March 24th 2009
Dear Parents/ Guardians,
Welcome to another newsletter. As you will see it has been a very busy month.
ICTU Day of Action - As parents may be aware it is possible that many unions will take part in a work stoppage on Monday the 30th of March. The Board of Management of the school is meeting this Wednesday March 25th and parents will be informed as soon as possible regarding arrangements for the coming week.
New School - We have been informed that our project to build a new school has advanced to the next stage in the Department of Education, the Architectural Planning Stage. The Board will continue working in co-operation with the Department in the hope that funding can be found for our new school.
Parents Association - The Parents Association will be in touch regarding school unifom1s for the coming year over the next two weeks. We would like to thank David Bofin from the association who has put a lot of hard work into our school garden in the last few weeks.
Sport - The sports teams are all in full swing at this stage of the year. The boys and Girls Football teams have both won all their league matches to date and are in great form. The two basketball squads are also flying and have been involved in some cracking matches. We would like to thank the Roberts family for their donation of a new basketball kit which has got great use to date. The children look smashing in it.
Food Dudes - The Food Dudes project is in full swing at the moment. The children get the opportunity to sample the same selection of fruit and vegetables every four days, The project is based on the idea that once children get used to certain foods they will accept them as part ofthejr diet. So far we are extremely happy with the response of the whole school community to the project.
Artist in Residence - Our two fifth classes are currently involved in a very exciting project with our visiting Artist in Residence. The children are thoroughly enjoying the project and we are looking forward to seeing the fruits of their efforts.
Seachtain na Gaeilge Bhí spórt is spraoi ag na paistí I rith Seachtain na Gaeilge. Bhain siad an-taitneamh as an ceilí, an tráth na gceist, an seó faisean agus na cluichí go léir a d'eagraigh na muinteoirí. The children had great fun during Seachtain na Gaeilge this year. They really enjoyed the ceilí the class quiz, the fashion show and the games organized by Ms. Ní Chonarain.
World Book Week- World Book Week also took place earlier this month. The children really enjoyed the chance to sample a variety of literature from different countries . The children i fourth and fifth classes particularly enjoyed the chance to meet the writer Derek Landy, author of the Skullduggery Pleasant series of novels which are worldwide bestsellers. Thanks to Ms Murtagh for organizing the visit. We are also trying to organize a visiting author to come and meet the boys and girls in the junior classes.
DVDs We are interested in extending our collection of DVDs and creating a DVD library resource. If any families have educational DVDs in good condition for which they have no further use we would be delighted if they could send them in to Ms. Harford in Room 10. The sort of programmes we have in mind include nature programmes such as the Blue Planet, programmes from the History Channel or literacy and numeracy programmes such as Jolly Phonics or Number Jacks.
Incredible Edibles- We had a visit from Minister Trevor Sargent during the month to promote the planting of fruit and vegetables in the community. Our tvv'O fourth classes are involved in the project. We took the chance to meet and highlight the problem of cutbacks to our English Language teaching posts which will have a serious impact on our school. We gave the Minister a letter outlining our concerns and asked him to pass it on to the Minister for Education
.Lost Property- We have a fine collection of clothing in our Lost Property box outside pre-fabs four and five. We would ask any parents/guardians \vho may have missed some items to take a look in the box after school as we will be passing on any clothes to the St. Vincent De Paul over the Easter holidays.
Punctuality -We are encouraging all the children to be in their school line at 9.20. The vast majority of children are very punctual but we have a few who ramble in at their own pace and would ask parents to encourage them to be in on time.
Regards,
Paul Comiskey.
Principal.
Principal: Paul Comiskey, B.Ed., Dip. Ed. Man., M.St.
Deputy Principal: Peggy O'Connor N.T., D.A.I.
