Newsletter
Holy Family
National School, Rathmore, Co. Kerry.
Tel. 064/7758492
e-mail hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com
Blog: hfnsrathmorekerry blog
28th
March 2023
Dear Parents,
PARENTS
COMMITTEE – QUIZ
The Parents Committee online Quiz is ongoing since last Wed. 22nd
March and the closing date has been extended to Thursday 30th
March. It helps to raise funds for the
various school activities such as music lessons weekly, gymnastics, etc. We would greatly appreciate your support for
this event.
DO THIS IN MEMORY MASS
The
next ‘Do This in Memory’ Mass is on Holy Thursday 6th April at 6pm
in Rathmore Church as part of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
Amber Flag
20th
to 24th February, we celebrated Kindness Week. The Amber Flag
Committee/Student Council did a great job helping school staff to identify
pupils who were making an extra special effort to show kindness or engage in
random acts of kindness. From 1st to 5th May The
Amber Flag Committee is excited to announce the activities we have planned for
‘Friendship Week’.
·
Monday- No school
·
Tuesday – Picture a world without bullying – children partake
in a slogan/poster competition. To encourage children to express themselves and
celebrate their individuality - Children may wear odd socks.
·
Wednesday – Team up against Bullying – children can wear jerseys/team
colours.
·
Thursday – A Good friend is a dream come true- children are
invited to wear pyjamas, dressing gowns, onesies etc.
·
Friday – Hairs to being a good friend – pupils are welcome
to create crazy hair styles.
Donations will be collected for Pieta
House on Friday May 5th.
Thanks to Ms.
Carmel Casey for all her work with the Amber Flag committee.
Green Schools
The theme for flag 8 is Global
Citizenship and Marine. We recently planted an oak tree on the school grounds
to mark Climate Action Week and classes engaged with webinars on Green Schools
themes. We registered last week for the 'In My Shoes Charity Campaign'. This
charity is very much in keeping with our theme of Global Citizenship. The idea
is that pupils would bring in 'pre-loved' footwear, shoes, football boots,
runners etc which would then be sent to less well-off children in Africa.
This campaign begins after the
Easter holidays and we will send further details then. The campaign was very
well supported in 2020 when we collected 153 pairs of footwear, we hope with
your support to do as well again in 2023.
SWIMMING
LESSONS (3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th
Classes)
Swimming
is part of the curriculum. We have
organised swimming lessons for the boys and girls from Third to Sixth class for
six days commencing Thurs. April 27th, and continuing on May
4th, 11th, 18th and 25th, and finishing on June 1st. The children will be taken by bus to Glen
Eagle Hotel and Leisure Centre, Killarney. The cost of the lessons and transport will be
€50 per child. To reduce the cost, our
Parents Committee are giving €1000 towards the cost. (Otherwise it would cost
€60 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.
LEE STRAND
After Easter we will
introduce the Lee Strand Milk Programme. Children will be able to avail of
getting ¼ litre carton of milk each day or they may get water instead if you so
wish. We had this programme running up to March 2020 but because of Covid it
was discontinued. It is also in line with
our health eating policy.
FREE SCHOOLBOOKS FOR ALL PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS
From September 2023, schoolbooks, workbooks
and copybooks for children in primary schools, will be provided to every child
free by their school. There is no need
for parents to buy or rent these. All
children in their classes will have access to the schoolbooks, workbooks and
copybooks that they need. The
schoolbooks and workbooks will be on loan to the children. They must be returned at the end of the
school year, or if the child leaves the school.
It is important that books are kept in good condition so they can be
re-used by another child.
INTERNET SAFETY
Internet Safety Expert Ger Brick will work
with the 4th, 5th & 6th class students on
May 11th to remind them about the safe use of the internet. He will also do a zoom with parents. More information nearer the time.
RELATIONSHIP
& SEXUALITY EDUCATION (R.S.E.)
5th & 6th classes
will have the R.S.E. talks on Thurs. April 20th for 6th
class and Tues. May 2nd for 5th class, with Sarah Meyler
of “In My Own Shoes” programme. She will
provide the talk in line with the S.P.H.E. curriculum.
LANGUAGES CONNECT
Third
to Sixth classes will enjoy an hour per week of French and German for 8 weeks
after Easter with Ms. Mairead Golden.
This is funded by Post Primary Languages Ireland. Thanks to Ms. Sarah Riordan for a successful
application.
JUNIOR INFANTS 2023
We look forward to welcoming 20 Junior Infants in September 2023. Enrolment forms are still available from the
office.
SCHOOL TOURS
School tour for Second and Third classes takes place on Thursday June 1st.
The venue is Nemo Rangers Park, Douglas, Cork and Lets Go Summer Schools are
organising it. School tour for 4th,
5th and 6th classes will take place on Friday 9th
June. They will take a boat trip across
the lake and visit Kate Kearneys cottage and do the Black Valley walk. School
tour for Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First classes will take place on Tuesday
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 Self Evaluation
We are embedding our School Improvement Plan this
year, which focuses on presentation. To
assist parents we are attaching a standardised letter formation page with the
upper and lower case letters, which are taught from Junior Infants to Sixth
Class.
