Holy Family N.S. Rathmore Co.Kerry P51 N290

                                                                                           Holy Family National School, 

                                                                                             Rathmore, Co. Kerry.

                                                                                                Tel. 064/7758492                                                                                                                          e-mail hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com

5^th April, 2017

Dear Parents,

SCHOOL WARDEN RETIRES

On Friday next April 7^th we bid farewell to our School Warden, Mrs. Noreen Lynch.  Noreen has been working at Holy Family N.S. since we opened in September 2007 and had previously spent 20 years working as warden at the Convent Primary School on the busy main road.  To mark the occasion we have invited Noreen to a function in the G.P. room on Friday morning next at 10 am.  Parents are welcome to attend.  The event will begin with a prayer service at 10 am followed by some presentations on behalf of the Parents Committee and Board of Management.

NATIONAL FINAL OF CREDIT UNION SCHOOLS QUIZ

We are very proud of our school U-11 quiz team who qualified for the National Credit Union finals which took place at the R.D.S. in Dublin on Sunday April 2^nd.  This is our fourth year in a row gettting to the National Final. Getting to the R.D.S. is a huge achievement and our U-11 team did very well in their category on the day.  Our U-11 team were Liam O’Keeffe, Ross Moriarty, Mia Reen and Sarah O’Donoghue.  We congratulate them and their mentor Ms. Anne Marie Murphy for preparing the team so well.  The school wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the generous support the Credit Union gave us for this event.

As you might see in our blog we had the privilege of meeting with and listening to the O’Donovan brothers, Gary & Paul from Skibbereen who are Youth Ambassadors for the Irish Credit Union movement.

CREDIT UNION SAVING STAMPS

A number of children are availing of saving stamps in the school.  It is important to encourage children to save, and buying saving stamps is a very good way of developing the habit of saving.  Stamps are €1 each.  Stamp cards are available from the school and when they have been filled they can bring them to the Credit Union and lodge €20 to their Savings account.  Super Savers week will be coming up in May.  Children will get details nearer the time.

SWIMMING LESSONS (2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th & 6^th Classes)

Swimming is now part of the new curriculum. We have organised swimming lessons for the boys and girls from second to sixth class for six days commencing Thurs. April 27^th and will continue on May 4^th, 11^th, 25^th, June 1^st & 8^th  The children will be taken by bus to Glen Eagle Hotel and Leisure Centre, Killarney.  The cost of the lessons and transport will be €35 per child.  This year, also, the transport will not be subsidised by IRD Duhallow.   To keep the cost at the same price as last year, our Parents Committee are giving €1000 towards the cost. (Otherwise it would cost €48 per child.)  A big thank you to the Parents Committee for their fund-raising efforts and making this possible.  We will  set up the epayment method for swimming and you can pay directly into our bank account or children can start bringing in the money when it is convenient.

Please ensure that children bring swim gear, caps and a towel on these days. No need for shampoo.  If your child has goggles he / she can bring them also. Whereas there are a number of hair dryers in the changing rooms, time does not allow for the complete drying of long hair.  It might be an idea if girls with long hair would try and prevent their hair from getting totally wet by wearing waterproof head gear that you might deem suitable. Some people find that a rubber swim hat is very useful for this purpose.    Even if your child has no previous experience of swimming, please try and encourage him / her to take part.  This course is being provided so that all children will have the opportunity to receive swimming instruction.  It will work best if all children take part.

DISCOVER PRIMARY SCIENCE & MATHS

As part of  the engineering aspect of “Discover Primary Science & Maths Award”, fourth class went to visit Liebherr factory in Killarney on Tuesday 4^th April.  We will have a Lego Workshop on Tuesday 25^th April for 2^nd  to 6^th  classes.  This will introduce robotics and machines and mechanisms with use of programming.  To cover the cost of this children are asked to contribute  €4 per child and they can start bringing in as soon as is convenient.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

PARENTS COMMITTEE UPDATE:

A big thank you to our Parents Committee who have organised Bag Packing at Dunnes Stores, Killarney on  April 27^th, 28^th & 29^th.  This will be on Thursday, Friday and Saturday after the Easter holidays.  We ask you the parents to support the wonderful work of our Parents Committee by volunteering to be on the bag packing rota for those days.  There are 2 x 1½ hour periods on Thurs. 27^th and Friday 28^th and 3 x 2 hour periods on Saturday 29^th.  Please see the list below and contact the Parents Committee member who has taken responsibility for the period which would suit you best.  Dunnes allow over 16’s only helping at the checkouts so unfortunately children in our school cannot be involved. 

