Latest News

FIRST COMMUNION

Mon 31 Aug 2020

Best wishes to our Primary 4 children who received Holy Communion for the first time this weekend. May the love of Jesus shine in their hearts always.🙏❤😀

FIRST COMMUNION

Sat 29 Aug 2020

Please keep our Primary 4 children receiving Holy Communion for the first time this weekend in your prayers. May the love of Jesus shine in their hearts always.🙏❤😀

SCHOOL CLOSURE MONDAY 31ST AUGUST

Fri 28 Aug 2020

School is closed for all pupils on Monday 31st August. See you all on Tuesday 1st September.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend!

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL

Fri 28 Aug 2020

Dear Parents,

It was wonderful to welcome all the children back to school this week. They were absolutely amazing and appear to be adapting so well to our new routines.

We have reviewed the procedures and have decided to make some changes. All changes made in accordance with the DE Guidelines and are made in the best interest of the children. We are delighted that as all of our children have returned to school this has removed the necessity for additional preparation and planning time required for “blended” learning which we had pencilled into Wednesday afternoons.

Daily Starting and Finishing Times: Monday - Friday

In accordance with the guidance we have separated entrance and exit points, designated assembly points for children and staggered arrival and pick up times.

Please make note of the changes to your child/children’s starting and finishing times.

Arrival Time	GATE A	GATE B	GATE C
8.40am	P4	P2	P6
8.50am	P5	P3	P7
9.00am			P1

Home Time	GATE A	GATE B	GATE C
12.30pm		P2	P1
2.40pm	P4	P3	P6
2.50pm	P5		P7

Teachers will meet the children as they arrive at their designated time and we would ask parents to remain outside of the school grounds with the exception of Primary 1.

If your children have different starting times it is acceptable for you to choose the later time for dropping off your children.

David Carey, Building Supervisor, will supervise safe pedestrian entry at gate C for the P6 and P7 children.

School Meals

School meals will commence Tuesday 1st September 2020.We will be operating a cashless system, and you will be able to log onto that later today. Packed lunches will be provided for any children who are on our register for Free School Meals. If you have not received notification from the Education Authority that your child will be in receipt of free school meals, please provide a packed lunch for them until that information comes through to you. Eligibility for Free School Meals is not paid retrospectively.

There are a large number of plastic as opposed to disposable paper bags in use at present. Therefore, as we are an “Eco School”, to cut down on excessive non-recyclable waste, we would suggest that those who do not have paper disposable lunch bags use traditional lunch bags/boxes which must be thoroughly cleaned daily.

Breakfast Club.

Our “new” Breakfast Club will begin on Tuesday 1st September 7.50am. Children will be supervised in their class bubble/family bubble whichever is most appropriate which will be based on seating availability. We would request that only those who absolutely require to use this service do so, as we wish to support parents who are going back to work in the first instance. Booking will be on a daily basis to begin with.

Further information:

Regular and thorough attention to hygiene will be practised throughout the school day
Children should wash their hands thoroughly before coming to school and again upon entering the building
Each class will be viewed as a protective bubble and there will be staggered times for meals and play
We will endeavour to practise social distancing as far as is practical where physical capacity and curriculum delivery permit

All of these measures will be kept under review and may be subject to change.

Please be assured that we will continue to make every effort to make your child/children’s return to school as safe and supportive as we can.

Thank you for your support in the implementation of a number of changes regarding starting and finishing times of the new school day.

We would like to thank so many parents whose positive comments and encouragements have been much appreciated.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

Kind Regards,

Mrs McCullagh

Principal.

LUNCH MENU FOR NEXT WEEK

Fri 28 Aug 2020

Lunch menu for week commencing Monday 31st August 2020. You can book school lunches online using our new SchoolMoney system.

If for any reason you are struggling to log in, it may be because you have not provided us with the correct contact details. Please let us know immediately if either your mobile number or email address changes.

CONFIRMATION IN PORTSTEWART PARISH - MESSAGE FROM FR. AUSTIN

Fri 28 Aug 2020

FAO Our Class of 2020 (Primary 7 2019-2020) - Message from Fr. Austin McGirr

CONFIRMATION IN PORTSTEWART PARISH

Due to the restrictions we observe during the pandemic Confirmation will be celebrated as follows. The ceremony in Star of the Sea will take place on Sunday 4 Oct at noon and will last 45 mins.

We can accommodate two parents or guardians with each child.

If you wish to have your child confirmed please contact me(7083 2534) or Emer O'Keeffe (07709043921) within the next two weeks.

Fr Austin McGirr PP

SCHOOL MONEY - Our New Online Payment System

Thu 27 Aug 2020

We are delighted to inform you that we have recently signed up to the online payment system SchoolMoney. This means that you will now have the facility to make payments for school expenses, such as trips, online with your debit or credit card.

This new payment system will benefit both us as a school and you as a parent. Not only will you be able to pay for items from the comfort of your own home but you will also be able to access your account at any time to see if there is anything you need to pay for. SchoolMoney will enable us to experience a more streamlined, cost-effective and efficient payment system in a secure and safe environment.

You won’t need to sign up to this system as this is done automatically through the school and as long as you have provided us with up to date contact details we will send you a password within the next few days. This password will give you access to your SchoolMoney account where you can pay for any items we have requested from you.

To log into SchoolMoney, visit the website www.eduspot.co.uk and click on the sign in button in the top right hand corner. In the drop down, select the SchoolMoney Parent Login option and this will send you through to a page where you need to enter your mobile number, email address, the password we have sent to you, and your child’s first name.

If for any reason you are struggling to log in, it may be because you have not provided us with the correct contact details. Please let us know immediately if either your mobile number or email address changes.

We appreciate your cooperation in the early stages of rolling this system out to you and apologise in advance for any teething problems.

Cookies

Cookies

Website CMS

Matomo

reCaptcha

Cookie notice