21/09/22
Dear Parents/Guardians
I hope you are keeping well.
A warm welcome back to all our students, families and staff.
A special welcome to our new students in Junior and Senior Infants, and in 1st, 2nd. and 3rd.
Class.
As we settle into our first term there are a few 'Thank you’s I would like to make to all
those who helped improving our school amenities over the holidays.
Thank you to Evelyn for all her hard work in cleaning the school for re-opening
Thank to John Teehan for painting the 3 rd , 4 th , 5 th & 6 th Classrooms.
Thank you to Liam Ryan for looking after the grounds during the summer
Thank you to Parent Volunteers from Parents’ Council for all their hard work on
the Book Rental Scheme
Thank you to Eddie Hearne for carpentry repairs carried out
Thank you to the many Parent, Staff and Board of Management volunteers who
helped out in any way over this summer ensuring our building was ready for the
30 th of August. Your help and support is greatly appreciated.
Staff for the coming year
Infants – Mrs Egan
1st /2nd Class – Ms Phelan for Ms O’ Connor
3rd/4th Class – Ms Mason
5th/6th Class – Mr Gleeson
S.E.T – Mrs O’ Dea - Ms Conway
S.N.A. – Mrs O’ Brien - Mrs O’ Meara
Secretary – Rose Gahan
Cleaner – Evelyn Healy
We would like to wish Ms O’ Connor all the best as she takes Maternity Leave
We extend a warm welcome to Ms Phelan to Our Lady’s N.S.
We wish Mrs O’ Dea all the best in her new role as S.E.T.
This term is shaping up to be a busy one in Our Lady’s N.S..
Please note the following:
School Meals Programme
We are delighted to have been allocated funding for Breakfast Club and Hot Meals.
Our lunch provider is The Lunchbag. Bulk breakfast club items will come to each class
daily, one item of fruit or dairy and one snack such as rice cakes, cereals, popcorn etc.
The school has to order these items. Parents are asked to order hot meals on the App
for each week. It takes 36 hours for changes made to orders to come to the school so
The Lunchbag advises to place orders every Friday evening to avoid disappointment. If
you had credit on your cold meals lunchbag app please contact them directly for a
refund. Contact details are on the app.
A big “Thank you” to Rose for taking on the job of co-ordinating the Hot Meals on a
daily basis. We wish her well in her new role.
Athletics
3rd to 6th Class will attend County Tipperary Athletics Association Primary School County
Championships 2022 on Wednesday 28th September in Thurles Crokes.
€5 per child towards entry fee and bus please.
Sponsored Walk
We are delighted to have been granted a permit for the return of our “Sponsored walk”.
It will take place on Sunday 2 nd October at 11.45am. Sponsorship cards are gone home
today to each family. All cards must be returned to the school.
GOAL Jersey Day
October 14 th is GOAL Jersey Day and as usual the students and staff of Our Lady’s N.S.
will be wearing their favourite team colours in school to support the important work
done by GOAL.
This very worthy Irish Charity responds to humanitarian crises across the world,
helping vulnerable communities to rebuild their lives.
The students are asked to wear their favourite jersey or t-shirt on the day and bring in
€2.
Irish History Live
We are having a visit from the Heritage Council with their “1922” show on Monday 17th
October.
Halloween
Due to a clash with our swimming dates, Halloween Fun Day has been moved to Thursday
27th . Children can dress up and they may bring in some treats. The Cake Sale and
Pumpkin soup will make a return this year after Covid! €3 donation on the day please.
Swimming
We are looking forward to our return to swimming lessons for all this year. Please note
the following dates:
3rd to 6th class
Each Friday from 11.45 – 12.25pm
21st and 28th Oct
11th , 18th and 25th November
2nd , 9th and 16th December
Junior Infants to 2nd Class
Each Monday from 10.50am to 11.30am
20th and 27th March ‘23
17th and 24th April
8th , 15th , 22nd and 29th May
The subsidised cost per child is €8 per lesson. If you could pay for all 8 lessons in
advance it would be greatly appreciated.
Team Hope Christmas Shoe Box Appeal
We hope to fill boxes in school this year. Your child will be asked to bring in some items
over the coming weeks.
More information to follow.
Christmas Mass, Carol service, Raffle and Celebrations
More information to follow.
Aladdin
Please ensure your up to date contact details are with the school for Aladdin.
Parents should use Aladdin to explain absences, early leaving and late arrival. You may
send your child’s teacher a message on Aladdin.
Seesaw
We are continuing to use the Seesaw App in Our Lady’s N.S. to support teaching and
learning. Please ensure you have set up Seesaw for your child. All information and codes
have been sent home. If you do not have your codes please let us know and we can give
your child a new code.
School Rules and Annual Consent
School Rules and Consent forms have been sent home.
Please read school rules with your child and sign and return rules and annual consent to
the school.
Homework
Homework is given to all pupils on a regular basis. We ask you to ensure that it is done
carefully and child’s journal signed (1st – 6th class) each night.
Pupil Personal Insurance
We would encourage all parents to avail of the pupil personal insurance scheme. This
gives 24 hour insurance for your child at the cost of €9 for 24hr cover or €6 for in
school cover only. If you have not done so already please return slip and fee no later
than Friday 30th Sept.
Requisites
We would like to take this opportunity to ask parents who may not yet have sent in the
requisites money to do so as soon as possible please. Thank you to the parents who have
already done so.
Junior/Senior Infants €15, 1st to 6th class €21.
Uniform
Shorts and T-shirt may be worn for September
Tracksuit days from October to December
Infants: Tues and Thurs
1st and 2nd : Tues and Thurs
3rd and 4th : Tues and Fri
5th and 6th : Tues and Fri
Parent/Teacher meetings
We are delighted to be able to offer parents to option of face to face meetings this year
Meetings: Class teachers
- Phone meetings – Tuesday 8 th Nov
- In Person meetings – Wednesday 9 th Nov
S.E.T. meetings
- Phone meetings – Mon 7 th Nov
- In person meetings – Wed 9 th Nov
Appointment slots will be set up on Aladdin prior to the meetings so you will be able to
book your preferred time.
Online
Please monitor your child’s online activity and social media usage very closely. Snapchat
is not recommended for U13’s. Please ensure your child does not bring a phone to
school.
Health and Safety
The health and safety of all our staff and students is of paramount importance to
school management.
I would strongly urge any parent with any issues related to any area of school life to
follow proper procedures in having the matter dealt with.
If you have to collect your child early please notify the school on Aladdin the day
before where possible.
Office Hours
Rose, our secretary is available in the office Monday to Thursday from 9.30am – 1.30pm
I hope all our school community have a happy and successful year ahead in Our Lady’s
N.S.
Thanking you
_______________________
Deirdre Egan
