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.

We are delighted to announce that Ms Elaine Moran has been appointed Deputy Principal in Portmarnock Community School. Our whole school community wish her the best in her new role. Ms Moran has been a teacher with PCS since 2006 and Year Head since 2019.

The latest advice for Parents and Students on returning to a School Environment during the ongoing Pandemic can be found in video and text format here

We are delighted to be able to announce a return to operations for our popular Adult Education classes.

More details and enrolments are available from our Adult Education section here. The provisional start date for most classes is the week of 27th September. Our print brochure is available to view here.