10-9-2020
Dear parents,
I wish to bring the following to your attention.
Junior Infants have completed two full weeks at school and will come to school at the same starting time as all other children from Monday next September 14th. Alphabetical order, surnames starting with letters from
A-G arrival at 8.50 a.m.; H -N at 9 a.m.; O-Z at 9.10 a.m. All this information has been sent by e mail and is available on the school website.
Teachers have given me very positive feedback on the return to school. The No Homework innovation is working well and we will monitor closely. Children do not need to bring a schoolbag. A small bag for lunch and a drink will suffice. Please do not give Frubes as children find them difficult to open and often result in spillages.
Website: All information relating to the school, school calendar, booklists, etc is on the website www.ballybrownns.ie . Check in on Twitter @BallybrownNS to keep yourself informed on school news.
Internet Safety: All families with a child in Fifth or Sixth Class will receive a letter in the post this week about your child and Social Media. This issue is becoming more prevalent and the Board of Management decided to take the initiative and write to parents asking them not to allow children in primary school to be active on Social Media. The 2019 annual report from CybersafeIreland, published today shows that 31% of children have gamed online with people they do not know and 30% of children have friends or followers on social media platforms who are strangers. According to the report, 26% of primary school-age children had played an over-18s video game, a figure which rose to 39% of boys. These are very worrying statistics. We cannot pretend that this would not happen to our children, regardless of how closely we monitor their mobile phone use. The age of Digital Consent in EU countries is 16. The report can be viewed on www.cybersafeireland.org/parents.
Art & Craft/Photocopying contributions: All families will receive a link by text tomorrow, Friday. €40 per child or €70 per family. Parents may pay by e payments. Alternatively, place the money in an envelope with your name on it and hand in to the school office. These contributions are voluntary. They are most welcome this year to help defray costs. Sincere thanks to everybody who has already paid.
I have been asked by the HSE to draw parents' attention to the website www.undertheweather.ie for information on managing common illnesses, such as colds, coughs, sore throat etc as winter draws near.
Finally, I urge parents to ensure that your child's name is on all books, coats, fleeces etc.
Gach dea-ghuí,
J. Lyons
Principal