Dear Parents/Guardians,
I extend a very warm welcome back to school to your daughter(s) as she begins the next stage of her secondary school life. This is an exciting time for her and it is our hope that she will experience personal success and fulfilment in the year ahead. We look forward to continuing to work well with you, as parents/guardians, so that your daughter(s) will be happy during her time in Loreto Secondary School.
A particular word of welcome to our First Years and to any other students who are joining our school community in another year group. We wish you well and hope that you will be very happy in Loreto.
This year is a special one at Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, as we are celebrating 170 years since the school was opened in 1854. We have a very long tradition in education and excellence therein. May the coming years continue to see our proud and strong commitment to education in Loreto, Letterkenny, flourish and grow.
This year sees the first in the Department of Education providing ‘free’ books to all secondary schools throughout the country. All junior students will receive their required textbooks under this scheme. A letter was sent out in June to all parents details the specific textbooks and resources that each year group will receive.
We are making every effort at the moment to ensure that the school will be well prepared for our students and staff as they begin to return at the beginning of next week.
First Year students will arrive on Tuesday 27 August, 9am-4pm
The Sixth Year Prefects will be available all day to help our First Years orientate and get to know their new school.
First Years will have NO SCHOOL on Friday 1 Sept
Sixth Year students/LCA2 will return Wednesday 28 August, 9am – 4pm
Third Year students will return Thursday 29 August, 9am – 4pm
Fifth Year MONITORS’ training Friday 30 August at 9am
Fifth Year students/ LCA1 will return Monday 2 September, 9am – 4pm
Second Year students will return Tuesday 3 September, 9am – 4pm
Transition Year students will return Thursday 5 September, 9am – 4pm
Lockers, Swipe Cards and ICT
On the first day back to school a fee of €30 will be collected from all students to cover the cost of lockers, swipe cards and ICT
Support for Students
- The wellbeing and care of our students is a priority for us. Our Student Support team includes a Class Tutor for each of the junior classes, a Year Head for each year group, two Guidance Counsellors, and a Special Educational Needs Coordinator as well as the Deputy Principals and the Principal. If you have any concerns about your daughter at any time, please feel free to contact us.
The school calendar for 2024/2025 can be located on our school website.
Lunch
- Students are encouraged to bring a healthy packed lunch to school each day.
- Lunch may also be purchased in the School Canteen.
- Students do not go down town at lunchtime – apart from 5th and 6th years.
Contact Details
- If you change address or mobile phone number, please remember to contact the school office immediately. This will ensure that you receive all correspondence in good time. Text messages are used regularly to inform parents if a student is recorded as absent, or indeed is ill and needs to go home. Texts are also used for some notices to parents throughout the year. It is therefore important that we are able to contact you by phone.
Contact with school
- When you need to contact the school regarding your daughter(s), please make sure to use the ladder of referral as follows: Always ask for the relevant Year Head before looking for your daughter’s Deputy Principal. This order is much more effective and efficient for us in running the school.
If your daughter is registered in this school for September 2024, but for some reason is not going to attend, it is important to notify the school office immediately.
I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you and your children a healthy and good school year ahead. I look forward to working in partnership with you to ensure that your daughter has a happy and successful year.
Yours sincerely,
Gerardine Mullen,
Principal
Below is a summary of some key points from the Student Journal for Parents
The Code of Behaviour
- A full copy of the school’s Code of Behaviour is available in the Student Journal. The Student Journal is a good source of information for parents, in particular the sections of the Code of Behaviour dealing with attendance, punctuality, uniform, mobile phones etc.
Student Journal
- Your daughter must have a Student Journal. It will be available on the first day.
- The Student Journal is an important form of communication between home and school.
- Parents / guardians are requested to inspect and sign the Student Journal weekly. This will help you to monitor your daughter’s homework, attendance, punctuality.
- Please note it must not be signed in advance.
Appointments
- As far as possible, we ask you to avoid taking your daughter out of school for an appointment – especially on Friday mornings, if an alternative date/time is available. If your daughter has an appointment for the doctor / dentist etc. during the school day, please complete a ‘Permission to Leave School’ note (green colour) in the Student Journal.
- The Deputy Principals will sign the note in their offices
- For Health and Safety reasons your daughter must be collected from the Main Office at the front of the school.
- It is the responsibility of your daughter to come to the Main Office at the appointed time. The intercom is not used for individual requests, as it interferes with teaching and learning.
Mobile Phones
- Please remind your daughter that mobile phones must be switched off and should not be used on the school premises upon arrival in the morning. This includes break time and lunchtime. If a student is found using her phone, the phone is confiscated and must be collected by a parent
- The school office only should be used for communication between parents/guardians and students during the school day. We ask parents not to phone or text students during school hours!
Uniform
- The school uniform reflects on the school and the student, so we ask your daughter to wear her full uniform at all times.
- Students wear the official school uniform without ornamentation. Only school badges, one ear stud in each ear and one ring on each hand are acceptable. Light facial make-up only is acceptable.
- Facial and Tongue piercings of any type are not allowed from the point of view of health and safety. Students will be asked to remove them.
- Flamboyant hairstyle / colour e.g. blue, green, yellow, pink, red etc. are not permitted.
Having read the school’s Code of Behaviour, parents/guardians and students are asked to sign page 23 of the student journal.
‘My Information’ page (at the beginning of the student journal) must also be completed and signed