Junior Infants

Junior Infants

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We have set up this area on the school’s website specifically for the Junior Infants. We are very aware that the transition into Primary School is a big step for you and your children, and we want to assure you all that we will do everything we can to make it as seamless, enjoyable, and safe as possible. The Department of Education has published a road map outlining the steps ahead in planning for the re-opening of schools. With this in mind, we’ve compiled some useful websites which will help support your child with the transition into Junior Infants. We’ve also added in some content which may be of interest to you as a parent. We hope you find them helpful.

• Let’s Get Ready, a resource to provide guidance for parents, teachers and Early Learning and Care (ELC) practitioners in supporting children’s transition from ELC settings to primary school, available at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a8d8f-ready-for-school/

• The Let’s Play Ireland website: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/lets-play-ireland/

• Guidance developed by NEPS on how the transition from pre-school to primary school can be supported, available at https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/National-Educational-Psychological-Service-NEPS-/guidance-transitioning-pre-school-to-primary-school.pdf

• 70,000 transitions packs are being made available to parents to support children starting school. Each pack includes the Mo Scéal template developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), available at https://ncca.ie/en/early-childhood/mo-sc%C3%A9al) and a postcard for children transitioning from ELC settings to share with their primary school teacher.

Some tips for the First day:

On the morning of the first day, we recommend getting up nice and early so there is no rushing around. Take lots of time to get dressed and have a nice breakfast. Remember to take lots of photographs!! Try and make it a nice, happy and relaxed morning for your child.

Some tips for September:

To consolidate the work we will be doing in school, we’d encourage you to try do some of the following activities with your child.

• Talk and Discussion: Encourage your child to ask lots of questions and TALK! TALK! TALK!
• Sing and say lots of nursery rhymes and counting songs
• Share lots of stories (bed-time stories, picture books, audio books)
• Give your child plenty of opportunities to colour in and draw
• Social skills: Encourage listening, taking turns, sharing, playing with others and even experiencing losing a game
• Encourage your child to dress him/herself and to be as independent as possible: managing his/her coat, jumper, sleeves, buttons, zips, lunchbox and beaker
• Encourage your child to be as active as possible

As advised in school documents and the re-opening information for parents, contact with the school and class teachers should be made via email. Our school email addresses are rosalyn.mcmahon@stannesns.ie and ally.oreardon@stannesns.ie, and we are available to answer any questions or concerns you may have.

We are so looking forward to meeting you all, especially the boys and girls, and to having the most wonderful time in Junior Infants. It is always a very busy year, but an absolutely brilliant one! We can’t wait to get started!