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                                                Holy Family National  School 
                                                            Rathmore, Co. Kerry
                                    Tel. 064/7758492 Mobile: 086/1806018
                                     e-mail hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com
                                                                        http://hfnsrathmorekerry.blogspot.ie/
27th November 2019
Dear Parents,
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT ELECTION
Thank you to parents who attended meeting on 18th November.  Carmel Healy and John Kennedy have been re-elected as Parents’ Nominees. 
                                           . 
The following are Members of the Board of Management for the term 2019 to 2023:
Chairperson                 -              Lena Kelleher
Secretary                     -              Paul Horan
Patron’s Nominee       -              Diarmuid Desmond
Teacher’s Nominee      -             Grace Fitzgerald
Parents’ Nominee        -             John Kennedy and Carmel Healy
Community Nominees -             Two members of the Community will be
                                                    added next week

PARENTS’ COMMITTEE REPORT 2018/2019
The following are the Members of the Parents’ Committee for the year 2019 – 2020:
Junior Infants               -          Emma Buckley
Senior Infants              -          Michael O’Riordan 
First Class                    -          Paula McCarthy
Second Class               -          Michael O’Sullivan
Third Class                   -          Mary Buttimer
Fourth Class                 -          Caterina Cronin 
Fifth Class                    -          Sheila Rahilly
Sixth Class                   -          Colin O’Leary
B.O.M.                        -          John Kennedy
B.O.M.                        -          Carmel Healy
                                   
We thank Michael O’Riordan, Michael O’Sullivan, Caterina Cronin and Colin O’Leary for agreeing to serve for the coming year.  We welcome as new representatives for Junior Infants – Emma Cooper Buckley, First Class– Paula McCarthy, Third Class– Mary Buttimer and Fifth Class – Sheila Rahilly for this year.  We also take this opportunity to thank very sincerely Eileen Hartnett, Tara Healy, Catherine Daly and Sinead Daly for their dedicated service to Holy Family N.S. 

The function of the Parents Committee is to support the activities of the school and also to represent the views of parents and guardians on relevant matters.  The bulk of our activity is fundraising and to date the funds raised have provided weekly music lessons for every child from 1st through to 6th classes. Dancing, drama and gymnastics classes are also funded by the Parents Committee.  This year the Junior and Senior Infants will also benefit from Drumming Workshops for five weeks commencing in January.  Funds raised also subsidised swimming lessons. Funds were also used to purchase five iPads for use in the classrooms.  The school added an additional three and all eight are being used for Station Teaching in each classroom.  First class shared some of their thoughts on them:

Eve:          “I like maths fight and book creator on the iPad.  The iPads are fun”.
Andrew:    “My favourite app is Bee bot because I like coding”.
Evan:        “I like the iPads because we get to play Wordscapes.  It is a word game where         
                   you match words out of five letters”.

 The fundraising activities and funds raised for the year 2018-2019 are presented below. We would like to thank everybody for their ongoing support of these activities, and also the many sponsors that provide prizes and assistance.
Activity
Date
Amount Raised           (€)
Church Gate Collection
October 2018
754.00
Bingo
November 2018
5244.45
Christmas Raffle
December 2018
1789.80
Quiz
March 2019
597.50
Sponsored Walk
June 2019
2947.15
Used Clothing Collection
June 2019
560.00
Total

11,892.90








LOCAL ST. VINCENT de PAUL FOOD APPEAL
To help the Christmas appeal of the local organisation of St. Vincent de Paul we have placed a large box in the entrance hall so that non-perishable items can be put into them. The boxes will be collected from the school on Monday 9th December.
The following is a list of acceptable items:
Any tinned or dried food, soup, sugar, cereal, porridge, tea, drinking chocolate, pasta, jam, ketchup/sauces, biscuits, cakes, sweets, chocolates, jelly, custard, cornflour, bisto, kitchen paper, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.
This appeal has been very successful in the past in our school and parents have been very generous. The local SVP organisation does great work in our community and give hampers to families who are in need over the Christmas period. Their annual Church Gate Collection will be taken up on weekend 7th/8th December at all Churches in the parish. It is their only fundraiser during the year. Thank You.
 
CHRISTMAS SING ALONG
As you are aware we have a Christmas Play every second year in Holy Family N.S.  This year is not the year for the Play but we would like to spread a little Christmas cheer. We invite parents to our Christmas Sing Along on Tuesday 17th December at 7.00 p.m. and Wednesday 18th December at 12 noon in the school, the performance will include all classes and will last for an hour approx.  We encourage parents who are in a position to take time off work to attend on the Wednesday as our Hall can only accommodate limited numbers. 
The Parents Committee will host a raffle at both performances.

CHRISTMAS LEAGUE
Teams for our Christmas League have been picked and the children from third to sixth classes are looking forward to participating.

CHRISTMAS CARDS
A total of 125 children responded to designing/colouring the template for the Christmas Card.  These have been sent away.  This means that the Parents Committee will receive approx. €700 from this venture. 


