School & Class News

We hope you have all had a safe and restful summer break. We are really looking forward to welcoming back all the children to your local parish National School Saint Mary’s on Thursday 28th August 2025.

START OF SCHOOL DAY/ HUG & GO: The school gates will be opened Thursday August 28th at 08:25 by the principal and all classes start at 8:35. We ask that the boys, in classes senior infants to 6th class, walk to their class lines themselves. We continue to encourage a “Hug & Go” policy on Grotto Avenue.Can new parents and new students, in classes other than Junior Infants, go to the reception area where you will be looked after by a staff member. Junior Infants will start at 08:35 and will line up at entrance door number 4, on the letter L. Their class teacher Ms. Hastings , SNA Deborah and other staff members will be there to help them settle into their new class. Up until and including Friday September 5th Junior Infants can walk to their classroom with a parent / guardian and from Monday September 8th they will be assigned a place to line up on the yard. Your child’s class teacher will show you. Parents can wait with them at 8:35 until they are collected by their class teacher. In keeping with our “Hug & Go” advice we then ask parents to then leave the grounds promptly. Your child’s teacher will bring your child to the front of the school to be collected at 12:00.Children will not be able to play ball games in the school yard prior to the school day, but can chat with their friends and go straight to their class line when the bell rings. A school class lining up pan had been shaered via Aladdin email. If classes are located upstairs, students are asked to follow the ‘Keep left’ rule on the stairs.There will be many teachers/ SNAs on the yard on Thursday and Friday to help you of you and your child if you need any assistance.

School Plan. Door Entrance, Line Up Letters 2025-2026

END OF SCHOOL DAY/COLLECT & GO: Junior Infants will be collected at 12:00 from August 28th until Friday September 5th.After that they will finish at 13:15. Until September 5th your child’s teacher will, at the end of the school day, bring your child to the front of the school building to be collected by you at 12:00. From Monday September 8th please wait behind the Green Cycle lane opposite Exit Door 4 and your child will come over to you.Some children in 3rd class to 6th class organise to meet their parent/guardian; outside the school gates, at the corner halfway down the lane or outside Booterstown Parish Youth Club Hall. This arrangement really helps to decrease the number of adults on the school grounds and ensures a smoother flow of people from the school grounds. Please feel free, at your own discretion, to continue this arrangement with your child.If you need to talk to a staff member, to arrange same, please email the teacher or the office This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone the school office at 01 2886830. To minimise numbers, please limit the number of people collecting a child to 1 person.Access to the school front garden or adventure area is not allowed without teacher supervision.We ask that parents and pupils disperse and depart the school grounds as promptly as possible using the path.

STAFFING: Teacher & SNA staffing allocation for 2025-2026  has been shared via email on Aladdin with the school community.  Please check your emails. 

ONE WAY SYSTEM: We have a one-way system in operation at collection time. Adults are asked to enter the yard on the right-hand side by following the green line. We remind all adults to stay behind this line at all times. When you have collected your child and you are exiting the yard please leave via the exit gate (This is the side closest to the school building). At all times please use the path on Grotto Avenue and Grotto Place

BICYCLES & SCOOTERS: Many children scoot/cycle to school. There are plenty of spaces in the bike/scooter bays at the back of the school. We ask that all children dismount off their bikes/ scooters at the school gate and walk along the cycle lane to the parking bays. The same applies when leaving the school. If your child is cycling to school please discuss the rules of the road with them carefully. Please label all scooters/ bike sand helmets clearly.

CARS!!!!!!!!!!:Please do not drive or park your car up Grotto Avenue or Grotto Place to drop or collect your child. Both roads are already very busy with children walking and cycling and staff and neighbours in cars. Our neighbours have been very supportive and helpful to the school over the years. Please do not take their parking spots or block in their cars.

HOT LUNCHES: We had hoped to launch the Hot Lunch programme on August 28^th. We had created our focus group, had food companies meet our focus group and sampled their range of hot lunches. Following an Department of Education directive, we still have to go through E-tender protocols. The E-Tender template only became available last Friday August 15^th.We have submitted our application and will have to engage with interested parties, including those that the focus group has engaged with already. This will take time. We will keep you informed. In the meantime, please continue to provide your child with a healthy snack and lunch every day. Thank you for your patience.

UNIFORMS: All classes now wear the school tracksuit only. School tracksuit top and plain navy shorts. No logos on shorts. No football shorts. etc. Please label all clothes very clearly. More details about the uniform are on the school website.

NUT ALLERGIES /KIWI ALLERGIES/ PARTY INVITATIONS : Please do not send in food to school to share that needs to be cut by staff e.g. birthday cakes etc. Please distribute party invitations outside school time. Please do not have any nut products or kiwi products in any food. We have children with severe allergies to these foods.Please note that we ask that children take home all food that they have not finished in school. They can compost it at home and parents can get to see what their child has eaten in school and what they have not.

STRIKE ACTION FOR PAY PARITY: We want to let you know about the ongoing industrial action involving school secretaries and caretakers, supported by Fórsa, our trade union. This is part of a national dispute with the Department of Education.Many school secretaries and caretakers are employed under what’s known as the ancillary services grant scheme. Although they work side by side with public servants in schools, they are not recognised as public service employees. This means they do not have access to standard entitlements such as pension schemes, paid sick leave, bereavement leave or secure, year-round employment. Their pay and conditions have remained largely unchanged for decades, with many earning below the living wage and working on term-time contracts only.The aim of this industrial action is to secure fair treatment and equal access to the basic rights already available to teachers, SNAs and other Department-employed staff.We know how busy these first few days of the school year can be, and we want to avoid any unnecessary disruption. However, we also feel it’s important to stand in solidarity with our Fórsa colleagues.   The school will open as normal as Teachers & SNAs have not been mandated to strike.Teachers and SNAs have been advised not to undertake work that would normally be carried out by their colleagues. Teachers & SNAs are in full support of us. We kindly ask that you only ring the school if it’s an important matter, as the school will have limited capacity for non-urgent queries during this time.We thank you for your understanding and support on this matter.Lorraine, Laura & Eamon (Secretaries - Caretaker)

SCHOOL CLOSURE FOR STAFF TRAINING:  Saint Mary's BNS will be closed for students on Thursday  January 29th 2026 and Thursday April 30th 2026  for staff training for the New Primary Curriculum Framework. 

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school at 01-2886830 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Kind regards,

Noel Scully. Principal.