Dear Families,

This term has been a tricky one to navigate as Covid is still having an impact on our school community. However it has provided me with a lovely opportunity to get out and about in your neighborhoods as I drop off books and school supplies to our little home learners. Thank you all for your warm greetings and your continued support in keeping your children up to date with their education. Please reach out at the following email address: hscl@scps.ie if I can be of any assistance to you. We are stronger together.

Our classes for parents are in full swing, but it is never too late to join and there is still availability in all classes. The classes are held in the Parish Centre and participants are required to show their Covid certificate and to wear masks throughout.

Reminder of schedule:

Monday: 9:00 - 10:00, Strengthen, Tone and Stretch with Elaine

Tuesday: 9:00 - 11:00, Beginners and improvers Art with John

Thursday: 9:00 - 11:00, Yogalates with Tara

Friday: 9:00 - 10:00, Pilates with Elaine

In partnership with the Europass Teacher Academy who have taken up residence in St.Mary's old school building we are hoping to be able to offer some new classes after the midterm. Please keep an eye on school correspondence for further details.

As you are aware our school campus is strictly a nut and kiwi free zone. Nuts and peanuts can cause allergic reactions, which are sometimes severe. A severe reaction to nuts is called anaphylaxis and can be life-threatening. We are continually reviewing our policies and trying to assess their effectiveness here in school and would like to raise the awareness amongst our school community of the potential dangers or reactions that can and will occur if families include certain prohibited items in their child's lunchbox.

If you are interested in joining a parent focus group to discuss this topic please contact me via email: hscl@scps.ie

Regular school attendance and punctuality help to give children the best possible start and are essential factors in a child's learning. While we appreciate that Covid has played havoc with children's attendance over the past few months, it is not a reason for lateness. Good punctuality at school is essential for students to achieve their full educational potential. It is also vital for students to form good habits for later life. Students arriving late are recorded on the register, along with how many minutes late they are. Classes begin at 9:00 am sharp and all children should be in school ready to learn by that time.

As you are aware, we are located between several busy roads and road safety is a constant concern for us.

The Road Safety Authority is doing online sessions with all classes from Junior Infants to 6th class during the month of February. Please take time to ask your child(ren) about what they have learned and heard during these sessions.

Safer Internet Day 2022 takes place on Tuesday, February 8th.

Safer Internet Day (SID) is an EU wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. It is promoted in Ireland by the PDST Technology in Education and Webwise. To conincide with SID, free online workshops for parents will take place at 10 am and 7:30pm each day from 7th - 11th February. Each workshop will last approximately 90 minutes.

You can register for a session using this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Internet-Safety-February-2022

DCU Anti-Bullying Centre and TikTok invite you to attend a free parents webinar entitled "Anti-Bullying & Online Safety - A Parent's Guide to TikTok" on Tuesday 15th February at 7.00 pm.

register throught he following link:

https://dcu-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G9q3E9OMSKa1_skNnZ3D2Q

International Mother Language Day takes place on the 21st February. We would love our St.Christopher's families to get involved. You can do this by by working with your child to record a piece at home in your first language. This could be a song, a poem or some greetings in your native tongue. One voice recording per family, an mp3 file (no videos please) is all we need and this will be included in the SCPS Languages Podcast to share with all our school community.

If interested, please label your recording in the following format:

First name - surname - Class, ie: John Smith - Ms. Ryan's 4th Class

and upload onto the link below by Friday 11th February.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LmLVZoc5-lHuQ2LfZ_QpXEfViaLNUMj9?us p=sharing