Newsletter 12/5/2022
Change of details: If you have changed address, phone number or email recently, it is essential that you inform the school via the office info@stthomasjns.com or on 01-6282691. Updated details are needed in order to ensure smooth communication.
Is your child moving to another school during the summer months? If so please contact the school as soon as possible so that we can offer the place to a child on our waitlist.
First Holy Communions Well done to the pupils in Ms. Finnegan’s class who made their First Holy Communion on Sunday May 8th. The children all looked wonderful and were a credit to the school and to their families. I hope that you all had a very special day. Any children who would like to read or bring up a gift during the upcoming Communion Masses should attend St. Patrick's Church (to meet with the Parish Team) on Tuesdays @6:30pm.
Communion/2nd class photos: A reminder to all second class parents and guardians that the Communion photos will take place on June 9th in St. Thomas’ Junior Hall followed by a Communion party in Scoil Áine (organised by the Parents’ Association). Parents should attend the photography session with their child in order to ensure that the children are neatly presented for their photos. A timetable and letter with more details will be circulated nearer to this date. Any child who has not made First Holy Communion is of course very welcome to come to school dressed in smart clothes and have their photograph taken too (if parents wish). Thank you to the parents who completed the PA survey and all feedback has been relayed to County Photos.
Upcoming First Holy Communion Dates
Mr. Ryan’s Class-Sunday 15th May @10:30am
Ms. M. Lawlor’s Class-Sunday 22nd May @ 10:30am
Mr. Kelly’s Class-Sunday 29th May @10:30am
Ms. Nolan/Ms. D. Lawlor’s Class-Sunday 5th June@ 10:30am
Upcoming closures and holidays: There is a half day closure on May 20th for the final day of Primary Language curriculum training. The school is closed for the bank holiday weekend in June (6th and 7th). The summer holidays begin on June 29th @ 12pm. Next year’s calendar is available to view on www.stthomasjns.com if you wish to plan ahead.
Incoming Junior Infants 2022 Information night: We will have our welcome information night for parents/guardians of incoming junior infants 2022 on the evening of Wednesday May 18th@ 8pm in the junior hall. Please do not bring your children with you on this date. Although not required, we advise parents to wear a mask if possible as the hall will be quite crowded. The meeting will cover class allocation, general school information, booklists, preparing your child for school, meeting the teacher and Q&As. We are looking forward to meeting you all then.
Amber Flag/Well-being week was a wonderful success. The children engaged in yoga, expressing gratitude for all the positive things in their lives, disco dancing during yard time, bubble blowing, mindfulness, cycling to school and much more. Thank you to the well-being committee, our pupils on the well-being team and to Ms. Finnegan and Ms. Doherty in particular who co-ordinated the week.
STEM week took place this week. Ms. Morrison and Mrs. Power along with the Maths, ICT and Science teams have been working hard to ensure that the children are afforded lots of opportunities to develop skills in these curricular areas. Maths trails, Bee-bots, coding, science experiments, magnet madness and tablet time are among some of the activities. We are also extremely grateful that Erica Hendrick from Merck can visit again this year and engage in science workshops with our first class pupils.
Busy term ahead. We will have sports days, shared reading, library visits for infants, school tours, standardised testing, school reports and much more coming up over the next term. It is wonderful to be able to return to all of the events that make St. Thomas’ an enjoyable place to work and learn for our pupils.
Outstanding School fees: if you have outstanding school fees from the 2021/2022 school year please finalise payment via our Easy payments tab on the website www.stthomasjns.com as soon as possible. We rely on parental support as we do not receive funding from the Department to cover the cost of copies, pencils, crayons, art materials, photocopying, interactive resources and much more. All of these resources are essential to ensure that your child receives a rich learning experience during their time in our school. If you are having difficulty completing the payment please contact the school office on 01-6282691.
Moving towards Databiz: we are gradually moving towards using the Databiz communication system and app. It is very similar to Aladdin (for those who are familiar with this system). This will eventually allow parents to access their child’s school reports, book parent teacher meetings, receive texts, emails, make payments, update your contact details and address etc. all from the comfort of your smartphone. We hope to have the transition complete by end of September 2022 but will begin the transition over the next month and will trial with some classes.
Booklists/Book rental/School Reports: Booklists will be emailed to parents by the end of May and payments for '22/'23 should be made via Easy payments on the school website. The cost of book rental for 1st/2nd class will be incorporated into the overall school fees going forward. To date, book rental fees were paid separately. We are instead trying to streamline our payments.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
Ms. Murray
Acting Principal