Welcome Back

Welcome back to a new school year.  I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is looking forward to starting a new school year.

SCHOOL BUILDING

Our school building is looking impressive.  The builders have completed:

·        the school extension and first floor corridor;

·        the extension to the Y6 and 7 classrooms;

·        the installation of a lift;

·        additional toilet facilities for pupils and staff, with special educational needs adaptations;

·        a first floor cloakroom;

·        changing facilities for PE;

·        new internal doors;

·        redecoration of the school including the corridors, assembly hall, toilets, resource room, stores and classrooms; 

·        double glazing in the assembly hall.

The Y6 and 7 pupils moved into their classrooms on the first day and one Y6 pupil described it as ‘awesome’.  That’s what we want to hear!

Work will continue for the next couple of weeks on the extension and corridor areas.  When we are finished we will have a fabulous school, which the people of Ballymoney can be proud of.

The refurbishment programme has cost £1.3 million and has taken several years to complete, in stages.  I’d like to thank our school community of parents, pupils and staff for their patience and co-operation during this time.  Throughout the project the Board of Governors and Fr O’Brien, as the Trustee, have been of immense support to the school.

Finally, a big thank-you to Don and his team who have worked so hard to have everything ready for the children at the start of the new school year. 

PUPILS

We welcome to the school 38 children in two P1 classes, 3 pupils to the Learning Support Centres and 3 other children in classes throughout the school.  St. Brigid’s now has an enrolment of 210 pupils, which is our largest enrolment in quite a number of years.

We wish all of the boys and girls a happy and successful school year.

STAFFING

We welcome to the school Mrs Erin McGuigan who will teach Y4, Mrs Michelle O’Mullan who will job-share in Y5 and 6 and Miss Lena McNally who will be an additional Y1 Learning Support Assistant. We wish them a happy and successful year.

HEALTHY EATING

Now that summer is over I am sure that you want the children to begin the school year with good eating habits. 

We have a very strong healthy eating breaktime initiative which you have always supported.  Milk or water at

breaktime as well as fruit or toast are available. 

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (SDP)

St. Brigid’s Primary School has a plan to manage the curriculum, finance, staffing, community links and the school building – our School Development Plan.  We are in Year 2 of our SDP (2014-2017).  I will use the monthly newsletter and the website throughout the year to outline our work on school development priorities.

PASTORAL CARE

Contact Information

In order to update our records I would ask you to check the information on the Data Collection Sheet which were issued to you at the start of term.  Make any changes, if required, by writing directly on to the form.  Finally please sign, date and return the form.

Parental Consent

Please read and sign the Parental Consent and ICT Good Practice/Website Agreement Forms.

MORNING & AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

The Morning & After School Clubs are up and running.  The Morning Club runs from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and costs £1 per day.  You do not need to book into the Morning Club, it is pay as you need it. 

The After School Club runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Places in the After School Club have to be booked in advance and the cost is £2 per hour. If you wish to use this service or enquire about using the service, please contact Susan (School Secretary) or Jayne Anderson (After School Club Learning Support Assistant).  They will be happy to discuss it with you

READING RESOURCES

Last year we refurbished our Y1-4 library with beautiful new books.  We also introduced the Accelerated Reader Programme to Y5-7.

A total of £10K was spent on this initiative and we were delighted with the enthusiasm shown for reading in school and at home.  At the start of this new school year we have added an additional 54 titles to the Accelerated Reader programme.

PUPILS’ PROPERTY

Please ensure that each item of children’s clothing has their name on it, including;

Jumpers, Coats, Polo-Shirts, Shoes, Plimsolls, Trousers, Skirts and PE Gear.

It would also be helpful to label: lunchboxes, pencil cases and stationery.

 

Best wishes for the new school year.  I hope it is a happy and successful one.

M Conlon

Principal