Dear Parents,

Please take time to read the advice for all in this digital era of communication.Please see link below.

https://www.webwise.ie/category/parents/advice/

LE CHEILE, Tyrrelstown won an Under-16 C Boys Subway Schools Cup final thriller at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght as Mount St Michael battled right down to the wire.

Under-16C Boys Basketball Schools Final
Le Cheile, Tyrrelstown 50
Mount Saint Michael 47

The teachers will be teaching lessons with the following themes next week to support Catholic Schools Week 2019.

Monday: Living Tradition

Tuesday: Welcoming Diversity

Wednesday: Grandparents Day

Thursday: In Service of our Community

Friday: Supporting Faith

Homework Club is running in the school from 2:40pm – 3:40pm, Monday – Thursday. If you wish your child to attend please return a signed permission slip to the school with the following;

One child attending Homework Club - €10 per week

Two siblings attending Homework Club - €18 per week

Three siblings attending Homework Club - €25 per week

Many thanks,

                        The Homework Club Teachers

Please note there is NO Homework Club this Monday the 21^st of January as there is a staff meeting

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We are excited to announce that St. Lukes NS will now be running a Speech and Drama club for children.

Speech and drama club will consist of:

• Creating and participating in dramas
• Singing
• Poetry
• Mime
• Communication
• Confidence building

This will take place every Thursday and Friday for one hour after school, from 2.40 until 3.40. The cost of this will be €3 per child, per day. Places are limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis.

If you would like your child to attend Speech and Drama Club, please fill out the permission slip below and return with €3 fee.

Ms. Jordan

I give permission for_____________________ to attend Speech and Drama Club after school on Thursdays/Fridays from 2.40-3.40 and have enclosed €3 for the first class.

Signed: _________________________________________________

Dear Parents,

Welcome back ! Happy New Year ! 

For safety, we will begin to update our pupil profiles with photographs of the children. We will start with the Junior Infants and work our way through to the senior end of the school.

Saint Luke's National School will close for the Christmas holidays at 1150 (Junior & Senior Infants) and at 1200 for the rest of the school. The school will reopen on Monday 7/1/2019 at 0900. We wish you a peaceful and joyful festive season. Thank you to all in our community who supported the school in a difficult term.

The children do not have to wear their uniforms Thursday or Friday .

Dear Parents/Guardians

Today we were visited at St. Luke's NS by Minister for Education - Joe Mc Hugh TD , representatives of the Department of An Taoiseach, the DES, our Patron, our BOM and KSN Project Management.  

We thank the Minister and Taoiseach for their continued support. We are delighted that all of our pupils will be back in St. Luke's by Monday 17th December.

Please see this link to the latest press release from the DES . (PressRelease)

We wish to once again thank Dr. Aine Moran and everyone at Le Cheile for looking after us over the past few weeks. They have been wonderful neighbours in our time of need. Thank you also to our Patron, our BOM, our Parents, staff, pupils and the wonderful Tyrrelstown Community.  

Santa will visit on 20th December. We are so excited!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Warm regards 

Vivienne Bourke 

Principal St Luke's NS 

W polskich domach wieczerza wigilijna rozpoczyna się od wspólnej modlitwy,
błogosławieństwa potraw oraz dzielenia się opłatkiem, który symbolizuje wspólnotę,
przyjaźń, miłość i zachęca nas do przebaczenia i pojednania.
Serdecznie zapraszamy na błogosławienie opłatka wigilijnego oraz śpiewanie kolęd w
naszej Parafii w sobotę, 8 grudnia o godzinie 16.00. Opłatki można nabyć przed
błogosławieństwem na miejscu. Błogosławieństwo poprowadzi Ksiądz Wikary Vadzim Us
SChr (Kościół Św. Audeona) i Proboszcz Parafii Ks. Eoin Thynne.

In Polish homes Christmas Eve supper begins with a communal prayer, blessing of dishes
and sharing a wafer that symbolizes community, friendship, love and invites us to
forgiveness and reconciliation.