CONFIRMATION
Congratulations to the 6th Class who received their Confirmation on
Tuesday 14th 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 donation of €317 to the ‘Kerry
Diocesan Project Fund’ charity. Thanks
to Mr. Dineen, Catherine Dillane and all the staff for preparing them so
well. A special thank you to the choir
made up of pupils from 4th and 5th classes, Mrs. Moynihan
for preparing them so well and to Mrs. Kelly for playing the organ.
PANCAKES
Sincere thanks to Linda O’Sullivan of Linda’s Café, Rathmore who visited
the school on Tues. 21st 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 Marie Cleverley of the
Parents Committee for assisting and helping out. Pupils and staff enjoyed the treat. Wednesday February 22nd was Ash Wednesday -
the beginning of Lent. Staff members distributed ashes to the children on Ash
Wednesday. Also on Friday 3rd
February staff members blessed the throats of pupils which was the feast of St.
Blaise.
GYMNASTICS
Gymnastics began on Tuesday 31st January, for all classes in
the school. These classes are funded by
the Parents Committee and finished on Tuesday 28th March.
HURLING / FOOTBALL
Colm O’Brien AND Vince Cooper the Kerry GDAs have
been visiting the school providing hurling / football lessons to various
classes this term. The children are enjoying practising their skills.
WORLD BOOK DAY
World Book Day was Thursday 2nd 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
their classrooms 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 Friday 3rd March, the children
were invited to dress up as a character from their favourite book. The Irish Community
Air Ambulance benefited from the funds raised by the children which came to €355.78.
The costumes were wonderful – well done
to all. 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 Thursday 16th
March, we had Lá Glas - pupils wore some green clothes on the day. We had a lovely Ceolchoirm, where each class
performed songs, poems, dances or tunes for each other.
ARTS BLAST
Arts Blast (Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers) Residency has been taking place in our school. The aim of this scheme is to give pupils in schools all over the country the opportunity to work with a professional artist on unique projects. Children in 2nd and 3rd classes have been participating for the last number of weeks with artist Dorota Borowa. The children have been lucky enough to experience painting on ice, working with charcoal and large scale painting with the very talented artist. It has been a very enjoyable experience for all. Thanks to Ms. Maura Kelly on her successful application.
CONCERN PRIMARY DEBATING COMPETITION
Well done to
the school debating team of: Grace O’Keeffe, Luke Healy, Cian Kennedy, Anthony
Cahill, Evan Foley and Alesha O’Sullivan who represented the school very well
in the Concern Primary debating competition meeting Ardfert N.S. and Tralee
Educate Together in February. We thank
Ms Sarah Riordan for her guidance in preparing the team.
FIRST CONFESSION
First Confession took place on Wed. 1st March in the church for the
first time since 2019. Fr. Pat,
Monsignor Dan Herlihy and Fr. Pat McCarthy heard the children’s First Confession. Shrone school also joined us for the
Sacrament. Thanks to Maura Kelly and Maura
Amy O’Connor, their teachers, who prepared them so well and to Mrs. Moynihan
and Mrs. Casey for their help. A big thank you to all the boys and
girls in 4th, 5th and 6th classes who participated in the
choir. We wish to thank Mrs.
Moynihan who prepared the choir and Maura O’Leary who played the organ on the
night. They sang very well and their
participation added immensely to the occasion. Thanks to all the parents for
bringing the children.
SCOIL PHOBAIL SLIABH LUACHRA MUSICAL
The Secondary school presented
‘Thank you for the Music’ an Abba inspired musical on Wednesday 15th
March at 11.00 am. Second, Third,
Fourth, Fifth and Sixth classes walked across to the Secondary School gym and
enjoyed it immensely.
Read and Raise
We ran a little readathon to
coincide with World Book Week. 115 children registered and €2,604 was
raised. Well done to the pupils who
logged 23,788 minutes reading. €700
worth of new readers were purchased €900 worth of PE equipment for the school
was purchased and the remainder will be used to restock the school
libraries. Each registered pupil
received an Easter Egg as a token of appreciation. Thank you for your generous
support.
CURIOUS MINDS SCIENCE AWARD
This year we are applying for our fifth
award, the Platinum Award in recognition of all the work pupils, parents and
teachers are putting into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)
activities in our school. We have engaged in numerous activities throughout the
year: Maths Week, Science and Engineering Week, Coding Hour, chess as well as
science experiments and engineering activities.
Last Friday, third to sixth classes exhibited and demonstrated Science
and Engineering experiments in their classroom to the pupils from Junior to
Second classes. The children really enjoyed the teamwork and creativity
involved. Thank you to Ms. Fitzgerald for organising it.
This week we welcome engineer Donal
Moynihan to 5th and 6th classes to talk all things engineering.
This award would not be possible to achieve without the support of all the
parents. All of our activities can be viewed on the school blog.
