Parents

GENERAL INFORMATION

School Times

1. School begins at 9:00am. It is important that the children develop the habit of being punctual for school. Children who come to school before 9:00am wait in the yard, in their class line. The teacher collects the class from the yard at 9:00am.
2. There is a ten minute break at 10:50am. Yard time is from 1:00pm to 1:30pm.
3. All pupils go home at 2:40pm.
In the interest of safety and fostering independence in your child, parents are asked to wait for the children at the green gates outside the yard rather than outside the classrooms.

School Uniform

The school uniform is worn on all school days other than P.E. days.  The uniform consists of a wine jumper, light blue shirt and grey pants or a wine and blue school skirt. The uniform is available from Pat O’Farrell School wear  (01)8139714. The school tracksuit is worn on P.E. days or other sports days as specified by the children’s class teacher. Make-up or fake tan is not allowed and the wearing of jewellery is limited to watches.
Please ensure all personal property is clearly labelled with your child’s name.

School Books

The class teachers distribute the Book Lists to the children in June.  We are very conscious of the cost of school books and for this reason a second hand book sale takes place in the school where parents may purchase textbooks at reduced prices. Children are asked to have all schoolbooks on the book list for September. Some books are provided to pupils under the book rental scheme.

Primary School Curriculum

The What, Why and How of Children’s Learning in Primary School is a DVD for parents about the Primary School Curriculum. It can be accessed at www.ncca.ie. The DVD provides information for parents about what children learn in school, why they learn with the curriculum and how they learn through different teaching methodologies. The subjects taught from Third to Sixth Class are:

Languages: English and Irish
Mathematics
S.E.S.E (Social, Environmental and Scientific Education): History, Geography and Science.
Arts: Visual Arts, Music and Drama
S.P.H.E (Social, Personal and Health Education), Physical Education, Religion.

Religious Education

A Catholic ethos permeates the school day and the life of the school. The school follows the Alive-O programme. Pupils receive Confirmation when they are in Sixth Class. The preparation of the children for the sacrament is a shared responsibility for pupils, teachers, parents and parish clergy. On certain occasions during the school year, the children may receive the Sacrament of Penance or participate in school Mass.

Homework

Parents are encouraged to establish a set routine and time for the child to do his/her homework, in a quiet place free from distractions. Parents are asked to supervise children’s homework, checking and signing the homework journal on completion. Please place a note in your child’s homework journal if homework has not been completed due to unforeseen circumstances.

Homework is given Monday to Thursday. Allotted time that teachers expect a child in each class to spend at homework is as follows:
Third Class - 30 minutes
Fourth Class - 40 minutes
Fifth Class - 50 minutes
Sixth Class - 1 hour

If your child is spending more time than they should at homework and he/she is doing their work in a quiet place free from distractions, please contact the class teacher.

Co-Curricular Activities

Scoil Chrónáin offers a wide range of co-curricular activities to cater for a variety of interests. More information on these clubs and activities can be found on the After School Activities webpage.

Music

The musical ability of all the children in the school is fostered and encouraged. All class levels are taught to play the recorder and read music. Piano lessons are available after school. The School Choir gives children the opportunity to sing at school masses and events as well as competing in Feis Ceoil. The annual Talent Show and School Concert provides an occasion to enjoy the musical and dance talents of the children.

Swimming

Children in 3rd and 4th classes have the opportunity to take swimming lessons during the school day.

GAA

Gaelic Football coaching is provided to all class levels. The school has both Boys and Girls Gaelic teams and a hurling team. The school teams take part in Cumman na mBunscoil competitions and the Fingal League.

Green Schools

The Green Schools initative aims to increase students’ and participant awareness of environmental issues through classroom studies and to transfer this knowledge into positive environmental action in the school and also in the wider community. Our school has been awarded two Green Flags.

Athletics

The Athletics Club provides coaching for children in all areas of athletics. The school takes part in the inter-school competitions held in Morton Stadium, Santry.

School Transition Programme

This programme is provided to 6th class pupils to assist with the transition into secondary school.

Fingal Sports Development

Under this programme, cycling lessons are provided to 4th class and 5th class receives Tennis lessons.

ICT/Computers

Children have an opportunity to develop their computer skills in many ways. Each classroom is equipped with an Interactive Whiteboard and a PC. The Computer Room contains 28 computers and a data projector.

Rainbows

The Rainbows facilitation programme is offered to children who experience bereavement, separation or divorce.

Gardening

The School Garden is cared for by children in the Gardening Club who meet at lunchtime and after school.

