NEWSLETTER
Holy
Family National School
Rathmore,
Co. Kerry.
Tel. 064/7758492
Mobile:
(086)1806018
hfnsrathmorekerry blog
5th
June 2020
Dear Parents,
The final term of
the 2019-2020 has proven to be an unusual time for all families due to the
Covid 19 Pandemic that caused the closure of schools on March 12th.
Thankfully the entire school community rallied together to make the best of a
difficult situation. I would like to thank the pupils for their positive and
enthusiastic engagement with distance learning, the parents for their patience
and understanding as we adapted to the needs of the children on very short
notice and the staff of the school whose dedication was clearly evident
throughout the closure minimising the impact on our pupils.
We carried out a
survey in May and the results are available to view on the blog. We used these
responses to guide us throughout May and June and we are very grateful for the
feedback.
You will receive end of year report cards and booklists on the 16th
June.
We will be reducing
the amount of assignments from Monday 8th June as the pupils have
worked hard and earned a reduction in their workload. June is traditionally a
month of school tours, sports days and outdoor learning. While it is never
ideal to miss school, I was delighted to hear of so many pupils farming, gardening,
cooking and helping at home and in the community. That learning and time spent with their
families will benefit them immeasurably.
We are awaiting guidelines
for September and will be in touch with further information about the coming
year as soon as possible. We have attached a provisional calendar for the
coming year but this may be subject to change.
STAFFING
We welcome back Ms Grace
Fitzgerald from maternity leave and thank Miss Julie O’Mahony for her
contribution in SET this year. Miss O’Mahony will cover Ms Aine O’Donoghue’s
maternity leave until the end of June.
SCHOOL
DEVELOPMENT
I am pleased to
inform you of a number of upcoming developments that will greatly add to our
school. Firstly, the DES has provided funding to replace the worst affected
parts of our roof and approximately two thirds of the roof will be replaced
over the summer.
We are also
carrying out some improvements to our playground under the Summer Works Scheme
as funding applied for in 2016 by Mr McCarthy has been approved. This work
will also be carried out during the holidays.
Finally with our
increased enrolment we will be eligible for a ninth mainstream teacher and work
will commence on a new classroom in the coming school year.
CATHOLIC
SCHOOLS WEEK
Parents and
Grandparents were invited to the Grandparents prayer service in the school on
Friday 31st January. It was a lovely
event as always and 6th class played music in honour of all our
grandparents. After the prayer service
we had a cuppa and many of the grandparents visited the classrooms of their
grandchild/grandchildren.
CHOIR –
CONFIRMATION AND FIRST CONFESSION
A big thank you to
all the boys and girls in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes who
participated in the choir for the Confirmation on Tues. Feb. 18th and on Wed.
11th March for First Confession. We wish
to thank Mrs. Brenda Moynihan who prepared the choir for both occasions. Their participation added immensely to the
occasions. We also wish to thank all the
staff who helped to prepare the children for both occasions.
CREDIT UNION
QUIZ
2 teams represented
our school in the Chapter 23 Quiz final on Sunday 1st March in Tralee. The U-11 Team were Neil Thompson, Clodagh
O’Callaghan, Jack Murphy and Daniel Buckley.The U13 Team were Eoin Cashman,
Grace Murphy, Gearóid Nagle and Conor Moynihan. The U13 team claimed third
place in their category. All pupils did
us proud on the day. We congratulate all involved and their teacher Anne Marie
Murphy.
KWD VISIT
On Monday March
2nd, a representative from Killarney
Waste Disposal visited the school and spoke to 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th classes on
what can be recycled and the importance of separating waste.
FUTURE FOREST
To coincide with
Science Week, Chris and Therese Barron came to our school and helped each of
the classes plant 2 native broadleaf trees – a total of 20 trees – on Mon. 9th
March. The theme was Climate change /
Biodiversity - trees capturing carbon and
providing habitats. We thank Chris and
Therese for their help and support.
GREEN FLAG
AWARD 2020
We were delighted
to receive an email from An Taisce on May 7th, confirming that our school was
successful in our application for the renewal of our Green Flag. This is the
seventh Green Flag awarded to Holy Family NS. The theme this year was 'Global
Citizenship and Energy'
Sincere thanks to
the hard working Green Schools committee, all pupils, staff and parents at Holy
Family NS, along with the wider community for supporting all Green Schools
initiatives. We thank Mr. Dineen and Ms.
O’Sullivan for co-ordinating this initiative.
COVID HEROES
Well done to Alex,
Neil and Karl Thompson who did wonderful work during the closure ensuring some
vulnerable people in our society were able to contact loved ones during the
lockdown with reconditioned devices.
SIXTH CLASS
GRADUATION
Unfortunately due
to the Covid19 closure our Graduation Ceremony is currently postponed. We hope
to have this as soon as HSE regulations permit.
Bishop Ray will celebrate an online Mass for sixth class children on Tues. 16th
June at 7.30pm. It will be
livestreamed from the Cathedral.
https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/st-marys-cathedral-killarney
Fr. Pat will celebrate an online mass for all the 6th class children in the
Parish on Wednesday 24th June at 7pm. https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/st-josephs-church-Rathmore
TRANSITION
TO SECONDARY SCHOOL
If any parent of
pupils in sixth class is anxious to talk
to the Deputy Principal of Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Maria Hanrahan
regarding the transition of their child from sixth class to first year, her
number is 087 6429993. The number is open until June 19th inclusive and again
from August 10th.
FIRST
COMMUNION
Unfortunately the
Sacrament of the First Communion had to be postponed in the parish this term.
It is a very special day for the children in second class and for the entire
community. We look forward to this special day in the coming months.
MOBILE
LIBRARY BOOKS – Classroom Readers – BOOK RENTAL BOOKS
Drop
off Day - Friday June 12th 1pm – 2.30pm for All
Families
Each child has Book
Rental Books which they received in September and may have Classroom Library
books, class reading materials, PM readers, Read Write Inc. readers etc. They
may also have Mobile Library books.
Please put all of the school books in one bag labelled with the child’s
name and class and the titles of the books enclosed on it and in a separate bag
please put the Mobile Library books and return to the school on Friday June 12th. The school will be open from 1pm to 2.30pm to
facilitate this drop off. We are appealing especially to the
Junior classes for all PM readers, Read Write Inc. readers, class library books
to return these very valuable resources to the school so we can have them for
September for the new year groups. We
have only a set amount of them and don’t have any extra copies.
DATES
TO REMEMBER 2020 - 2021
School opens Monday 31st August, 2020
Closed Monday 26th October to Friday 30th
October
Closed Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th December
Closing Tuesday 22nd December
Closed Wednesday 23rd December to Tuesday day
5th January, 2021
Re-opening Wednesday 6th January, 2021
Closed Thursday 18th and Friday 19th February
(Mid-Term)
Closed Wednesday 17th March (Public Holiday)
Closed Monday 29th March to Friday 9th April
(Easter Holidays)
Re-opening Monday 12th April, 2021
Closed Monday 3rd May (Public Holiday)
Closed Monday 7th June (Public Holiday)
Closing Friday 25th June for Summer Holidays
If during the school year there are any
changes to school closures
we will let you know.