CHESS
Congratulations and well done to 16 of our
pupils from 5th and 6th classes who represented our school in a
Masters Chess Tournament ran by Ficheall. This is our first year entering a
chess team in a tournament and all the children in 5th and 6th are
only playing since October.
The two teams played against 11 other
teams and were placed in joint 3rd place. It was a fantastic achievement
by them and well done to all the pupil's in 5th and 6th class who are
now all playing chess. Thanks to Ms. Fitzgerald for organizing it. Thanks
also to Miroslav Faltinek for helping with the
Chess Teams and to the Parents Committee for purchasing Chess boards and chess
sets.
CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING
Congratulations to the pupils from who
took part in Cross Country running in Tralee on Wed. 8th March. Pádraig O’Sullivan, Adam Cremin, Aodán
Fitzgerald and Karl Thompson took part in the 3rd & 4th class
race. Cormac O’Sullivan took part in the
5th & 6th class race.
Well done and thanks to Mr. John Moynihan who organized it.
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 news, school updates, pictures etc.
SOCCER LEAGUE 2023
Our annual soccer league has
proven as popular as ever with both boys and girls from 3rd to 6th classes. The
games are played with much enthusiasm and plenty of skill! Grace O'Keeffe’s
team and Eimear Dennehy’s team will contest the Girls' Final. The boys' league
has reached the semi final stage where Sean Moynihan’s team plays Evan Foley’s
team and Callum O'Leary’s team plays Luke Healy’s team. Best of luck to all
teams over next couple of weeks.
Allianz – Cumann
na mBunscol Football MINI SEVENS FOOTBALL
The
mini sevens football competition was played in Fossa GAA Grounds on Monday,
March 13th. Despite monsoon conditions both boys' and girls' teams played some
great football. We were grouped with Fossa NS, Faha NS and Firies NS. The
standard was very high and although we didn't progress to the second phase we
were very proud of the efforts of all players on the day. Thanks to Mr. Paudie Dineen for preparing
them. Well done to Jeremiah O’Connor and
Grace O’Keeffe who represented the school at the Primary Game trials in
Killarney recently.
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.
SPEED LIMIT
Parents, please adhere to 15km
speed limit. We remind parents to drive slowly and with extreme care on the school
grounds at all times.
Thank you.
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
School
begins at 9.10am. Doors open at 9am. School
ends at 2.50 pm. The school authority
will not be responsible for children on the school grounds outside of these
hours. If your child is absent or has
to leave school for part of the day, please send in a note informing the class
teacher of his/her absence. Children
must be signed out by whoever is collecting them if they leave for part of the
day. Again if the child is returning to
school, they must be signed in by whoever is returning them. There is a book for this purpose near the
main door.
CREDIT
UNION ART COMPETITION
Congratulations
to Tiernan Moynihan Senior Infants who won the U7 category. His entry was put forward for the Chapter
finals in the Manor West Hotel, Tralee. Well done Tiernan!
CREDIT UNION QUIZ
Rathmore & District Credit Union held their annual quiz on Sunday 29th
Jan. 2 teams represented our school – U11: Ciara McCarthy, Cian Cronin, Tim
Dineen and Evan Burke U13: Damien Nagle,
Cormac O’Sullivan, Callum Dineen and Christopher McNamara. They did our school
proud. Thanks to Anne Marie Murphy for organizing and preparing both quiz
teams.
EASTER HOLIDAYS
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SCHOOL WILL CLOSE ON THIS FRIDAY
31st MARCH FOR THE EASTER HOLIDAYS
DATES TO REMEMBER
·
Parents Committee Quiz – Wed. March 22nd to Thurs.
March 30th
·
School closing on Friday 31st March
for Easter holidays.
·
Easter Break – School closed
Monday 3rd April to Friday 14th April 2023.
·
School re-opens Monday 17th April
2023.
·
R.S.E. talk on Thurs. April 20th for 6th class
·
Swimming Lessons – Thurs April 27th
·
First Communion – Sat. 29th April,
2023 in St. Joseph’s Church, Rathmore
(On Sun. 30th
April – refreshments will be served in Teach Iosagain after 11.30am Mass for
the Holy Communion children and their families)
·
School closed - Monday 1st
May 2023 (May Bank Holiday).
R.S.E. talk Tues. May
2nd for 5th class
·
Swimming Lessons – Thursday May 4th,
11th, 18th & 25th. June 1st.
·
Internet Safety – 4th, 5th
& 6th classes – Thursday 11th May plus zoom with
parents
·
School Tour 2nd & 3rd classes –
Thursday June 1st
·
School closed - Monday 5th
June 2023 (June Bank Holiday).
·
School closed – Tuesday 6th
June 2023 –Staff In-Service Day
·
School Tour 4th, 5th
& 6th classes – Friday 9th June.
·
School Tour Junior Infants, Senior Infants
& First Classes – Tuesday June 13th
·
School closing Friday
23rd June 2023 for Summer Holidays.
If
during the school year there are any changes to school closure, we will let you
know.
Wishing
you all a Happy Easter
GuÃmid
Cásca shona dÃbh go léir
From
all the staff at Holy Family N.S.
