MILFORD NATIONAL SCHOOL – 3rd September 2019
Dear Parents,
Fáilte is fiche roimh gach duine. You are all very welcome back to Milford after the long summer holidays, and a special welcome to you if it is your first journey through the school. Here are a few notices as we start the new school year.
Opening and Closing Times: The school is open to receive pupils from 8.45 a.m. The school office is open from 8:55 a.m. The yard will be supervised from 8.50 a.m. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before 8.50 a.m. Classes will commence each day at 9.00 a.m. No pupil should arrive later than 8.55 a.m. Pupils who need to use the toilet in the mornings may use the toilet facilities in the gym. Pupils who need to drop off their musical instruments may store them in the After-School Facility and then proceed to the yard.
Classes for the children in Junior Infants and Senior Infants end at 1.40 p.m. (children in Junior Infants will begin going home at this time from Monday, 16th September). Parents of these children are aware of their meeting point for collecting their child from the teacher. Classes will end each day at 2.40 p.m. for children in classes from First to Sixth. Parents who wish to collect their children should make arrangements to have them met at the end of the school path or car-park.
The School Welcome Sign is the designated area for parents who need to collect their child from a Special Needs Assistant. The person meeting the child(ren) should be at the school no later than 2.40 p.m. as the school cannot accept responsibility for children after that time.
Church Car-Park: Please advise the person collecting your child in the afternoons to use only the designated spaces in the church carparks. Only vehicles displaying a Milford National School Parking Permit should advance past the church. Parents collecting children should not park in front of the Salesian Hostel, The problem with parking has been largely alleviated due to the cooperation of our parent body and the enforcing of rules re unauthorised personnel etc. Unauthorised cars will be clamped as the safe passage of our pupils to and from school is of paramount importance to the school management body.
Medication: Parents, please advise the school if your child has any medical issues about which you need to alert the school and for which indemnity and information forms will need to be filled out. I would also remind parents that medication already in the school may be out-of-date and may need to be replaced.
Nut Free Zone: As several of our children suffer from a nut allergy, please remember that Milford NS is a nut free zone. We ask that you do not send nuts / nut extracts or nut products in any form to school in your child’s lunch box and especially on treat days. This would include, amongst many others, products such as Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate spreads that contain nuts, cereal bars with nuts, etc. If you are unsure, please check the food label as ingredients can change and are not always obvious in the main packaging description. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Sports Activities: The autumn sporting season has commenced and football training started last week. Many thanks to our very dedicated teachers who give voluntarily of their time and expertise to coach and organise teams, and accompany children to matches at this very busy time of the year. U13 Girls Football Training begins this week. Please contact Ms. Kinnerk / Ms. Munnelly for further information. U 13 Boys Football training will commence on Thursday 2:40pm – 3:45pm with Mr. Diarmaid Moore.
After-School Activities: There will be a wide variety of extra-curricular activities available after school, too numerous to list here. The teachers who are involved in these activities will communicate with children regarding days, times, venues etc.
Enrolments: There is a large number of applications on file for the Junior Infant classes for September 2020 and there will be only 60 places available. Priority will be given to siblings of children already in Milford. Please notify the school immediately, if your child qualifies under the sibling rule to make sure he/she is on the list for 2020.
School Uniform Reminder: The uniform consists of a brown crested school jumper or cardigan, cream shirt or blouse and brown gymslip, skirt or trousers. Black or brown shoes should be worn with the brown school uniform (no Ugg boots please). This uniform is worn from 1st to 6th. Under no circumstances should runners be worn under skirts or trousers. The school track-suit is worn on PE days. It is dark blue with a pale blue stripe and is crested. A light blue polo shirt may be worn underneath. Runners may be worn with the track-suit. If possible, runners with a light-coloured sole should be worn to prevent marking of the gym floor. The track-suit is the only uniform necessary for Junior and Senior Infants.
School Closures 2019/20: Information on school closures for the coming year has already been sent home in June. This information is also posted on the school website.
Update Contact Details: If your contact details (landline, mobile, email, address) have changed in the last year please contact the school as soon as possible with the correct information. You can also update your contact details via the Aladdin Connect App.
Parents of children in 1st Class to 6th Class, please complete the Pupil Personal Data on Page 3 of your child’s homework Diary.
School Mass: Beginning of Year Mass will be celebrated on Friday 20th September at 11.30am. The Enrolment Ceremony for 2nd Class (First Holy Communion Class) will take place during the Children’s Mass on Sunday, 29th September at 10.30am.
Swimming: Swimming has commenced this week for classes from Senior Infants to 6th, depending on the 8-week timetable rota. Swimming is an important and mandatory element of the P.E. curriculum and we are most fortunate to have a world-class swimming pool on our doorstep. I would ask you to please make sure your child avails of this rare facility which we can offer all year round in this school. Please note that swimming is a compulsory component of the Revised Curriculum for Primary Schools. Please refer to the Swimming Policy available on www.milfordns.ie for more information on arrangements, procedures etc.
Attendance Policy: Parents, please note that the school is legally obligated to report to the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) any child who misses more than 20 days in the school year. All absences must be explained in writing (absence note at the back of the homework diary will suffice) by parent/guardian.
The Milford Gazette: The Milford Gazette, our online school newspaper, published and edited by pupils from 5th & 6th class, will return this September and will take place in Room 7 every second Wednesday. Please contact Ms. Rael for more information if you would like to join the news team this year.
Meeting the Teacher: Parents can arrange an appointment to meet their class teacher (or SEN teacher) through the school secretary (061-339123), by writing to the teacher, via email at office@milfordns.ie or by mentioning it to the teacher when collecting their child.
Aldi Competition: Our school has signed up for a competition organised by the supermarket Aldi. Aldi are giving away two main prizes of €50,000 and a €2,500 voucher for sports and training equipment to one primary school in each province. Official Irish Rugby stickers will be given out to shoppers every time they spend €30 in Aldi stores throughout Ireland. Parents can get involved by sending the stickers in to the school until the competition poster is filled with 300 stickers.
Dogs: In the interest of Health and Safety, the Board of Management of our school has requested that parents refrain from bringing their dogs (excluding service dogs that have the correct vest / harness / badge) into the school yard.
Rainbows: Rainbows Ireland works to enable children and young people who have experienced a significant loss to access peer support. This support happens within their local communities as they seek to come to terms with their grief and loss. We are currently in the process of setting up a Rainbows Centre in Milford N.S. Mrs. Maggie Kinnerk, Ms. Hannah O’Sullivan and Ms. Áine Fitzpatrick are now fully trained as coordinators and facilitators. They hope to have a group up and running in November.
Other News: Congratulations & best wishes to Keith Earls (parent) and Seán Cronin (past pupil) who have been selected to travel with the Irish Team to the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Dates to Remember
- School Mass: Friday 20th September 2019 at 11:30am – 12:30pm.
- School Closure: Thursday 26th September 2019 – Inservice for Staff in relation to the Primary Language Curriculum.
Parents, please refer to the school website for most school information – www.milfordns.ie.
As we all look forward to the new school year I want to once again thank you for your continued support, cooperation and dedication.
Le gach dea-ghuí
Diarmaid Moore
Principal