We cordially invite you to bless Christmas wafer and sing Christmas carols in St Luke’s
Church Mulhuddart on Saturday, December 8 th at 4:00 PM. Wafers can be purchased
before the blessing on the day. The blessing will be led by priest Wikary Vadzim Us SChr
and our Parish Priest Monsignor Eoin Thynne.

Dear Parents/Guardians

Yesterday our 1st and 2nd classes were able to return to our classrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors, as the temporary remediation work has been completed there.

Tomorrow, Friday 30th November, we will welcome our 3rd classes back from Le Chéile.

It is wonderful to have the pupils back here again as we really missed them. With the Winter weather coming in, it is better for the pupils to be able to stay here in the mornings and not to have to walk across to Le Chéile.

We hope to have the 4th, 5th and 6th classes back in the building soon before Christmas.

We wish to extend our gratitude once again to Dr. Moran and staff at Le Chéile for offering us shelter in our time of need. They have been so kind to pupils and staff there during our stay.

We would like to state that even though Le Chéile is closed for secondary pupils this Monday it will still be open for St. Luke's pupils as normal.

We thank you for your continued support at this time.

Warm regards

Vivienne Bourke

Principal St. Luke's NS

Please see link below  to photos of our senior children taking part in Cycling Safety classes. 

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmrs8gLm

Dear Parents,

We are delighted to announce that the Irish Army Number 1 Brass Band will entertain the children in Saint Luke's NS on Thursday 29/11/2018. It will put a big smile on everyone's face. 

5th and 6th classes will be going to a Christmas Pantomime on Thursday morning also.

Dear Parents/Guardians

Yesterday, 21st November, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, the Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD, and Fine Gael Dáil candidate Emer Currie, made a low-key visit to St Luke's National School. They met with the Board of Management and some of the pupils and staff of St. Luke's NS.

They walked around the building, visiting the classrooms, and they saw the yard with the scaffolding and temporary exclusion zone. They also visited all of the 1st class children in the school hall. They spoke to the children, the staff and the Board of Management. They have assured us that they are working as hard as they can to resolve the building issues.

The builders will work 12 hour shifts, each weekday 3pm-3am, and at the weekends, on the remedial work on the remaining classrooms. They hope that they will be completed in the coming weeks. A full structural assessment of the St. Luke's building structures will be carried out as part of the remediation works. They will not work onsite whilst the children are present.

A transition process will then take place, in bringing children, who are currently off-site at neighbouring schools, back to the Tyrrelstown schools, as well as getting the classrooms ready for children. 

Due to the fact, that we have had to cancel the Christmas concerts this year, the Department of Education have kindly given some money towards taking all of the children to a pantomime or Christmas movie in the coming weeks.

On November 29th the army brass band will put on a concert for all of the children in the school hall. Santa will still visit the children too on December 20th and he is really looking forward to meeting all of the children!

We wish to thank our Patron, our Board of Management, our staff, Le Cheile secondary school and most importantly - you the parents and our wonderful pupils for sticking with us through this difficult time. As I have said before, Tyrrelstown is a wonderful community and you have once again proven that by your support and strength in these challenging times.

We will keep you up to date on the noticeboard in the coming weeks.

Many thanks

Vivienne Bourke

Dear Parents

Homework Club will be back next Monday 19th November. It will be running for 4 weeks, Monday - Thursday 2.40 p.m. - 3.40 p.m. If your child is new to the Homework club you must first leave a Permission Slip with Ms Flanagan.

Thank you

Dear Parents/Guardians

The Patron and Board of Management of St. Luke's NS have been furnished with 3 reports today. The first report is from Tim Murnan, Director of Punch Engineering. The second report is from Afec Fire Safety. The third report is from Paddy MacNeill of Scott MacNeill Health and Safety Consultants.

The Patron and Board of Management are satisfied that these three reports indicate that the school is structurally safe and fire safe on the ground floor for all of the pupils who will return to school tomorrow, November 9th. 

Copies of all three of these reports are available for parents, who would like to see them, from the Department of Education Building Section in Tullamore. Due to GDPR the school body are not in a position to publish these reports but parents may request them from the Department of Education if desired.

We would like to state that all official comments made by the Patron and Board of Management of St. Luke's National School are published on our website noticeboard at 

http://stlukesns.ie/noticeboard.php?pid=7 .

