Newsletter- 16th September 2021
Photographs: County Photos will take our Junior infant photographs on 28th September. Children are to wear full school uniform on that day. If you would like a sibling photograph with a brother/sister in St. Thomas’, please let the class teacher know via email. You will receive proofs from the photographer with the option to buy.
Communion photographs for past pupils will take place in St. Thomas’ Junior Hall for current 4th classes (on the 27th) and current 3rd classes (on the 29th September). Children should wear their Communion outfits to school that day and any children who are not making Communion but would still like to have their photo taken are as always, very welcome to do so. The children will be brought to St. Thomas’ by their current Scoil Áine teachers, so parents should not present to either school. Photos will start at 9:30am.
Healthy Eating: We have a healthy eating policy in the school. We encourage parents to pack a well balanced lunch for their children-including fruit, vegetables, sandwiches, water etc. We do not permit fizzy drinks, crisps or sweets. The children are allowed to have a small treat on a Friday.
Car park-the car park is for the use of school staff and permit holders only- within the hours stated on signage. Clamping is in operation with APCOA and an extensive fee is in place for release of clamped vehicles. Please keep our car park safe in order to protect staff and pupils in particular.
COVID 19/Covid Cases: We ask parents not to send their children to school if they have any type of illness or symptoms of Covid 19. The updated lists of symptoms of Covid 19 include cough, temperature, sore throat, runny nose, aches and pains, feeling tired or off form. We have had a number of positive cases of Covid 19 in the school this week and as this variant is quite contagious we ask parents to do the right thing so that our classes and school can remain open and remain as safe as possible. If a child presents to school with such symptoms we will have to call parents to arrange collection as per our Covid Response Plan. We are grateful for your support in this matter. Change of contact details: If you have recently changed you email address, home address or phone number, please contact the school office so that we can update all information on our database.
Allianz Pupil Insurance: Please return in an envelope with the correct form to class teacher as soon as possible if you are availing of this scheme.
School Rules: ‘We are working on the rule-work hard and do your best this week’. You may wish to talk to your children about this rule and what it means to them.
A note from the Current Parent’s Association Chairperson (Maria Casey):
We in the PA would like to welcome back the parents of St Thomas JNS and particularly all new parents to the school. The Parents Association is very active here with great support from the staff. For anyone new to the school the PA provide help and support to the staff in the form of volunteering for various events around the school. Everything from organising Santa’s visit and decorating the school to giving annuals and Halloween treat bags . We also have a Book Fair. Although our ability to fundraise was severely curtailed with Covid we donated an outdoor classroom to the school last year. We also donated over €2000 to the cost of setting up an SEN room. We purchased LEGO and also organised a Christmas card initiative where the children designed their own cards and were able to buy them. We hope to get back to in person meetings as soon as it is safe but until then our meetings will be on line.
If you would like to contact us to join our WhatsApp group please email on stthomaspaesker@gmail.com Every parent can join so please do as we and our children need you! We welcome your support and encourage you to get involved. It’s a great way to meet people, get involved and make new friends.
Thank You SuperValu: We wish to thank the management of SuperValu who kindly donated some plants and flowers to help brighten up the front of our school. We really appreciate the support that Supervalu always shows to St. Thomas’.
Lorraine Murray
Acting Principal