Dear Parents/Guardians,
We have arrived at the end of an unprecedented school year. Coronavirus/Covid19 has ensured that this school year has been like no other and will live long in all our memories. In recent months the school like you yourselves has tried to adapt to a changed reality in the way we live and teach. We hope that you found the efforts made by the school to engage with children and parents was of some assistance. From our perspective we wish to thank the vast majority of pupils and parents who engaged on a weekly basis, provided us with feedback and inspired us to keep going.
School officially closes this Thursday 25th June. This means that this week will be the last week of planned work and interaction on SeeSaw the remote learning platform. If you need to contact the school during the holidays you can do so by emailing the school at office@theheathns.com
 
At present the school is planning as normal for the new school year. Our current re-opening date is Thursday 27th August. We hope that the school will be able to re-open as normal on this date which is also the stated objective of the Department of Education and Skills in their Roadmap for Re-opening Schools issued on Friday 12th June. Obviously much will depend on public health advice and developments over the summer. The school will keep you informed as guidance is issued to the school.
The end of year school reports are now available for parents to view on the school app. If you have any difficulty accessing your child’s report please contact the office preferably through email at office@theheathns.com.
Details of the school’s book rental and resource scheme has already been sent out to parents for next year.  If you have forgotten to sign up please contact the school immediately. A copy of the book lists and calendar for 2020/’21 are available on the school website www.heathns.ie and also on the school app.
With regard to the calendar please take note of holiday times and arrange family holidays accordingly during the year. New infant parents are reminded that junior infants will go home at 12.00 until Monday 14th September.
My sincere thanks to parents for their continued support with regard to the school uniform this year. Overall the standard was excellent. I would ask all parents to support the correct wearing of the uniform again next year and to please label all jumpers, jackets and tracksuit tops. All footwear worn with the uniform should be plain black and any runners can be worn with the tracksuit on PE days. Please remember to leave children’s hair natural, long hair tied back and no designs or lines.
The following are the class teachers for next year:
Junior infants: Ms. O’Mara                                           Senior Infants: To be appointed
First class: Ms. Daly                                                     Second class: Ms. McDermott
Third class: Mr. Brennan                                               Fourth class: Ms. Dunne
Fifth class: Ms. Ging                                                     Sixth class: Mr. Maher
 
The Board of Management will publish its end of year report on the school on the school website in July.
 
In conclusion I wish to once again thank everyone who helped and supported the school this year. I hope you and your families will have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable summer and I look forward to working with you all again next year.
 
Yours sincerely,
David O’Brien (Principal)

The Department of Education and Skills has announced that the annual July Provision programme for children diagnosed with autism will run again this summer. This year the initiative has been renamed the Summer Provision Programme as the criteria for children to qualify have been widened to include other complex needs. In short there are three parts to the Department’s programme:

• School based for special schools and schools with special classes
• Home based for children in mainstream schools with complex needs
• HSE led programme.

Eligibility for any part of the programme is based on the following criteria:

• Pupils with a diagnosis of autism
• Pupils with severe & profound learning difficulties
• Any child in a special school or a special class in a primary school
• Children transitioning from  into a special class from early years setting to primary school
• Pupils in primary school mainstream classes who present with the following disabilities:
  • Children with Down Syndrome
  • Children who are deaf
  • Children who are blind or have a most severe visual impairment
  • Children who have a moderate general learning disability
  • Children with severe emotional behavioural difficulties

Our school will directly contact parents of eligible children via email this week. Full details of the scheme are available on www.education.ie and click on Summer Provision Programme. If any parent has a query they can contact the school office via email at office@theheathns.com. 

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Congratulations to the 6th class children who along with their teacher, Mr. Maher, organised the 6th class annual charity fundraiser last Friday. The children challenged themselves to complete 100Km in a day by walking, cycling or running. We are glad to report that not alone did the children reach but they well exceeded their distance target. 
This year 6th class have decided to support two charities Cystic Fibrosis Ireland & Laura Lynn. We wish to thank everyone who made a donation and again the amount raised far exceeded what the class expected. A total of €1895 was raised and this will be split and forwarded to the two charities in the coming weeks. While 6th class have not enjoyed our usual final term this is a very fitting end of year act by a wonderful group of young people.

Every year our 6th class run a bake sale in aid of charity. Unfortunately this hasn't been possible this year. Instead 6th class have challenged themselves to run 100k in a day with proceeds being donated to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and Laura Lynn. They will undertake the challenge this Friday as part of our Sports Day. If you would like to make a donation please click on the following link
https://gf.me/u/x6s5ku. Thank you for your support

Our Virtual Sports Day takes place from today until Sunday. The link to all activities will be sent through by your teacher on Seesaw. Alternatively you can click on the following link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vP2FETFINYDL6Qz4jfmgPNeUvl7OmgjJ4q8I1q_bCT0/edit?usp=sharing
We hope you all enjoy the activities and make sure to send us on your photos!

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Collection of Third – Sixth books and materials.
The school invites parents of Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth class to collect their children’s schoolbooks and materials next Tuesday 9th June. Parents are also asked to return any books belonging to the school book rental scheme when collecting.
Parents who are interested in collecting are asked to adhere to the following guidelines and times to ensure the collection takes place as safely and quickly as possible.
 

• Social distancing guidelines apply at all times.
• Please follow staff instructions on the day.
• Parents should park outside the school and use the small pedestrian gate to access the school opposite the hall door.
• The books/materials will be in labelled packs/bags by class in the school hall in alphabetical order.
• Entrance is via the school hall doors only
• When admitted please collect your child’s books/materials and exit without delay.
• If parents have more than one child in 3rd – 6th Class they should collect all books at the one time.
• Collection Times:
  • Third Class 12.00 – 13.00 according to family surname:
    • A – C    12.00 to 12.15
    • D – H   12.15 to 12.30
    • I – O     12.30 to 12.45
    • P – Z    12.45 to 13.00

 

• Fourth Class 13.00 -14.00 according to family surname:
  • A – E    13.00 to 13.15
  • F – H    13.15 to 13.30
  • I – M    13.30 to 13.45
  • N – Z    13.45 to 14.00

 

• Fifth Class 14.00 – 15.00 according to family surname:
  • A – D    14.00 to 14.15
  • E – K    14.15 to 14.30
  • L – R    14.30 to 14.45
  • S – Z    14.45 to 15.00

 

• Sixth Class 15.00 – 16.00 according to family surname:
  • A – C    15.00 – 15.15
  • D – H   15.15 – 15.30
  • I – N     15.30 – 15.45
  • O – Z    15.45 – 16.00