We look forward to welcoming all of our pupils back to school tomorrow.

Many thanks

Vivienne Bourke

Principal St. Luke's NS

School Re-opens for all pupils tomorrow November 9^th

Dear Parents/Guardians

Today, 8^th November, the Patron and Board of Management of St. Luke's NS received updated certification from Punch Engineering, Afec Fire Engineering Consultants and MacNeill Health and Safety Consultants.

The Patron and Board of Management have made the informed decision that the ground floor of St. Luke’s NS will be safe for pupils to return to school tomorrow.

We look forward to welcoming all of the pupils back to school tomorrow 9^th November.

As outlined in our previous update, Junior infants, Senior infants and 2^nd class will come straight into their classrooms on the ground floor. 1^st class will go to their new classroom in the hall.

Please ensure that your child has a coat and warm clothing for tomorrow, and a change of clothes/socks for wet days, especially the older children, who must walk to and from Le Chéile every day. Please ensure that the children bring adequate food and drink so that there is as little disruption to the school day as possible.

We would ask that if your child is sick, or has an appointment, that you keep them at home.

Many thanks once again to all of you for your support. A special thank you to the local Gardaí, who are on duty every day to keep our children safe, and Le Chéile Secondary  School for accommodating the older pupils.

We are really looking forward to seeing all of the children tomorrow.

Many thanks

Vivienne Bourke

Principal St. Luke’s NS

.

Update 7^th November 2018

Dear Parents/Guardians

I would like to thank everyone who attended the walk around in our building this morning and the subsequent meeting in the hall. The parents had a chance to meet with representatives from the DES, Punch Engineering, An Garda Síochána and an independent Health and Safety Consultant from Scott and Mac Neill – Paddy MacNeill. The parents raised a number of concerns and asked many questions about the safety of the school building from perspectives such as: structural safety, fire safety and the additional needs of children with special educational needs etc.

After the meeting in the hall, the Patron and the Board of Management met privately with Punch Engineering’s Director Tim Murnane and Technical Director David Clarke, along with Independent Consultant of Health and Safety Paddy Mac Neill.

After discussions with these technical representatives, the Patron and Board of Management reached an informed decision about the reopening of the school at St. Luke’s NS. The Patron and Board of Management are now satisfied that the ground floor is structurally sound and have been furnished with a report from Punch Engineering which states that the ground floor is structurally sound.

Taking into account the safety concerns raised by the parents of St. Luke’s NS this morning, there is a second safety check being conducted by Independent Consultant of Health and Safety – Paddy Mac Neill, and the Patron and Board of Management will not be in a position to open the school on the ground floor, or the hall until that safety check has been completed, and the works recommended therein have been implemented fully.

Tomorrow 8^th November, we invite 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th class children, who will be going to Le Cheile for the short term to attend school at 9am. The children will not come into the building, but will line up outside the school bike shed and will be supervised by staff. They will then be walked through the park and into Le Cheile, where classes will resume for them. There will be extra supervision provided by staff to ensure that the children can settle in to their new surroundings.

When the Patron and Board of Management are satisfied that the other safety works directed in the report by Paddy Mac Neill have been completed, we will inform parents of the expected start date for children from Junior infants up to 2^nd class.

Once again, we thank you for your support in these difficult times, and we thank the wider community for their co-operation. We extend a special thanks to Le Cheile for accommodating our older pupils and look forward to the pupils return to education.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Principal St. Luke’s NS

Update 6^th November 2018

Dear Parents/Guardians

We would like to invite all of you, along with your children, to come and walk around the school building, at St. Luke’s NS, tomorrow morning, Wednesday 7^th November, from 9am until 10am. Please note that you will probably be shocked by our “new look”. There will be temporary support structures in place in both the school and out into the yard.

These support structures have been certified as safe, from both a fire and a structural perspective, by the Department of Education and the engineering teams involved with the site (Punch Engineering and Afec Fire Safety).

Our Patron, Board of Management and staff will be present at the walk around. We have invited the DES, Fingal County Council and the Gardai too. We await replies from them.

