Lusk National School

Chapel Rd.,

Lusk,

Co. Dublin.

Tel/Fax: 8437734

Email: luskns.ias@eircom.net

Dec '07

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to our December newsletter in which we hope to bring you up to date with different events going on within our school.

Christmas Mass and Junior Carol Service - Traditionally the school year ends with a Mass on the last day of the school year. However we are such a large school now that we can not accommodate all the children in the hall at once. This year mass will be held in the school hall for all the children from 3rd to 6* class at 10.30 on Friday the 21st of December. The children in Junior Infants to 2nd class will take part in a carol service the previous day (Thursday the 20*) also at 10.30. Parents are of course very welcome to attend these school celebrations, space permitting. We would like to thank all the teachers for preparing the children for the occasion, particularly Ms. Fay who has put so much time and effort into preparing our school choir and selecting our music for the Christmas festivities.

Christmas Show - Dry Ice Theatre Company are coming to our school on Friday the 14th of December. They will put on two shows for the children, one for the Junior classes and one for the senior classes. We are very much looking forward to the visit.

Literacy Programme - The Parents Association have purchased a large quantity of graded readers at our request to support our literacy programme. These readers will supplement our class reading schemes and enhance the reading experience of our children. The books have been purchased for all classes from Senior Infants to Fourth and will be put to good use beginning early in the new year. Thanks a million to the parents involved for all their hard work

Appointments - We are delighted to announce that Ms. Peggy O'Connor has recently been appointed as the new Deputy Principal of our school. Peggy has served our school community with wonderful dedication and commitment for the past twenty four years. We would like to congratulate her on the appointment and wish her the very best in her new role.

Policies - Two revised policies have been ratified by the Board of Management at this months meeting. Both the Behaviour policy and the Enrolment policy are available from the office and will also be published on the school website which we hope to have up and running in the new year.

Enrolment - 2008/2009 - The revised enrolment policy alters the manner in which we accept enrolment applications for the foreseeable future. This revision was necessary to ensure that places in our school are allocated in as fair a manner as possible. All families wishing to enroll their child in our school in the coming year will be required to collect an enrolment pack from the school office. These packs will be available in the school office from 10a.m. on the 1st of February Places will be allocated on return of the completed pack according to the criteria outlined in the policy

New School Building -As parents are aware our school is growing very rapidly. The Department of Education has sanctioned the building of a new school at our location. A sub-committee of the Board is currently working closely with the Department on the project. When the new building is complete the Department has agreed that the new large school will be divided into two, Lusk Junior National School and Lusk Senior National School. Each school is planned to have sixteen classrooms and approximately 450 children. The Board fully supports this proposal and feels that two medium sized schools on one campus will be in a better position to serve the community than one large school of nine hundred children.

Lusk Youth Club - We would like to say thank you to the co-ordinators of Lusk Youth club. The club dissolved recently and made a donation of a particular sum to the school for the benefit of our pupils.

Thank You - We would like to say a genuine thank you for the support we have received from parents regarding early arrivals in school and the collection of children from the yards. We appreciate that whenever changes take place it can take some time for systems to fall into place. However in this instance the support for these measures has been wonderful. We are delighted with the reduction in numbers of early arrivals at school and remind a small minority of parents that we can not supervise children prior to 9.20. We also thank parents for collecting their children from the yards as it has greatly increased our ability to ensure that children are collected safely.

ICT - We recently purchased mobile interactive teaching equipment for use in class lessons. Ms. White has given a great deal of time to co-ordinating lessons for class use and several teachers have begun using the system. From visits to the rooms the children certainly seem to be enjoying the experience.

School Choir- The school choir, under the expert guidance of Ms. Fay have worked very hard in preparation for the Christmas festivities, both within the school and also in preparation for the Carol Service in St. Maccullins Church on Wednesday the 19* of December. Well done to all involved.

Sport ? Last month \ve mentioned that the school would compete in the Dublin Cross Country Championship at the end of November. Congratulations to all participants both for their behaviour on the day and all the trophies they collected. Well done to Ms. Ni Chonarain and Ms. Tally for having the team in such good shape. We would also like to wish our GAA coach Shane Treanor the very best of luck as he leaves us to travel abroad. Shane has been a huge hit both with the children and the staff and will very much be missed.

Dates for the Diary - Friday 14th Dec. - School show with Dry Ice Theatre Company Thursday 20th Dec. 10.30 - Christmas Carols with Junior Classes Friday 21st Dec. 1 0.30 - School Mass for Senior Classes (School closes at 12.30) Wednesday 9lh Jan - Staff Meeting - Children go home at 12.30.

Special Visitor - A certain gentleman with a red suit and white beard will be paying a visit to the children in the Infant classes during Christmas week. Well done to the Parents Association for organising the visit and thanks to the man himself for taking time out of his busy schedule at the North Pole to make the visit.

Finally the staff of Lusk National School would like to wish all our parents, guardians and other members of the community in Lusk who are such a support to the school a happy and peaceful Christmas break.

Regards,

Paul Comiskey

Principal

Principal: Paul Comiskey, B.Ed., Dip. Ed. Man., M.st. Deputy Principal: PeggyO'Connor. NT., D.A.I.