Dear Parents,
I have a number of items that I need to bring to your attention. You will be glad to know that everybody seems to have settled in really well. School newsletters shall be issued regularly during the year and our newsletters will contain many important details during the school year. They are designed to keep you informed of school events and important issues relating to you and your child.
Brendan Smith
Principal
Starting times
Our school gates open at 08:30 (children are not supervised by school staff until this time. Staff are present on the school yard from 08:30 -08:45 to supervise children) and the bell rings to enter our school building at 08:45. Lessons start at 09:05 so it would be ideal if children are present for the start of the school day. If a child is being collected early, a parent must inform the child’s teacher using the school journal or Teams and they must be signed out at the office.
Health and Safety
We are appealing to parents to take great care when dropping off and collecting their children. Parking at any school is a difficult exercise, especially on wet days! We ask you to be mindful of our traffic warden, Jerome, and avail of his guidance when crossing the road. In particular, can you please avoid parking in a place that interferes with the work of our traffic warden. We have also to be mindful of our school gates at arrival and home times-the main gate in front of the school office is for pedestrians, the other gate is for vehicles. Accessing the school car park is for staff vehicles only.
Please help us to make arrival and home time a safe time!
School Uniform / Tracksuit
Please, please, please make sure your child’s uniform/tracksuit has his/her name clearly labelled. We would greatly appreciate your co-operation in ensuring that your child wears his / her complete uniform on non-PE days. Remember, white polo tops should be worn on P.E. days. Please ensure that the relevant pages of the school journal in relation to uniform and behaviour are also signed.
Application Forms for Enrolling Younger Brothers and Sisters
If you have younger children starting school next year, please contact the secretary’s office for an application form (closing date for next year’s Junior Infants is the 12th November)
Parents’ Association
The annual general meeting of the Parents’ Association has taken place, but we are still looking for people to get involved for the coming year ahead. Those of you who are unable to get involved at committee level and still wish to help should give your contact details to our Home School Liaison Teacher, Deirdre McDermott, on 087 3398365.
Tie-Day
We are having a “Tie Day Friday” on Friday October the 10th. We would love all children to wear a tie on the day – preferably the most outrageous or colourful they can find! We would like all children to contribute €1 euro on the day. All proceeds will go towards Kerry Mental Health Association and assist with the cost of rolling out free and affordable Mental Health First Aid and other mental health educational activities in Kerry.
Gaelic Football
Training has already commenced for the children from 4th, 5th and 6th classes with staff members. Our emphasis is to make sure that everybody is given the opportunity to take part and we try to organise as many games as possible for our students. Children will be informed of their particular practice day and time.
Basketball
Basketball sessions will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays for children from senior classes. These sessions take place after school, so it is important to organise collection times for those children when the sessions end.
News from the Board!
Our Board of Management will hold its first meeting of this academic year in early October and here are some of the items from the agenda: Special Education, Code of Behaviour, Uniform Policy. Reminder that all school policies are published on our school website (www.cbsprimarytralee.com)
A Vaccination service, working with the HSE, will be provided for the junior infant pupils in our school hall on Monday 20th October. Further information on the vaccines can be found at www.immunisation.ie
Student Council
We are currently in the process of electing our student council representatives from 3rd to 6th classes for 2025/2026. By participating in the student council, children gain valuable skills such as communication, problem-solving, and decision-making, as they represent their peers and work collaboratively to improve their school environment. We are looking forward to working with the boys and girls. Great things to come!
Immersive Reader
We want to make sure that parents can access our school documents. To help with this we have prepared a video for you which has been shared on Microsoft Teams. This demonstrates how to use Immersive Reader in Teams when you receive a document.
If you have not tried this at home on your laptop yet, why not give it a go?
Mobile Phones
You are asked to read the notice in the school journal re: mobile phones. If your child must bring a mobile phone to school, parents/guardians must write to the principal giving valid reasons for the phone to be brought to school. Otherwise please no mobile phones!
First Holy Commmunion
We have received our First Holy Communion date-Saturday 9th May at 10:30am in St. John’s Church. An introductory talk for parents and children took place over the last few weeks in St. John’s Parish Centre.
Emergency Contact Details
Please ensure that we have an up-to-date telephone number for you. This will ensure that we will be able to get you if / when we ever need to contact you in a hurry. This number should be written into your child’s school journal or please notify the school secretary if your number has changed. Also, please ensure that you have the number of a second point of contact on this page.
*Dates to remember*
Presidential Election: Friday 24th October-School is closed
Halloween Holidays:
School is closed from 24th – 31st October
School re-opens: Monday 3rd November at 8:45a
