School Calendar 2021 2022

Dear Parent/Guardian (s)

We are very excited about the academic year ahead, 2021-2022, and all that it will hold for our school community. It will present our students with further opportunities for educational, social and personal growth and development.

Covid 19:

As things stand, the same Covid-19 guidelines and procedures that we had in place last year will continue to remain in Coláiste Eoin for the foreseeable future. This is hugely important with regard to the areas of mask-wearing, hand-sanitising, wiping-down desks and social-distancing in particular. We will also continue to have student-based classrooms, designated recreational zones at break-times and lunch-times, a keep-right system on the school corridors and a one-way-system in place in our general-purpose-area. We expect and appreciate the full cooperation of all our school community in our Covid 19 protocols here. We were very successful last year as a school in our day-to-day operational procedures in combating Covid 19 and this was due to the collective effort of our students, teachers, parents and all school staff. Ventilation of rooms by keeping windows and doors open during and between lessons will also continue and we wait on the delivery of carbon dioxide/air monitors as promised by the Department of Education and Skills to all schools for the coming year. We would ask all parents/guardians and students to please take time to study the relevant material on Covid 19 and general school information on our school website, www.colaisteeoinhacketstown.ie before returning to school. We will also distribute further information to students and parents as it becomes available to us.

Mobile Phone Policy:

We are introducing an 'Unseen and Unheard Mobile Phone Policy' in Coláiste Eoin for 2021-2022. This will be a positive development. Coláiste Eoin expects that student mobile phones will be switched off and kept in pockets / school bags / lockers during the entire course of the school day, including break-time and lunchtime, so as to avoid disrupting teaching and learning and to avoid a breach of data and child protection. (The only exception for the use of a mobile phone in school is if a teacher, as part of the lesson, specifically allows students in class to use their mobile phone for learning, assessment, project work or research purposes) It is not advisable for parents to communicate directly with students in school during the day by mobile phone as this can cause major issues for the student and the staff member Students should only communicate with parent/guardian(s) through the school office Parent/guardian(s) should only communicate with students through the school office Phone calls or emails to the school from parents with messages for students should be the common/standard practice. The school aims to educate students in the responsible use of mobile phones and technology Mobile phones do present a number of problems: -They are anti-social and we want to encourage our students to develop their social / interpersonal skills and communication skills - Many students have developed an unhealthy relationship with their phone-it is almost an extension of their hand at times. We want to address this in our school -They are valuable items that can be stolen -Their use can render students subject to potential bullying or inappropriate contacts -They can disrupt the learning environment - Camera functions can lead to child protection and data protection issues with regard to inappropriate capture, use or distribution of images -There is a major legal implication here around the improper use of mobile phones and we seek to educate our students and advise and protect our students in this regard. - We have a duty of care to our students, and we want them to understand the dangers involved and the serious legal repercussions for improper use of mobile phones.

School Uniform:

We take immense pride in our school uniform in Coláiste Eoin and we will continue to demand the highest of standards are in place here. The school uniform will be monitored each day by teachers, class tutors, year heads and senior management. Students arriving to school without their full school uniform is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this school. This is a breach of our school code of behaviour and parents will be contacted by the school office and will have to make arrangements to either (a) arrange to drop in the missing uniform item to the school, (b) collect the student from the school and bring them home, or (c) the student will be sent home from school with the permission of parent/guardian(s) to obtain the uniform item or remain there until the full school uniform is available to be worn. The school uniform should be neat and tidy at all times and there is an obligation on the part of both parent/guardian(s) and students to ensure that each student presents well in full uniform for school each and every day. This should be a given and avoids the wasting of valuable teacher time and resources in dealing with these situations. That time should instead, be directed fully into teaching, learning and assessment along with extra- curricular activities. Items of School Uniform: 1st and 2nd Year-School Tie, Royal Blue Jumper, White School Shirt, Navy Trousers, Black Shoes, Navy School Jacket and full PE Uniform. No exceptions. All other Year Groups- 3rd, TY, 5th & 6th Years-School Tie, Navy Jumper, Light Blue School Shirt, Navy Trousers, Black Shoes, Navy School Jacket and full PE Uniform. No exceptions. NB. No hoodies or non-school jackets are acceptable or allowed inside the school

Punctuality:

Being late for school is a terrible habit to develop and we encourage all our students to be on time (at least 10-15 minutes) before the first bell each morning and to arrive to each class period on time throughout the day. It is both courtesy and good manners and a life-long value to maintain. "Better three hours too soon than a minute too late".-William Shakespeare

Book Rental Fee and TY Resource Fee:

We wish to remind parent/guardian(s) that we have a Way 2 Pay system in place which accepts cashless payments in full or by instalments for our book rental scheme for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th Year Students and for the TY Resource fee for each of our TY (4th Year) students. The school relies heavily on parent/guardian(s) to make these payments in order to cover the costs involved. As a school, we do not request an additional voluntary contribution from families like many of our neighbouring schools do so we appreciate the effort parent/guardian(s) make to process the payments for the book rental fee and the TY resource fee. Information on using Way 2 Pay is available on our school website and can also be obtained by contacting the school office by email at info@ceh.ie or phone (059) 6471198.

As a school staff we seek to focus on the five C's of success- Culture, Communication, Change, Camaraderie and Commitment and we work hard to create and maintain a school climate of honesty, positivity and respect for others. This is the cornerstone of everything that we do here in Coláiste Eoin, 'the small school with the big heart'. We look forward to greeting you all on your return to school and to working with each of our students to maximise their academic potential.

Kind regards

A. Costello

Principal