Good communication and co-operation between parents and teachers is fundamental to the development of an effective and happy learning environment for your children.

Parents are always welcome in the school. You are encouraged to keep in regular contact with your daughter’s teacher and to be aware of her progress at school. It is important also, for the teacher to know of any concerns you may have, so that you can work together for the child’s welfare.

Please be aware however, that if you call unexpectedly during class, the teacher will be unable to talk to you. If you wish to discuss something with your child’s teacher please arrange an appointment with her. If you wish to discuss something with the School Principal you are also requested to make a prior appointment.

When calling to the school, please use the main front entrance and ring the bell marked ‘Senior School’.

Formal Parent/ Teacher meetings are held each year, usually in late November or early December.

Annual School Reports are issued at Easter. This gives you the opportunity to discuss any area of concern on the Report with your daughter’s teacher during the last term of the year.

Your child’s Homework Journal is a daily contact with school and should be checked each day by you, for communication purposes.

Letters, leaflets etc. are usually sent home with the children. Please arrange a system with your daughter, for ensuring that you receive these from her.

The official opening time of the school is 8.40am. Supervision begins at this time. Classes commence at 9.00am and end at 2.20pm.

No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before 8.40am. No responsibility is accepted for pupils who are left on the school premises after 2.20pm unless they are engaged in an organised extra-curricular activity.

Please ensure that your child arrives punctually every day and that she has all her books, copies, pencils etc. in good order for the day.

If you are driving your daughter to or from school, you are asked to respect the no parking zone, to obey the directions of the School Warden and not to park in front of neighbours’ gateways.

Bicycles at school: If your daughter cycles to school and parks her bike in the school grounds, you must ensure that it is insured, as it is not covered by the school insurance.

Home-time: At 2.20pm your daughter’s Class Teacher will escort her class towards the school gate. Where possible, arrange to meet your daughter outside the gate, as the area in front of the school can become very congested. If your daughter is attending an extra-curricular class straight after school, she should remain on the school premises and go directly to the classroom in question.

Extra-curricular classes:

Information regarding these classes is distributed by the individual teachers involved, in September.

Your daughter is required to wear the correct school uniform each day.

Belgrove Senior Girls’ School uniform is available in Pender’s on Vernon Avenue. The required uniform is listed on the back of your daughter’s Booklist. Uniform tracksuits are required wear for PE

Please note that suitable flat shoes are required for school wear and trainers (with laces tied properly) are required for PE. When purchasing trainers for PE please ensure that they are suitable for sports wear and not just designer wear. ‘Heelies’, the little wheels currently in fashion on certain trainers, are forbidden at school.

No jewellery of any kind should ever be worn at PE. and only minimum “safe” jewellery should be worn at any other time.

Please put your daughter’s name clearly on her jumper, tracksuit-top, jacket and on any other garment which could be mislaid or mixed up with another.

Please provide a small hand-towel, soap and tissues for your daughter’s personal use. Make sure she brings the hand-towel home for regular washing.

An old shirt or overall can be very handy to protect your daughter’s uniform at Art-time.

Your child should have a healthy and nutritious lunch each day. Thankfully, most Belgrove parents are aware of the importance of this for your children’s well-being and also for their ability to concentrate at school. Please try to avoid fizzy drinks, sweet things or chocolate, and to always include a healthy content (e.g. sandwich, pitta bread, rice-cake, fruit etc.). Popcorn, while fairly healthy, is not a terribly suitable option for school. It takes a long time to eat and too often ends up on the floor!

We do not allow crisps or chewing gum and sweets are also discouraged.

Please make sure that your child has a secure container for her drink.

Glass bottles are forbidden.

We take part in the E.U. Milk Scheme, which offers subsidised milk to school children. Orders for the year are taken in September.

We ask you to ensure that your daughter brings home for recycling, her empty milk or juice tetra-pack cartons. We recommend that she has a little bag with her lunch-box for these. School recycling bins do not have the capacity for the collection of tetra pack cartons in such quantity, nor is there the time in school for the daily rinsing out that would be involved.

Any unfinished lunch should be brought home. This will ensure that you know what your daughter is or is not eating at school.

There are two breaks during the school day, a short break from 10.30am-10.40am and a longer break from 12.15pm-12.45pm.

If your child has been absent from school, it is essential that a written note explaining the reason for her absence is submitted to her teacher, on her return to school.

If your child has to leave school early, for whatever reason, you must send a note to her teacher or call for her in person.

Holidays during term are not encouraged. Neither is it the policy of the school to set ‘holiday work’ for pupils. Attendance at school is important and the work of the school continues right up to the end of June each year. If family holidays during term time are unavoidable, please inform your child’s Class Teacher and the School Principal.

