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                                                               Holy Family  National  School,  Rathmore, Co. Kerry.
                                                         Tel. 064/7758492  Fax 064/7758499
                                                          E-mail hfnsrathmore@eircom.net
 22nd October 2015


Dear Parents,
GOAL /BRÚ COLUMBANUS NO UNIFORM DAY
We will have a no uniform day on Friday Oct. 23rd.  This year the funds raised will be split between Goal and Brú Columbanus.  Brú Columbanus provides “home from home” accommodation for the relatives of seriously ill patients in Cork Hospitals and Hospice, especially relatives of sick children.  Goal works towards ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable in our world and those affected by humanitarian crises have access to the fundamental rights of life including but not limited to adequate shelter food water and sanitation, healthcare and education. Children can donate a voluntary contribution on the day.

CHURCH GATE COLLECTION
Please note that the Church Gate Collection will be held before the 6.00 p.m. and 11.30 a.m. Masses  this  weekend 24th/25th October, 2015.   This is another fund raising event for our school organised by the Parents’ Committee.  Your support will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT ELECTION
As you may be aware the current term of the Board of Management will expire on 30th November, 2015 and the new Board of Management takes up office on the 1st December, 2015.  Two parents of children enrolled in the school (one being a mother and the other a father) must be elected by the general body of parents enrolled in the school.
A meeting will be held at the school on Tuesday 10th November at 7.30 p.m.  
Before the election takes place we will have a talk for parents on ‘Internet  safety’ given by Avril Ronan   Avril is global manager for Internet Security for Trend Micro Systems. Our children have access to material online at a very young age and it is important that parents be vigilant and informed in this regard.
1.  At the meeting nominations will be invited for both a mothers' panel and a fathers' panel.
2.  Each nominee must be seconded.
3.  If there is only one nominee for either panel, the nominee(s) shall be deemed to be elected.
4.  If more than one nomination is received for either of the panels, a secret ballot will be held at the meeting
5. Two tellers shall be appointed.
6.  Each person voting shall have one, non-transferable vote for each panel.
7. The votes shall be counted in public.
8. The election shall be determined on a plurality of votes (i.e. the first past the post system).
9. In the event of a tied vote between nominees where the ballot has been conducted at a meeting and where agreed by the majority of voters present and voting therein, the election of the nominee(s) shall be determined by a further vote at that meeting. Such a vote shall be confined to the tied nominees.
10. The result of the ballot shall be notified to the parents and to the Patron's representative.
11. The voting returns from the ballot may be retained for the purposes of co-option in order to fill vacancies occurring during the life of the Board where it is decided, having consulted the parents' association, not to have a by-election, or further by-election, as appropriate.


PARENTS’ COMMITTEE REPORT 2014/2015
The AGM of the Parents’ Committee took place on Wed. Oct. 14th  
The following are the Members of the Parents’ Committee for the year 2015 – 2016:
Junior Infants               -          Kay O’Keeffe  (Assistant Chairperson)
Senior Infants              -          Anna Gabryielska  (PRO)
First Class                    -          Evelyn Casey (Assistant Secretary)
Second Class               -          Pat Cashman  (Treasurer)
Third Class                   -          Bernie Rea  (Assistant Treasurer)
Fourth Class                 -          Anne Marie Leader (Secretary)
Fifth Class                    -          Lorraine Dineen (Assistant PRO)
Sixth Class                   -          Adrian Moriarty  (Chairperson)
Parents of EAL            -          Pawel Swies
B.O.M.                        -           Paul Darmody
B.O.M.                        -           Carmel Healy                         
We thank Anna Gabryielska, Pat Cashman, Anne Marie Leader, Adrian Moriarty, Paul Swies for agreeing to serve for the coming year.  We welcome Kay O’Keeffe, Evelyn Casey, Bernie Rea and Lorraine Dineen as new representatives for Junior Infants, First, Third and Fifth classes for this year. We also take this opportunity to thank very sincerely Sheila Casey, Therese Higgins, Kathleen Dennehy and Tim O’Brien 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.  Also last year every class had drama classes.  We also subsidised swimming lessons last year.    The fundraising activities and funds raised for the year 2014-2015 are presented below. We have started with a balance this year of €5517.76.  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 2014
945.00
Christmas Play/DVD’s
December 2014
400.88
Christmas Raffle
December 2014
1008.05
Quiz
March 2015
595.50
John Lonergan Talk
March 2015
85.00
Colour Me Beautiful
April 2015
895.00
Sponsored Walk
May 2014
2544.80
Family Fun Day
June 2014
1023.46
Total

