Newsletter
Holy Family
National School, Rathmore, Co. Kerry.
Tel. 064/7758492
e-mail hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com
Blog: hfnsrathmorekerry blog
24th
March 2022
Dear Parents,
This week has seen an increase in
positive cases of Covid 19 in the school community. Please be vigilant and do not send children
with symptoms to school. Positive cases
remain off school for 7 – 10 days (depending on their symptoms). For days, 8 – 10 masks are recommended. Any child with symptoms who is collected from
school or stays at home feeling unwell must be 48 hours symptom free before
returning. Thank you for your
co-operation. I would remind parents
that children should not be dropped to school before 8.55am as they are not
supervised.
CONFIRMATION
Congratulations to the 6th Class who received their Confirmation on
Tuesday 22nd February in Rathmore Church.
Bishop Ray Browne and Fr. Pat celebrated the sacrament and it was a very
special day for all involved. In
addition, we wish to thank the children for their donations to the ‘Children
helping Children’ charity. Thanks to Mr.
Dineen, Norrett Murphy and all the staff for preparing them so well. A special thank you to Mrs. Moynihan for
singing the hymns during the ceremony.
LENT
Wednesday March 2nd was Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent. Staff
members distributed ashes to the children on Ash Wednesday.
Lent is an opportunity to become closer to God, to let Him into our
hearts. There are different ways we can
do this. There are four ways in particular
that we can place God at the centre of our lives. WE CAN...
PRAY: Spend more time with God in prayer.
DO: Show our love
for God by doing something extra.
DO: Show our love
for Jesus by giving something up.
ACT: Helping and caring for others, as Jesus would want us to
do.
PANCAKES
Sincere thanks to Linda O’Sullivan of Linda’s Café, Rathmore who visited
the school on Mon. 28th Feb. She
provided sumptuous pancakes to all pupils and staff with a variety of toppings
and accepted no payment. We really
appreciate this generous gesture to all the pupils and staff. Thank you also to Breeda Cronin and Marie
Cleverley of the Parents Committee for assisting and helping out. Pupils and staff enjoyed the treat.
GYMNASTICS
Gymnastics began on Tuesday 1st March, for all classes in the
school. These classes are funded by the
Parents Committee and will run for a total of 6 days. Unfortunately, for health reasons, the
remaining classes will now be rescheduled after Easter and we wish Danny a
speedy recovery.
WORLD BOOK DAY
World Book Day was Wednesday 6th March.
We enjoyed DEAR time in class (Drop Everything and Read). During that week the senior side of the
school met with the junior side for some paired reading in the outdoor
classroom and the senior children were invited to bring in a book the younger
children might enjoy. Children received
vouchers to avail of some books in their local bookshop at a discounted rate. On Tuesday 4th March, the children were
invited to dress up as a character from their favourite book. The costumes were wonderful – well done to
all. Thanks to Ms. O’Connell for
coordinating.
MOBILE LIBRARY
The Mobile Library will return on Thursday April 7th. The children will receive information on the
new withdrawal procedure. Thanks to Ms.
O’Connell for coordinating.
SEACHTAIN
NA GAEILGE
Seachtain na Gaeilge was celebrated from the 4th to 17th
March at Holy Family N.S. On Tuesday 15th
March, we had Lá Glas - pupils wore some green clothes on the day. Each junior
class performed a song, poem, dance or tune for a senior class and vice
versa.
LEGO WORKSHOP
To mark Engineers’ Week, we had a lovely visit from the Lego Education
Workshop on Wed. 9th and Thursday 10th March.
The children really enjoyed the teamwork and creativity involved. Thank
you to the Parents Committee for funding this valuable workshop and Ms.
Fitzgerald for organising it.
SCHOOL INSPECTOR VISIT
We were delighted to welcome the School Inspector, Mr. Gerard Quirke, to
our school on Thursday 10th March. He
visited a number of classrooms and Special Education Rooms during the day. The pupils engaged wonderfully with him and
he praised the progressive approaches of the teachers, the wide variety of
teaching resources and methodologies in use, the positive school atmosphere and
the teaching and learning-taking place in the school. All children received an Easter egg as a
treat after the visit.