The Credit Union

Children have the opportunity to save regularly with the Credit Union. Money is deposited into Credit Union accounts in school and withdrawals can be made from the Swords Member First Credit Union Office.

Policies and Procedures

There are a number of policies and procedures in place to ensure the health and safety of all the children in the school. The complete policy documents are available here

Attendance

The Education Welfare Act requires children to be in school everyday unless there is a reasonable explanation for not attending. The school authorities are obliged to notify the Education Welfare Officer when a child is absent over 20 days. Where a child is absent from school, the parent is required to notify the Class Teacher of the reason for the child’s absence.

A pupil who shows signs of illness should be kept at home. Requests from parents to allow their child to stay inside during yard cannot be accepted. A child who is too sick to play or go outside during break time should not be in school. The school is unable to provide adequate extra supervision inside the school during break times. However, arrangements will be made in exceptional circumstances, when a child needs to stay inside.

Situations do arise when a child appears well in the morning and then gets sick during the day. Parents/guardians will be contacted. Please ensure that your child’s teacher has up-to-date phone numbers for parents and emergency contacts. These numbers can be written in the homework journal, allowing you to be contacted immediately if your child is sick.

Taking children out of school during the school day

If a child needs to leave school during the day, the parent/guardian is asked to write a note in their journal.  The child can be collected at the office and signed out by the secretary.  A child may not leave the school unaccompanied.  In the event of any ambiguity whatsoever, the Principal/Secretary will make a call to the parent to clarify the situation.

Code of Behaviour

Our school aims to ensure that the individuality of each child is acknowledged, while recognising the right of each child to education in a relatively disruption-free environment. In our school all pupils are treated with kindness, respect and dignity. There is a strong sense of community and cooperation among staff, pupils and parents and all are agreed that their focus is primarily on the promotion of positive behaviour. The Code of Behaviour for Scoil Chrónáin is formulated for the purpose of creating a positive learning environment for our pupils that promotes contentment, motivation and achievement.

Guidelines for behavior are provided in the Code, along with explanations of rewards and sanctions. The school code places a greater emphasis on rewards than o sanctions, and the ideal is that pupils will acquire self-discipline. Bullying or being a party to bullying will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Our anti-bullying school programme is taught in all classes through the school. The full Code of Behaviour can be viewed here or is available from the secretary’s office. Attendance at Scoil Chrónáin is seen as an acceptance of this Code of Behaviour.

Health/Medication

Parents are asked to inform the school in writing if their child suffers from any allergies, long term or short term illness and if their child is on medication. No teacher can be required to administer medicine to a pupil. Where a teacher, with the consent of the BOM, does take on the responsibility for administering emergency medication, an indemnity form is signed by both parties and the insurance company is notified.

Healthy Lunch

Children are encouraged to eat a healthy, well-balanced lunch, thus promoting a healthy lifestyle and forming healthy eating patterns for later life.

Mobile Phones

Children may carry a mobile phone to school but the phone remains the responsibility of the child at all times. The phone must be turned off on the school grounds. If a child uses a mobile without permission, the phone is held in the Office until the end of the week.

School Tours and Outings

Each class level takes one school tour every year, with the possibility of additional outings. Teachers will give parents sufficient notice of the outing and the cost. Children wear their school uniform or tracksuit on all school outings.

Accidents

Minor accidents are treated at school. In the event of a more serious accident or a child becoming very ill, every possible effort will be made to contact the child’s parents or the person delegated to take responsibility of the child.

Parking Outside the school

There is limited parking outside the school on the road. Parents are asked not to drive into the Senior School area as only staff cars are permitted. Parents are asked to drive with great caution and to allow for the unexpected errors that children of school-age can make.

Parent/Teacher Communication

The homework journal is the initial means of communication between teachers and parents and it is important that parents check and sign the journal every evening. Occasions occur where a parent or teacher needs to call a meeting and a note should be put in the journal to arrange an appointment. Meeting with a class teacher at classroom door, either in the morning or during the day, is discouraged. A teacher cannot supervise a class adequately while talking at the door and it is difficult to be discrete when so many children are close by. Parents can make an appointment to meet a teacher at a time that is convenient to both teacher and parent.
Parent-Teacher meetings are held in the first term and parents will be given notice of these meetings. A meeting is held in June of each year with parents of the new 3rd class.
In addition to the above forms of home/school links, the following means of communication are also utilised:
• School reports are issued at the end of the school year
• The school uses the Komeer app to communicate with parents. If you haven't already got it you can install the app from the App Store or Google Play Store.
• Details of school holidays and early school closures are given in the School Calendar
• Notes in the pupil’s homework journal
• Newsletters are issued during the year giving details of events and activities
• School policies are available here