Term is in full swing now and we are delighted with the way everyone has settled in. Just a few pointers and reminders:
Headlice: three reported cases already. Let’s have another “Nit Nightmare” week when we all check and treat together. If even one child remains “infested” – ugh! – the nuisance can spread again very quickly. Fine-comb your child’s wet, conditioned hair and if you find anything, buy the appropriate preparation from your chemist. Don’t be embarrassed, this is a very common problem and apparently lice love clean hair!
House Teams: all children, including our new Junior Infants and other new students, are in “house teams”. There are 12 teams in all, called after famous men and women who have made a positive difference to our world. The house teams had a “getting to know you” session last Friday to help everyone know who is in their team. Teachers and SNAs give house points to children for kindness, hard work, effort and achievement of all kinds, and the team with the most points at the end of term wins a pizza party! Do ask your child if s/he knows which house s/he is in and encourage them to identify with it – s/he will be in the same house all the way up the school so one day, will be one of the team leaders! We will be having another session soon to help the children learn about “their” famous person.
Labelling: please do label everything your child brings to school. You would be amazed how many very similar-looking bottles, coats, lunchboxes and even scooters there are. Teachers and SNAs really haven’t the time to chase down the owners of these precious items so…please encourage your child to look after their stuff and make it easy by sticking a label on!
Scooting to School: as a Green School, we are delighted so many children travel to school in this very “green” way. However, being mindful of getting into good safety habits, could we ask that all scooters wear helmets? Scooters can go quite fast, and a child taking a tumble may have a very nasty head injury – if not wearing a helmet. It’s also a habit that will transfer when they start riding a bike.
Orchestra Students (1st to 6th Class children): do try to remember that Thursday is music day. Bring your instrument and any practice sheets, homework sheets or music books that you need to school. And – very important – also bring these items home. Parents, please remind, even nag about this. Labelling instruments would also be a great help – recorders and violins are often identical!
We are getting rid of our air hockey table as we just find it takes up too much space. Does any parent want it? First to email me back gets the prize!
Kind Regards,
April Cronin.
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St. Catherine’s National School, Donore Avenue, Dublin 8
