KCCC NEWSLETTER – May 2025
Dear Parents,
We hope you have all taken an opportunity to make the best of our mini summer over the last few weeks. Costa del Kinvara has certainly seemed like a paradise affording us opportunities to go wild with our water play.
- Sun Safety – is hugely important for everyone therefore we ask everyone to ensure that your child has sun cream with them every day, whether that is leaving in a new bottle to stay in child’s room for daily use or having a bottle in bag each day. We advise against the use of last years bottles as some children have been having skin reactions.
- Little Vista – As with last year, we are asking parents to make the annual voluntary contribution to the cost of the Little Vista communication platform for Sept 2024- Aug 2025. This is €30 per child or €60 per family. This is a small contribution to the overall cost of the app while the centre absorbs the greatest percentage of the fee. Invoices are currently being uploaded to each family account. Please let the office know if you are opting out of payment at this time. Regardless, every family needs to have at least one parent registered on the platform.
- Payment of Fees – as you are aware monthly fees are paid end of the month for the coming month.
We will be working on reconciling all accounts and need to clear all outstanding balance for all term times. Please be in touch if you require any further information around your accounts.
- Easter Raffle – Huge thank you to the parents who organised the Easter raffle and sourced prizes. We would also like to thank everyone who purchased tickets. We really appreciate the effort and contributions of the community which raised just over €1700 to go towards sensory development within the setting.
- Playground – we are slowing making progress on the structure of the playground and now we are looking for your input. In the main hall there is a notice board. We encourage you to contribute your ideas to the board so that it is a collaborative process involving parents and children, with a focus on more nature rather than plastic materials.
- Summer – we are currently working on our transitions and allocations for the summer period. Due to the current numbers, we have had to open a 3rd camp room. If you have your children already booked in with us and also attending other camps, please advise as we will be facilitating drop offs and collections to any camps in the National school.
- Food prep – we cannot express how vitally important it is to ensure the food in your child’s lunch box is appropriate for the childcare setting. We are a nut free zone therefore the use of Nutella or any other form of nut butter is prohibited as we have children with severe nut allergies. Fruit should be prepared appropriately according to guidelines set out for children under 6 years, grapes and berries quartered length-ways and apples sliced thinly.
- Afterschool – While spaces have been allocated, we encourage all parents to be in touch with the office if you have requested more days than actually needed as we still have a waiting list of children needing care for every day across both afterschool services. We are still working on an application to open an additional afterschool service to facilitate the overflow however, this is a lengthy process and we can only move through the stages as fast as the process allows. We hope to be able to provide an update very soon.
- Waiting lists– we are closing the waiting lists for 2026. If you have already expressed interest, your child is on the waiting list and will be consider for allocations. Any further expressions of interest will not be considered for 2026 as the lists are so extensive. Future requests will be considered for 2027 on.
Key Dates for Diary:
- June 12th – Sept 2025 ECCE session open morning 9.45-10.45; parents welcome. Children currently attending the setting will visit their new preschool room and parents are welcome to visit, have intro with new educator team and make connections with parents of their child’s group.
- June 12th – the ‘new’ Junior infants will visit with their new teachers at BIG school in St. Joseph’s from 9.30-11am in preparation for September. We are happy to facilitate the transition up and back or only one way if parents want to be part of the process. We will be sending out an email closer to the date to confirm parents needs
- June 13th – ECCE end of year party – Parents welcome
- June 20th – last day of ECCE; school and any 38-week contracts; school will close at 12 noon. There will be no bus hour on this date.
- Non term care for school age will be facilitated from June 23rd for summer camps where spaces are available