Southern Education & Library Board

St. Brigid’s Primary School

Principal: Mrs M Keating
Tel: (028) 30861514
Fax: (028) 30860363 / / 63 Glassdrummond Road,
Crossmaglen,
Newry,
BT35 9DY

January 2015 Newsheet

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s)

Just a few notices about activities which are taking place in St.Brigid`s P.S. during January 2015:

Religion

Whole School Mass @10.00 in St. Brigid`s Church

Religious Education visit to all classes on Monday 19th January 2015

Confirmation on Saturday 28th February @11am in St. Patrick`s, Crossmaglen.

First Holy Communion on Saturday 9th May @11am in St. Brigid`s, Glassdrummond

St Brigid`s Christmas Calendar

Many thanks to all our local businesses who sponsored a month on our school calendar

  1. Ardee Car Parts
  2. Armagh Tyre Distributors Ltd
  3. BC Auto Dismantlers
  4. Happy Faces Nursery and Day Care
  5. Bridge Powerwashing
  6. Donnelly`s, Silverbridge
  7. Finnegan and O` Neill Plumbing and Heating
  8. Garvey`s Bar and Restaurant
  9. Murphy`s Shop
  10. O’Connell Fruit and Veg+
  11. Polar International Ltd
  12. Murphy`s Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic
  13. SGQ Furniture

We appreciate your support and look forward to working with you in the future.

There are some calendars left in school. If you need one, contact Mrs Keating

Christmas Raffle

There are four prizes which have yet to be claimed from our Christmas raffle:

AB 691645 Numbers 71-75

AB274002 Numbers 151-155

AB 274002 Numbers 251-255

AB 866254 Numbers 411-415

Many thanks to the Parent`s Association for helping to obtain prizes. The total money raised was €80 and £310 sterling.

Extended Schoools Programme

Speech and Language Therapy programme will begin on Monday 12th January for children in P1, 2 and 3. (More details later)

Thursday 15th January - Traditional Music Group 3.10 – 4.15pm

Thursday 15th January - Cookery 3.10 – 4.30pm (Pupils will be selected from P4/5)

Pathways to Music project- P4 – Mrs Keating/SELB Music Service will complete a year project. Each child in P4 will play violin, viola or double bass and will perform for the school and their parents at the end of the year.

Music Tuition

All children P5, 6 and 7 who have been selected by the Music Service to play violin, viola or cello in St. Brigid’s P.S. have to pay music fees of £75 per year.

You may pay in instalments:

Term 2- £25

Term 3- £25

Term 2 fees (£25) can be paid to Mrs Keating.

Health and Safety

The Department of Education has issued guidelines to assist the Principal in reaching a judgement that an exceptional closure is necessary in the event of adverse weather conditions, power failure or situations which affect the safety of pupils and staff. We will strive to minimise the need for weather-related closure.

The Principal will strive to keep school open but sometimes it will be necessary to decide to close for reasons outside our control. These factors will include:-

  • Health and Safety Requirements

(St Brigid’s must consider getting pupils and staff into school but also keeping them safe and getting them out again should an emergency arise.)

  • Pupil/Teacher/Ratio
  • Weather conditions and forecasts
  • Road conditions
  • Transport/School Meals Services availability

Making a decision to close St Brigid’s is very difficult and complex and the timing and communication of decisions is also difficult, where a decision to close can often only be taken on the morning of a school day. A balance must be struck between avoiding unnecessary closure and ensuring that parents, pupils and staff have as much notice as possible in the event that closure is the only viable option.

COMMUNICATION

  1. We will use our mobile texting service to inform parents about a school closure. It is parent’s responsibility to ensure that we have an up-to-date mobile phone number for 2014-2015 school year.
  2. We will also include closures on our school website

and the St Brigid’s Primary School facebook page.

  1. Details of school closures will also be on BBC NI.

Primary Schools Admissions

If you have a child of compulsory school age (children who reach their fourth birthday on or before the 1st July 2015), please ensure that your application for admission to St. Brigid`s P.S. is given to the secretary by Wednesday 14 th January 2015 @12 o`clock.

Yours sincerely,

…………………………………

Mrs M. Keating (Principal)