Holy Family N.S. Rathmore Co.Kerry P51 N290: December 2019

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Newsletter

Holy Family National School

Rathmore, Co. Kerry

Tel. 064/7758492 Mobile: 086/1806018

e-mail hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com

http://hfnsrathmorekerry.blogspot.ie/

27^th November 2019

Dear Parents,

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT ELECTION

Thank you to parents who attended meeting on 18^th 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 1^st through to 6^th 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 17^th December at 7.00 p.m. and Wednesday 18^th 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 3^rd 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 11^th November. He delivered a workshop to children from 4^th, 5^th and 6^th 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 5^th and 6^th classes have had a very successful term on the football field. They defeated Fossa N.S. at Austin Stack Park on 23^rd 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 16^th 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 11^th to 15^th 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 5^th 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 1^st to 4^th 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 6^th 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 3^rd December at

7.30 p.m. in school

St. Vincent de Paul Food Appeal – will be collected on Mon. 9^th Dec.

Public Speaking Competition: Tralee Education Centre Mon. 16^th Dec.

Christmas Sing Along: Tuesday 17^th December at 7.00 p.m. and

Wednesday 18^th at 12 noon.

Closing Friday 20^th December for Christmas Holidays

Closed Monday 23^rd December to Friday 3^rd January, 2020

Re-opening Monday 6^th January, 2020 – The children will attend Mass

Confirmation in Rathmore – Tues. Feb. 18^th at 3.30pm

Closed Thursday 20th and Friday 21st February (Mid-Term)