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NEWSLETTER
Holy Family National School
Rathmore,   Co. Kerry.
                                                           Tel. 064/7758492
                                                                                                30th May 2018

RETIREMENT OF MR DIARMUID MCCARTHY AND MRS. SHEILA MURPHY
A very special event in the history of our school will take place
on Friday 22nd June
as we mark the retirement of Mr. Diarmuid McCarthy.
The occasion will commence with Mass at 11.30am
in the school followed by presentations and refreshments. 
You are all very welcome to attend.
There will also be a special gathering to mark Diarmuid’s retirement
at 8pm in Teach Iosagain on Friday evening June 22nd. 
This will give many of you the opportunity to attend and wish him well on his retirement. 
Of course this gathering is also an event for past parents and past pupils and we ask that you spread the word about this event.

The Parents association have kindly offered to provide refreshments for the occasion in the school and if anyone would like to bring in some home baking we would very much appreciate it.
SCHOOL TOURS
School tour season is here again.  First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth classes will be going to Active Kingdom in Tralee on tomorrow Thursday May 31st.  School tour for Junior & Senior Infants classes will take place on Wednesday June 6th to Active Kingdom in Tralee also.   We hope that all pupils will enjoy their days.

SPONSORED WALK
We are issuing sponsorship cards for our annual sponsored walk today.  The money raised will be used for the benefit of our children.  We would appreciate a big effort from every family as the sponsored walk is always the biggest source of income for the parents committee.  One card will be issued to each family.  Please do your best to get as much sponsorship as possible.  One rule applies – all cards issued must be returned to the school regardless of the amount collected before Friday June 15th.

DENTAL FORMS
Consent forms for Dental Inspection will be given to each child in Second and Sixth Classes today.  Please sign and return to school as soon as possible.  Also we will give HPV Vaccine information leaflets for parents of girls in 6th class.  
RSE TALK
Joan Barrett will speak to 5th and 6th class pupils on Friday June 8th on ‘Growing and Changing’.  We will write to the parents of both classes before then.
FIRST COMMUNION
A sincere thank you to all the parents for their co-operation and willing participation in the First Communion ceremony on Saturday, 5th May.  We would also like to thank the First Communion class teacher Ms. Carmel Casey. Thanks to Ms. Brenda Moynihan for conducting and organising the choir, Maura O’Leary for the music and all the pupils who took part in the choir. And of course not forgetting Fr. Pat for making it such a wonderful occasion for all
FEIS LAITIARAIN
Feis Laitiarain will take place on Sunday 24th June in Cullen.  Competitions in singing, music, set dancing, and language Irish/English poems and songs etc.   Further details from Noreen Meade 086 2173796

SIXTH CLASS GRADUATION
Graduation Prayer Service for our sixth class pupils will take place on Tuesday 26th June at 1pm.  All parents of sixth class are invited to attend the Prayer Service and there will be refreshments after.
BAG PACKING
On Friday April 27th and Saturday April 28th the Parents Committee organised Bag Packing in Dunnes Stores Killarney and the total collected came to €783.48.  We thank the Parents Committee and all the parents who volunteered for bag packing.  This is a real boost to the Parents Committee fundraising efforts.  Just this week they have given €650 towards swimming lessons in the Aquila Club which the children enjoyed immensely.

TESCO
Shortly we will receive a cheque from Tesco for €272 which is the total raised for Tesco Community Fund – Blue tokens.  Thank you to everyone who supported our school while shopping at Tesco.

BOOK RENTAL
Please ensure that your children return all books and other school property including class library books and property e.g school scissors etc.  which children may have taken home to their class teacher before Wednesday 27th June.

LIBRARY
The next date for visit of mobile library will be Thursday 21st June.  The summer timetable for Rathmore mobile library service will be at Rathmore P.O. 11.45 a.m. – 1.00 p.m., Rathmore Church 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., St. Joseph’s Day Centre 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Thursdays on the following dates – Thursday 19th July and Thurs. 16th August.  Again this yearThe Summer Reading Challenge’ for Primary School children will run during the months of July and August.
CREDIT UNION
Credit Union NATIONAL YOUTH SAVINGS WEEK.  This is a worthwhile promotion and all the students who bought stamps since it was announced were included in the draw on Friday May 11th for eight €5 Prizes sponsored by Rathmore & District Credit Union.  We thank the Credit Union for their sponsorship.

COUNTY DIVISION 3 HURLING COMPETITION
Our third and Fourth class team are out today at this competition and we have just got news that they have won all their games and have qualified for the Division 3 County Final.  Thank you to Eoin Casey and all the parents who have supported them.

SOUTH KERRY CUMANN NA mBUNSCOL HURLING  SEMI-FINALS
Holy Family Nation School Hurling Team will meet Lisivigeen in the Division 1 Semi-Final on Tuesday next 5th June.
THE PRIMARY GAME
Congratulations to Fionn Murphy who was selected on the first eleven to represent Kerry in the Primary Game on Munster Final Day.
HURLING SKILLS COMPETITION
Congratulations to Seán Finnegan, Ciarán Collins and Cian Twomey who made it to the County Finals of the hurling skills.  This was a great achievement for the three boys. Well Done.

SUPER SEVEN’S JUNIOR BASKETBALL LEAGUE
We will be entering a team from Fourth Class in this event on Tuesday night next at the Presentation Gym Killarney.

GIRLS FOOTBALL SKILLS COMPETITION
Yasmin O’Brien, Laura Phelan and Chloe Breen will represent HFNS in Girls County Football Skills final in Tralee tomorrow. We wish them the best of luck.



