Imlitir 18
15th January, 2018.
A Thuisti,
Child Protection
The remaining provisions of the Children First Act 2015 were enacted on December 11th 2017. With immediate effect all schools are required to make changes to existing procedures and policies in their school to comply with the legislation. The key changes are:
· All registered teachers are now deemed to be ‘Mandated Persons’
· Mandated Persons must assist Tusla (Child and Family Agency) if requested in assessing a concern arising from a mandatory report.
· All teachers are obliged to report child protection concerns above a ‘threshold of harm’
· Schools must produce a risk assessment and produce a Child Safeguarding Statement on or before March11th 2018.
· The ‘Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools 2017’ can be viewed online.
In late January or early February schools will be given support for this essential compliance measure. After this support has been received all staff and Board of Management members must avail of training. We are permitted to have two half-day school closures for this training. We will inform parents/guardians of these half-day closures as soon as the training days are made available to us. Please read Circular 0081-2017 on the I.N.T.O. website for more information on this.
RSE Programme
The RSE programme will be taught in all classes over the next few weeks. The RSE policy can be viewed on the school website. A hard copy can be obtained from the office.
Credit Union Quiz
In preparation for the Credit Union Quiz all classes took part in a fun quiz last Friday. This week Mrs Vaughan will have a quiz for children in Third to Sixth classes. The results from this quiz will determine who will get on the quiz teams (Under 11 and Under 13). We hope to enter 4/5 teams. The quiz will take place in Skryne School on January 29th at 6.30p.m.
Student Council
We had our first meeting with the new student council members last Friday. We look forward to working closely with Conor, Caoimhe, Zach and Faith over the next few months.
Swimming
First, Second and Sixth classes will be going swimming to Navan swimming pool for five weeks from February 22nd to March 22nd (Thursdays). Third, Fourth and Fifth classes will be swimming for six weeks from April 9th to May
21st. (Mondays excluding May 7th). This will form part of the P.E. Curriculum. The swimming policy can be viewed on the school website. Parents who intend helping out at the swimming pool must be garda vetted by the National Vetting Bureau. This is a statutory obligation under the The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 to 2016. The process of getting garda vetting can take 4 to 6 weeks. Garda vetting forms are available from the office.
Gaelic Football Coaching
Eddie Mc Cormack (3rd to 6th) and Damien Sheridan (Juniors to Second) will be with us for the next few Mondays Eddie will be doing gaelic football training and Damien will be dong the ‘fundamentals’ i.e. movement etc. This will form part of the P.E. curriculum.
School Closures
All families were given a school calendar before the summer holidays. The school will be closed on January 29th as per this school calendar. If you require another calendar please call to the office for one. The school is also closed on Friday January 26th to facilitate an in-service day on the new Primary Language Curriculum in English and Irish in the Navan Education Centre. All schools must attend these in-service days annually.
Pre-Communion Mass
There is a Pre-Communion Mass in Rathfeigh Church on Saturday 27th January at 6.00p.m. As the school is closed on January 26th the Pre-Communion Mass practice will now take place on Thursday January 25th at 1.30p.m. We will need help with lifts.
Homework Club
The homework club continues this Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, this will probably be the last week of the club due to the lack of numbers. The feedback from parents/guardians and children who attended the club was extremely positive and it is disappointing that it will have to end. We may, however, re-introduce the Homework Club later in the year if there is sufficient interest.
Ashbourne Community Garda
The Ashbourne Community Garda visited the school today to give valuable advice to the Fifth and Sixth class pupils on cyberbullying and digital safety. Education is the best strategy to reducing digital threats and we must constantly be vigilant.
Credit Union
There will be no Credit Union in the school this Friday.
Vaccinations
M.M.R. & 4 in 1 Vaccinations for Junior Infants will take place in the school on Tuesday 20th February 2018.
Photographer
Pupils in Second and Sixth classes will bring home a booking form from Circus Photographer today for First Communion and Confirmation photographs. Early booking is advisable. This must be done online.
Is mise,
Seamus Tansley.
Priomh Oide.