Parents Note 24th June 2022

Dear Parents,                                                                                  24th  June 2022 

As we prepare for the Summer Holidays, there are a few changes for September that we want to inform all parents about.    It has been decided by the school’s Board of Management to change the opening and closing times of the school.  

Some of the reasons for changing the school day times include the following:   

• Children are currently arriving on school grounds from 8.20 am which is a full hour before school starts. This is because parents are dropping children to school before going to work, as they have no other childcare options.   This is not satisfactory from a Health and safety point of view as pupils are on school grounds in an unsupervised capacity each morning.   

• Schools in the Killarney Parish area are starting from 8.40 am onwards and this would bring us in line with the other school times.   It would also bring us in line with the Secondary schools which have earlier opening times than ourselves and prepare students who are transferring from National School, after they finish in 6^th class.   

• Currently, as a covid measure, we are supervising all the school entrances from 8.50 am to 9.20 am every morning.    We are also supervising each classroom for the same duration each morning. This was introduced as a covid measure to avoid congestion in the yards and in the school hall each morning.    With Covid measures being eased back across society, we are now in a position to remove this measure.     

         IMPORTANT CHANGES TO SCHOOL OPENING TIMES. 

• From 1^stSeptember 2022 , school doors will open at 8.40 am  
• All pupils will proceed directly to their individual classrooms.  
• Class will commence at 8.50 am  
• The Junior and Senior Infant Day will now finish at 1.30 pm  
• All other classes 1^stto 6^th will finish at 2.30pm  

This will mean that the school gate will be busier in the morning time as more people are dropping off at the same time.    We ask for your cooperation around this and please factor this into your journey times in the mornings. 

                                        TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT  

Another issue which the Board of Management want to address, is the traffic in and out of the school grounds.    Again this is a Health and Safety concern and we need to ensure that pupils are able to access the school grounds in a safe a manner as possible.  

Any parent who has access to a school fob, please be aware that these will be deactivated for the Summer Holidays.  Anyone who would like to request a school fob for next year will be asked to email the Board of Management in August and outline the reasons for this request.  

Please understand that only exceptional circumstances can be accommodated as having excessive traffic using the main school thoroughfare, along with pedestrians , is not safe for our children/pupils.  

                                     PEDESTRIAN CROSSING 

There is a Pedestrian Crossing inside the school gates and we would ask all adults and pupils to please use this to cross the roadway at the barriers.  Again this is a very busy area with buses and staff cars coming and going and for safety reasons 

We would ask you all to please use this crossing to access the school building. 

There is a pedestrian entrance on the Whitebridge side of the school gates and we would ask pupils and parents to use this entrance as much as possible for dropping and collecting. All of these measures will help to reduce the amount of traffic accessing the main gate and hopefully will make  it a safer environment. 

                                Unwanted School Uniforms 

If any families have unwanted school uniforms, could we ask that they hand them into the school as we will be able to redistribute them.  

                                     Class Teachers 

All classes have been informed of their teachers for next year . There are some classes who have not been informed of their assigned teacher for next year and these are subject to interviews and Patron’s approval. 

Finally, can I take this opportunity to wish all our6th class pupils who are leaving St. Oliver’s, the very best of luck for next year and for the future. They have been fantastic ambassadors for our school throughout their time here and no doubt will continue to be. 

Go n-eirí go geal libh. 

REMINDER;  St. Oliver’s School Closes on  Tuesday 28^th of June @ 12 noon and will Re-open on Thursday 1^st of September.

I also would like to thank everyone for their cooperation and support to all of us here in St. Oliver’s and would like to wish everyone a very happy Summer Holiday. 

Gurbh mile maith agaibh. 

Colm ó Súilleabháin 

School Closes on Tuesday 28th June @ 12.noon for Summer Holidays.

Summer Provision Programme commences on 29th June for 2 weeks.