Parent Newsletter

We’ve had such a wonderful start to the new school year here in Dangan! The boys and girls have settled back in really well, and it’s been lovely to see so many happy faces as we come together again after the summer. There’s a great sense of energy and excitement around the school, and we’re looking forward to another year of learning, fun, and community together!

Please take a moment to read the following notices...Many thanks, Ms Ryan.

We are happy to let you know that our school photographer will visit the school on

Thursday 17th September 2026 to take professional portraits of our students.

What You Need to Know

• Photos Taken: Individual portraits for all students in Juniors Infants, plus a full class group photo for each class.
• Siblings: In order to have the day to run smoothly, please let the office know by Tuesday 15th on email office@dangannationalschool.ie if you wish sibling photo's to be taken.
• What to Wear: All students must wear their full, clean school uniform on the day.
• Ordering Information: Proof sheets with ordering instructions will be sent home a few days after the photo shoot.
• No Obligation: There is absolute freedom to choose whether or not you wish to purchase any of the printed packages

Important Reminders

• Please ensure your child arrives at school on time so photography can run smoothly.
• If your child has any special medical needs regarding flash photography please notify the class teacher in advance.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Our District Inspector visited last Thursday to review our progress in English following our curriculum evaluation two years ago. She was very pleased with the progress made and full of praise for the teaching and learning at Dangan. Well done to all our boys, girls and our teachers!

We would like to invite you to a brief meeting with your child’s class teacher during the week of September 21st. These meetings will take place first thing in the morning in your child’s classroom and will last approximately 20 minutes. Your child may come to school with you and will be supervised in the yard or another classroom while the meeting takes place.

This year, the meetings will focus specifically on your child’s class. The teacher will discuss the routines and expectations for the class, curriculum priorities, homework and other relevant information for the year ahead.

A PowerPoint outlining general school procedures and policies will be shared with all parents separately. This will allow the short meeting to focus on the information most relevant to your child’s class.

As we will be working to a tight schedule, please email any questions you would like the teacher to address to the school office before the end of this week.(office@dangannationalschool.ie).

Afterward, coffee and tea will be available in the hall, offering an opportunity to meet other parents of children in the same class but I understand if you are heading straight to work once the meeting is finished.

Please note – There will be no individual meetings. Meetings are scheduled for all parents of the class to attend together in one session.

We understand that it may be difficult for everyone to attend these meetings. But, we believe they will be highly beneficial in starting the year off on the right foot and giving you and the teacher a chance to align on the priorities for the year ahead. We hope you can join us.

• Monday, September 21st: 8:40-9:00am – Mr Mollison’s Class (5th)

• Monday, September 21st: 8:40-9:00am– Ms Forde's Class (JI Infants)
• Monday, September 21st: Time TBC – Mrs Prendergast’s Class

• Tuesday, September 22nd: 8:40-9:00am– Ms Payne’s & Ms Walsh's Class (Senior Infants)

• Wednesday, September 23rd:8:40-9:00am – Ms Wall's Class (2nd)

Father Martin will be here to talk to parents briefly (5 mins) about home preparation for Communion.

• Wednesday, September 23rd: 8:40-9:00am– Ms Hardagon’s Class (1st)

• Thursday, September 24th: 8:40-9:00am– Ms Fitzgerald’s Class (4th)
• Thursday, September 24th: 8:40-9:00am- Ms Smyth’s Class (3rd)

• Friday, September 25th: 8:40-9:00am– Ms Duffy’s Class (6th)

The school is proud to offer pupils opportunities to participate in a wide range of sporting competitions and other activities throughout the year.

Due to the rising cost of transport, a flat-rate contribution will be requested from pupils who are selected to participate in certain competitions. This contribution will help offset bus costs but will not cover the full cost of transport, with the school continuing to subsidise a significant portion of these expenses. Parents will not be asked to provide lifts to matches in other schools in the next school year. We will occassionally ask parents, if they are available, to provide lifts to Summerhill GAA club.

Parents will be notified in advance of each competition and only pupils participating in that competition will be asked to contribute.

Please note:

• Participation in competitions is subject to team selection and availability.

• The number of trips listed above is an estimate and may vary from year to year depending on fixtures, venues and competition structures.

• Teams that progress successfully through competitions may have additional matches and trips beyond those initially anticipated. In such cases, an additional €8 transport contribution will be requested from the pupils involved.

• Parents will receive communication before each competition outlining the contribution required and payment arrangements.

• The transport contributions outlined above do not cover the full cost of bus hire. The school will continue to subsidise a significant portion of transport costs to ensure pupils can participate in sporting activities and competitions.

As part of our Agree to Agree Programme, we will be working with companies to build parents' confidence around all things tech.

Webinar: The AI Challenge - How to Safeguard our Children. Helping parents to help their children navigate the hurdles of AI?

Date Wednesday September 16th

Time: 7:00 pm

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R6BUvCtoTV2FuIskyS_kBQ

Website Link: https://www.ecnavan.ie/cpd-courses-ecnavan/primary-courses/2816-aut26-142-the-ai-challenge-how-to-safeguard-our-children-helping-parents-to-help-their-children-navigate-the-hurdles-of-ai.html

Enter in your details:

Here are the answers to the other questions:

What school sector do you represent? i.e. Primary

What is your roll in your school?* 19018A

Where is your local Education Centre?* choose 1.Navan

Please ensure that the Aladdin Connect app on your phone is updated to the latest version. Some parents appear to have missed notices from teachers over the past few weeks, so we ask everyone to check that the app is up to date and that notifications are enabled to ensure you receive all school correspondence.

