is during the school year 2013/2014 in the form of a survey. We would ask parents to ensure their child/ren respect this by wearing a full school uniform to school as requested.


School Insurance and Opening and Closing Times.
Our School Insurers Allianz have requested that we issue the following circular to all parents regarding the schools opening and closing times.

CIRCULAR
“The school will open to receive pupils at the hour of 9.10 a.m. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before that time. Classes will commence each day at 9.20 a.m. No pupils should arrive later than 9.15 a.m.

Classes will end each day at 3 p.m.. (2pm for junior classes). Parents who wish to have their children escorted home should make their own arrangements to have them met at the school gate and the person to escort them should be at the school not later than 3pm (2pm for junior classes) as the school cannot accept responsibility for looking after the children after that time.” (Allianz)


Kind Regards

Mrs. Erica Gibbons