Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Free School Meals/Uniform Allowance 2021/22

  Sun 30 May 2021

  Latest information from Education Authority regarding FreeSchool Meals/Uniform Allowance for 2021/22 school year...

   

  Current Eligible Families and New Applicants

   

  Parents/guardians who are currently in receipt of support for the 2020/21 school year will not be sent a pre-populated form for the 2021/22 school year.

   

  All parents/ guardians (including new applicants) are required to apply on-line from Monday, 7 June 2021 via the EA website https://www.eani.org.uk/financial-help/free-school-meals. It is recommended that parents/ guardians apply during the month of June, or as early as possible, to enable applications to be processed for support to be in place for their children for the new school year.

   

  Parents/ guardians are being advised of the importance of providing valid Bank or Building Society account details in the claimant’s own name. Payments cannot be made into Post Office accounts.

  

• ACTION MENTAL HEALTH SESSION FOR PARENTS & CARERS

  Fri 28 May 2021

  Healthy Me Session

   

  The Menssana team are providing a 1.5 hour webinar via zoom specifically aimed at parents, carers and staff of children of primary age.

   

  This session aims to:

  * Start a conversation about mental health

  * Raise awareness of signs/symptoms of mental ill-health

  * Teach self-care techniques for building resilience and confidence

  * Show you how and where to access support and further information

   

  Registration for Parents/Carers...

  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/parents-and-carers-mental-health-awareness-session-tickets-156658352349

   

  Registration for staff...

  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/primary-school-staff-mental-health-awareness-session-tickets-156510405837

  #actionmentalhealth #healthyme

   

  

• Post Primary Transfer

  Fri 28 May 2021

  Revised date for notification of the outcome of applications Post Primary Transfer

   

  The Education Authority (EA) has shared the concerns of many parents and school leaders in both the primary and post-primary sectors with regard to the timetabled notification of outcome date of 19 June 2021.

   

  I am pleased to advise that the new system has enabled faster processing of applications by schools. This, coupled with special circumstances claims not requiring to be considered this year as part of admissions criteria by the majority of selective post-primary schools, has made it possible to bring forward the parental notification of outcome of applications to Saturday, 12th June 2021.

   

  Parents who had applied online will be able to login to the EA Post-Primary Application from 9am on Saturday, 12th June 2021 to receive the outcome of their child’s application.

   

  Please note that parents cannot indicate acceptance or refusal of a place offered via the online portal. The EA understands that confirmation of acceptance of a place is not usually requested by post-primary schools. If any post-primary schools do require confirmation, they will contact parents directly with instructions on how they should respond.

   

  On Notification Day

   

  It is expected that a very large volume of parents will be logging in on notification day. While EA has taken all possible steps, in advance, to seek assurances from our digital software provider that the Post-Primary Application Portal can manage this, we know that it may take some time before all parents are able to access their notification.

   

  Parents will be made aware, via an email prior to the notification day that they may be placed in a queue and will be encouraged via our social media post that they may wish to log in at a less busy time.

   

  An Admissions Helpdesk will be operating from 9am to 5pm on Saturday 12th June to assist parents who require support and to answer queries that cannot be clarified via the website information.

   

  Mrs McCullagh on behalf of Education Authority

• CONFIRMATION, WEDNESDAY 26TH MAY

  Wed 26 May 2021

  Please keep our Primary 7 pupils receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this afternoon in your prayers.

   

  May God's love light their way as they follow the path of His blessings.

   

  

• REMINDER: ST. COLUM'S SUMMER SCHEME REGISTRATION OPEN TOMORROW

  Mon 24 May 2021

  Applications for the Summer Scheme, for pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (P3-P7), will open at 10.00am tomorrow, Tuesday 25th May 2021, via the Registration of Interest form on the following link https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-yeCOETeDkaBkAVAK4mNqKo8xt2B-ORItI5da9xtfAFUNzE5VTdGQzlSV1JJTEI1OThVUDUxUVE5My4u

   

  Please note: registration will close at 11pm.

   

   

   

   

   

  

• REMINDER: EARLY CLOSURE P3-P7 NEXT WEEK

  Sat 22 May 2021

  Early closure for P3 - P7 next week to facilitate parent teacher interviews and Confirmation.

  

• LUNCH MENU FOR NEXT WEEK

  Fri 21 May 2021

  Lunch menu for next week, from Monday 24th May.

   

  Please book online through our SchoolMoney system. School lunches should be booked by 11pm the previous evening. If you have any problems accessing SchoolMoney, please contact the office ☎ 02870833010

   

  Follow the link for our Parents Guide to SchoolMoney...https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/st-colums-primary-school/UploadedDocument/5b9a7461fe0c47a89d5c1cfd4f09acc5/school-money-parent-guide.pdf 

  

• ST. COLUM'S SUMMER SCHEME

  Fri 21 May 2021

  We are delighted to be able to offer a Summer Scheme for pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (P3-P7) on the following dates.

   

  Week 1 – Monday 26th July to Friday 30th July.

  Week 2 – Monday 2nd August to Friday 6th August.

   

  Currently it is planned that the timetable for each day is 10.00am - 2pm and the children will bring a packed lunch. There will be no cost for the Summer Scheme.

   

  Places are limited (44 pupils each week) due to Covid restrictions. In the initial survey there was a high interest expressed. To facilitate as many pupils as possible you are asked to choose attendance for one week only, at this stage. If the uptake is not as big as anticipated there may be the opportunity to attend for two weeks, depending upon availability.

   

  In the event of oversubscription to the Summer Scheme priority will be given to any child who currently has a Statement of Special Educational Needs in accordance with guidance from DE.

   

  The Summer Scheme will focus on emotional health and wellbeing, as well as activities which are interactive and fun, with plenty of scope for outside play and for learning activities as and where appropriate.

   

  It is hoped that social distancing rules will improve in time for the Summer Scheme to begin but for the moment, the current practice of school bubbles will continue to apply.

   

  Applications for the Summer Scheme will open at 10.00am on Tuesday 25th May 2021, via the Registration of Interest form on the following link https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-yeCOETeDkaBkAVAK4mNqKo8xt2B-ORItI5da9xtfAFUNzE5VTdGQzlSV1JJTEI1OThVUDUxUVE5My4u

   

  Places will be allocated on a “First Come First Served” basis. 

  

• PRIMARY 7: CONFIRMATION CURRENT ARRANGEMENTS

  Thu 20 May 2021

  Letter to Primary 7 pupils regarding current Confrimation Arrangements on our Newsletter page ... https://www.stcolumsprimaryschool.co.uk/newsletters-2/

• SUMMER FUN DAY, FRIDAY 4TH JUNE

  Tue 18 May 2021

  Looking forward to our Fun Day for all the children on Friday 4th June, celebrating our return to

  school after the lockdown... Bouncy Castles, Inflatable Slide, HungryHippos, Wipe-out Sweeper, Assault Course and Bumper Cars.

   

  #classbubbles #funday #rainbowchildren