We are delighted to announce that Glanmore will be providing hot meals and a variety of  healthy options from Tuesday 11th January at lunchtimes.

The Menu is here.

The Price List is here.

Payment can be by cash or card.

5th January 2022

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

We wish you and your families a happy and healthy new year.

We are very much looking forward to our students returning to school tomorrow but, in light of the high number of COVID cases at the minute and in the interests of the health and safety of our whole school community, it is crucial that we remind you of the following:

Do NOT send your child to school if they are showing any COVID 19 symptoms. Students who have symptoms of COVID-19 should stay at home, isolate and arrange to have a COVID-19 test. This test is to be provided by the HSE. It is not sufficient to use an antigen test bought from a shop or pharmacy. There are 2 types of COVID-19 test available from the HSE: antigen tests (home test kits) and PCR tests (done at a test centre and sent to a lab). Students (or anyone between 4 to 39 years of age) who has symptoms of COVID-19 are offered antigen tests firstly and they do not book a PCR test unless they get a positive antigen test result. If their antigen test is negative they still need to isolate until they have no symptoms for 48 hours.

Note – If a student is identified as a CLOSE CONTACT of a case in their HOUSEHOLD they will have to restrict their movement as per national guidelines for household close contact and get a COVID-19 test as soon as possible. Further information is available athttps://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/testing/get-tested/

If a post primary student tests positive for COVID-19: They will be contact traced by the National Contact Tracing Team. The National Contact Tracing Team will contact them and ask them to identify their close contacts.The student who tested positive will have to isolate for 10 days from the day their symptoms started or for 10 days from the day they had the positive PCR test. The student can return to school after this isolation period, provided they do not have a fever/temperature during the last 5 days of their isolation period.

Our COVID 19 Response Plan will be strictly enforced on our return to school and any student who does not adhere to our protocols regarding hand sanitising, social distancing and mask wearing will be immediately asked to go home. Masks wearing is a requirement for all staff and students and is more important than ever considering how transmissible the Omicron variant is proving, so please ensure your child comes to school with and wears a clean mask CORRECTLY every day

As always, we in Portmarnock Community School appreciate your help and support as our school community negotiates these challenging times.

Kind Regards,

Helen Dargan (Principal)

Mr David Clarke (Deputy Principal)

Ms Orla Molamphy (Deputy Principal)

Ms Elaine Moran (Deputy Principal)

Ms H Dargan

Principal

Portmarnock Community School

Carrickhill Road Upper

Portmarnock

D13 F766

Please read these documents carefully with your son/daughter over the Christmas break prior to the Subject Choice presentation on Monday, 10 January at 7pm.

Subject Choice (Word).

Subject Choice 2022 POwerPoint Version

We had a First Year Parents Evening via Zoom last week during which we informed and advised Parents and Guardians. The Powerpoint from the night is available here.

Children First Awareness Week is taking place from 1st to 7th November 2021. Children First promotes the protection of children from abuse and neglect, by setting out what individuals and organisations need to do to keep children safe, and how to deal with concerns about a child’s safety or welfare. Society has a duty of care towards children, and everyone should be alert to the possibility that children they are in contact with may be abused or at risk of abuse or neglect.

If you are concerned about a child or young person, you should contact Tusla social work department. Organisations classed as providers of relevant services under the Children First Act 2015 are required to complete a risk assessment and must have a Child Safeguarding Statement in place. More information on keeping children safe in our communities is available at gov.ie/childrenfirst

November is @TransAwareness month and with this awesome video commissioned from James Morgan in Second Year @PortmarnockCS recognises the awesomeness of everyone. Students interested in these issues should check out our newly founded Inclusion Committee. Contact Ms Maher. pic.twitter.com/T1QgWhr9VF

— Portmarnock CS (@PortmarnockCS) November 2, 2021

For the latest news and information regarding Portmarnock Community School please click here (PDF)

Warning regarding jelly sweets containing cannabis (THC)

 The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is urging parents and guardians to be extremely vigilant to the dangers of their children getting access to and eating confectionary, particularly jelly sweets, containing significant amounts of the psychoactive cannabis component called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This warning comes amid the ongoing seizures of these illegal food products by the Gardaí and Customs services, and a number of serious medical incidents whereby these THC-containing jelly sweets resulted in teenagers and young children suffering serious adverse health effects requiring hospitalisation. These jelly sweets are packaged to look like popular brands of jellies and have been found to contain toxic amounts of THC (up to 50mg/jelly). 

Depending on the concentration of THC, eating one of these jellies can  mean an equivalent intake of THC that is 5-10 times higher than that inhaled from a single cannabis cigarette. Also, unlike the almost immediate effects of inhaling THC (smoking or vaping), ingesting THC through these jellies can take up to 30 minutes for any effects to be felt. However, while waiting for those effects, those who have eaten these products may overdose in the mistaken belief that they need to eat more sweets in order to feel the effects. Of particular concern to the FSAI is the inadvertent consumption of these jelly sweets by small children who may somehow gain access to what looks and possibly tastes like ordinary sweets. Unfortunately, given access to a bag of these jellies, children will rarely eat just one and therefore, overdosing is a very likely outcome as witnessed by the hospitalisation of a number of seriously ill young children in the early part of 2021.

 The FSAI has become aware of reports about the availability of THC-containing jelly sweets in schools in Ireland and therefore, parents and guardians are asked to speak with their teenagers alerting them to the dangers if they eat them or if their younger siblings get access to them and subsequently suffer the serious consequences of consuming a toxic substance.

October 2021

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Portmarnock Community School is currently implementing the Green-Schools programme in relation to travel. This theme aims to increase the number of students walking, cycling, scooting, using public transport or carpooling to school.

As part of the initiative, we are striving to make the school a more welcoming place for walkers, cyclists and scooters. Last year, we successfully applied for grant funding to install bicycle and scooter shelters at the front of the school.

Our latest initiative is a Cycle Training programme.We would hope that by undergoing cycle training it would encourage our students to cycle to and from school more often. We have also enrolled in the  programme, #andshecycles, which focuses on the gender gap in cycling. The aim is that some of our female students gain confidence from this training and possibly start cycling to school.