St. Brigid's National School

A very warm welcome to the first newsletter of the school year. The school year is now well underway and the children are to be highly commended on their great work and enthusiasm they bring to the school. We had a busy and a productive month in school with so much learning and fun experienced every day. Thank you to all members of our school community for their support with settling our pupils back into school life. A particular word of fáilte to Ms Conroy and Ms McNally who have joined our school this year. A big welcome to our new Junior Infant pupils and Jordan who joins First Class. We hope this marks the start of happy school days ahead in St. Brigid's N.S.

Within our newsletter we will be sharing information about what the pupils have participated in and the many events, which they have to look forward to in the coming weeks. We would also like to remind you of current protocols.

During the summer months the playground markings on the school grounds were re-painted. A deep clean and window clean took place. Our new school sign was installed. Many thanks to Bretland Construction for sponsoring our new school sign.

The Lunchbag are continuing to provide hot lunches to our school each day. Please check in with your child to ensure that you know what to select from the menu each week. Orders must be made 48 hours in advance. Please ensure to cancel your child's lunch if you know in advance that they will not be in school.

School starts at 9:00am sharp. The school provides morning supervision from 8:50am-9:00am, where pupils can make their way to their classrooms. Pupils are not permitted to be on the schoolgrounds before 8:50am. The Board of Management can not accept responsibility for pupils on the schoolgrounds before this time.

Under the Education Welfare Act 2000, where a child is absent from school, the parents must notify the school with the reasons for such absences. We require parents to record the reason for the absence on the Aladdin app. You will receive a push notification when your child is marked absent at school. You will then be prompted to input the reason for the absence. Our administration system (Aladdin) will send notifications to parents when a pupil reaches 10 and 15 days of absences. The school is obliged to report to TUSLA (Child & Family Agency) when a pupil has missed 20 days of school.

Please be advised that social media or messaging apps such as TikTok, Roblox and Snapchat have a minimum user age of 13 and are wholly unsuitable for children in primary school. Children at primary school level are emotionally and socially ill-equipped to deal with social media and we would urge all parents to exercise parental responsibility in ensuring children are not exposed to the risks that come with social media use. The fallout from children using social media at home impacts upon school. Please check out www.webwise.ie and inform yourselves of the dangers of the apps your children may be using.

Jewellery is not permitted at school (with the exception of small stud earrings at the bottom of each ear and a watch). Children should not come to school wearing hoop earrings / dangly earrings / earrings that are larger than a small stud, which are in breach of the code and pose a health and safety risk. Please ensure that children are wearing the correct uniform and that long hair is tied up. Your cooperation in the implementation of our Code of Behaviour is very much appreciated.

Please ensure pupils wear the correct school uniform to school each day. Our school uniform consists of a formal school uniform and a school tracksuit. The formal school uniform will need to be worn on school photo days and required for other occasions. The school tracksuit must be worn on PE days. Pupils otherwise have the option of wearing the school tracksuit or the formal school uniform. School crests are available to purchase from the school office.

Navy trousers/skirt/pinafore.

Button up white shirt/blouse.

Navy v-neck jumper/cardigan with school crest.

Red tie.

Navy tracksuit bottoms.

Navy sweatshirt with school crest.

White polo shirt.

We were delighted to welcome our new Junior Infant pupils to our school on August 29th. They have settled well into school life over the last few weeks and have been very busy.

First Class made the most of the recent good weather and enjoyed a nature walk around the school grounds.

Gaelic football training takes place on Wednesdays at lunchtime for pupils in the senior classes with Ms McNally. Please ensure pupils wear their school tracksuit and suitable footwear.

We were delighted that our school was chosen as part of the 'Books for Birdies' project, kindly funded by KPMG. Twenty schools in Kildare and Meath were chosen as part of this exciting initiative, which sees books donated to local schools for every birdie scored by Leona Maguire. These books, selected for their diverse characters and inclusive themes, with many featuring empowering stories of women in sport, were delivered to our school recently.

Melissa from Edenderry Library visited the school recently as part of Library Outreach Programme. The boys and girls enjoyed listening to stories and heard all about the fantastic learning opportunities available in their local library.

The mobile library is back up and running and a selection of books will be delivered to each classroom every month.

Music Generation is now up and running at all pupils will work with Luke during the school year. Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First and Second class are taking part in the Fuaim Programme and Ukulele lessons continue for pupils in 3rd-6th classes.

Pupils in 1st-6th classes have been taking part in a block of tag rugby sessions with Edenderry CCRO Seán Brien from Leinster Rugby. The pupils have been enjoying practising their tag rugby skills and everyone is getting involved.

