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 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.