November 2024

What values are important for our school?

Just before the mid-term break, a text message went out to parents about the dress-up day. We were worried about the increase in costumes that really frightened the younger children in recent years and that was what we were trying to convey in the first message, which went out in a hurry. Later that day a child approached me and explained his costume and I realised that the message that went out needed to be changed. I then sent the message you would have received.

The next day, I thanked the child for alerting me to the situation and commended him on how he approached me. I was really proud that the values we try and instill in our school community were lived out in this small but important interaction. The child knew that he could approach an adult in the school, respectfully state his concerns, and we were able to resolve the situation restoratively.

Our school has been working on relational awareness since we opened. It's just that we didn't know that's what it was called until a few years ago, when we were approached by an Irish university that identified our vision and ethos for a European study. Over three years, the study called THREICE looked at practices in our school and Play Together, and created a framework, which we have been developing since.

Part of this is to re-examine the values that we believe are important for our school. We have had meetings with staff and pupils already and we also need input from our families. As you can see from the image, values can be a number of things. You can scan the QR code or go to: https://tinyurl.com/4mv2zpuw and let us know your thoughts.

Keep happy, safe and learning

Simon

Parent Teacher Meetings

This year we held our parent teacher meetings in the school hall. It came from a suggestion from a member of staff who had worked in another country where this was commonplace. We decided to give it a go after chatting to staff and parents. On a positive note, overall, feedback from people I spoke to was that they much preferred this system. Parents reported that the atmosphere was much less formal, it was less intimidating and it was really nice to see other parents in the hall while they were waiting for their meetings. Staff feedback was also very positive. They felt meetings were more efficient, there was a nice positive buzz in the hall and privacy wasn't an issue. Unfortunately, we have had a rise in incidents of aggression from a small number of people, and staff reported feeling safer that they would not be put in a vulnerable situation. One or two people said they missed seeing their child's classroom. This is something that we will think about and we will try and resurrect some of the initiatives we had before COVID-times where parents would be invited in to the classroom to help out or see some project work. It's important we adapt our practices as we go on so any further feedback is most welcome.

Winter Concert

This year's winter concert will take place on the 18th and 19th December. Our theme for this year is "Back to the 1990s" and the classes are preparing a feast of favourites from the Saw Doctors to S Club 7 and everything in between. It promises to be a great show as always so make sure to don your parkas and bring your glow sticks! Get practicing your Whigfield Saturday Night dance moves and come along because this year we are mad for it! (No dynamic pricing on tickets 😂)

This year we are using a ticketing app to book your tickets. Please read the following VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

There is a strict limit of 2 tickets per family. If you have small children attending, they don't need a ticket but they must sit on your lap.
If more than 2 per family are ordered, the extra ones will be cancelled without notice.
If we have spare seats after ticket sales end, we will offer spare tickets on a first come first served basis.
We will be operating a one-way system to ensure people's safety. Once you enter the hall, you must exit through the back of the school.
We need volunteers to help with traffic for both concerts. In exchange for helping, we will save a seat for you.
If you can, please walk or car pool to the event. The nearest bus stop to the school is about a 15 minute walk. It's likely it will take more than 15 minutes to enter/exit the school.
This is our only fundraising event for the school and we are hoping to raise enough to buy specialised furniture for our geodome. We are not setting a price on tickets. If you can afford to make a donation, please do. We are using Stripe as the payment gateway for donations or you can drop donations into Siobhan in the office.

Communication with Staff

We understand that your child is the most important person in the whole school for you, and that it can lead to great upset and anger if anything happens to them in school. Due to the nature of a teacher's job however, they may not be immediately available to you for a conversation. Unfortunately we are seeing an increase in aggressive communication towards staff recently. Please bear our Dignity at Work policy in mind. If you need to see a teacher, please make an appointment via Siobhán or via an email to the teacher. An email can take up to 5 days for us to respond to, but it will usually be answered much quicker than this. Teachers are in direct contact with children until 2:30pm every day as you know and may not have time to read an email at short notice. In responding to a reported incident the teacher may seek advice or more information from other parties involved before replying to you. In case of an emergency please ring the office directly, especially in relation to changes in who is collecting the child or whether they are going on the bus, as a direct message to a teacher may not be seen in time.

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.

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