RMDS
School News in Brief….
20th May 2022
From the Green Schools Committee.... 3
From the Principal’s Desk….
A sincere thank you to the PA and to all the parents who fundraised tirelessly and contributed through our Voluntary Contributions over the last few years to bring our sensory room to completion. Thank you to Maria Dillon, who co-ordinated the project also. The children love their sensory space and it has become a vital element of our school. In order to give you a little idea of what the space is like, please watch our Sensory Room video.
A reminder that school will be closed for all the children next Friday, 27th May to facilitate inservice training for staff on the new Primary Language Curriculum.
We are delighted to say that our Junior Infant Reception Day will take place for incoming Junior Infants on Friday, 17th June. The present Junior Infants will have no school that day.
We have a huge amount of lost property building up. If there are any lost items in your house please encourage your children to check the lost property box!!!
Please check the RMDS Calendar on our website for all dates of upcoming events.
Rosemarie
Ah the glorious sunshine!!
We'll all be outside the Hill pub next Thursday evening (26th May) from 8pm enjoying sunshine at the RMDS SUMMER SOCIALl! Please come if you can - it's a rock solid excuse to miss bedtime!
We're also gearing up for SPORTS DAY on the 18th June from 11am - 2pm at Sandford Park. There will be races (egg and spoon, three legged, teddy bear and a surprise or two), soccer and games. We'll also have a fabulous cake stand (please bring your donations - we can only sell what you bring!!), coffee, hot dogs and lots of other delectables.
We need lots of volunteers so please let your Class Rep know you'd like a job or contact pa@rmds.ie.
Finally, the last (tbc) PA meeting of the year will take place at the Hill at 8.30pm on Monday 28th May. Put it in your diary, we won't bite :)
It's been a great year, though it has flown by, and it's great to end it with some fun!
Joss & Gráinne
PA Co-Chairs
Green Schools Tips
Measuring your Energy Use - Utility Bills
Given the recent increases in energy costs, I would especially recommend checking if you're currently on the best possible tariff by using a comparison website such as www.bonkers.ie www.switcher.ie or www.powertoswitch.ie
Billing
As discussed last week, utility bills use the kilowatt-hour (kWh) as the unit of measure. Currently a unit of electricity is roughly 32 cents and a unit of gas 9 cents. It varies depending upon wholesale energy prices, your utility supplier, the tariff you're on, the current VAT rate etc.
On top of paying for units, you also pay a Standing Charge and Public Service Obligation Levy for electricity and a Standing Charge and Carbon Tax for gas.
The Estimated Annual Bill
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) asks all utility suppliers to provide an Estimated Annual Bill for their various tariffs. This indicator enables customers to compare tariffs from the same supplier and between suppliers on a like-for-like basis. It includes VAT and all energy-related charges.
The CRU has based the Estimated Annual Bill on an average household in Ireland using 4,200 kWh of electricity per year. With gas consumption at 11,000 kWh per year.
Measuring your Own Energy Use
Although the Estimated Annual Bill is a great tool for shopping around for cheaper energy tariffs, it doesn't give a true indication of how much energy your own household actually uses.
When using the comparison websites, ideally input your annual energy usage rather than defaulting to the National Average. For this you'll need to access your old utility bills and it’s a lot easier doing this online. Most energy suppliers allow you to easily track your annual energy usage in kWh.
Try to average out bills over a few years if possible as our household energy usage was skewed in 2021 through working from home and home-schooling during lockdown.
Next Week: Where does your energy go?
Roland Ramsden
Andrea Scott
Green Schools Committee Parent Representatives
Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School, Ranelagh Road, Dublin 6, D06 Y658
Telephone/Fax: (01) 4961722 ● E-mail: secretary@rmds.ie
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Roll No. 19928Q ● Principal: Rosemarie Stynes
