Dear Parents/Guardians,
There is a new scheme for Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle books being introduced by the Minister for Education for the 2025/26 school year. For the 2025/26 school year all students in the free education system will receive free schoolbooks and certain other resources including copybooks, and calculators. These will be in place in September 2025.
Book Scheme:
- The books provided under the book scheme remain the property of St Aidan’s Community School at all times. These books are lent to students for the academic year and must be treated with care and respect.
- It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to ensure that students handle the books
with care to facilitate their reuse by the school in subsequent years.
- Parents/guardians are expected to cover the cost of replacing any lost or damaged books, beyond ordinary wear and tear. This includes damage caused by negligence or mishandling.
- Books will only be replaced in exceptional circumstances and only when the budget allows.
Stationery Provision:
- St Aidan’s Community School will provide a standard stationery pack for all students, as outlined in Department of Education guidelines. This pack is intended to cover basic stationery needs for academic purposes.
- Writing materials such as pens and pencils are not covered under this scheme. Students are expected to supply their own writing materials including a blue or black pen and a pencil at minimum. Ideally students will have their own pencil case containing a blue, black and red pen, pencil, sharpener, eraser and small ruler. And if possible colouring pencils/markers.
- Parents/guardians should be aware that the provided stationery pack may not fully cover the total stationery and equipment requirements for all subjects.
- Additional stationery or specialised equipment required for specific subjects may need to be acquired separately by parents/guardians. This requirement will be notified to Parents/Guardians by class teachers in the first two weeks of September.
- Used and/or lost stationery is to be replenished/replaced by Parents/Guardians.
Responsibilities of Parents/Guardians and students:
- Parents/guardians are expected to support their child’s education by ensuring the safeguarding of books/equipment/stationery for the duration of Junior Cycle. Any issues should be promptly reported to the school.
- In cases of loss or damage to books or stationery, parents/guardians should notify the school immediately and arrange for replacement or reimbursement as required.
- Parents/Guardians/students should ensure that all school textbooks, workbooks and equipment are returned to school at the end of each school year and over the mid year school holidays.
- There are some additional classroom resources that are not covered by the scheme, for example ingredients for Home Economics practicals. This will be communicated to students and parents at the beginning of the school year.
Yours sincerely
Kevin Shortall
Principal