All parent communication should be sent to our dedicated school email address: office@dangannationalschool.ie

The school phone will be monitored between 9:00 am and 2:30 pm each day.
All emails will be received by the school office and passed on to the relevant staff member. Teachers will respond in due course but will not reply during teaching time, in the evenings, late at night, or at weekends. We ask for your understanding and cooperation in respecting these boundaries.

Please ensure that all communication is respectful in tone. Staff will not respond to emails that are threatening or abusive; such correspondence will be referred to the Board of Management.
If contacting the school about a sensitive matter, please note that parents must not name or discuss the children of other families. Any such emails will also be referred to the Board of Management.

The school must be informed in advance of a child being collected early. This can be done via Aladdin Attendance Notes section, click the “My child will be collected early” option. When a child is absent from school, parents must submit an explanation and this can be done through the Aladdin App.

If parents wish to make an appointment to speak to a teacher, they can do so by sending an email to the office or a note in the homework journal.

• Confirmation Thursday 25th February (Time TBC)
• First Holy Communion Saturday 1st May (Generally 11am)

Comhghairdeas ó chroí lenár nGaeilgeoirí na Seachtaine.

Congratulations to our Gaeilgeoirí na Seachtaine. It has been wonderful to see and hear na cailíní agus na buachaillí ag caint trí Ghaeilge i rith an lae. Maith sibh go léir!

Ná déan dearmad, Don’t forget to return your trophies by the following Friday so that another pupil can receive the award.

Go raibh maith agaibh!

Please note that the enrolments for the school year 2027/2028 will be accepted from October 1st.

If anyone is looking to enroll their child for September 2027 can you please contact the school for an Enrolment Form.

Our Open Day for our New Pupils will take place in June. I would appreciate it if you could share this information with family and members of the community who may be looking to enrol their child. Thank you for your support.

Our girls’ football team played their first match on Friday against Gaelscoil na Mí. With excellent pitch conditions and great football on display, the girls showed fantastic teamwork, effort and determination throughout the game.

Despite their best efforts, they were beaten on the day, but they can be very proud of their performance. Well done, girls!

They are back in action on Tuesday for their next match.

Best of luck to the Boys team who are away to Ballivor on Friday.

Our new walking path has been a real hit with the children this year! It is wonderful to see everyone enjoying it at break times and classes using it for movement breaks, walk-and-talk activities and the Daily Mile challenge.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to our school marathon fundraiser last year and helped make the walking path possible. We hope to run the marathon fundraiser again during Active Week after the Easter holidays, watch this space!

We would like to sincerely thank all our parents for their contributions to the school lotto to date. Your support has helped us to cover the cost of the two sensory pods, whcih have been a fantastic addition to our school and are an invaluable regulation tool for pupils throughout the school.

This year, the funds raised through our school lotto will be put towards the cost of educational field trips later in the school year. Your continued support will help us provide these enjoyable and valuable experiences for our pupils.

To register for the school lotto, please click the link below or scan the QR code on the poster, which will bring you directly to our lotto page. The maximum contribution is €5 per week, and the minimum is €2.50 per week.

https://www.ourfundraiser.ie/org/dangannationalschool

We really appreciate your support!

If you have any issues logging in or registering with the Aladdin app, please contact the office - office@dangannationalschool.ie

Contact Details

Please check that all your child's information is correct on Aladdin, if your phone number or address has changed, please update it as soon as possible.

Fees

Many thanks to those of you who have paid the school requisites. I would be grateful if any outstanding fees were paid as soon as possible. These payments are made via Aladdin, on your child's page.

If your child has an allergy or medical condition that you feel the school should be made aware of, please get in contact with your child's class teacher, if you have not done so already.

The Designated Liaison Person (DLP) for Child Safeguarding in Dangan National School is the Principal, Aoife Ryan. The Deputy Designated Liaison Person (DDLP) is the Deputy Principal, Sharon Wall.

As you are all aware, school attendance is very important for all children. Good attendance at school supports children to achieve their full potential.

In circumstances where a child is taken out from class during the school day the parent/guardian responsible will sign the sign-out book in the school office. This will note the date and time the child leaves the school. This document will also record the date and time of the child’s return to class should the absence be for a brief period to attend an appointment.

Children who are absent for more than 20 days at school must be reported to the Educational Welfare Board of An Tusla and this is done periodically. The school is obliged by law to submit a School Absence Report and parents will be notified in writing when this happens.

However, if the school has serious concerns about a child’s attendance at school, the school is obligated to make a referral to the Educational Welfare Board of An Tusla requesting school and family support. If serious concerns are raised in relation to the reasons as to why a child is absent from school, the Designated Liaison Person is obliged to make a referral to the Social Worker Department of An Tusla.

Kindly find our contact information provided below. For the latest updates on your child and their class activities, we invite you to stay connected through our school website.

Email: office@dangannationalschool.ie
Website: www.dangannationalschool.ie
Location: Clonmahon, County Meath, A83 HN83, Ireland
Phone: 046 955 7332
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/School/Dangan-National-School-110400390786882/