Dear Parent/Guardian,

At this time of year we usually organise school photos to be taken of our pupils. These generally prove popular with the new Junior Infant pupils and the 6th Class pupils.

There is no obligation to purchase any of the photos.

For the past number of years we have engaged the services of County Photos as they offer a very professional service.

Prior to Christmas the Parents Council asked if we could source an alternative photographer as an option to compare prices.

The school has used the services of Brendan Cullen for Communion and Confirmation photos prior to Covid-19 as he also provides a very professional service. We asked Brendan to send us out his package options for school photos.

The package options for both providers are shown below. Please take the time to look at the package options and then choose the option that best suits you on our poll available on your Aladdin Connect App.

I have added the option of ‘No Photos’ too. If you feel that it is not necessary for the school to organise any school photos please feel free to choose this option.

The poll will close this Friday January 28th at 2:40pm.

The school will then organise school photos based on the most popular choice.

Thank you for taking the time to help us make the correct choice,

Conor Mc Donald

Ballindaggin NS

ANNUAL ADMISSION NOTICE

in respect of admissions to the 2021/2022 school year

Admission Policy and Application Form

A copy of the school’s Admission Policy and the Application Form for Admission for the 2022/2023 is available as follows: www.ballindagginns.ie

Please complete the Application Form for Admission online by following the link which will be live on from Monday February 7th.

You may also request an application by emailing  stcolmansnsballindaggin@gmail.com  or writing to : school office, Ballindaggin NS, Ballindaggin, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford

or

By writing to: Ballindaggin NS, BAllindaggin, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford y21A371

PART 1 – Admissions to the 2021/2022 school year

Application and Decision Dates for admission to 2021/2022

The following are the dates applicable for admission to Junior Infants/First Year (delete as appropriate)

Note: the school will consider and issue decisions on late applications in accordance with the school’s admission policy.

*Failure to accept an offer within the prescribed period above may result in the offer being withdrawn

Number of places being made available in 2022/2023

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Good morning.

School reopens tomorrow at 9am. Before the return to school please read the important information below regarding Covid-19.

1. If your child has symptoms of Covid-19 or you are not sure if they are fit for school please look at the PDF attached to this message. It is a quick guide regarding symptoms and isolation and is very useful.

2 . If your child requires an antigen or PCR test you can follow this link to book one. https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/testing/get-tested/

3. The weather is much colder now than before the Christmas  break. Please ensure you dress your child warmly for school and send them in with hats and coats. All classroom windows and doors will be open during the school day to provide ventilation. As well as this external doors are opened at regular intervals to allow fresh air to flow through the school corridors. Please feel free to send an extra hoodie or body warmer/gilet in with your child to wear in class. Our heating will be on all day but with windows and doors open it may get cold at times.

4. All children from 3rd to 6th class should wear a facemask at all times in school if possible. Please remind your child of this.

5. With so many people currently isolating and identified as close contacts it is almost impossible to source substitute teachers. To reopen tomorrow our Special Education Teachers are covering classes where teachers are absent. This means that some children that normally receive support will not receive it on these days. This may happen on a regular basis due to the substitute crisis. Further to this if more teaching staff are identified as close contacts or contract Covid-19 and have to isolate some classes may need to be closed if cover cannot be found. If this is the case you will be informed via Aladdin so please check your Aladdin Connect app daily.

6. We are currently researching and trying to source the correct type of HEPA air purifiers that will work for our school. When they arrive windows and doors will still be kept open. Currently each room is fitted with a Co2 monitor. If the monitor indicates high levels of Co2 the class are brought outside for a break to allow the air in the room to circulate and refresh.

7. Children displaying symptoms of Covid-19 in school will continue to be sent home. Please do not send your child to school with symptoms. I again direct you to the attached isolation quick guide that you can look at if you are unsure about sending your child in.

8.School staff are being provided with FFP2 face masks.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Your continued support and understanding is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Conor Mc Donald

Isolation quick guide under 13s

Dear Parent/Guardian,

School will close early tomorrow Wednesday December 22nd for the Christmas holidays.

Junior and Senior Infants will be the first class available for collection at 11.50am.

All other classes will be dismissed in the normal class by class fashion at 12pm.

School will reopen for all pupils on Thursday 6th January 2022.

We thank you for your support over the past year and look forward to working with you all once more in 2022 to provide your child with the best possible education that we can provide.

All the staff at Ballindaggin NS hope that you and your families have a very happy and safe Christmas.

Kind regards,

Conor Mc Donald

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Dear Parent/Guardian,

The HSE has asked schools to send the following information onto parents.

COVID-19 vaccine information for parents of children aged 5-11

The HSE has published detailed information and guidance for parents about COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5-11. This aims to help parents and guardians of 5-11 year old children make an informed decision when it’s time for their child to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine.

Registration for the vaccine will open shortly, with priority being placed on children who are more at risk from COVID-19 or children who have a high-risk person in the family. Parents and guardians can read this information on https://www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/covid-19-vaccine/get-the-vaccine/covid-19-vaccination-for-children/  or they can download these information booklets from HSE.ie.

Important information for parents and guardians about the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 (Comirnaty, Pfizer/BioNTech) (PDF, size 1.11 MB, 16 pages)

Important information for parents and guardians about the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 (Irish) (PDF, 1.7 MB, 16 pages)

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As many of you are aware our school received the go ahead to build two new stand-alone classrooms a number of years ago.

Due to many unforeseen matters the delivery of the project was held up for quite some time.

We received good news from  our Design Team recently.

They have informed us that our project will be put out for tender on January 7th 2022 and tenders will be returned by Feb 4th 2022.

This is a big step in moving the project towards completion.

After the tender process has taken place we will contact you again regarding the school building project with any further updates.

Kind regards,

Conor Mc Donald

Dear Parent/Guardian,

The Department of Education have issued the following statement instructing all schools affected by red and orange weather warnings to close tomorrow:

“Met Éireann has advised that there is a strong possibility that the status of parts of these counties currently in status orange are likely to change and escalate to status red.

Due to the significant nature of Storm Barra, as forecast by Met Éireann and to give sufficient notice to schools and parents/guardians, the Department is advising that all schools covered by the Red Alert and Orange warning from Met Éireann should not open tomorrow, 7 December.”

Therefore Ballindaggin NS will not be open tomorrow.

Please stay safe.