Back To School 2023/24 Notes and Announcements

BEGINNING OF SCHOOL YEAR 2023/24

IMPORTANT NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

30 August 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians/boys,  

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all the school community the very best for a successful and happy school year, to extend a very warm welcome to our new Junior Infants and to the boys in other classes who will join us this year.  A warm welcome, too, to all new staff who have joined the team.

As I write this, news is breaking of the utterly devastating car accident in Cashel.  It is harrowing and all our hearts must be very heavy for the families of the deceased, all closely connected to our schools both currently and in the past.  Everything else seems to pale into insignificance right now, and yet I know that school will reopen on Friday and we’ll be there for all our boys.  All day and every day. 

School times

The school gates/doors open at 9am.  Please do not drop your boy(s) off before this time as they are not supervised and it’s not safe. 

Classes commence at 9.20am.  

Because of the ongoing construction works, ALL boys will enter the school through the main front door & go directly to their classrooms.  The exceptions to this are the pupils in Room 2 (Ms Stapleton) and Room 3 (Ms Curry) who will enter and exit through their respective fire doors.     

The infant classes finish at 2pm (12pm up to and including Friday 15 September).   

All other classes finish at 3pm.  

We anticipate that traffic will be a serious issue this term/year as the builder is unable to return the temporary car for our use & therefore all staff cars will be on the road.  I would encourage you to walk with your children where possible, to cycle and to park ‘n’ stride from Tesco or the bottom of the hill.  Please do not park or drop off in the two disabled bays as a courtesy to those who need them.  If your sons are walking or cycling, chat to them about the importance of doing so sensibly and safely.

Entry and Exit in Summary 

*New Junior Infant parents are welcome as far as the main door (Ms Delahunty) or external classroom door (Ms Stapleton) for the first week.

Calling to the school & signing pupils out

Please use the door at reception when calling to the school.  There is an access control system in place so you have to buzz the office for entry.

If you must collect your child before finishing time, call to the main office.  Arrangements are in place for your son to come down to meet you at reception/front door.  

Please do not at any stage go to the classrooms without an appointment.  

School timetable & lunches

All classes in our school have two 20 minute breaks.  Junior Infants to Second Classes - 10.50-11.10am and 12.30 to 12.50  Third to Sixth Classes - 11.20-11.40am and 1.00 to 1.20pm

Click on the link below for more information on our Healthy Lunch policy.  

Healthy Food Policy June 2023

Hot lunches will commence for Senior Infants to Sixth Class on Friday and for Junior Infants from Monday 18 September.  If you wish to opt out of hot school lunches, you must request this by writing to or emailing myself (principal@cashelbns.ie) or Rachel (rachelhayes@cashelbns.ie).  We would encourage all parents to take up the opportunity of a free hot lunch for their son(s).  

Home-School Communication 

Our main method of home-school communication is via the Aladdin Connect app.  If you’ve not signed up for Aladdin Connect, Rachel, our Home School Community Liaison or the office staff will assist you with this process if needed.  The vast majority of school information/news is shared on Connect so we’d encourage parents to check the platform at least once a day or set your notifications to on.    

2nd to 6th classes ONLY have a school journal.  

New Website App

Our school website is active - www.cashelbns.ie.   We will be posting stories, pictures and videos this year to our website instead of Class Dojo which is no longer in use in the boys’ school.   It’s now possible to have an app icon of the website on your phone & I’d encourage you to do so for ease of access.

Do you have an android phone? Go to the website on your phone (www.cashelbns.ie) and tap the 3 dots icon top right. There will be an option to 'Install App'. There will now be a new app on your home screen with the crest icon.

If you have an iPhone, go to the website on the safari browser, find the + button and choose “Add to Home Screen”. (www.cashelbns.ie).  There will now be a new app on your home screen with the crest icon.

You can also follow us on Twitter/X - @cashelbns  and/or on Instagram - cashelbns

Tracksuit & Uniform Days 

• Tracksuit days for Junior Infants to Second Class are Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays (Junior Infants to wear their uniform the first Friday only).  .
• Tracksuit days for Third to Sixth are Tuesdays & Thursday.

Any colour runners are ok on tracksuit days.  On uniform days, we expect the boys to wear black or brown shoes or all black runners.     

Attendance

Attendance is recorded daily by the class teacher on our online roll books via Aladdin.  You will be alerted if your son is marked absent.  We also aim to keep a record on Aladdin if your son arrives late.  This is calculated by Aladdin at the end of the year into learning time missed.

Be sure to enter your absence reason on Aladdin Connect each time your child is absent.  You can also, as seen across, use Connect to  alert us if your child will be late or collected early.  

Other bits In brief…

• Shorts (blue/navy, grey, black) can be worn for the month of September only. 
• Indoor shoes are not required.  If you’ve not done so already, please label all belongings and in particular jumpers! 
• Payment links for outstanding fees (Parental Contribution) will be sent out in September and will appear on your Aladdin Connect App.  You can check with the office if you’re unsure if you’ve paid or not.  

Mainstream classes for 2023/24

Sin é for now.  See you all on Friday.    

Le meas, 

Will Ryan 

principal@cashelbns.ie