We understand that it has been a very difficult time for parents and children in the Tyrrelstown community. We will be happy to try to answer your questions tomorrow, but please remember that we are teachers and SNA’s - not structural engineers. We hope that most of your questions will be answered by the Department of Education representative who we hope will be present tomorrow.

After the walk around tomorrow, St. Luke’s NS Patron and Board of Management will meet, once again, to ascertain if they deem the building safe to open for the pupils. We are happy to take all of your concerns on board in advance of making that decision.

We look forward to seeing you and your children tomorrow between 9am and 10am. We would remind you that parking will be a complete nightmare in the Tyrrelstown area, so please walk if possible. There will be no school classes after the walk around tomorrow, as the Board of Management and Patron will meet to decide when to open the school again.

Many thanks for all of your support in these difficult days.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Dear Parents/Guardians

This evening at 4pm the Patron, the BOM and myself met with the engineering team onsite at St. Luke's. We had asked the Department of Education to give us a structural engineering certificate and a fire safety certificate which would declare that the building was fit to open and safe for everyone who would be using it. These certificates were shown to us but we do not have a copy of them yet. They will be sent to the Department of Education this evening. According to KSN Project Management onsite and Afex Fire Safety Experts - the building is structurally safe and fire safe.

We were taken on a walk around the building this evening where we could see the new scaffolding and support structures in place throughout the building and out into the yard. These support structures do not look good and the BOM and Patron did not feel that the site was finished to a high enough standard to ensure the safety of everyone who would be using the building. There were still some sharp edges, unfinished woodwork and exposed surfaces which could potentially be a hazard. The Patron and BOM will ask the Department of Education at a meeting tomorrow that the building should be finished to a more satisfactory standard and cleaned before it is returned to us. We will examine the building when everything has been completed on Tuesday night. If we are happy with what we see then the BOM will hopefully open the school for everyone on WEDNESDAY morning - not Tuesday as we had initially hoped. The building simply will not be ready by Tuesday.

On WEDNESDAY morning at 9am, if we are able to go ahead with the planned opening, the arrangements will be as follows:

1) Junior infants, Senior infants and 2nd class will come straight into the classrooms on the ground floor at St. Luke’s. 2nd class will be in the old 1st class rooms and in the staffroom.

2) 1st class children will all go straight into the school hall where the 4  1st classes will be taught together.

3) 3rd class, 4th class, 5th class and 6th class will all come into the back yard of St. Luke’s school each morning. Their teachers will meet them there as normal and their teachers will walk them all over to Le Cheile Secondary school where they will be based. At going home time these older children will all be walked back to St. Luke’s where they will be discharged from the front gates of St. Luke’s school.

Please bear in mind that ST. LUKE’S NS WILL STILL BE THE BASE FOR ALL SCHOOL BUSINESS as normal. We are so grateful for Le Cheile Secondary School for accommodating the older pupils. We would ask parents NOT TO CONTACT LE CHEILE SCHOOL AND NOT TO DROP OR COLLECT CHILDREN FROM LE CHEILE SCHOOL . Please remember that Le Cheile will have their own school to run and will not be able to deal with any St. Luke's NS parents. If you need anything for your child we would ask that you call St. Luke's as you normally would. If you need to collect a child from Le Cheile we will bring them back to St. Luke’s NS for you to collect them there.

The car park will be completely out of bounds for the foreseeable future. Over 400 children from TETNS will need to use double decker buses to be brought to and from their temporary school. These buses will be in the car park. It will not be safe for parents to park in the car park or on the roadway approach to the school. We would urge parents and children to walk to school.

We understand that this has been a terrible shock to the school community and it will affect the whole Tyrrelstown Community over time. There are many unanswered questions at this time. However, Tyrrelstown is a wonderful community, and the spirit of the people that live there will ensure that we will deal with this situation as best we can.

We will all do our best for the sake of the children of St. Luke's NS who are our main priority. I wish to thank the Patron, the BOM and particularly our caretaker John who has been onsite every single day. 

I ask for your cooperation at this very difficult time.

SCHOOL WILL OPEN AND CLOSE AT THE NORMAL TIMES FROM WEDNESDAY 7th NOVEMBER.

I will be in my usual place at the gate this Wednesday to welcome everyone back to school.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke