6 March 2020

Cancer Awareness Week

Next week sees the school helping to raise funds for the Hope Centre in Enniscorthy as well as the Irish Cancer Society. A guest speaker from the former will speak to students on Monday. A Teacher Leg Wax Session will be the centre of attention on Wednesday before a No Uniform Day takes place on Friday in which students will wear colours associated with different forms of cancer. The Prefects’ Council has done great work in helping to organize these events.

Debating

Our in-house debating competition has reached the semi-final stage, details of which are as follows:

Date	Proposition	Opposition
Monday, 9 March at 13.20	Cait Whitmore’s team	Yvette Mc Donnell’s team
“That euthanasia should be legally permitted in Ireland”
Monday, 16 March at 13.20	Eve Donohoe’s team	Katelyn Durack’s team
“That compulsory school uniforms should be banned in Ireland”

The venue for debates is the Business/Commerce Room and all interested students and staff are invited to attend.

Visit of Green Party MEP, Grace O’Sullivan

Green Party MEP, Grace O’Sullivan recently visited the school to talk to 2nd year and 4th year students about her life and her role as a member of European Parliament. She told students about her time as an activist with Green Peace, and how she followed her dreams from a young age. The visit was in conjunction with the Green School Committee’s Travel theme this year, as we are getting closer to being rewarded with another Green Flag. We were very fortunate to have Grace as a guest speaker in the school and we extend a sincere thank you to her for making the trip.

Coronavirus – Covid 19

• All information provided specifically to schools in relation to Coronavirus – Covid 19 will continue to be placed on our website under the clearly designated tab.

• This issue is monitored on a daily basis and the school will follow the advice provided by the relevant statutory authorities.

• All students are advised to wash their hands thoroughly and frequently. Additionally, they are asked to practise proper respiratory hygiene when coughing or sneezing.

• Every student should ensure that she is able to access her email address as provided by the school. Whilst we hope that school closures will not be necessary as a consequence of this coronavirus outbreak, it is important that students be able to access emails for work/notes that may be provided by teachers during such a closure.  Students with a difficulty in this regard should speak to Mr. Mc Ginnity (Deputy Principal).

• Ms. Ursula Zimmermann will be liaising with Transition Year families in the coming days regarding the planned school tour to Seville in Spain at Easter.

School Admission Policies

Many sections of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 have now been officially commenced.

One particular requirement is that schools would review their admission policies within 3 months of 1 February last and submit a revised version to their trustees for approval. Central to this review is a consultation process with staff and parents.

Accordingly, parents/guardians with views on this matter are invited to email me at principal@loretowexford.com before 31 March.

The relevant Department of Education and Skills (DES) circular 07/2020 may be accessed by clicking here.

Website

A reminder to all parents/guardians and students that the school website is updated every week and that it is an ideal forum for reporting on the many and varied activities that happen in the school on an ongoing basis. It is also a permanent record of what happens in the school as its contents are archived each year.

Please feel free to submit any articles/photos/opinion pieces/reports to me – principal@loretowexford.com –  for inclusion on the website.

Child Protection

The Board of Management has completed its annual review of the Child Safeguarding Statement. Full details are to be found on the school website.

Bus Shelters

The Board of Management has come to an agreement with Wexford County Council to provide bus shelters on the approach road to the school in the near future.