May/June 2025

Almost there...

While it isn't feeling very summery lately, it's hard to believe that we're less than 3 weeks from the beginning of the summer holidays. This is the last newsletter of the school year so I want to take the opportunity to thank you all for your support and good wishes throughout the year.

Parents and guardians are a vital part of our school development and we saw this in action with two major policy decisions this year. Our Behaviour Policy and Mobile Phone and Devices Policy are both ready for ratification by our Board of Management. The input from families on both these policies was vital and we feel we have two very strong policies that will serve us well for the next couple of years.

I also want to publicly thank Emma and the parents' association for their trojan work again this year. It is not easy giving up the limited amount of time we have to the school, whether that's helping out in the library or helping out at events. I'm sure you'll join me in thanking Emma and the team for their unbelievable efforts this year,

Respectful communication is a cornerstone of all good relationships and I'd like to thank the many parents and guardians who have been in touch throughout the year. I've had some really positive conversations in my office with many of you where we were able to work things out and do so with good humour. I'm looking forward to many more conversations in 2025/26. 

With that in mind, this newsletter has the 2025/2026 calendar for you the download. We will also be announcing the class teachers in the next two weeks as well as releasing the end of year reports. Many parents wonder about Standardised Test results and can panic when they see them. Please remember, the only reason we send these in the reports is because we are compelled to do so by law. If we have a worry about your child's performance in these tests, you would have heard about it before the results come out. Please, also don't pay too much heed to differences in scores from year to year. These tests are a snapshot of one day in one classroom. We're always happy to discuss the results if you wish, of course.

Other than that, I want to end by thanking all the staff and pupils in Carlow Educate Together for making it easy to come to work every day. You should all be very proud of your children who live our ethos every day. I'm grateful to every single member of staff who not only make sure the children are working hard and learning new things every day, they go above and beyond that, making their classrooms fun and inspiring.  As some of you might know, we will be saying a temporary goodbye to Emer next term, who will be taking a career break to focus on her Phd. Many of you have had the pleasure of speaking with Emer from time to time. We are all going to miss her warmth, understanding and leadership in the school.  I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her the very best with her studies. 

I will be working until July 25th before taking a short break for the new year so my last item is to wish you a very pleasant summer break!

Keep happy, safe and learning

Simon