FIRST COMMUNION AND CONFIRMATION – DATES FOR DIARY
Confirmation               -     Tuesday February 18th at 3.30 p.m.
First Confession          -     Wednesday March 11th at 8.15 p.m.
First Communion        -     Saturday 2nd May at 11 a.m.
Talk for Parents of Confirmation children will take place in Holy Family N.S. on Tuesday 3rd December at 7.30 p.m.  Fr. Donal O’Connor, chaplain in ITT will give the talk.


CYBER BULLYING TALK
Ger Brick gave an interesting and informative talk on internet safety in the school on Monday 11th November.  He delivered a workshop to children from 4th, 5th and 6th classes and he will forward some useful links for parents to access in the near future.

CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL FOOTBALL
The boys and girls from 5th and 6th classes have had a very successful term on the football field. They defeated Fossa N.S. at Austin Stack Park on 23rd October to win the Division 3 title.  They defeated Nohoval N.S. in the County Semi-Final before eventually losing out to  St. Johns N.S., Kenmare in the Division 1 County Final. It was an outstanding achievement to reach the Final and well done to the players, Mr. Dineen and Mr. Moynihan on their success.

TEAM HOPE
The children brought a total of 114 beautifully decorated boxes to school which will bring much joy to many less fortunate children this Christmas. Team Hope deliver the shoeboxes to children in Eastern Europe and Africa.  Thank you all for your contribution and to
Chris Barron for delivering the boxes to the collection point in Killarney.

        HALLOWEEN DRESS UP DAY FOR MERCY HOSPITAL POONS SERVICE Friday 25th October was a No Uniform Day in school and the children had great fun dressing up in their costumes.  They also raised €328.70 towards Mercy Hospital POONS Service and this is very much appreciated. Thanking all for their donations.

PUCLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION
 Best of luck to our Debating Team who will compete in the Tralee Education Centre on the 16th December against St. Michael’s N.S., Sneem. We will be opposing the motion ‘Primary School students should be banned from using a mobile phone’.

SCIENCE WEEK
Science Week took place from the 11th to 15th November.  The children enjoyed conducting science experiments in the classrooms and the Nutty Scientists provided a science show in the GP Hall for all classes. 
DRAMA CLASSES
Drama Classes began in the school on Tuesday 5th Nov and will continue to Tuesday 3rd December.  All classes are involved.  Margaret O’Sullivan is our Drama Teacher.  We know that all will have a very enjoyable experience.  These classes are being funded by the Parents Committee.
HURLING
Colm O’Brien the Kerry GDO has been visiting the school providing hurling lessons to 1st to 4th classes this term. The children are enjoying practising their skills.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS, TEL. NO
If any of your child/children’s details have changed e.g. address, contact details, illness, etc. please contact the school as soon as possible.   Thank You.

MOBILE PHONE NUMBERS
We have a facility for texting parents.  If you have not received any text message from Holy Family N.S. please let us know.  The text automatically goes to the mother’s mobile phone unless we have been instructed otherwise.  Thank you





MISSIONARY MAGAZINES
Thank you to all the boys and girls who help to distribute and collect the subscription for the Far East and Messenger magazines during the year.  Orders are being renewed presently for Messenger (€24) and Far East (€10).   We are asking the boys and girls who distribute the magazines to bring back the renewal subscription envelopes as soon as possible before the Christmas holidays. Thank you
SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION POLICY
A draft of our new SEN Policy is available inside the front door of school until Friday 6th December, if you would like the opportunity to read it and offer feedback before the next Board of Management meeting in December.
RETIREMENT OF MS. BERNIE O’SULLIVAN
Best wishes to Bernie O’Sullivan on her retirement from Holy Family N.S.  Ms. O’Sullivan joined the Convent N.S. in 2005 and worked in SET, she was also our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. We thank Ms. O’Sullivan for her wonderful contribution to Holy Family National School.  From all the pupils, staff, parents, Parents’ Committee and Board of Management we wish Ms. O’Sullivan a long and happy retirement.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Talk for Parents of Confirmation children on Tuesday 3rd December at
7.30 p.m. in school
St. Vincent de Paul Food Appeal – will be collected on Mon. 9th Dec.
Public Speaking Competition:  Tralee Education Centre Mon. 16th Dec.
Christmas Sing Along:   Tuesday 17th December at 7.00 p.m. and
Wednesday 18th at 12 noon.
Closing Friday 20th December for Christmas Holidays
Closed Monday 23rd December to Friday 3rd January, 2020
Re-opening Monday 6th January, 2020 – The children will attend Mass
Confirmation in Rathmore – Tues. Feb. 18th at 3.30pm
Closed Thursday 20th and Friday 21st  February  (Mid-Term)
First Confession – Rathmore Church – Wed. March 11th at 8.15pm
Closed Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th March (Public Holiday)
Closing Friday 3rd April for Easter Holidays
Closed Monday 6th April to Friday 17th April, 2020
Re-opening Monday 20th April 2020
First Communion – Sat. 2nd May at 11am in Rathmore Church
Closed Monday 4th May (Public Holiday)
Closed Monday 1st June (Public Holiday) & Tuesday 2nd June
Closing Wed. 24th June for Summer Holidays

If during the school year there are any changes to school closure, we will let you know.