October' 09

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The school year is in full swing at this stage and we would like to bring you up to date with some of our ongoing activities.

ICT - Our work to upgrade our ICT facilities is ongoing. We are currently installing upgraded wiring to allow internet access to all our pre-fab classrooms. Over the Halloween break we intend to install eight new computers in these classes and a further four interactive whiteboards throughout the school. These purchases have been funded through a combination of voluntary contributions and government grants. Our teachers took part in a training course in the use of these boards recently and feel that they will be a great resource for teaching and learning in the future.

Appointments - We would like to remind all parents that where they wish to have a discussion with their child's teacher it is school policy to make an appointment through the school office. This allows the teacher to be professionally prepared for the meeting and ensures that the class is not left unsupervised if an unscheduled meeting takes place in the corridor.

Community Garda - We have had two visits from the Community Garda who has met the senior classes to discuss issues relevant to the children. We hope to have a further visit in Halloween week to discuss fire safety

Cookery -Cookery classes for third and fourth class are in full swing. Thanks to Padraig Howley Butchers for supplying the Parents Association with the ingredients for the lessons.

M S Readathon - Our senior classes from 2nd to 6th will once again be taking part in the MS Readathon in support of Multiple Sclerosis sufferers in our country. As with last year we have two aims in taking part in this project.

(1) The project encourages children to read as many books as possible over the period of a month with the support of their parents who sign for each book read. We would ask parents to take a general interest in each of the books the children choose, have a chat about their favourite characters or favourite moments in the stories.

(2) The children raise a small donation to aid sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis in Ireland. In these difficult economic times we are not asking pupils to wander the village looking for sponsorship. A minimal donation per card is more than adequate.

Sport - The children in third class seem to be thoroughly enjoying their swimming lessons. It is interesting to note that almost thirty of the children have very little swimming experience and are in beginners groups. Thanks to all the parents who are giving lifts to the pool complex on Fridays.

Well done to the Boys Senior Football team who played so well in their first match of the year recently. There is a huge amount of sporting activity going on at present. Well done to all involved, be it in football, basketball, hurling, athletics or rugby

Head Lice - Thousands of children catch head lice each year. It is an age old problem common to every school. Head lice can only be caught through head to head contact and this is why school children are more likely to be affected. As a school our role is to monitor our children and inform parents if an outbreak occurs. On occasion we may also request assistance from outside agencies such as the local Health Nurse to help our community combat the issue. We have applied to receive support to implement the bug busting programme in our community and await a response. We have been advised that there are three steps to successfully treating head lice. This advice is as follows:

Step 1: Detection : Wet combing every week

Step 2: Treatment : Use of head lice treatment or special combs such as the bug busting kit

Step 3: Making Sure - Use of repellent or repetition of bug busting programme.

Website - The school website is up and running. You can access the site at www.lusknationalschool.org and take a look at a variety of activities going on in our school. The 'Our Activities' link is particularly interesting as parents and children can enjoy the most recent art work on display in each class. There are also some very interesting links off the site to other educational websites which parents may find useful. Thanks to Brendan Rowley from the Parents Association and Ms. Lynch for their hard work in keeping the site up to date.

Insurance - We would like to remind all parents who have paid the Pupil Personal Accident Insurance with the book list over the summer that this insurance provides twenty four hour cover for the full year. Even if an accident occurs at the week end parents should keep the receipts for all expenses incurred as in almost all cases these expenses can be claimed under the scheme.

Jolly Phonics - We held a meeting with the parents of Junior Infants during the past month to introduce the Jolly Phonic programme. We were delighted with the turn out and hope it helped put parents on the right track regarding supporting their child in the reading process.

Planetarium - We had a visit from the Armagh Planetarium this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about the planets and the night sky. Thanks to the Parents Association for organizing the visit the cost of which has been covered from the Voluntary Contribution.

Voluntary Contribution - Thank you to all the parents/guardians who have made a voluntary contribution to date this year. Unfortunately our total raised so far is greatly down on last year. While we are very aware that many people are facing hard times at present, if there is any family that simply forgot to drop in the donation last week the envelopes will still be gratefully accepted in the school office and put to very good use. All those who have paid their contribution by the Halloween break will be entered into a draw for a Christmas Turkey and Ham purchased by the Parents Association.

Scouts - Congratulations to the 135th Lusk Scout Troup on their recent 30th anniversary celebrations. It was a wonderful event. It is one of the great strengths of the community of Lusk to have so many groups prepared to give their time for the young people of our parish.

Regards,

Paul Comiskey.

Principal.

Principal: Paul Comiskey, B.Ed., Dip. Ed. Man., M.St.

Deputy Principal: Peggy O'Connor N.T., D.A.I.