BOYS FOOTBALL SKILLS COMPETITION
Congratulations to Fionn Murphy, Darragh Nagle and Conor O’Donoghue who won the County Football Skills competition recently and they will now take part in the Munster Football Skills competition on June 6th in Mallow.

SUPER SEVENS BASKETBALL
Congratulations and well done to our senior basketball Team who won the Super Sevens Cup at the Basketball tournament in Killarney this week
Team: Cian Healy Mangan (Captain), Ciarán Collins, Kyle McAuliffe, Fionn Murphy, Cian Twomey, Conor O’Donoghue, Seán Finnegan, Daniel Sheehan,  Darragh Nagle and Jack Buckley.

A big thank you to Jameson Hughes and Stephen Lehane for looking after our basketballers

SUPER SEVENS 2017 ALL STAR TEAM
Congratulations to Fionn Murphy and Ciarán Collins who were selected on the 2018 Super Sevens All Star Team  Well done boys.
GIRLS SUPER SEVENS BASKETBALL
Our Girls team also took part in the Super Sevens Basketball competition but unfortunately were beaten in the quarter finals by Fossa NS.   A big thank you to Helen Dillane and Miriam Moynihan for looking after the girls’ team.
GIRLS CUMANN NA mBUNSCOL COMPETITION
Our girls’ team took part in the Cumann Na mBunscol football Competition recently. They defeated Kilcummin N.S. But unfortunately were defeated by Faha N.S. who won the East Kerry 6 – 8 nTeacher Girls football competition
GARDA PRIMARY 7-A-SIDE TOURNAMENT
This tournament will take place in Fitzgerald Stadium on Wednesday 20th June.  We will give you more information when we receive it .   

CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION
This year’s Corpus Christi Procession will take place in Rathmore on Saturday 9th June after 6.00pm Mass.    All the children from the parish who have received their First Holy Communion this year are invited to join the procession in their First Holy Communion outfits. 
We would like to encourage as many children and families as possible to take part in the procession.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
As we approach the end of the school year, it is important that children wear their proper school uniform, which includes black shoes.  As the weather gets warmer, children are in the habit of taking off their jumpers during breaks.  Please make sure that your child’s name is marked on the uniform jumper so that they can be easily identified.  Also if the weather is sunny please ensure that children wear sun screen coming to school.

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.  Therefore it is important that if you change your number to let us know.  Thank you

WELCOME BACK AND CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Ms. Áine O’Donoghue and Ms. Mary McMahon on the birth of their baby girls and to Ms. Grace Fitzgerald on the birth of her twins a boy and a girl.   Ms. O’Donoghue will be returning on Tuesday 5th June and Ms. Triona Raymond will be finishing on Friday June 1st.  Ms. Fitzgerald will return in September and Ms. Linda Collins is substituting for her. Ms. McMahon will return in October and Mr. John Moynihan is substituting for her. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Raymond for her wonderful work and commitment during her time with us.  We wish her every success.
DONATE TO HOLY FAMILY NS AND ENJOY THE IRISH POST MUSIC AWARDS 2018
The Irish Post, have kindly offered us some tickets to help us raise funds.  This is a unique opportunity to donate funds to Holy Family NS and enjoy a night out with family and friends.  The Irish Post Awards 2018 featuring LIVE performances by Phil Coulter , The Blizzards, The High Kings, Una Healy, Ryan McMullan and Beoga.  Hosted by Síle Seoige and Malachi Cush, the first ever Irish Post Music Awards will take place on Thursday, June 7th at the INEC in Killarney. We have already sent you a text with the link and if you would like a chance to make a €20 donation to our school and be rewarded with a seat at the Irish Post Music Awards 2018. Simply book and pay for your ticket through this link and your seat will be reserved. Holy Family NS will be awarded €20, less 5% admin costs (€1) for every ticket sold.  The following is the link:  http://www.irishtv.ie/shop/?product=donate-to-holy-family-ns-and-enjoy-the-irish-post-music-awards-2018

SYMPATHY
We extend our sympathies to Mrs. Brenda Moynihan and family on the death of her mother Mrs. Christine O’Sullivan who died yesterday. May she rest in peace.

Message from Diarmuid:
As most of you have heard, I will be retiring from the end of this school year.  It has been a priviledge for me to serve as principal of H.F.N.S. since we opened here in 2007.  Prior to becoming principal at Holy Family N.S.,  I had served as principal at the Boys School since January 1997.  I am glad to say that over the years I’ve enjoyed wonderful support from the staff at Holy Family N.S. and from the parents and pupils whom I had the pleasure of working with.  I welcome Mr. Paul Horan to Holy Family N.S. and wish him well in his new role as principal here.  Paul has been principal at Knockanes N.S. for the past 6 years.
I also want to inform you that our esteemed colleague Mrs. Sheila Murphy will be retiring at the end of this school year from her post as Special Needs Assistant.  Sheila has worked as an SNA in both the Convent and Boys School and here at Holy Family since 2007. Sheila will be greatly missed as SNA.  She is highly regarded by parents and fellow staff members.

DATES TO REMEMBER
First to Sixth class School Tour  -  Thursday 31st May to Tralee
Closed Monday 4th June (Public Holiday)
Junior and Senior Infants School Tour  -  Wed. 6th June to Tralee
RSE Talk for 5th and 6th Classes -  Friday June 8th.
Corpus Christi Procession – After 6pm Mass Rathmore Sat. June 9th
Sponsored Walk  - After Monday 18th June
All Cards to be returned by Friday 15th June
Mobile Library – Thursday 21st June
Retirement Mass and presentations – Friday June 22nd at 11.30am
Retirement Celebration in Teach Iosagain - Friday June 22nd at 8pm
Sixth Class Graduation Prayer Service – Tues. 26th June at 1pm

Closing Wednesday 27th June 2018