January Updates and Reminders
Hello,
Happy New Year and I hope you are keeping well – a few updates and reminders for the half term ahead.
Firstly, huge congratulations to Transition Year students Tanya Melnychuk, Zara Ilyas and Aoibhinn Campbell for their fantastic achievements in the BT Young Scientist Competition last week. Tanya investigated how four different mosses compare for use in a terrarium and Zara and Aoibhinn investigated if camera-based devices could be used to help care for patients with dementia. Both projects were highly commended which is a huge achievement and well-deserved recognition of their innovation and hard work. We are very proud of them.
A reminder that our Transition Year musical Oliver will have three performances next week – Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th and Friday 26th at 7:30pm. It is promising to be an amazing show with a wealth of talent on display. Students and teachers are working extremely hard and really appreciate your support. All tickets cost €12 and can be purchased here.
Mock exams for junior cycle students start on February 2nd and for leaving cert students on January 29th. Timetables and revision guidelines can be found on our website JC & LC Mock Exams 2024 – Sandymount Park ETSS. Teachers have shared these with students and 3rd and 6th years had the opportunity to develop their study skills at our Study Skills Seminar on November 29th. Supervised Study runs after school and we encourage 3rd and 6th years to attend. It runs on Mondays and Wednesdays 3:45 – 5:15pm Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:45 – 4:45pm The cost per student until the Easter break is €125 and can be paid on Easypayments.
Academic Achievement is strongly linked to attendance and students should be in school every day as much as possible. Missing one or two days may not seem like much but it builds up. For example, if a student misses two days per month, it is eight days in the academic year which amounts to over three school weeks. This will negatively impact a student’s ability to keep up with class and homework. For more information on attendance please visit our website Attendance – Sandymount Park ETSS. Classroom Based Assessments are taking place for 2nd year students according to the CBA calendar, if a students is absent from class within these timelines they will miss their CBA. There are no alternative dates for completion in class.
All students are expected to be in school by 8:15am to access their locker and prepare for the school day. Students who arrive after 8:30am cannot access their locker and miss out on important updates and wellbeing time with their tutor and class group. Also, students arriving late to tutor time or class interrupt the teacher and negatively impact the learning of others.
Any student arriving after 8:30am will be given a late stamp in their journal by their tutor or the school office. Progress leaders will monitor punctuality and students with two lates in the previous five days will be expected to remain in school on the Friday from 2:30-3:15pm, this will be an opportunity to reflect on the importance of being punctual and the impact arriving late has on themselves, their classmates and teachers and to the smooth running of the school. Progress leaders will inform the student and parent on the Thursday about Reflection on the Friday. If a student fails to attend Friday Reflection, Aisling will be in touch and the student will be required to attend Reflection with Aisling the following Thursday and Friday.
Remember to check the website for updates and information and check VSWare regularly for VSMails.
Best regards,
Paula Mulhall
Principal
