The school gates open after 8.35am each morning. School starts at 8.40am. The girls have 10 minutes to make their way to their classrooms. If your child arrives after 8.50am, they should go to the main entrance and sign in at the office.

School for infant classes ends at 1.20pm and the rest of the school finishes at 2.20pm.
● Infant Classes: Parents must collect their child from outside their classroom block. You will be informed by your teacher in advance of the meeting point.
● 1st Class: Parents will meet their children in the school yard at 2.20pm.
● 2nd-6th classes: These classes leave the school in an orderly fashion at 2.20pm. Please agree on a meeting place with your child in the morning.

Remind your child to return to the office if they cannot locate you after school.

Parents are not allowed to park in the staff car park during the day or outside of school hours. Parents may use the car park within Cabinteely Park across from the school or the car park beside the shops. We encourage parents to be very cautious when driving near the busy school grounds to avoid any accidents.

Children receive a short break at 10.30am and eat a snack. They receive a longer break at 12.30pm and eat their lunch.

If you must collect your child from school earlier than the usual finishing time, it would be convenient if you could inform the teacher or the office in advance. When you arrive at the school, please go to the office. Do not go to your child’s classroom. You will have to sign your daughter out and a member of staff will collect your child and bring them to meet you. Any person collecting a child on behalf of the parent will only be permitted to take the child if the parent has contacted/notified the school beforehand.

The full school uniform must be worn on all school days other than on days of PE lessons.
The school uniform consists of the following:
● Red airtech top, tracksuit top and school kilt with navy socks/tights and black/dark shoes.
● For PE, runners are compulsory and children must wear the red airtech top with school tracksuit.
● Pupils are not allowed to wear jewellery in school apart from one pair of simple earrings if ears are pierced.
● Extreme hairstyles or cuts are not permitted eg. bleached, tinted or shaven heads.
● Long hair must be tied back at all times and where possible hairbands worn in long and short hair to help prevent the spreading of hair lice, a common problem in schools.

St. Brigid’s has a healthy lunch policy. Please do not give your child sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks or crisps or popcorn for lunch.
St. Brigid’s GNS is a nut-free school as some of our students have serious nut allergies. Please ensure your daughter’s lunch has no nuts or nut products.
Lunch should provide one third of your child’s food requirements for the day. The most effective way to plan a healthy lunch is to include one food from each of the food groups – one piece of fruit, milk/yoghurt, two slices of bread and meat / poultry /cheese. This will aid your child to stay focused and aid their energy levels throughout the whole day.
Chewing gum is not allowed in school.

● The Parents’ Association has agreed a ‘Smart Phone Code of Practice’ which can be read by clicking this link
● Pupils from 3rd – 6th class only may bring mobile phones to school. Children in infants to second class should not bring phones to school.
● Mobile phones are brought to school entirely at pupils’ own risk.
● They must be switched off at all times on the school premises and handed to the class teacher in the morning. They will be stored in a secure location in the school and returned to the girls at home time. They should only be switched on once off the school premises.
● Making or receiving calls or text messages during school hours is not permitted. Any necessary calls to or from a child in school should be made through the landline phone situated in the secretary’s office.
● The use of mobile phones by staff for essential calls should be kept to a minimum. They should be taken/made in an area where pupils are not present and outside class time.

Children may bring a kindle to school only after submitting a permission slip from the child’s parents. This can be obtained from the office. Children are not allowed to bring any form of smartwatch to school (including fitbits etc).

If you wish to speak to your child’s teacher, please make an appointment to meet in advance. This can be made by contacting the office or emailing your child’s teacher. You will receive the email address of your child’s teacher at the beginning of the academic year. Please only contact your child’s teacher during school hours and allow sufficient time for the teacher to respond. If the message is urgent, please contact the office.

It is important that teachers are made aware in writing of any medical conditions/allergies, short or long term suffered by a child. Children who are acutely ill should not attend school until the illness has passed and they are capable of full participation in class and school activities.

Yes. The aims of giving homework are as follows:
● To benefit student learning
● To reinforce work done in class
● To develop study skills
● To promote a similar approach to homework
across all classes
● To strengthen links between home and school
Suggested length of time:
● Infants:10 minutes
● 1st and 2nd: 20-30 minutes
● 3rd and 4th: 35-45 minutes
● 5th and 6th: 45-60 minutes
Expected homework format by class:
● Junior Infants – Occasional, informal oral work
● Senior Infants – Reading & Regular worksheets
● 1st and 2nd Classes – Reading, Spellings, Tables
& Regular written work
● 3rd and 4th Classes – Reading, Spellings, Tables,
Maths & Regular written work
● 5th and 6th Classes – Reading, Spellings, Tables,
Maths, Oral learning & Regular written work
Your child may also use ICT to complete their homework from time to time. Children from Infants – 3rd Class may use Seesaw while children from 4th-6th Class may use Google for Education.
● Pupils have a responsibility to ensure they have taken down and have the necessary books etc. for homework.
● If pupils have a problem with the homework, they should make the teacher aware of this as soon as possible.
● Parents have a role in establishing a routine for homework – place and time. Preventing interruptions is vital.
● Parents should monitor homework appropriately in consultation with the class teacher.

● Children should have their names on their coats and other personal property such as school books, copies, lunch boxes, drinks bottles etc.
● It is never a good idea for children to bring valuable items, toys, jewellery etc. to school as the loss of which can cause great upset.