FÓRSA ANNOUNCE END OF STRIKE: We are pleased to welcome back Eamon, our caretaker, and Laura and Lorraine, our school secretaries. We look forward to their return to help us with the care of all our students and the daily running of St. Mary’s BNS.
The key element of the agreement announced on Friday evening is a commitment to negotiate comparable pension entitlements for our school secretaries and caretakers. This represents the first time the State has formally accepted that these essential staff members should not be excluded from pension entitlements comparable to those available to teachers and SNAs.
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.
AFTERSCHOOL CLUBS :
- Homework Club: Starting 8th September Monday to Thursday 2:15pm to 3:15pm - (3rd to 6th Class only) Contact Sam Briggs on
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - After School Sports: Starting Monday September 1st 2:15pm to 3:15pm (1st -6th class only) Aoife Cartwright. CONTACT
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Spanish: Afterschool lessons from 1st to 6th class starting Thursday the 11th of September to Thursday 11th of December (13 weeks) from 2:15 to 3:10. Please contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further details. - Science Club: A new Science Club, which will be starting in St. Mary’s BNS will take place every Thursday, for 12 weeks, starting 11th September until 4th December, 2025. The class times will be as follows: 1.15 pm – 2.10 pm Junior/Senior Infants & 2.15 pm – 3.10pm 1st – 6th class.
There is a new booking system in place on the We Love Science website: www.welovescience.ie
(https://afterschoolclubs.carrd.co/) If you have any difficulties navigating the website, or if you have any queries at all, please don’t hesitate to emailThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Johnny's After School Club: Johnny’s After School Sports for Junior and Senior Infants will start on Monday 9th September and will run for 7 weeks. You can click on the link below to sign up. Junior and Senior Infants https://signup.com/go/otqbDQv. After School Sports for 1st - 6th class will start on Thursday 4 September and will run for 8 weeks. You can click on the link below to sign up .1st - 6th class. https://signup.com/go/qfaMxde
- Alto School of Music: Starting 8th September Monday & Fridays. Piano and Guitar. Contact Anna on
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Art: Tuesdays starting 23rd September to 16th December inclusive with Evelyn Healy. Junior & Senior Infants 1:15pm – 2:15pm 1st to 6th Class 2:15pm to 3:15pm
CONTACT:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - There will be more clubs to start over the coming weeks. We will inform you once they are sanctioned and the days and times agreed. All queries should be directly with the after school activity organiser as outline above.
START OF SCHOOL DAY/ HUG & GO: The school gates open at 08:25 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 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 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 shared 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.
END OF SCHOOL DAY/COLLECT & GO: From Monday September 8th Junior Infants will be collected at 13:15. 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. Access to the school front garden or adventure area at this time is not allowed without teacher supervision.
STAFFING: Teacher & SNA staffing allocation for 2025-2026 has been shared via email on Aladdin with the school community. Staff email accounts have been shared via Aladdin.
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 28th. We had created our focus group, had food companies meet our focus group and sampled their range of hot lunches. Following a Department of Education directive, we still have to go through E-tender protocols. The E-Tender template only became available last Friday August 15th.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/ 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 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.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Kind regards,
Noel Scully. Principal.