FIRST CONFESSION
First Confession took place on Wed. 16th March. Fr. Pat heard the children’s First Confession
in the outdoor classroom. The children enjoyed a nice treat to mark this
special occasion afterwards. Thanks to
Ms. O’Mahony, their teacher, who prepared them so well and to Mrs. Moynihan and
Mrs. Casey for their help.
Allianz – Cumann na mBunscol Football
It was wonderful to
return to school competitions again.
Our school team from 5th and 6th classes travelled to Na Gaeil pitch in
Tralee on Tuesday 22nd March. They lost
to a very strong Faha N.S. side in the first match and defeated Listellick N.S.
and Gaelscoil Aogáin. They have
qualified for the quarter finals as the second placed team. Thanks to Mr. Dineen and Mr. Moynihan for
preparing the team.
PARENTS COMMITTEE – QUIZ
Next week the Parents Committee will distribute a remote Quiz to help
raise funds for the various school activities such as music lessons weekly,
gymnastics, and recently they enjoyed a Lego workshop. We will give more details on this next
week. We would greatly appreciate your
support for this event.
FRIENDSHIP FUN WEEK 4th
- 8th APRIL
The Amber Flag Committee is excited to announce the activities we have
planned for ‘Friendship Fun Week’.
Monday – Picture a world without bullying – children
partake in a slogan/poster competition. To encourage children to express
themselves and celebrate their individuality - Children will wear odd socks.
Tuesday – Friends make your days brighter – children
are invited to wear bright/neon coloured clothes.
Wednesday – Team up against Bullying – children wear
jerseys/team colours.
Thursday – A Good friend is a dream come true- children
are invited to wear pyjamas.
Friday – Hairs to being a good friend – children can
create crazy hair styles
Staff can give raffle tickets to pupils who are demonstrating good
friendship traits. Easter eggs will be raffled in each class. Many prizes to be
won for poster/slogan competition in each class also.
Thanks to Ms. Casey and the Amber Flag Committee for their hard work.
Donations will be collected for Pieta House.
JUNIOR INFANTS 2022
We look forward to welcoming 32 Junior Infants in September 2022. Enrolment forms are still available from the
office.
SCHOOL TOURS
School tour for Fourth, Fifth and Sixth classes will take place on
Friday, 13th May. They will visit
Ballyhass Outdoor and Adventure Park in Mallow. School tour for Junior and Senior Infants
takes place on Thursday June 2nd. (more information on this tour later) School tour for First, Second and Third
classes will take place on Monday 13th June.
The venue is IT Tralee Kerry Sports Academy and Just 4 Fun school tours
are organising it. We will have more details on
all tours nearer the dates.
SCHOOL
BLOG REMINDER
This newsletter will be available to read on our blog. 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.
SCHOOL MEDICAL
SERVICES
Please note that eye care, hearing and dental services are available
free of charge to all primary school children.
If you need any information please contact the 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. Thank you
Please note we have an additional holiday on Tuesday June 7th because of
the extra public holiday in this year’s calendar.
DATES TO REMEMBER 2021 –
2022
Parents Committee Quiz – Mon. March 28th
to Fri. April 1st
Friendship Fun Week – Mon. 4th – 8th
April
Closed Monday 11th April to Friday
22nd April (Easter Holidays)
Re-opening Monday 25th April, 2022
First Communion – Sat. 30th April,
2022 in St. Joseph’s church, Rathmore
Closed Monday 2nd May (Public
Holiday)
School Tour 4th, 5th &
6th classes – Friday 13th May
School Tour Junior and Senior Infants –
Thursday 2nd June
Closed Monday 6th June (Public
Holiday) and Tuesday 7th June.
School Tour 1st, 2nd
& 3rd classes – Monday 13th June
Closing Friday 24th June for Summer Holiday
If during the school year there are any
changes to school closure, we will let you know.