St.

Michael’s Scoil Mhichil,

Rackwallace Rath Mhic Mhalais
Monaghan Muineachán
H18 XY66 H18XY66

secretary@stmichaelsns.com 047-85282

07 September 2020

Dear Parents,

Firstly, let me say how great it was to see all our pupils again. It is hard to believe it was
almost six months since we last saw the children. They have all grown so much. It was also
nice to hear that the children missed us as much as we missed them.

Last year’s Sixth class have settled into Beech Hill and we wish all the best to ‘The
Magnificent Seven’ as they take the next step in their education.

I’d also like to say ‘Fáilte’ to Aoife, Darragh, Evie, Kassie, Lorcan and Maisie who joined
our Junior Infants this year as well as Addie May and Jake who joined our 4 th class and 1st
class. We are sure you will be very happy in our school.

Morning Drop Off: For those children who come by bus: my idea of the junior room using
the bus shelter on wet mornings didn’t work out too well. It meant the senior room had to go
straight to class which makes the day even longer for them as well as creating a problem with
supervision. From now on, if children come by bus; if it’s raining, the junior room bus pupils
should go to their door and wait in the shelter there and the senior room bus pupils should
wait in the bus shelter. Mrs. Treanor and myself will provide supervision. Those children
who get a lift to school should continue to wait in their cars until 9am.

Thank you to all those parents who are cooperating so well with our new restrictions,
especially in the mornings and evenings. If the children stay in the car until 9am and if the
parents wait in the car until the children come out in the evenings it really does keep us all
safer.

Covid Precautions: No doubt your children have told you about all the sanitisers and screens
etc. These are a very important part of the Covid precautions our board has taken. So far, the
Board of Management has spent just over €100 per pupil to prepare our school for reopening
and I would like to acknowledge the work of the Board over the summer as they prepared
our school for September 1st. Mrs. Treanor, Mrs. Ferguson and Dympna also spent many days
of the summer in school getting ready for reopening and I take this chance to thank them for
their great work on behalf of the pupils.

Phone Messages: Occasionally there is no one in the office to answer the phone when you
ring. If you leave a message please be aware that we may not always check the messages until
the office quietens down, usually after 3pm. It would be best to ring back and make sure you
speak to one of us. Dympna comes in at 11am and until then I am in class but, of course, will
answer the phone if there’s an emergency.

Roll number: 16954C Charity Number: 20132170 twitter: @rackwallacens website: www.rackwallacens.com
 Labels: It is great to see the children all looking so smart in their new uniforms and
tracksuits. Please make sure to label their jumpers etc. so they do not get mixed up. You
should also label lunchboxes, bottles and towels because last year we had a lot of boxes and
bottle left in the lunchroom. And as you know children aren’t always great at claiming their
lost property.

Hand Sanitisers: Can I remind the one or two parents who haven’t organised sanitisers for
their children to do so as quickly as possible? Different children react differently to different
sanitisers and it’s better for the child if they can use their own one comfortably and easily.

Forgotten Lunches: Another part of our Covid prevention plan is that we don’t allow parents
or other visitors into the school. When I was on my principal release day on Wednesday two
parents contacted the school and then put lunches into the box in the bus shelter, which is
exactly what we asked you to do. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Thank you also Fergal who has spent his summer keeping our school grounds looking so
well. The pupils were also delighted to see that he had found time to put up the nets on the
goals. Now all we need is some good weather so we can test them out.

Thanks to Cian who has donated a sanitising unit to our school. This extremely generous
gesture has saved our school a lot of money, which we can spend in other ways for the benefit
of the children.

Information Update: Included with this newsletter you will find an Information Update
form. This is very important as in case of a child getting ill in school we need to be able to
contact a parent/guardian quickly. Please be sure that we have your correct phone number. I
would ask you to fill this in and return it by Friday so we can update our system.
We will also be using email a lot more this year, to cut down on the amount of paper going
home from school. Please make sure we have the correct email address for you.
We will also be using Whatsapp in an effort to save money on texts.

Principal Release Days: As part of the Department of Education and Skills response to
Covid-19 they have granted each teaching principal 37 principal release days. This will mean
that I will have one day a week to do school administration. We have been very lucky to
secure the services of Mrs. Lavery to cover my days. She will be coming each Monday. Mrs.
Lavery has taught for many years in Dublin and brings a wealth of experience to our school.
The department also granted deputy principals 5 release days in which to do their
administration. This means Mrs. Treanor will be released for 5 days throughout the year and
the department will pay for a substitute teacher.

Healthy Lunches: Congratulations to all the pupils and their parents who are packing and
eating healthy lunches. It is great to see the pupils in both classes taking healthy food to
school, and of course they can still enjoy a small treat on Fridays. (a mini bar or a biscuit).
And of course the pupils drink water with their lunches.

Towels: The children bring a towel so they can dry their hands after using the toilets. I am
reminding parents that the towels should be changed regularly. For most of our pupils a towel
the size of a face cloth is big enough. Please make sure your child’s towel is labelled.

Roll number: 16954C Charity Number: 20132170 twitter: @rackwallacens website: www.rackwallacens.com
 Jim McCague: We were all very sad when Jim rang us during the summer to tell us he
wouldn’t be able to drive our bus this year. For almost 30 years Jim and his wife Margaret
drove our pupils to and from school safely and without fuss.
They would happily wait for a late comer or drop someone off at granny’s or an uncle’s
instead of the usual stop.
All the pupils who went to matches, went to communion or concert practices, travelled to
debates or to any of the other activities down the years know that Jim drove us in his own
time, in his own bus and would never take a penny for his efforts.
But Jim is far more than our bus driver. To the staff, he is cheerful and enjoyable company, to
the pupils he is a friend who takes time to get to know each one of them and is interested in
their stories. The children really did look forward to him greeting them as they came out the
school gate.
When this virus is behind us we will gather as a school community and give Jim the send off
he deserves but in the meantime I take this opportunity to acknowledge the fact that the pupils
and staff of St. Michael’s miss him.

Condolences: As a school community we extend our deepest sympathies to Cian Curley on

the death of his father John Curley over the summer and also to Teresa Greenan on the death
of her mother Kathleen McKenna at the weekend.

Yours sincerely,

-----------------------------------
Séamus Grundy
Principal

Enc.

Roll number: 16954C Charity Number: 20132170 twitter: @rackwallacens website: www.rackwallacens.com