Please note that absences totalling 20 days or over, must now be reported to the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB). The precise reason for each absence must be stated – hence the importance of written notes to the class teacher.

Please do not send your child to school if she is ill.

Any infectious illness should be notified to the school without delay.

If your child has an infectious illness or similar ailment, please consult your doctor or the Health Board, before sending her back to school.

Head-lice are a recurring problem in schools. It is every parent’s responsibility to remain vigilant in this regard.

The school retains the contact telephone numbers on each child’s Enrolment Form. Please notify us of any change of number.

In the event of a serious accident parents or guardians will be contacted immediately. If necessary an ambulance will be called.

Minor cuts or stings will be treated in accordance with parental permission on Enrolment Form.

In the event of illness or injury (e.g. a bang on the head or a sprain), parents or guardians will be contacted.

It is now Board of Management policy that all pupils will be included in the Personal Accident Insurance Scheme with 24hr cover. This is at a current cost of €6 per pupil, which is included in annual Book-list Extra Costs. (There is a saving of €2 per pupil when the whole school avails of this recommended extra insurance, the individual cost being €8.)

Permission is sought from parents before children are brought on a school tour. Usually, you will receive a letter about the tour with a permission slip attached.

If the teacher does not receive the permission slip signed by you, your child will not be allowed to go on the tour.

Our school has a comprehensive Code of Behaviour. *You will receive a copy of the School Code of Behaviour in September.

We expect a high standard of behaviour from the children in our school. The children are expected to show respect for each other, for the staff of the school and other adults, and for school property.

As new children become familiar with the school, they are also made aware of the school’s Rules and Safety Procedures. The children become aware that rules are intended to ensure the safety of all in the school community and that rules and procedures help to make the school a pleasant place to be.

In class, each child is expected to do her best, to be attentive and diligent, to present her work with care, and to co-operate with her teacher and with her classmates.

In our interaction at school, our motto is: “Treat others as you like to be treated.” Kindness, tolerance and inclusiveness are continually emphasised.

Countering Bullying Behaviour: Our school has a comprehensive policy on countering bullying behaviour, intended for the whole school community. The good example shown by adults is vital to the formation of good habits of behaviour among children. *You will receive a copy of this policy in September. As well as outlining procedures for dealing with incidents of bullying behaviour, our policy includes positive action towards the prevention of bullying. The school holds a friendship week, drama presentations, workshops and role-play and constantly reinforces the unacceptability of bullying behaviour.

Mobile Phones: Pupils are not permitted to have mobile phones switched on or to use them on the school premises during the school day. If any girl needs to have a mobile phone to school with her, it must remain in her schoolbag. If you wish to contact your daughter for any urgent reason, please use the school telephone number.

School Policy recommends the following approximate times to be spent on homework:

Rang 2: 20-30mins

Rang 3: 30-40mins

Rang 4: 40-50mins

Rang 5&6: 50-60mins

If they have worked hard at school, children should not be expected to spend longer at homework than these recommended times. If your child has difficulty with homework or regularly cannot complete it in the recommended time, please inform her teacher.

Homework will include Reading, Spelling, Tables or other learning work, Maths, and perhaps a written exercise in English or another subject area. Written work will always have been well prepared at school. Maths homework will be consolidation of concepts or computation being studied at school. In higher classes, some home research and project work may be required from time to time.

Check your child’s homework each day.

Help her, but do not do the work for her.

Make sure that homework is done at a table or desk, without distractions nearby.

Ensure that written work is neat and presentable.

Homework Reading: Allow your child to read aloud for you. Do not pressurise her about any word she does not know. Simply tell her the word and ask her to read the sentence again, perhaps returning to difficult words at the end of the reading session, to see if she remembers them.

Spellings: The children are encouraged to learn spelling using the “Look and say, Cover, Write, Check” method which they can do alone. You should only be called to “Ask me my spellings!” when your child has already tested her knowledge of them. The actual writing down of each spelling is a very important part of the learning process.

Outside of Homework time, you can help your child’s education at home in many valuable ways.

Reading can never be over-emphasised. Read to you child, read with your child, let your child read to you. Surround her with books! Discuss your own reading material with her, and ask her about hers.

Games with an educational value are a wonderful fun way of learning e.g. family board-games, jigsaws, puzzles, card games, games requiring strategy and logical thinking etc.

Help your child informally, to read the time, to be familiar with coin values and change, to understand halves and quarters. Such knowledge will help her Maths education.

Monitor I.T. use. Ensure that some of your home software has a real educational value. Don’t allow too much inactive screen watching.

Monitor television watching. Set limits on viewing time.

Ensure that regular exercise is part of your child’s life.

School-going children need a regular sleep-pattern and early nights!