January 2023

Happy New Year

I hope you've had a great start to 2023! It's been great seeing so many parents coming along to our Parent Coffee Mornings, knitting club and art classes this month. We love having families in the school so if you are free to attend and haven't before, we'll be delighted to see you. February is the shortest month but we've lots going on including the return to face-to-face Friendship Week! Friendship Week starts on Tuesday 7th and ends on the Friday 10th with our Food Sharing Day! We're delighted to hear that so many of you are going to be coming along to the day and we're looking forward to seeing you to share in food from all over the world. Every family will be getting a recipe book full of lovely food from Samoa to Brazil, Mexico to Australia and everywhere in between. Don't forget we have a new Bank Holiday on 6th February and school will be closed. We also have our mid-term break the following week. Other than that, please read the rest of this newsletter for updates and information.

Keep happy, safe and learning

Simon

Traffic on School Site

We are very grateful to all of you for ensuring that the traffic management system is working seemlessly. We are able to clear the site in under 10 minutes, thanks to your cooperation.

There are two little things we need to bring to your attention.

  1. In order to ensure we aren't blocking up the Athy Road, please don't come to the school before 2:25pm if you are picking up at this point. The buses don't leave until around 2:30pm so coming before then will have you sitting in traffic and possibly in danger if you are on the main road.

  2. When you are on the site and traffic isn't moving, please ensure to have your engines switched off. Pollution caused from car exhausts is a concern for us all and we don't want to be adding to the situation. We also have lots of people standing around outside and it's not good for them to be inhaling car fumes.

Attendance

Thank you to everyone for your cooperation with attendance in school. We're very pleased that almost everyone knows by now not to send a child to school when they are sick. Some families have expressed concerns about missing 20 or more days of school. As long as there is a valid reason for missing school, you don't need to worry. If you are in any doubt about whether to send your child to school, please check with a GP.

We are always in communication with families where we have concerns about attendance. If we have a concern, Lorraine is usually the first port of call.

Where's Me Jumper?

Where's Me Jumper - powered by 5th class - is back in 2023. Last term we reunited 50+ children with lost items of clothing. However 247 items remained unclaimed after 3 months and these were donated to a local charity.

To search for a reclaim your lost clothing please go to: https://sites.google.com/carloweducatetogether.ie/wheresmejumper/home

Play Together

Play Together is a Preschool and Afterschool service provided on site at Carlow Educate Together NS for children from 3-12 years for sessional, part-time and full-time care, all year round.

Play Together are now taking names for ECCE and Afterschool for August 2023. Spaces fill very quickly, so don't leave it too long to make your booking.

Children who attend Play Together for their ECCE preschool years find the transition to Junior Infants to be a very smooth and natural process. They receive a full Montessori preschool programme and are fully integrated into the school, with access to the school facilities during their preschool years. Preschool is open daily from 8am-1.15pm with an optional transfer to our full day facility for afternoon care. You may also book standalone ECCE (free preschool) session, which runs from 9am-12pm daily.

School Age Childcare (Afterschool) runs from 8am-8.45am and from 1.30pm to 6.00pm daily. The junior hour 1.30pm-2.30pm is especially useful for children in junior and senior infants who travel by bus or who get collected with older siblings. Afterschool is also open for full day care during school holidays and half days.

If you would like to book your child in, or need more information, please contact Play Together on info@playtogetherchildcare.ie

Not receiving emails?

We are striving to be a paperless school. It is important to check your emails as most communication comes this way. If you aren't receiving emails, please check with the school to ensure that we have your correct address.

School Food Company

We will be featured on the Claire Byrne Show on RTE Radio 1 shortly about our provision of school lunches. Listen out!