St. Brigid's N.S. held an election process for a new Student Council/Active Schools Committee in the senior classes. Congratulations to our new members on their successful campaign. We believe the pupils have a vital role to play in creating a positive and welcoming school environment conductive to learning and happiness. Our Student Council will play a significant role in achieving this. We are looking forward to seeing what they will achieve this year.

Our Green-School Committee will continue to work together to make our school cleaner, greener and more environmentally friendly. This year we are continuing to work towards our Green-Schools Flag in Global Citizenship: Litter and Waste. Our Green-Schools Committee consists of Mackenzie (Junior Infants), Ben (Senior Infants), Ryan (1st class), Tom (2nd class), Cassie (3rd class), Tommy (4th class), Billy (5th class), Cara (5th class), Orla (6th class), Isabella (6th class).

For the month of October Fifth and Sixth Class will complete Buddy Reading with Junior Infants and Senior Infants. The first session was a big hit with the Junior Infants and they thoroughly enjoyed listening to stories read by the senior pupils.

We are planning a Halloween Costume Swap In order to reduce and reuse. We are inviting families to donate Halloween costumes that children have outgrown and swap for something else. Costumes can be dropped off to the school from Wednesday, 2nd October. All costumes must be in good condition, clean and age appropriate for primary school pupils. Costumes will be available for selection by parents on Thursday 10th October from 1.40pm-2.40pm (Junior and Senior Infant parents) and 2.40pm-3.40pm (1st-6th class parents).

Paul Johnston from Archways will hold an information talk for parents on what the new programme involves. The information talk will take place on Monday, 7th October at 6.00pm-6.40pm in the school.

Proof cards of school photos were sent home to all families this week. Orders can be completed online or through the school. If ordering through the school please return order forms before Tuesday, 8th October.

Have a look at some of the fantastic work recently completed by the pupils in our school.

In literacy, Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class thoroughly enjoyed learning and hearing all about 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'.

Junior, Seniors and First Class have been busy learning all about Autumn and created these colourful pieces of art.

Junior Infants, Senior Infants & First Class created amazing self portraits.

2nd and 3rd class enjoyed creating and painting pictures of the trees on the school grounds during their outside art lesson.

2nd and 3rd class created these fabulous still life Hydrangea art display made using paper.

2nd and 3rd class studied all about local architecture and completed a drawing activity of our local bridge 'The Hartley Bridge'.

4th, 5th and 6th class looked at the work of Pablo Picasso and completed a roll the dice activity to decide on the features of their own art.

4th, 5th and 6th class spent time mixing paint to find the perfect colours for their night sky and added in owls to create a spooky feel.

Well will celebrate Maths Week from 14th-18th October. Many hands on activities will be planned for all classes. The pupils will take part in maths games, activities, quizzes, maths trail and many more exciting activities. Pattern Day will take place on Friday, 18th October, where pupils can dress in pattern clothing.

The enrolment for new entrants will begin in October this year as per requirements set by the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. Admissions for 25/26 will open on the 25th October. The Admissions Notice will be published on 18th October on our school website. If you have a child, or know a new family, who intend to apply for enrolment in the next school year, please take note of the above. Applications can be downloaded from the school website in October or collected from the school office.

Friday, 25th October we will hold our Halloween Witch and Wizard Walk on the school grounds, weather permitting. This will be an non-uniform day and children are invited to dress up in Halloween costumes, if they wish. Please do not allow children to bring in any items such as replica guns, swords, accessories etc. Each family is asked to support this event and bring €2 per child. All fund will go towards school resources.

The Ceremony of Light for the Confirmation class will take place on Sunday, 23rd March at 11am.

The Parish Office wishes to inform parents of pupils in 6th class that Confirmation will take place on Thursday, 27th March at 11am.

The Parish Office wishes to inform parents of pupils in 2nd class that First Holy Communion will take place on Friday, 9th May at 11am in The Holy Trinity Church, Derrinturn.

All upcoming events for the reminder of the school year, as they become known to us, will be recoded on the Aladdin Connect app, in the 'Calendar' section. Please check the Aladdin Connect app regularly for notifications.

Please follow and share our school X/formally Twitter account @brigid_ns to receive reports of all the latest news, events, photos, activities and great work being done by the pupils and staff in our school each and every day.

Should you have any concern please note that the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) is Nóra Lynch and the Acting Deputy Designated Liaison Person is Eilís McCabe.

Well done to all on the efforts in the first few weeks of school. We look forward to a very productive and exciting year ahead. Thank you for your continued support of our school.

Le gach dea-ghuí

Nóra Lynch

Principal, St. Brigid's N.S.