Drumahoe Primary School – Parent Memo: February 2015

Dinner Money :

Please ensure that dinner money (£2.40 per day/£12.00 p.w.) is sent into school on Mondays in the appropriate “Money Pouch” thus avoiding any disruption to the morning classes for the rest of the week. Any families requiring additional “Dinner Pouches” can purchase these from Mrs Glenn (£2.00 per booklet).

Carol Service:

Thank-you to everyone who supported the school at the Carol Service in December 2014. The children were a credit to the school, their parents and to themselves. The retiring collection and the proceeds from the Christmas Jumper Day raised £1133.78 which will be donated to Save the Children.

Breakfast Club:

The Breakfast Club continues to operate from 8.00 a.m. – 8.45 a.m. each morning. This Club has proved to be very successful, averaging well over 30 pupils every morning. Children can come and purchase a “Breakfast Special” – choice of cereals, toast and tea/juice daily for £1.20 (£6.00 p.w.).

P6 School Trip:

The pupils of Primary 6 are currently visiting Gortatole from Tuesday 10th February - Friday 13th February 2015 for their annual Educational Trip.

Half-Term School Closures:

School will be closed for Staff Training/Half-Term on Monday 16th February 2015 & Tuesday 17th February 2015 inclusive (Total of 2 days). Classes will recommence on Wednesday 18th February 2015 at 8.55 a.m. sharp! Only 3 days dinner money (£7.20) that week.

Additional School Closures- the school will be closed for Staff Training/Holiday on the following dates: Friday 13th, Monday 16th & Monday 17th March 2015– Saint Patrick’s Day (3 days).

Easter Holidays:

School will close at noon on Friday 27th March 2015 for the Easter Holidays and will

re-open for the Summer Term on Monday 13th April 2015 at 8.55 a.m. sharp!.

Swimming:

Swimming lessons for Years 6 and 7 children have commenced from Wednesday 28th January 2015 and will continue for the next 15 weeks.

Book Fair:

Once again we hosted the Scholastic Book Fair from 5th –9th February 2015 and raised the incredible amount of £2222.14. This benefits the school in two ways. Firstly our children have a wonderful resource in their new books to enjoy at home and the school gets £1333.28 (commission) to spend on books for the classrooms. Many thanks to Mrs Bryson for organising our most successful Book Fair ever and a big thank-you to the parents who helped out each afternoon.

School Enrolment :

The school’s Enrolment Number (290) and Admissions Number (Max. 45) have been increased to accommodate the population growth in the village. If you know of any new families who have recently moved into the area and are requiring a place at the school, could you ask them to contact ourselves as soon as possible to facilitate planning for future years. Any outstanding application forms for enrolment into P1 for September 2015 can be left into the Front Office at any time.

Water Bottles:

In the interests of health & safety, if your child brings a water bottle to school, could you ensure that it is periodically cleaned so as to avoid any potential health risk.

House Competition:

The House Competition will be heating up and this term we have planned for the House Quiz, House Art Competition, “Off by Heart” poetry Finals and various House Sports at lunchtimes!

Uniform –I have been delighted with the standard of uniform this year. It is great to see almost everyone adhering to the policy of plain black jog pants on P.E. days (x 2 days per week), and the full school uniform (x 3 days per week). Please ensure that your child adopts a positive attitude to school by wearing the correct uniform on the stipulated days – only black shoes or black trainers are acceptable with full school uniform. Any child who attends school in the incorrect uniform must have a note of explanation.

Kadet Klub – the Klub will be open from Monday 30th March – Friday 10th April (Closed - Easter Mon 6th and Easter Tues 7th April 2015) when an Easter Scheme will run. The Breakfast Club will also be open each day from 8.30 a.m. – 10.00 a.m. (£2.00 per day) followed by the Easter Scheme from 10.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m. (£10 per day). To stay from 8.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. will therefore cost £12.00 daily. To book your child’s place contact Myra (0787 4011 648).

School Policies:

I wish to inform you that a number of the school policies are now available to view on the School Website Paper copies are also available from the School Office by request.

I.F.A. Northern Ireland Excellence Programme:

Congratulations to Cora Chambers (P7H) who was nominated by Mr Scott for the I.F.A. Northern Ireland Excellence Programme and by all accounts is “excelling” in the squad.

ParentMail - Communications from the School- As you know we try very hard to keep parents regularly informed about what’s going on at the school, however, sending paper letters home can be rather ‘hit and miss’ with letters often going astray along the way. To help improve these areas we use “ParentMail.” This service is used to communicate with parents by email and text message.
ParentMail is beneficial to you because:

  • E-mails & Messages will get to you reliably
  • We can send e-mails/messages directly to mums and/or dads at the same time
  • You will quickly know about important or urgent messages
  • We can tell you more about what’s going on at the school

Please let us know if you have recently (since 01.09.14) changed your mobile number to enable us to update our records.

Summer Term Closings - School will be closed on Monday 4th May 2015 for the May Day Bank Holiday and also on Thursday 7th May 2015 (Election) and Monday 25th May 2015 for the Whit Bank Holiday.

T.R. McMaster

Principal

“Developing the potential of everyone to the full, within a caring and stimulating environment.”