7497.69
PRESENTATION DAY MASS
We will be attending Mass on Fri. 20th   November, at 9.30 a.m. in the Church, to mark Presentation  Day.  We will be leaving the school at 9.15 a.m. and if children arrive after this time please bring them to the church.  Everybody welcome.
PARENT/TEACHER MEETINGS
Parent-teacher meetings (Senior Infants to Sixth Class)  are planned for Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th  of November.   
If you will not be able to attend on either of these days, please contact the teacher as soon as possible and we will make an alternative arrangement otherwise you will receive details of times  during the week before the meetings.
Parent – teacher meetings for Junior Infants will take place in January 2016.


ALL-IRELAND FINAL RAFFLE
The All-Ireland Final Raffle was a tremendous success and realised €6602 for school funds.  The grand prize winner was Juliet Cronin, Aunaskirtane and the signed Kerry jersey was won by Maura Breen, Kilflynn, Tralee, Co. Kerry.  A big thank you to everybody who helped and sold tickets. 
STUDENT COUNCIL
Last year we set up our Students Council for the first time. The members selected were 3rd Laura Phelan and Sean Finnegan  4th  Aimee Cremin   5th Ciara O’Keeffe and Darragh Moriarty
6th  Noah Moynihan and Madhbh Dennehy.  We would like to thank them for their participation in our first student council.  We will be setting up a new council for this year.

LEE STRAND
We are very grateful to Lee Strand who have provided free homework journals to our school for the past 3 years.  In order to provide us with free homework journals next year they have asked us to collect Mighty Mike tokens from Lee Strand milk cartons and bottles.  They will also accept the bar code from Dawn Dairies cartons and bottles.  Please do your best to collect the tokens and you can send them to the school office. 
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (S.I.P.) Report
Our School Improvement Plans in Numeracy and Literacy are progressing satisfactorily. 
In literacy – our target is to increase the percentage of pupils performing at or above the 50th. Percentile on standardised reading tests by 2% over the duration of the plan. Comprehension was identified as an area in which we could improve. 
In numeracy -  word problem solving was identified as an area in which we could improve.  We aim to improve the average score in this area of the standardised maths tests by 3% over the duration of the plan.
Glad to report that work is progressing well and results are in line with our target objectives.

SCHOOL BLOG REMINDER
This newsletter will be available to read on our blog.  In order to reduce the cost of printing we would be happy to email newsletters to your email address.  If you would be happy to receive future school newsletters via email please write a note to that effect and include your email address and return to school in next few days.  http://hfnsrathmorekerry.blogspot.ie/ or google holyfamilynsrathmorekerry blog
Please log on to blog where you will find very valuable links to tips and advice for parents on Internet Safety.
CRIME PREVENTION INFORMATION SEMINAR
Sergeant John Kelly Crime Prevention Officer will give a Crime Prevention Talk on Tuesday 3rd Nov. at 7.30pm in the James O’Keeffe Institute, Newmarket.  This night will promote crime prevention and how to reduce the opportunities for criminals to commit crime in your home.  Mr. Diarmuid Cronin, Community Alert Development Officer will also be available to explain details of the Community Alert Initiative.  Everyone is welcome to attend. (Please contact Mary Creedon to register for this free event on 029 60633.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS, TEL. NO
If any of your child/childrens’ 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

DATES TO REMEMBER
No Uniform Day – Friday 23rd October
Closing for Halloween – Friday 23rd October at 2.50pm
Church Gate Collection Sat. 24th & Sun. 25th October
Halloween Break:
Closed Monday 26th to Friday 30th October                  
Reopening: Monday 2nd November
Talk ‘Your Child’s online safety’ & B.O.M. election Wed 4th Nov @ 7.30pm
Parent/Teacher meetings – Tues. 10th & Wed. 11th Nov.
Presentation Day Mass -  Fri. 20th Nov. @ 9.30am in Church
Do This in Memory Mass – Sun. 22nd Nov. @ 11.30am in Church
Closed Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th December
Christmas Holidays:
Closing for Christmas holidays on Tuesday 22nd December

Closed Wednesday 23rd December to Wednesday 6th January, 2016