Remember it is because of the fundraising efforts of our Parents Committee that we have been able to fund:

1)  Instrumental music for two terms

2)  Drama for 6 weeks up to Christmas

3)  Gymnastics for five weeks finishing this Thursday

4)  Contributing about €1000 to our swimming lessons which will commence on Thurs. April 27^th.  As a result of Parents Committee subvention we will be able to maintain a price of €35 for 6 weeks swimming lessons i.e. for transport and swimming lessons.

Wellbeing and Mindful living

The Parents Committee have organised a talk by Susan Fitzgerald on Wellbeing and Mindful Living for parents.  All parents are invited to this event and please feel free to bring a friend even if they are not parents in our school.  This event will take place on Tues. 2^nd May - 8 – 9.30pm followed by Question and Answer session.  Learn invaluable tips on how to keep stress at bay, keeping your child happy and balanced.  Some tips on improving relationships with other adults and also with your children.

MINI-SEVENS FOOTBALL COMPETITION

Well done to our boys and girls team who took part in the Mini sevens competition.  The Boys played in Dr. Crokes pitch on Tues 21^st March and the Girls played in Fossa pitch on Wed. 22^nd March.  The boys reached the final and were defeated by a very strong Fossa team and the girls were defeated by St. Olivers in the semi-final.

DUHALLOW SCHOOLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

On Tuesday 21^st March one boys’ and one girls’ team took part in the Duhallow Schools Basketball Tournament in Dromtarriffe Community Centre.  Both teams won all of their games.  Thanks to Jamieson Hughes and Miriam Moynihan who took care of the teams.

CHRISTMAS LEAGUE

The results of the Christmas League are Anthony King’s team for the Boys and Emily Reddington’s team for the Girls.  Boys Top Scorer – David Darmody and Girls Top Scorer – Aoife Cronin.

DO THIS IN MEMORY MASS

The next ‘Do This in Memory’ Mass is on Holy Thursday April 13^th at 6.00pm in Rathmore Church.

SCHOOL BLOG

Please log in to school blog frequently where you will find links and information on Internet Safety, homework etc.  http://hfnsrathmorekerry.blogspot.ie/

DATES TO REMEMBER

Holy Family N.S. ‘Spring Clean’  Thursday April 6^th

Do This in Memory Mass – Holy Thursday 13^th April at 6pm

Easter Holidays:

Closing Friday 7th April at 12 noon

Closed from Monday 10^th April to Friday 21^st April

Reopening Monday 24th April

Lego Workshop  Tuesday April 25^th

WOW (Walk on Wednesday) 9am Wed. April 26^th

Bag packing in Dunnes Thurs 27^th, Fri. 28^th & Sat. 29^th April

Closed Monday 1^st May- Public Holiday

First Communion - Sat. 20^th May at 11am

Closed Monday 5^th (Public Holiday) and Tuesday 6th June

Closing Friday 30th June 2017

        Wishing you all a Happy Easter         

                  Guímid Cásca shona díbh go léir

                       From all the staff at

                                Holy Family N.S.

                                   

                             Holy Family National School,

                                                        Rathmore

                                                            Co. Kerry.

Tel. No:  (064) 7758492

      e-mail: hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com

                                                                             hfnsrathmorekerry blog

                                                                          5^th April 2017

Dear Parents,

Having received our Active Flag last year we are enjoying being an Active School again this year.  Some of the activities we have already undertaken are:

We are excited to announce our Active Schools Week will take place after the Easter holidays from Monday 24^th to Friday 28^th of April.  We have a number of exciting activities taking place.

These include:

Pupils are asked to wear their school tracksuits every day during Active Schools Week.  We would like to invite any parents who are interested to our WOW on Wednesday 26^th of April. 

We hope everyone has a very enjoyable and active AS week.

Active Flag Committee