Dangan NS - Parent Newsletter

Important Dates

• Wednesday 22nd Mass at Dangan Church - 9:30am (2nd Class - 6th )
• Friday 24th Oct - School Closed due to Polling
• Monday 27th - 31st Oct - School Closed for Halloween Break
• Friday November 17th - Exceptional Closure Day to facilitate Staff Training
• Monday 24th November - Book Fair
• Monday 24th - Thursday 27th November - Parent Teacher Meetings

Halloween Dress Up

The children can wear their Halloween Costumes on Thursday 23rd October. Children will be going home at the normal home time on this day.

A huge thank you to all the parents and children who so generously supported our Dangan School Marathon Relay, which took place on Wednesday, 1st October. The event was a great success, and together we raised an incredible €6,785.55!

These funds will go towards the development of a walking path around our school football pitch, which will be a wonderful resource for the school community — especially during the winter months when the pitch is unavailable for use.

Thank you once again for your amazing support and enthusiasm!

Following our recent SNA review application, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has informed us that there will be no increase to our current allocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) for the coming period.

Our SNAs play a vital role within our school, providing essential care and support to many of our pupils each day. As our enrolment continues to grow, so too do the diverse needs of the children in our care. Unfortunately, with the current allocation, we are finding it increasingly challenging to meet all of these needs as fully as we would wish.

In response, we are working on implementing a new SNA timetable to ensure that support is prioritised for the children with the greatest care needs. This is not an easy task, and we appreciate your understanding and patience as we do our best to make sure every child receives the care and support they require.

We will continue to advocate strongly for the resources our pupils need and to engage with the NCSE in this regard. If any parents wish to support the school in advocating for additional resources, please contact the school office, and we will be in touch with you directly.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support and partnership.

This year, our school is proud to be taking part in The Agree to Agree Project, supported by

the Department of Education and Youth through Oide Technology in Education and led by

Dr. Maureen Griffin. This exciting initiative brings together our whole school community,

working in partnership with parents and pupils to create a positive new norm around

children’s online habits—one that supports their wellbeing and supports you as parents.

The project aims to bridge the gap between school and home by offering guidance and

practical support based on best practice. Our shared agreement will give pupils the clear

boundaries they need to navigate their online lives safely and responsibly. Most importantly,

it will ensure that whether our pupils are online inside or outside the school gate, they are

supported, protected, and provided with the opportunity to learn and grow with digital

technologies in a safe and supervised environment.

We warmly invite you to join us for the first webinar of this project, taking place

on Thursday 23rd October 2025. This will be the beginning of an

ongoing conversation, and we will check in with you throughout the year as the project

develops.

Agree To Agree Parents/Guardian Information Webinar

DATE: Thursday, 23rd October 2025

TIME: 7pm - 8pm

VENUE: Online Via Zoom

Target Audience: Inviting all parents/guardians from participating schools

Cumann na mBunscol Football Update
Well done to all the boys and girls who played against Ballivor last week! Mr. Kelly and Ms. Forde were very pleased with the teams’ performances and teamwork on the day. A special congratulations to the girls’ team, who came away with a fantastic win — well done everyone!

The Active Schools Committee would like to say a big thank you to everyone for bringing in €2 for our skipping coach. We hope everyone enjoyed it and that you are all having fun with our Skipping Around the World Challenge.

Many thanks to the Summerhill football team for visiting the school and showing the children their trophy after their brilliant win yesterday against Ratoath in the final. The boys and girls were thrilled to meet the players, and there was great excitement throughout the school!

Congratulations to the team especially to all our past pupils on their fantastic achievement — what a wonderful inspiration for all our young footballers!

The children will have gymnastics lessons with School Fitness Ireland for a six-week block from November to December. Based on pupil feedback following last year’s drumming lessons, we have opted for gymnastics this year. There is a €20 fee per child or a €40 fee per family, which can be paid via Aladdin at any stage over the next term.

Education in the Recent Budget

The latest national budget brought some positive steps for schools but fell short in key areas such as class size and core funding. Here’s an overview of what was announced:

School Funding (Capitation)

• €50 per pupil permanent increase in capitation.

• However, without last year’s temporary “Cost of Living” grant, this works out as an effective €14 increase per child.

• Extra funding for DEIS 1 and special schools.

The permanent increase is welcome, it’s still well below the €75 sought by INTO and school management bodies. It’s progress, but modest — schools remain underfunded.

Special Education

• 860 new special education teachers and 1,717 new SNAs.

• 3,000 new special class and school places planned.

• €19 million to begin rolling out an Education Therapy Service, starting in special schools.

Much-needed special classes and SNAs are welcome, but most of the new teachers will go to new special settings — leaving few extra SETs for mainstream schools. The current resources still fall short of what’s needed to implement inclusion effectively. The in-school therapy pilot is promising, if staffing allows.

School Transport

• €69 million increase to expand capacity and address rising costs.

• Introduction of e-ticketing to improve efficiency.

A welcome boost — hopefully funding will be used effectively to reduce ongoing transport issues.

Buildings & Capital Projects

• About 300 schools under construction and 80 more due to begin by 2026/27.

• Focus on special class capacity, climate action works, and solar panel programmes.

Positive signs on infrastructure

Leadership & Curriculum Reform

• €3 million for additional deputy principal posts (2026/27).

• €19 million for curricular reform and training.

• A Convention on Education is planned for next year.

Unclear what the deputy principal posts mean for primary schools. Still no progress on assistant principal posts or leadership release time — a major disappointment.

Overall

No progress on reducing class sizes — Ireland still has the largest in the EU despite government promises to reduce them to 19:1.
The permanent capitation increase is positive but leaves schools still reliant on parental contributions and fundraising to meet everyday costs.

Please be mindful that parking is limited. In the interest of being able to maximise the amount of collection points in the school for drop off and collection, we would kindly ask that you minimise large gaps when parking in front of or behind other cars as we have limited space available for collection and drop off.

Also, please be mindful of where you are parking when dropping and collecting your child, please do not park up on our neighbours grass or in front of their entrance gates.